Free WeavingDestinyebook by G. P. Ching Page B

just handed me a bell, held my hand, and told me to use it. I lived three years with him. A Watcher killed him during a mission last year. It was just the two of us. We killed it first but...I couldn't save him. That's when I moved to Chicago."
    "What about your parents? Didn't they come looking for you?"
    "I don't even think they noticed I was gone."
    "Mara, I'm glad you told me but there's something I've gotta know."
    "What?"
    "Why in the world would you want to remember that? I mean, the SpongeBob pajamas part."
    "Because it taught me the power of my gift. I can stop time, Jacob. If I wanted to, I could walk into a bank, and take all the money out of the open drawers. I could move someone I didn't like in front of a bus. I wear the SpongeBob pajamas so that I remember how it felt to watch someone I thought I wanted dead plunge a knife into her chest. I didn't like it, Jacob. SpongeBob reminds me to live by the rules even though I don't have to."
    She brushed the hot pink streak back from her eyes. For a moment, Jacob was speechless, mulling over Mara's profound history. When it was clear the silence was making her uncomfortable, he searched for something to say.
    "You could've just kept the kitchen knife."
    Mara squinted her eyes in his direction. "What?"
    "Instead of buying the pajamas, you could've bought a kitchen knife."
    "Do you have a problem with the pineapple under the sea, Lau."
    "In fact I do. I think it's like crack for third graders."
    "Nice."
    In the quiet that followed, they both tried to squelch a wave of giggles. "You called SpongeBob crack," Mara said, laughing.
    Jacob stood. "Well, I'm going to try to get some sleep."
    "Okay. See you in the morning," she said. "Oh, and Jacob?"
    "Yeah."
    "I'm sure everything will be alright with Malini. She'll understand."
    "I hope you're right."
    He climbed the staircase, hoping he could be a friend to Mara. After all she'd been through, she needed one.

Chapter 10
    Planning Committee
     
    Malini tossed her orange tray down across from Jacob and Dane. At some point during the school year, they'd migrated to Dane's table with Amy Barger and Phillip Westcott. When Amy broke up with Dane, she defected to Jacob and Malini's old table with her girlfriends. Phillip, who had never fully accepted the Dane-Jacob friendship, remained at the table but he and Mike perched on the end with a full two-person gap between his section and theirs. It was pretty clear that there was still a line in the sand. Dane was just on the other side of it.
    "Good news, Jacob. I think my dad is ready to break the un-grounding me. At breakfast, I mentioned studying together this week and he didn't freak out," Malini said.
    "So, he said yes?"
    "Not exactly. He sort of tilted his head to the side. But it wasn't a no." She grinned, taking a bite of her salad.
    "How was Springfield?"
    "Good actually. My Dad and I hardly fought at all."
    "Cool."
    "By the way, thank you for coming by Saturday night."
    "You're welcome," Dane and Jacob said together.
    Malini looked back and forth between the two of them. "I meant Jacob, Dane."
     "Oh," Dane said. "Sorry… I thought, because I was there and you were still grounded…"
    "I came by anyway," Jacob said, curtly. "Later." He gave Dane some seriously hostile eye contact.
    "Will you guys chill? Please?" Malini asked. "Can you come by again, tonight, Jake?" Malini asked.
    "I don't think I can," Jacob said. "Something happened Saturday night. Something I need to tell you about."
    Malini leaned forward just as Dane did until she realized Phillip had stopped eating and was watching them suspiciously.
    "Maybe there's a better place for this conversation," Malini whispered, tilting her head in Phillip's direction.
    Jacob became interested in his meatloaf. Dane shifted in his seat. The instant quiet was as cagey as the huddling. Thankfully, Dane came up with alternative conversation.
    "Have you guys thought about prom?" he asked, louder than necessary.
    "Do we need to think