Free Double Vision by Tia Mowry Page A

from top to bottom.
    Mom could force me to sit down for dinner. She could even force me to live here in Aura.
    But she couldn’t force me to like it.
    THAT NIGHT I tossed and turned long after Cait had fallen asleep, trying to figure out what to do. My mind skittered around like a nervous cat, unable to settle on any solution to the problem my life had become, any plan to get me out of here.
    But somewhere around midnight I finally had to admit it—I was stuck. I wouldn’t be back home for my birthday after all. Or for Thanksgiving, or even Christmas. Mom had made up her mind, andshe could be even more stubborn than I was. Which meant I was going to be forced to stay here.
    The thought made me want to cry. But no. I wasn’t going to let Aura beat me. If this was my life now, I’d just have to figure out how to make it work.
    At that moment Cait let out a soft groan and turned over. I glanced across the tiny room, squinting in the dim light leaking in from the streetlamps. If only my sister hadn’t made such a mess of things by getting herself on the outs with the in crowd before we had even unpacked one box. Because as obnoxious as Lavender could be, she was undeniably popular. And Megan and the others actually seemed pretty cool in most ways—you know, other than the making-my-life-miserable part. And that wasn’t so much their fault as Cait’s, right? I mean, I probably would have acted the same way toward a new kid who did something so freaky right off the bat.
    I lay back and stared up at the shadows dancing on the ceiling. There had to be a way to restore my social status. That would make life in Aura a little better. I’d have cool friends again; I wouldn’t haveto watch my back every second of the day; maybe I’d even be able to get to know Brayden better. . . .
    Brayden. That was the silver lining to all this, right?
    And thinking about Brayden made me think about something else. Could I really have stopped him from breaking his leg if I’d figured out my vision in time? Cait seemed to think we could use our visions to change the future, to make things better.
    And what would be better than using this power to become popular?

10
CAITLYN
    â€œWANT TO PLAY a game?” Liam asked as we walked into the school library for study hall Tuesday afternoon. He grinned, flicking his hair off his forehead. “I know how to unblock games on the school computers.”
    â€œCan’t,” Bianca said. “I need to do research for my social studies project.” She wandered off toward the stacks without waiting for a response.
    â€œCaitlyn? How about you?” Liam looked at me hopefully.
    I didn’t answer. Gabe had just stalked into the library. He glanced around, his cold eyes settling on me. I swallowed hard as he headed our way.
    â€œHey,” he said, his voice gruff. “You live in that junky little place on Granite Street, right?”
    â€œWhy are you asking?” I said cautiously.
    His eyes narrowed. “Just making conversation,” he snapped. “Anyway, you don’t have to answer. I have ways of finding stuff out, okay? My family’s lived in this town forever. We belong here, and it doesn’t pay to cross us. Don’t forget that.”
    He spun on his boot heel and hurried off. I watched him go, feeling troubled. With everything else that had been going on, I’d almost forgotten about Gabe’s weird comments that first day.
    â€œI still don’t know why he thinks my mom stole his uncle’s job,” I said to Liam. “I want to ask Mom, but Cassie’s been giving her fits lately, and, well, I kind of don’t want to get into it.”
    â€œYeah,” Liam said sympathetically. “All I know is his uncle was a cop for years. But he retired a couple of months ago.”
    â€œSo he’s old?”
    â€œNot really. He’s younger than my parents, I think.”
    â€œWhy’d he