Wow. So you came to read the second part. You can put up with Mel? Cool. Anyway, Mel and a few others are of my own weird brain power, and the others, you know who they are so I hopefully don't have to name them one by one, are from K.A. Applegate's great brain power.
Oh yeah. Since you're brave enough to put up with Mel, please be brave enough to read this and then leave a review. What can I say? I love reading reviews. Even bad and boring ones!
Guess what! I made a sequel. "A Lesson Learned." It ain't too bad, neither.
Chapter 4
So far, I'd managed to make it through the day. Helping Seth had been the least of my problems. Everybody had given me weird looks, and I'd passed Brandy on the way. She'd been in the middle of saying something and had seen me. She'd stared right at me and said, "That's her."
I'd seen signs for the club everywhere. The Sharing. Every time, I got the creeps, except each time, they were less and less. Or at least seemed that way. But I knew The Sharing wasn't getting better; I was just getting used to it.
By lunch, though, I'd had about as much as I could take. All of the kids in my classes had started looking at me with a weird look. It was a cross between awe and fear. But I knew that deep down, there was fear and disbelief.
Mrs. Homesly even noticed. She seemed to think... I don't know what she was thinking. Whenever I tried to get through to her, I began to feel this thing I'd never felt before. It was like a wall.
I tried to leave for lunch, but Mrs. Homesly called to me at the door. "Mel, I heard a rumor."
I knew it was coming. Not really knew, but I dreaded it all the same. "What about them?"
"Well, a few of the kids seem to think that you're a witch."
I offered a small smile. I'd imagined what to do in this situation that I had planned every move. Next, I tried to make it look as if I were trying not to laugh. "I'm not a witch. Witches don't exist. Everybody know that."
I walked out of the room, prepared to release a huge breath of air that I'd been holding on to. As soon as I walked out, though, I saw Cassie. "Hey," I said, settling for pushing my bangs out of my face instead of sighing.
"Hey," Cassie came towards me, smiling. "Um, I was wondering if you'd sit with me and my friends at lunch."
That made me raise my eyebrows. After the rumor that I was a witch, she was actually going to let me eat lunch with her and other people? Her friends? Actually, she was going so far as to invite me. But I reminded myself that there was a reason for everything. And I'll bet she had a reason, too.
"Uh, yeah. Sure. I guess. Uh, I'll... meet you there."
Cassie smiled and walked off. She wouldn't lie to me, I knew that, but there was some other sort of reason that I couldn't get to. As if she were trying to cover it up.
I shook my head and ran to the cafeteria.
As soon as I got there, I could tell that Matt saw me. I waited in line, trying not to notice all the kids trying to move away from me and trying to act like one of them.
No such luck.
He looked up as I got to his section. "I need to talk to you."
"Uh, I can't. I , uh, really need to-"
He suddenly appeared on my side of the counter and grabbed my wrist. He pulled me through the kitchen and out the door. His mom looked at us as if she were ticked off with him, but she didn't say anything.
Matt pulled me over to the curb and pulled me down. We sat there for a few minutes.
Finally, he said, "So you're a witch."
I shook my head and choked two times before I managed to say, "No, I'm not."
"Give me a break. I saw what you did I was there this morning. I saw you push her back without touching her. And I saw you talking to that bird. I don't want to believe it, but you are."
"No, I am not." I said firmly. He must have been there before. That unfamiliar feeling must have covered up his feelings. Great.
He looked at me. He didn't believe me.
"You want to know the truth? Is that what it will take for you to believe me? I'm not a witch. I can't cast spells or put curses on people, but I know things."
"What kind of things?"
"Well, uh. Things. I can kind of sense things, I guess. Sometimes see things."
"Like what? Visions or something?"
"I guess." I thought. What would possibly convince him? "Remember that time you and your friends went to McDonald's, and one of your friends was trying to play a prank on you?"
"Yeah."
I waited. I wasn't waiting for him to answer; I knew he wouldn't. I was using the time so he could think about it a bit. "What happened?" I asked.
