Page 17

17

G EMMA AND I AGREED TO wait until the end of the week before posting the third and final video. I wanted a few days of rest before the big reveal and the inevitable change to my life it would bring. She wanted to heighten the anticipation so that the video would become another viral sensation.

So I enjoyed the rest of the week eating lunch with my new, eclectic group of friends. Even if I missed Al desperately, and Reese and Mateo sat stiffly on either side of Kaci, and Kaci watched Dennis warily, and Gemma rambled incessantly about anything and everything that popped into her mind. At least Mateo’s calm steadiness was a comfort. So was Reese’s physical presence. And Kaci’s dreamy observations. And yes, even Gemma’s constant commentary, which provided a background buzz to my own wayward thoughts and feelings about everything .

At the end of the day, I couldn’t help but appreciate them all. They’d stepped in when Al had… cut me out. And though I hadn’t texted Mateo to talk about paranormal abilities or parents or anything else, the idea that I could offered a semblance of reassurance that I’d been missing.

Gemma posted the final video on Friday during lunchtime. Comments were limited to registered users. And as Reese had noted, the dramatic video of the actual fire and fire alarm gave it a little more flair and urgency that skyrocketed the views. It went viral almost immediately.

“My email is clogged with requests from anyone and everyone to meet you,” Gemma said as we lounged on the stairs outside of school, waiting for Val to pick her up. “And my website crashed. Holy crap, Cam. You’re a sensation.”

Embarrassment burned my cheeks. “It’s nothing.”

“Don’t be modest. You’re a verified clairvoyant.” She scrolled through her phone. “Oh, the Psychic Guild wants to talk as soon as possible. That is definitely the one you should go to first.”

One thing I hadn’t really considered was what the different factions would actually want from a verified clairvoyant. Yeah, seeing the future could be a great benefit, but to what end?

“Uh… what exactly would the Psychic Guild get out of me joining them?” I asked, stretching out along several of the gleaming steps.

Gemma refreshed her ClickClack account, eyes sparkling at her increasing numbers of followers. “The prestige, of course. A verified seer in the ranks of the Psychic Guild would give them the status, notoriety, and renown that, to be honest, the local branch is sorely missing.”

“Huh.”

“Yeah. I can imagine they’d have you show up to a meeting a few times a year, see a future for someone, and look pretty. And I hear they offer college scholarships and business courses, but we’ll work all that out in a contract if you decide to join them.”

College scholarship? I might need that, depending on how my parents reacted to this third video.

“Okay. Book it for next week.”

Gemma snapped her head around, her blue eyes wide. “What?”

“I trust you,” I said with a shrug. “If you say it’s important, then that’s what I should do, right?”

Gemma beamed. “Yes! Okay. I will respond to them first.”

My own phone pinged in my pocket. I fished it out and smiled at a text from Mateo.

My family is having a cookout tomorrow afternoon. Can you come?

My blush deepened. Mateo inviting me to a cookout? That was freshman Cam’s dream come true. I felt a little giddy when I texted back.

Am I attending as Cam your friend? Or Cam the Clairvoyant?

The response came quickly.

Are they two different people?

I frowned. Surely Mateo understood that they were. They had to be. Yes?

Both, then. My family wants to meet you.

But I would like to hang out together.

Kaci will be there too.

Ah. Okay.

Gemma leaned in. “Huh,” she said, reading over the texts.

I jerked my phone away. “Hey!”

“Sorry. But… uh… that sounds like an invitation to meet the Lopez werewolf family.”

I sighed, my heart sinking. “It does. Doesn’t it?”

“Not that I think Mateo isn’t our friend. It’s just… he was probably pressured by his family after the third video released.”

“What would a werewolf family want from a clairvoyant?” I asked, my throat tight.

Gemma cocked her head to the side. “Protection, most likely. They’ve had a rough time over the centuries, as you’re probably learning about in World History right now, so having a verified clairvoyant on their side could help them with upcoming conflicts between their own families, or with the other paranormal factions, or the most likely culprit for conflict—humans.”

Protection. That was a much heavier ask than prestige. Scary, even.

My heart raced as my fingers hovered over my phone screen. When I took too long to respond, another text came.

It’s a celebration. For Juana coming home.

I took a breath. Can Gemma come too?

Of course. I’ve already texted her.

Gemma’s attention jerked back to her phone. “Oh,” she said, fingers tapping quickly on the screen, “he did. It was just lost in all the other notifications.”

I didn’t know how to feel about that. Did he invite her because she was his friend too? Or my human advisor? Ugh.

No Reese. He’s not invited.

That part I understood. Okay. We’ll be there! Thank you.

Great. See you at 3 at my house.

“Well, I have a lot of work to do,” Gemma said, heaving to her feet. I had no idea how her spine was not curved from the sheer weight of her pink unicorn backpack. She wrapped her hands around the straps. “I’ll come to your house tomorrow, and then we’ll go over together. Val can drive us.”

“Okay.”

“Cool. I’ll text you tonight with your homework.”

I furrowed my brow. “Homework?”

“Well, yeah,” she said, like it was obvious. “You’re in the next stage, my friend. You’re going to be swamped with learning everything about the factions you’re meeting with and the paranormal beings that make up each one.” She clicked her tongue and made a finger gun. “The more you know and all that. It’ll help you make a good choice about your allies.”

“Oh. Right.” And this just further drove home the fact that this fun cookout wasn’t about Mateo being my friend, but about who my allies were going to be now that I was “verified.”

