Page 14

Story: Love at Second Sight

14

C AM! IS THAT YOU?”

My mother’s shrill voice hit me in the face as soon as I walked into the house. I groaned, dropping my backpack from my shoulders onto the entryway’s cushioned bench. I wrestled out of my hoodie and hung it on the coat hook, jamming the gamer gloves into the front pocket. I toed off my shoes while lamenting the fact that my presence had not gone unnoticed.

“Yes. I’m home. I’m going to my room.”

I picked up my bag by the top handle and swung it as far as I could up the stairs. It landed on a step and teetered for a moment, but thankfully it did not topple down.

“No. You need to come here, please. Now.”

I tipped my head back, my eyes squeezed shut. I had a throbbing headache from trying to bite back my sorrow at my friend breakup with Al. I just wanted to wallow in my loneliness and listen to a Hexes sad song compilation while drawing gloomy landscapes. And yet that did not seem to be my fate anytime soon.

“Coming.”

I rounded the corner from the hallway into the living room and stopped dead.

My dad was also there. He stood slightly taller than my mom and had a slim build. He still wore the suit he’d worn to work, though the tie was undone.

“Oh—hi, Dad.”

“Cam,” he said with a nod. His voice wasn’t overly deep, but the way he said my name, clipped and strained, let me know the gravity of what was about to go down.

My mom sat on the edge of the couch, her back ramrod straight, her briefcase at her feet. She gestured sharply toward the armchair. “Sit.”

I did. So did my dad, easing himself beside my mom. He ran his palm over his blond hair, his eyebrows knit together.

“Is there something you want to tell us?” Mom asked.

Oh. They knew.

I gripped the plush arms of my chair. “Not especially.”

“Right. Let me try again. Is there something you think we should know about, that you might have neglected to tell us? Maybe something about a viral video?”

Fear roiled in my gut. A cold sweat prickled across the back of my neck. My parents had made it clear that they weren’t fans of the paranormal community. They weren’t overtly hostile to anyone, but a polite unease tempered their every action and decision when it came to nonhumans. It was a quiet discomfort around the people or things they didn’t understand or didn’t want to understand. They didn’t frequent certain restaurants. Or have friends outside their known circles. They had never supported my friendship with Al, leaving that to myself and Aiden and Al’s mothers. They hated that I liked paranormal bands. When watching sporting events or scrolling through newsfeeds, they would grumble under their breath when they perceived that something was unfair to humans, despite humans being the majority and having the most powerful voices and the most influence.

Aiden had always pushed back against them. Had always spoken out when he’d thought they were in the wrong.

I hadn’t, because it had never affected me. Not really. I was going to be friends with Al no matter what my parents said.

But now that this might all go south, I realized how wrong I’d been to hide in my own complacency. I’d had the fleeting thought months ago that maybe Aiden’s clashes with my mom and dad were a reason why he hadn’t returned. But would he cut me off too?

“Cam.” My mom’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

Oh. Right. Interrogation.

“Fine. Yes. There’s a viral video of me.”

“And… what happens in this video?”

“I have a psychic interlude in the middle of the cafeteria, and then it cuts to a basketball game where the glimpse I had is proven accurate.”

My dad cleared his throat. “A colleague at work showed it to me. Is there a possibility it could be… what did he call it? A deepfake? Created with AI or a computer program?”

I blinked. “No, Dad. It’s me. That happened.”

“So you’re a…” My mom trailed off.

I leaned forward. “I’m a…,” I prompted.

“What that girl said. A seer?”

“I prefer ‘clairvoyant.’?”

My mom rubbed her eyes. “This isn’t a joke, Cam.”

“I wasn’t joking. I prefer the term ‘clairvoyant.’ It has a certain je ne sais quoi, don’t you think?” I said, parroting Gemma.

My dad’s expression was a thundercloud. “Cam, be serious for once.”

I straightened. “I am serious. Look, I didn’t know I was one until the first day of school. It’s not like I planned it. Or that I wanted that video to spread all over social media. But”—I shrugged—“it’s out there now. I can’t take it back.”

“You’ve confirmed it?” My mother asked, her tone biting. “With whom?”

“What do you mean? I didn’t make a declaration or anything.”

“Good!” my dad said, snapping his fingers. “We can come out and say it is not you. That it was a fake or a hoax.”