He was silent, but I knew he'd answer. "John was trying to break in through my window. He was going to put a dead cat on my bed."
"And I caught him on the way out. He was also taking your stuff. He was planning to keep al of those CDs."
Matt nodded. "Is that how you knew? Your little powers?"
I shook my head. "They aren't little. Ever since I came here this week, they've been going out of control."
"Meaning?"
"They're getting stronger. Dreams that are coming true. I can tell you what your mom is doing right now. Want me to tell you what she's thinking?" I didn't know if I could actually do that or not, but why not? I might, and it would be fun...
He looked at me. "I think," he started, "that-" he paused, trying to think of how he could say it.
"You think that I should stay away from you even though I haven't done anything wrong."
"Brandy," he reminded me.
"Oh, please. Brandy's a racist freak. I was trying to get her to leave my friends alone."
"By pushing her back?"
"She fell. Excuse me for scaring people when I get mad. And I'm sorry that Brandy gets scared so easily."
Matt stood up, still not saying anything. I jumped up. "Fine! I'm leaving. Why don't you go back into the kitchen and scrub the floor or something!?" I stormed back into the building.
I looked around and saw where Cassie was waiting with her friends. I went over and threw my few bags of chips and a can of Coke on the table. "Hi, Jake. Rachel. Tobias. Marco. Ax. Hey, Cassie."
"Hey." She didn't want to be here. I think I had just gotten her into trouble.
"What?" I asked. I sat down.
Jake, the boy next to Cassie, looked at her. "You told her about us? I thought-"
"She didn't tell me about you," I said, trying to stand up for her. I was ready to stand up if I had to and punch this Jake guy out.
"Then how did you know?" he countered.
I saw Tobias give a slight jerk and Jake jump a little. Tobias had kicked him under the table.
"Don't kick him!" I hissed.
"How did you know?" Jake repeated.
"How do you think?" I spat back. I gave a little jump in my chair and rolled my eyes, glaring at him. "Listen, today is not the day to tick me off."
Marco muttered, "Looks like that's already happened."
"Your sense of humor is not appreciated," I told him curtly. "Just pass the salt." I didn't need it, but it might have been a conversation starter. More than I had bargained for, actually.
Marco picked it up and handed it to me. I took it. My hand brushed his. Suddenly, I saw flashes. I felt- well, I felt his memories, his feelings. In an instant, I came to know more about him than he knew about himself.
I jerked my hand back.
"What is it?" Cassie asked.
I swallowed. "It's gotten worse." I shoved my chair back and jumped up. I started to walk out of the cafeteria.
Matt saw me and looked away. Brandy saw me, grinned, and waved.
I thought about it ever so briefly and went up to her. After all, she thought I was a witch, right? "Brandy?"
She stopped sipping her Coke through her straw and looked at me. Her shock that I was actually taking the initiative took the fear away momentarily. Her friends looked up at me expectantly.
Now where to start. Hey, that's an idea...
"Did you know that Brandy is a witch's name?" I asked. "I was thinking that maybe your mom named you that for a reason and maybe you're blaming me for everything just so no one suspects you."
She laughed uneasily and looked at her friends. They looked back with small grins. Whatever I had said was making some sort of effect on them. "What are you talking about? Brandy laughed. "I'm not a witch. You are."
"Sure. You say that, but how are we to know? You aren't that smart, or you would be better off here. You would have been at this thing before. Maybe you have troubles at home because of it. Either one of those would make you take up something like witchcraft, to feel smart or special. And then you come here and something goes wrong. You don't want people to know you're a freak, so you blame me. Why not? After all, you are a racist-" a few kids looked at Brandy, shocked. She grinned back uneasily. "And I am against all that. This would be the perfect way to make me look bad. No one would even listen to me. But I think you made a mistake."
"And what would that be?"
I grinned. She'd asked out of pure curiosity, but it had incriminated her.
"You know full well what it was." I walked away.
Finally, I found a nice spot outside. No one was around, and I doubted anyone would stand a chance of finding me unless they were looking incredibly hard. I sat down.
