noticed a slight movement behind me. Glancing back, I saw that Gabe had just leaned forward again. He was watching me with a curious little gleam in his eye. I forceda shaky smile, but he just raised an eyebrow and then turned away.
CASSIE DIDNâT WAIT for me after school, leaving me to walk home alone. When I entered the house, she was on the sofa flipping through a magazine.
âHi,â I said tentatively. âIs Mom home?â
âNope,â she replied without looking up. âSheâs working this afternoon. She told us at breakfast.â
I nodded. Breakfast had been a brief, mostly silent meal, but now that she mentioned it, I did recall Mom going over her work schedule for the week.
âListen, Cassie,â I said. âIâm sorry I was short with you last night. Can we stop fighting already? Please?â
She finally looked at me and shrugged. âYeah, that would be good. Iâm sorry, too. You know, for letting my friends take over the party or whatever. I promise you can help us plan it and stuff. I also promise that everyone will have a great time, including your dorâuh, your friends.â She grinned. âEven if I have to tie Lavâs mouth shut to make it happen.â
I smiled with relief. She seemed clueless aboutwhy Iâd been so annoyed with her yesterday, but at least sheâd apologized for the other stuff. And yesterday suddenly didnât seem so important.
âGood,â I said. âLetâs both agree to stop getting mad over stupid stuff, okay? Because we really need to work together right now. On a lot of stuff.â
âSing it, sister.â She tossed her magazine aside and stretched. âCan you believe Mom sent our package back?â
She had a point, but I didnât want to get sidetracked by another rant about Mom right now. âWait, I have a question,â I said quickly. âWhat exactly did you see in that vision the other day? The one about Bianca.â
âNot much,â she said. âIt was pretty short. All I saw was her rushing past the hospital sign, heading for the door.â
âAnd she looked upset?â
âVery.â She nodded. âLike she was totally freaked out, actually.â
âOh.â I sank onto the sofa next to her. âBecause I had a vision about Bianca and the hospital today,too.â I described what Iâd seen.
âWow,â she said. âObviously someone she knows is going to end up in the hospital, right?â
âSeems like it.â I bit my lip. âAnd itâs got to be someone she cares about a lot for her to be that upset. So what are we going to do about it?â
âYou mean you want to try to change it? Stop it from happening?â
âOf course!â I said. âWhat if itâs some kind of accident or something? Thatâs totally the kind of thing we could stop, right?â
âI guess.â She didnât sound too convinced.
âWe have to try,â I told her firmly. âEspecially since Iâm afraid whatever it is might happen soon.â
âWhy do you think that?â
âBecause my vision was superstrong this time.â
Cassie tilted her head. âWait,â she said. âIt doesnât work that way, does it? I mean, my visions have been getting stronger all along, but itâs been kind of gradual. At least until recently.â
âMe, too,â I agreed. âBut this Bianca one was extra vivid.â
âMine was, too.â She was chewing her lower lip now, the way she always did when she was thinking hard. âSo was the one I had about Megan and the dog, though. And that was days ago already.â
âHow do you know that one hasnât happened yet, though?â I said. âIt just showed Megan at home playing with a dog, right? Thereâs no reason youâd even know when something like that happened. It could have come true the same day you saw