“Yes,” my mom agreed. “We’ll draft a statement, and Cam can read it on video, and we’ll have”—she sighed, as if she couldn’t believe what she was about to say—“Gem-Jam of Situation Paranormal post it. Hopefully enough of her audience will see it, and all this will die down.”

“What? No!”

“It’s for the best, Cam.” My dad leaned back on the couch. “And then you can put this behind you and never have another… interlude again. Matter solved.”

“The paranormal community has already seen that,” I said, gesturing to where my dad had the video pulled up on his phone. “The fruit basket was from the Sprite Alliance.”

My mom’s hand flew to her mouth. Her fingers curled in horror. “I ate several of those peaches.”

“Good for you,” I said. “I bet they were delicious.”

“They were,” she said, appalled.

My dad frowned. He reached and took my mom’s hands, their fingers threading together. “It’s okay, dear. I ate one of the apples, and I’m fine.”

I rolled my eyes.

“Cam,” my dad said, addressing me with his steely gaze. “No more. This stops now. The video says there have to be three, right? Well, don’t have any more. We won’t make a big deal out of this as long as you don’t add fuel to the fire. Got it?”

My heart ached. “Yeah. I got it.”

He nodded. “Good. We ordered takeout. It’s on the way. Why don’t you go up to your room and work on your homework? I’ll call you when it gets here.”

“Sure.” I stood like a zombie, my mind reeling, and shuffled to the stairs.

“It’s just like what happened with Aiden,” I heard my mom say. “How have we failed so badly?”

“I know, honey. But it’s okay. We’ll steer Cam right.”

“We should have never allowed him to be redistricted to that school. It’s filled with paranormal students. We should’ve fought the school board harder.”

“It’s okay. We’ll make sure he doesn’t fall into the traps that Aiden did. It’ll be fine.”

I froze at the bottom of the stairs. What did that mean? What had happened with Aiden? Did they know where he was? Could they have contacted him this whole time? Whenever I asked or brought him up, they shut down. I thought it was out of grief because Aiden had cut us out of his life, but… was I wrong?

I grasped the banister, my knees suddenly weak. Hauling my body up the stairs, I grabbed my backpack, which sat in the middle of the staircase, and continued to my room. I pushed open the door. I was on autopilot, stunned by how my parents had acted. Like this was something I could just shove back into a box. Granted, I didn’t even know if I wanted to be a seer. And I definitely didn’t want all this attention.

But I couldn’t deny what I was, either.

Two for two, as Gemma had said.

I tugged my phone from my pocket and pulled up my text conversation with Gemma.

Well, I had promised Al a themed school year. I’d promised to embrace my true self. I didn’t know what that had meant at the time I had agreed to it, but I knew it now. Aiden’s last texts to me had told me to follow my own path and to trust myself.

I could do that.

Maybe. Potentially. In theory.

Spite was a powerful motivator, and well, I wouldn’t know unless I tried.

I took a deep breath as my fingers hovered over the keys. I typed a message to Gemma, and without overthinking it, I hit send.

Post the second glimpse.

My phone immediately rang.

“Are you sure?” she asked. She sounded out of breath.

I’d already lost Al. The cat was out of the bag to my parents. And they were pissed. They couldn’t really get any madder. I had nothing to lose. “Positive.”

“Okay. I have it all ready. I’ll only allow comments from registered users at first, and if it gets too weird, I’ll freeze them.”

“That’s fine.”

There was a pause. “Are you sure? You sound a little… sad.”

My cold, dead heart warmed at her concern. “Yeah, I’m sure,” I said, trying for enthusiasm. “I’m good. Do it, Gemma. Before I have a chance to change my mind.”

“On it, partner.”

“Thanks.”

“Oh, by the way, I got the video from the AV club.”

I sat heavily on my bed. “And?”

“The stupid welcome banner was in the way. Sorry, Cam. I couldn’t see anything.”

Fuck. Well, par for the course, unfortunately. “It’s okay, Gemma.”

“I’m still trying to find another video angle. So don’t give up yet! We’ll find whoever touched you and triggered that first glimpse. Okay. Got to run. Night, Cam!”

Oh, right. The first very terrifying glimpse. That. I’d pushed it to the back of my brain in the face of everything that had occurred the last few days.

I checked my weather app. It was supposed to be warm all next week. Good. I still had time. Because I needed another correct vision. And once I had that, I was sure I would be able to acquire help.

I would need any and all of it to hopefully stop a murder.