Had I meant what I'd told Matt? Could I really do that? I'd told Matt that I could see what his mom was doing and thinking. I hadn't meant to say it. The words had simply jumped out of my mouth. But when I had touched Marco, his entire life flashed before my eyes like a movie without popcorn and coke in a matter of mere seconds. I had definitely gotten stronger since I had come here and met these people. Maybe I could...
First. What was Matt doing? Had he meant everything he'd said?
I closed my eyes and concentrated on Matt. Suddenly, I saw the cafeteria as if I were in it. Matt was behind the counter, scooping out slop to some kid. I saw Brandy approach him. "Hi," she said.
Meanwhile, I was thinking, Oh, no. Don't you even dare.
Matt looked up. "Hi."
Brandy ran her fingers through her hair. "So how's the food here?"
Matt grinned. "I recommend bringing your own from home." His mother cleared her throat loudly.
What are you thinking! I shouted at him. She's evil! Get away from her!
But all he was thinking about was me. Not in a sweet way, either. He thought I was nice, but he was trying to think of reasons why I was acting so strangely. He was wondering if I was safe to be around. And now he had seen Brandy. She was flirting with him, but he was too busy thinking about how to deal with me to notice. He was too blind to realize that she was flirting with him.
"So, I was wondering. Do you know, um, Mel?"
That put Matt on his guard. "Yeah. Why?"
"Don't you just hate her? I mean, she so... weird. And she's such a goody-two-shoes. Doesn't that just disgust you?"
"Not really."
Good go, Matt, I cheered him silently.
"So how do you know her?"
"We're neighbors."
"Wow. I go to school with her. You know,-"
I felt something hit my arm. Hard. I fell on the ground and kept myself from busting my skull open by using my hands.
"Geez, you okay?" I looked up. It was Rachel.
"Yeah." I sniffled and felt something crawling down my cheek. I brushed at it. It felt wet. I pulled my fingers away and looked at them. I'd been crying. I stared at my fingers and then wiped the other cheek. That one was wet also. I scrubbed at my cheeks to try and dry them off.
"You've been crying for the past ten minutes," Marco told me. "We couldn't figure out how to get you out of it."
I looked at him, expressionless. I was getting stronger. I knew everything about him. How long would this last? Would it? And why was this happening now?
And now I knew who the enemy was. "I think I might have an idea."
Jake and Cassie were off somewhere else. No doubt Jake was giving Cassie some sort of lecture, judging from what Marco knew. Since the leader wasn't there, Tobias was taking over. He was the only one who considered what he did before he did it. Tobias, who didn't usually show his emotion, raised his eyebrows. "Really?"
I nodded and took a deep breath. "You're fighting the Yeerks, and I think I know how to find out their plans."
"How?"
I bit my lip. "Marco. Remember when you passed me that salt shaker and I hit your hand by accident?" He nodded. "Well, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to, but I- I don't know. But now I know everything you know; I felt everything you feel."
He stood up straighter. "Impossible."
"Is it? The Ellimist is impossible. The Crayak. And besides, look at us. I don't think either of us has the right to tell the other what is and isn't possible."
"What's the plan?" Tobias interjected.
"If I can do that again- find out everything about a person just by touching them, then I can possibly find out whatever information you need."
"What about anything one of us might want?" Marco asked. "Because there's this girl at school-"
"Trust me. The answer's no."
Marco crossed his arms, but he didn't look greatly disappointed.
"Can you see the future too?" Rachel asked.
"Sometimes," I confessed. "It's been happening a lot more ever since I met you guys. Or at least Cassie. And I've gotten stronger. I can read people's minds. I can see things that I can't possibly see. I don't even know what else I can do, but I can help."
"Why were you crying?" Rachel asked.
I grinned sheepishly. "Boy troubles."
She nodded as if she understood.
"We'll tell Jake and let him decide." Tobias looked around. "Can you take care of yourself?"
