it.â
âI guess.â
âAnd the last vision I had before this one was the one with Mom and that man,â I went on. âIt wasnât nearly as vivid as the Bianca one. And I know itâs not going to happen anytime soon since I saw Christmas decorations.â I smiled, pleased with my own logic. Maybe weâd figure out this Sight thing yet!
âI guess. Only weâve never noticed a difference like that before.â Cassieâs eyes shifted down from my face, then suddenly went sharp and thoughtful. âWait, were you wearing the necklace today? When you had your Bianca vision?â
âYeah.â I touched the pendant. Then I gasped.âOh my gosh! Were you wearing it when you had your stronger visions, too?â
Cassie nodded. âAnd it came from our grandmother,â she said. âMaybe itâs some kind of amulet or talisman.â She blinked. âWhatâs the difference between those, anyway?â
âNever mind that.â I was pondering her theory. It definitely made senseâat least as much sense as any of this did. âI bet youâre right. The pendant might be adding extra power to our visions or something like that.â I shuddered and pulled it over my head. âIf youâre right, I donât think I want to wear it. My visions are strong enough without any help.â
âSame here. We can hide it in my jewelry boxâMom never looks in there.â Cassie grabbed the necklace. âBut this is good news, right? It means we might have more time than you thought to figure out how to help Bianca.â
âYeah.â I shuddered again, flashing back to my vision. âI hope so.â
10
CASSIE
ON TUESDAY AT lunch, I couldnât help glancing across the caf at Caitlynâs table every five seconds or so. As usual, she was sitting with Liam and Bianca. Liam and Cait were chatting, while Bianca had her face buried in a book. No wonder the girl was so skinnyâshe seemed to care more about reading than anything else, even eating.
Not that I blamed her. It was chicken potpie day. Totally gross.
âCassie? What do you think?â Lavenderâs sharpvoice broke into my thoughts. âAre you even listening?â
I blinked at her. âSorry, what?â
Lav looked impatient. âI said, should we try to find a band to play at your party? My uncleâs a musicianâhe might know someone.â
âI still think a DJ is better,â minion Emily said. âThat way we can request our favorite songs and stuff.â
âBoth sound cool to me,â Megan put in. âOr we could just do a playlist on one of our phones or somethingâthen we could pick exactly what we want to hear. What do you think, Cass?â
âOh.â I shrugged. âI donât know. Isnât it going to be hard to find a band this close to the party?â
Megan and the others nodded. âDJ it is,â minion Abby said, looking happy.
âOr playlist,â minion Emily put in.
Lavender leaned across the table. âWhatâs with you today, Cassie? Itâs like youâre not even interested in planning your own party.â She grabbed my shoulders and shook me. âSnap out of it already!â
I didnât answer. I couldnât. Because as soon as her hand touched me, I was plunged into another vision.
Real Lavender faded away. Overlaid on top of her was a brighter version of Lavender, this one dressed in a cute polka-dotted two-piece swimsuit. There was a gorgeous pool in the background; I was pretty sure I saw a slide and a waterfall and some really nice deck chairs, though the details were a little hard to see.
Then I saw Lavenderâs face, which was streaked with tears. She was sobbing, collapsed against Abby, who was hugging her while Emily patted her back. Behind them, I could barely see Megan standing a few feet away. She was crying, too, standing there with her arms wrapped