PART TWO
Declan stood outside the door of Professor Waldau's quantum mechanics class just before midday the next morning. Nearly fifty students passed him before he caught a glimpse of Miranda, carrying a pile of textbooks and spiral notepads.
"You ready?" he asked, jangling the keys to his beat-up truck? Miranda just nodded and followed him down the hallway.
Nearly fifteen minutes later, they stood in the doorway of Jo's Diner, looking around awkwardly.
"Well Declan, is she here or not?"
"I dunno…wait, I think that's her over there." He squinted through his glasses. "Yeah, it's her." He grabbed Miranda's arm and dragged her over to the table where Claudia was sitting.
"Claudia?" he asked, as he approached her. She was a slight, wispy girl who didn't look a day over eighteen, with short light brown hair and grey eyes. Sensing him approach, she looked up and gave a small smile.
"I'm Declan, we spoke last night," he continued. "And this is my assistant, Miranda."
Claudia nodded. "Nice to meet you."
"May we?" Declan asked, gesturing towards the empty chairs.
"Sure."
He pulled out a seat for Miranda, who gave him a strange look, then sat down beside her. "So Claudia," he began. "How long have you been able to, you know…"
"A few years." she replied. "But no one knew until recently. It was just my sister at first, but I ended up telling my parents a few months ago. They didn't believe me though."
"So they sent you to see Peggy?"
Claudia looked confused for a moment. "Oh, you mean Dr. Fowler."
"Yeah."
"They think I have some sort of…problem. But I swear I'm for real." She looked at him pleadingly.
"Yeah, I know you are." he said reassuringly. "But could you give me some sort of demonstration, you know-"
"Are you ready to order yet?" a young waiter asked suddenly, looking them over.
"Yeah, I'll have-" Miranda began, but Claudia silenced her.
"Here, Declan, I'll prove it." She looked over at Miranda. "You're about to order a bacon cheeseburger, onion rings and a regular coke. Because diet gives you a stomach ache." Miranda stared at her, disbelieving, but Claudia continued, turning to Declan. "You're going to order garlic bread, fries, a coke and a hamburger with the works. And I'll just have a diet soda."
"Is that right?" the waiter asked, looking them over.
"Yeah…" Declan replied, blinking slightly. "Spot on."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Half an hour later, when Declan had left to check on Mole, Miranda turned to Claudia and spoke for almost the first time.
"How did you do that?"
"I told you." Claudia said, stammering slightly. "I know what people are thinking. I really do."
"Wow." Miranda said, amazed. "Can you do it with…anyone?" Claudia gave an uncomfortable shrug.
"I don't know. I don't usually try." she said. There was an uncomfortable silence for a moment.
"It's not just clear thoughts, either." Claudia said, speaking up again. "It's…feelings too." Miranda raised one eyebrow in question.
"I know how you feel about him!" Claudia blurted out suddenly.
"Who?"
"Declan!"
Miranda shifted in her seat uncomfortably. She didn't like having her relationships questioned – especially her relationship with Declan. Their friendship was special. What could this girl know about it that she didn't?
"We're friends." she said finally. At Claudia's look, she elaborated. "I like him. We're pretty close."
"No, there's something more." Claudia insisted.
"Like what?" Miranda asked uneasily.
"Like love."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The ride back was awkward. Miranda had wanted to stay back at the diner, so Declan had offered Claudia a ride back with himself and Mole, seeing as he had a spare seat in the truck. For the first five minutes, neither of them said a word. Finally, Declan spoke up.
"That was really amazing, what you did back at the diner." he said.
"Thanks." Claudia said shyly. She paused for a moment. "Um, I had a talk to Miranda before, while you were gone."
"Oh?" Declan replied, knowing that any conversation Claudia could have had with Miranda would have been pretty one-sided. "What about?"
"I, uh, told her that I can pick up on feelings, as well as thoughts." When Declan didn't reply, she continued. "Like, I know how you feel right now."
"How's that?" Declan challenged.
"Tired." He burst out laughing, and she smiled.
"But there's other things too." She said seriously.
"Yeah?" he asked.
"You're in love." Declan just grinned.
"I think you're a bit off this time, Claudia." he said smiling. "It's just myself and Mole at the moment."
"Declan…"
"Oh, all right." he said, humouring her. "Who with?"
"Miranda."