I laughed. "If they decided to have a witch hunt, then I'll call you."
Chapter 5
I went back into the classroom. Mrs. Homesly was already there. "Hello, Melanie. How are you doing?"
I grinned. "Good."
"Great. I think we should give a quiz with this class. Tell them that they need to study."
"All right."
"Here are the quizzes." She held them out to me, and I took them from her, deliberately touching her hand. It worked. I knew everything.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
I shook my head. "I'm fine, but I feel a bit dizzy. That's all."
Mrs. Homesly looked concerned. "Do you need some air?"
I nodded. "I'll go outside after I pass these out." I passed them out hurriedly and then stumbled outside. It hadn't just been her, it had been the thing inside her. It, the Yeerk, was torturing her. It was pushing her as far as she could go, farther. She was a slave to that thing. Oh, yeah. Name: Talson 946.
I stumbled along and practically collapsed on the stairs. "You okay?" Cassie asked.
I nodded. "It worked. I touched Mrs. Homesly's hand. I saw the- that thing inside her, too."
"Let me guess. It wasn't part of the Yeerk Peace Movement?"
I laughed. "Definitely not."
"So what are they going to do?"
I took a deep breath. "What day is it?"
"Tuesday."
"Only Tuesday? Geez."
"Surprising, isn't it?"
She was trying to be understanding, but I could tell that she really wanted to get on with it. I decided I'd tell her. "This Friday, whoever hasn't joined the Sharing, they'll be taken by force."
"By force?" she asked slowly.
"There's an entrance somewhere. She doesn't know where it is. On Friday, all of the classes are going to be taken out of class with some sort of excuse. They're going to be led to the entrance. And then they'll be infested."
"Why wait until Friday? Oh, yeah. I forgot."
I nodded. "They want voluntary hosts. Easier to manage."
"So what do we do?"
I shrugged. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm going down there as if I don't know what's happening."
"You can't go down alone."
I nodded thoughtfully. "Look at all I've done. How strong I've gotten. I may have pushed someone back with my mind. Can you imagine how much information I could find out while I'm down there? I already know parts of the layout."
"Yeah, but-"
"Look, I don't care if you guys come or not, that's all I'm saying. I'm going in there. I'm involved now. I have a weapon, too. Maybe it isn't as great as yours, but it's harder to detect. It might even be stronger in the long run."
"We're going with you." She paused as I sighed in relief. I hadn't wanted to go alone. Not really, anyway. "Jake's going to read you the riot act over this."
I grinned. "I know."
"So what do we do till then?"
"Ideas would be helpful, but I don't have any. The only thing I can think of is simply wait."
"Wait."
"Yep. Wait. Oh, but hey. I have something to do."
"Which is?" she asked slowly.
"You know how Brandy accused me of being a witch?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm going to be spreading around the rumor that she only said that to cover up for herself."
"Why are you doing that?"
"To make everyone think that she'd the witch and not me. It'll help in the long run."
"How so?"
I grinned. "I don't know. Everything done is for a purpose, though. I didn't even need the salt Marco gave me. But look what that did."
She nodded.
"What class do you have next?"
"History."
I made a face. "Prince Toad's realm."
"What?"
"Sorry. You know the boy who helps out in that class? We call him the Prince Toad. He's smart, I'll grant him that, but when he was younger, he wasn't really that good at anything but entertainment. He used to do this toad impersonation where he'd wear a crown and go up to girls, ribbit, and say that if they kissed him, he'd turn into a handsome prince. I guess the name stuck."
Cassie left, saying, "Off to Prince Toad's realm, then. See you later."
"Yeah. Same here."
I got up, and we both went to our buildings.
There were already some kids in the classroom. I went straight up to a boy named Paul. "Hey."
He looked uneasy. But then he realized the first rule: Never tick off a witch. So he said "Hey" in return.
"You're in Brandy's class, right? The math class?" Of course, I knew everyone took math, but Brandy taught the better math kids, just as I taught the ones who were better at English.
He nodded.
