Sarah Miller was already in her seat, of course. Jenna always thought of her as ‘Little Miss Too Good to Be True’. How else could she criticize someone who was always sweet? It was still hard to believe that Sarah had potentially the most dangerous gift of all of them — the ability to make people do anything she wanted them to do. Not that Jenna had seen much evidence of this amazing gift. For some mysterious reason, Sarah didn’t want to use her talent.
Ken Preston looked up and caught her eye. ‘Hi,’ he said. The greeting wasn’t expressed very warmly, but Jenna was just pleased to be acknowledged by him. She and Ken had experienced some conflicts recently, and she didn’t want him to hold anything against her. He wasn’t a close friend like Emily or Tracey, but she thought he was an OK kind of guy. Also, since that seance experience, he was pretty down on Amanda, and any enemy of Amanda’s was a friend of hers.
She plunked down in the seat next to him. ‘Hi. What’s up?’
‘Not much,’ he said. ‘You?’
‘Nothing special,’ she replied. They both fell silent. Jenna tried to think of a way to keep the conversation going.
‘Heard from anyone interesting lately?’ she ventured.
He seemed to be considering the question. ‘Well, there’s this lady who was watching some series on TV before she died, and she’s always asking me to find out what’s happening on it. So I started watching the show, but it’s really stupid and I hate it.’
Jenna shrugged. In her opinion, Ken was just too nice to the dead people who communicated with him. Of all the gifts, Ken’s was the one she’d least want to have. ‘So tell her to leave you alone.’ She turned away from him, and pretended to gasp. ‘Hey, what’s Carter doing?’
Ken’s eyes widened and he turned swiftly to look at the boy who sat at the back of the room. ‘What are you talking about?’
Jenna grinned. ‘Gotcha.’
Carter Street was the mystery of the Gifted class, a mute, blank-eyed boy who seemed to be more of a robot than a human being. He did what he was told to do, but he never responded or took any initiative, and his expression was always the same — empty. No one knew his real name or where he came from, or if he had any kind of gift at all. Jenna wasn’t even sure what he was doing in the class.
Emily and Tracey came in, but Jenna couldn’t say anything more than ‘Hi’ because Madame was right behind them, and the bell rang. Madame took her usual place behind her desk at the front of the room, and she gave them her usual smile of greeting — but the smile looked a little tense to Jenna.
Her eyes scanned the room. ‘Where’s Amanda?’ she asked.
Nobody responded, and Madame frowned. She was big on punctuality.
‘I’ve got a task for you today,’ the teacher continued. As usual, there were a couple of groans, and as usual, Madame ignored them. ‘I want each of you to make a list of all the people who know about your gift. Include parents, and any other family member who is aware of what you can do.’
‘Why?’ Ken wanted to know.
Jenna half-expected Madame to snap something like ‘because I told you to’ — but that was how other teachers would respond to a question like that. Madame wasn’t like other teachers.
She seemed to be taking her time, and considering her answer carefully. Finally, she spoke.
‘It’s important for all of us to be aware of who knows about the gifts. You all know by now that there are people out there who want to use you, to utilize your gifts for their own purposes. We have to keep track of all potential. . potential problems.’
‘But you said we have to include our parents,’ Sarah said. ‘You don’t think they’d want to use us, do you?’
‘Not intentionally,’ Madame said quickly. ‘But they might slip and reveal something to someone who — who shouldn’t know about you. They may already have done so.’
‘Why do you think that?’ Tracey asked.
‘Because you’ve all had experiences which lead me to believe that you’ve been observed. That you’re being watched.’
Martin went completely white. ‘You mean, someone’s spying on us?’ He looked around nervously. ‘Right now?’
At that moment, the door opened and Amanda walked in. Actually, sauntered in would be a better way of describing her entrance, Jenna thought. Most students entering a classroom late would shuffle in with head down. Amanda was practically strutting.
Madame looked at her, and raised her eyebrows. Amanda smiled brightly, and didn’t even bother to apologize for her tardiness.
‘I have an excuse,’ she proclaimed, and handed a folded piece of paper to the teacher.
Madame opened the note, and looked at it.
‘I can’t read this signature,’ she said.
‘It’s from Mr Jackson,’ Amanda said. ‘I’ve been working in the office. You see, I’m his new student assistant.’
Jenna couldn’t blame the cool, calm and collected teacher for becoming momentarily speechless. This was pretty shocking news, considering who it was coming from. Jenna knew of other students who worked as assistants — in the cafeteria, the gymnasium, and the library. But Amanda Beeson was the last person in the world who would be expected to take a job like that. Students did jobs like this to get extra-curricular credits, or build up experiences that would make it easier to get part-time paying jobs when they were in high school. Amanda was only interested in social extra-curricular activities, and it was unlikely that she’d be thinking about working for money when she got into high school. Her parents were either rich or very generous. In any case, Amanda certainly didn’t need to work for spending money.
She assumed Madame was thinking the same thing. ‘Why have you suddenly decided to become a student assistant, Amanda?’
Clearly, Amanda hadn’t anticipated the question. ‘I. . I just think it’s good to learn office skills,’ she finally replied. ‘I mean, you never know when you might, um, need them.’
Madame eyed her curiously, but she didn’t press the issue. ‘Take a seat, Amanda,’ Madame said. ‘And please make it clear to Mr Jackson that I expect my students to be here on time.’
Jenna and Emily exchanged looks. They knew why Madame sounded a little huffy about Mr Jackson. She hadn’t been too thrilled when the principal foisted a student teacher on the class. Especially when that student teacher turned out to have aspirations other than teaching. .
Madame repeated the day’s assignment to Amanda, and everyone went to work on their lists. Jenna’s was pretty short. There was her mother. She was pretty sure her mother wouldn’t have told anyone else, even if she was drunk. And then there was that man who called himself Stuart Kelley and claimed to be the father she’d never known. He could have told other people, she supposed. But how many people would believe someone who claimed he knew a mind-reader? That was the benefit of having the kind of weird talents they all had — people didn’t believe their gifts were possible.
She added names she was pretty sure were on everyone’s list — the people who had tried to force some of her classmates to rob banks for them. Clare, and those two men who’d been with her. Serena, the student teacher, of course. But that was about it. She’d never told any of the cops, or social workers, or judges she’d encountered in her brief career as a juvenile delinquent. Or any of the foster families she’d been forced to live with back when her mother went on one of her binges.
Madame collected the lists, and they spent the rest of the class time discussing the names on them.
‘Charles, you have two brothers in high school,’ Madame noted. ‘Do you think that they might talk about you with their friends?’