Gemma shook her head. “It’s a good thing you have me, or you’d be totally screwed.”

She flounced down the steps to where Val’s car had pulled in and rumbled to a stop. I watched in awe as she swung her bag into the back seat with little effort, then hopped in the front. She waved out the window as Val pulled away.

I mustered a half-hearted wave in return and then stood to get my bike from the rack.

Thankfully, my ride home was uneventful. My parents weren’t there yet, and I sighed in relief as I trudged to my bedroom. I tossed my bag in my desk chair, then dropped onto the bed and fell asleep.

A tap-tap-tapping at my bedroom window woke me from my nap. I rolled over and blinked sleepily. Night had fallen; my room was completely dark, and I had no idea what time it was. Another rap sounded, and I jolted fully awake as soon as I realized what, or who, it was.

“Lenore!” I said, shooting upright with a gasp.

She peered at me with her black, beady eyes and ruffled her dark feathers. Then she tapped her beak again on the pane of glass.

I scrambled toward her and flung the window up. She stuck out her leg.

“I’ve missed you,” I said, ignoring the message for a moment and running my finger over the crown of her head and down her back. “Thanks for coming to visit.”

She nibbled my finger in a sign of affection, then shook her leg again.

“Fine,” I said, and took the message.

Since our friend breakup, I hadn’t talked to Al, and I had a guess what this message could be about. Since the third video had gone viral just a few hours before, I imagined it had something to do with that.

I took the note to my desk and turned on the lamp. I unrolled the parchment and held it under the light.

The coven saw the third glimpse. They’re concerned. Be vigilant. Don’t respond. Don’t text. Destroy after reading. I’ll talk to you at school on Monday if needed.

I read the message again. Al had reached out to warn me? I flipped the scroll over and found nothing else. I blinked. That was it? No miss you ? Or I hate that we fought ? Or we both made a mistake; can we be friends again ?

I pinched my eyes shut. Okay. Fine. They could reach out to me, but I couldn’t contact them. Great. Just great.

I opened my eyes and turned to the window, but Lenore had already flown away.

“Cam?” I startled at my mom’s voice in the hallway, which was followed by a soft knock at my door. “Cam?”

“Yeah?” I called, shoving the note into my pocket.

“Dinner is ready.”

“I’ll be down in a minute.”

I closed my window, then wiped the remaining sleep from my eyes and steeled myself to have an awkward family dinner with my parents.

I should’ve been more prepared for the inevitable dinner-table discussion, but that nap had left me bleary and sleepier than when I’d fallen into my bed a few hours ago.

“So,” my dad said as he cut his pork chop, “there was another video from this Gem-Jam account. Posted today.”

My throat went dry. I grabbed my glass of water and took a long drink. There was no denying it. “Yeah. There was.”

“I thought we agreed you would not post another of these…” He gestured with his fork. “Psychic visions.”

“They’re called glimpses.”

“Right. But we agreed—”

“ You agreed,” I muttered.

“But what does this mean going forward?” he demanded. “Are you part of their community now? Are you going to run away and join some traveling spectacle, telling fortunes for money?”

“Wow, Dad. There was nothing about that sentence that wasn’t horrible or filled with vaguely racist and/or prejudiced views about an array of people.”

“Dear, Cam has done what he has done for whatever reason,” my mom said, her voice light but with an underlying false sincerity that grated on my nerves. “And now he must endure the consequences.” She swirled her wineglass. “Cam, since you have disobeyed your father and me regarding this clairvoyant matter and gone forward with no regard for our wishes, you have put us in a position where we will now have to acknowledge that we have a son who is…” She paused, as if searching for a word, and finally settled on, “Different.”

Tears stung behind my eyes. “Seriously? That’s what you’re worried about? You can say ‘clairvoyant’ or ‘psychic’ or even ‘paranormal.’ They’re not bad words.”

She pursed her lips. “Fine. Psychic. Your father and I will work to educate ourselves. Does this mean you’ll receive more… gifts?”

“Probably. If you actually watched the videos, then you’d know that what I can do is a highly valued skill. All the local factions will want to talk to me.”

My dad frowned. My mother shivered and took another gulp of her wine.

“We can deal with this,” she said, locking gazes with my father over the fake flowers in the center of the table. “We will.”

My father nodded. “Fine.”

He pointed his fork at me. “If there are going to be any more videos, could you at least warn us before they post? I hate that my coworkers know more about you than I do.”

I bit back the retort on the tip of my tongue about how he could simply ask me about my life instead of relying on his coworkers, but I didn’t want to stir the pot more. Especially since my mom seemed weirdly okay about things. Not happy, by any means, but not ready to kick me out of the house yet.

Silence descended around the dinner table, and after I’d cleared my plate, I asked to be excused.

They acquiesced, and I disappeared upstairs.

I grabbed my phone and stared down at the screen. I had a message from Gemma that I ignored for the moment. Without conscious thought, I opened my contacts and flicked to Aiden and the last messages he’d sent me.

My last text to him had been undeliverable, but that didn’t stop me from trying again.

Have you seen the videos? Pretty cool, right?

I hit send, not expecting anything, and switched to the message from Gemma. It was a series of links about werewolves and their family structures and everything I would need to know to not make a jerk of myself at the Lopez house the following day.

I tossed my phone on my bed and then changed into my pajamas. After washing my face, I crawled into the sheets and settled in, propped on my pillows, ready for a long night of learning.