"I just wanted to tell you to watch yourself around her. You know how she accused me of being a witch?"
He nodded again.
"It's a cover."
"What?"
"She's accusing me to cover up for herself. She's the witch, but she's saying that I'm the witch to cover up for herself."
"You're kidding, right?"
"Of course I'm not kidding."
"So she's the witch? Not you?"
"Exactly." What was it with people? They were so easy to convince!
And so it progressed. I warned each person one on one. The word got around. Cassie smiled at me after school and told me that she'd heard about Brandy being a witch in her computer class, the class she had right after History. A bunch of other kids told me what Brandy really was as if I didn't know.
After a while, I saw Brandy. Jordan was, like, with her. You know?
"Hey, guys. Have you heard the latest news?"
"What did you do?" she spat at me.
"I didn't do anything, Brandy. You brought this on yourself." I'd said that a little more loudly than I had meant. A few kids chimed in with agreements.
Brandy walked away, muttering something about witchcraft.
"Jordan?" I called.
"Like, what is it, Mel?" She was definitely ticked off with me.
Well, one step further couldn't be too bad. "Did I, like, you know, say the wrong thing?"
She turned and stormed off. I walked home, realizing that I felt a lot better.
Chapter 6
Friday came. I knew the others were nervous, but when I had touched Marco, I guess I'd gotten used to that way of life, too. I didn't really see what the deal was, though. I was the one who had to get all the information. They were the ones who had all the experience. I tried not to touch Cassie when I helped her with her work. I think she understood that I didn't want to feel the nervousness she felt.
Mrs. Homesly called me over to her desk as soon as I got into the room.
"Yes ma'am?"
"Mel, in third period, Principal Chapman is taking all of the children out for a discussion."
I felt the hair on the back of my neck start to rise. Principal Chapman was known as vice-principal Chapman to Marco and the others, but he was in charge of everything here.
"What about?"
"I'm not sure. I believe it's about health discussions and what to do in case of emergencies, that kind of stuff."
"Where?"
"I'm not sure."
I nodded. "Okay. Any quizzes today?"
She shook her head. "No, but we have some worksheets. Want to put them on the desks for me?"
I took them and brushed her hand. She truly didn't know. The Yeerks were getting smarter. They weren't even letting the people involved in the plan know the full plan.
Cassie was in second period. I could tell her and maybe she'd get the word to the others.
I waited impatiently. Finally, Cassie walked in, only after all the rest of the class had come. I passed out the worksheets, but couldn't find the time to talk to her. I waited impatiently again. There was break after this class. If I couldn't talk to Cassie before then, it would cut our time to find and talk to the others shorter than it already was.
By now, I was really impatient. I hadn't been able to remember my dreams since Tuesday. I knew why, too. The dreams must have been so awful that I covered them up unconsciously instead of coming face-to-face with them. Not that I cared. All I had to do was trust my instincts. After all, they were getting better by the second.
Finally, it was time for break. I jumped out of my seat and ran to Cassie. I helped her pack up while everyone else filed out.
"It's going to happen in third period," I whispered to her.
"What?"
"It's going to happen in third period," I repeated. "Principal Chapman is going to call everyone to some sort of assembly. That's when it's going to happen."
"When exactly?"
"I don't know. They're getting smart. They won't even tell the people involved the entire thing."
Cassie licked her lips. "Great. Just great."
"You get the others. You can go faster; you'll know where to look, and you have something I don't have."
She looked at me understandably. Then the look in her eyes changed. "What about you?"
"I'll stay here. Maybe I'll even hold it off if I can. Just get the others and hurry."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure. Go. Hurry."
She nodded and went to find a place to morph.
Brandy appeared from around the corner. For once, Jordan wasn't with her. "And what were you two doing?" she asked innocently.
Now isn't the time, I told myself crossly. Just get her out of the way and find some way to hold everything off. "What?"
How much did she know, though? I needed to know that before anything else.
"The two of you. A witch, and a-" she hesitated and then went on, knowing what I'd do if she said anything wrong. "Well, back to the point. Are you scared of Principal Chapman?"
I stared at her. "Are you scared of me?" I retorted.
She repeated her question, which told me that she was definitely afraid of me.
"The truth?"
Brandy nodded.
"No. I'm not afraid of Principal Chapman. I'm not afraid of you, either."
"You should be."
"Yeah, right." I walked past her.
I walked down the hall and went outside. What was the best way to keep everyone from the assembly? I went to the cafeteria. The assembly would happen in third period. When in third period? Maybe the others would come before everyone was called. But what if they didn't? I'd need a plan. Marco. That's it. I practically was Marco. I could use everything he knew to come up with a plan. What, though? I was good at English. Not at coming up with last-minute plans.
I paused in just enough time to keep from the habit of walking into the kitchen. If I went in there, Matt would be there. It would be discomforting to both of us, so why bother?
I leaned against the wall and jumped back up. My back! I looked at the wall, rubbing the sore spot on my back. Huh. A fire alarm. Clear the building. No one can get inside until they find out what's going on and/or who pulled the alarm and why. People would refuse to go in. It would cause a lot of trouble. Enough to delay them long enough for the guys to get here?
Possibly.
I reached out to pull it and stopped. They'd gotten smarter, true. But had they gotten smart enough to check for fingerprints? No use risking it. The others would pitch a fit if I got caught. They thought I was some sort of great tool. Great for whatever side I was on, as a matter of fact. Plus, if I got caught, they got caught.
I thought about it and took a paper napkin from nearby. I used it to pull the alarm.
Immediately, a loud sound pierced the air, threatening to make my ears bleed. I let the crowd of kids running out of the cafeteria carry me along. When I ended up outside, I realized that the ringing of that despicable bell wasn't going to hurt me out here. I went through the crowd of kids who were talking about where to go now. It occurred to me that if we really had happened to have a real fire, we would have been in a lot of trouble.
I went to the next building and found the bell. This time I braced myself before ringing it. After I'd done that, I ran out the back and did the same at the next building. There were ten buildings in all that were being used for the summer school. I'd done three. Seven left. Everything was going well until I reached the last one.
I reached the hall and by now had a good idea of where to find the alarm. So far, everything had gone well. No one had seen me. No one had even looked my way.
I was about to ring the bell when I heard something. I paused with my fingers waiting on the button, trying to see if I could hear the sound again.
"I said LET ME GO!"
I hesitated. It sounded like Brandy. The last building I'd seen her in was the English building. I looked around. I hadn't even realized it, but I had gone around in a complete circle.
"Are you deaf or something? I SAID LET ME GO!"
Brandy. No doubt she'd gotten in trouble. The question was, with who? And where?
The mind trick, I told myself. I closed my eyes and thought of Brandy. Suddenly, I saw her. She was on the second floor, being dragged by someone. I couldn't tell who it was. Did it matter? The important thing was to follow her. As long as I kept up with her, maybe I could help.
I took off for the stairs. I reached the landing and opened my mind to Brandy again. I didn't want to know what she was thinking. She was either panicked or angry, and neither one of those would help my finding her.
Why did I want to find her, anyway? After all she'd done, I was still going to help her? Well, deep down- really, really, far- really far, deep, deep down, she must be human. At least the slightest bit. Way down there somewhere.
She was entering the last classroom on the left. That was my classroom!
I sprinted towards it. By now, I didn't need whatever power I had to find Brandy. I could hear her loud and clear. "Listen, LET GO OF ME! Now, too, or I will call my lawyer so fast you'll be-" Then her voice became muffled. I turned into the room in time to see one of the outside walls without a window slide shut.
"You have got to be kidding me," I muttered. Marco had encountered things like this before, but in a classroom? I shook my head and walked towards the wall. I had no clue what I was doing, but I had a slight idea. I took my hand and ran it over the wall. When my hand moved over a picture, it started to get warm and stung a bit. I pressed my hand down on the painting and pushed down. The wall slid open.
Welcome to the Yeerk pool.