CHAPTER FOURTEEN

THINGS START TO GET REAL

By the end of the day, I was fairly certain of a few things. One was that Logan was getting through his classes purely on his reputation as a star athlete because he never actually seemed to attend them. Another was that the universe really found making Julia fall amusing because she tended to have visions every time she was doing something dangerous in cheerleading or gymnastics. Then there was the fact that Benny was so jumpy he made a terrified baby bunny look like a homicidal maniac. Also, Sophia was much smarter than I had ever been and looked better doing just about everything. Finally, I was pretty sure that Lux really wasn't any sort of psychic super hero. She had a bit of a talent for sensing what people were feeling, but that could be attributed to the fact that she genuinely cared about people and paid attention to their facial expressions and body language. Unless you counted the fact that she was unusually friendly for someone living in New York, there was nothing odd about her.

I told Sophia I would meet up with her and the others later and followed Lux and Katrina. By the time they got to Tyler's favorite spot in the woods, the others were already gathered there.

Kimmy was twirling her hair absentmindedly. Janyss was sitting in Tyler's lap and making out with him. I wondered how she managed to get any air in with how busy her lips were. It was disgusting. Marty was watching them with obvious jealousy. He moved closer to Kimmy, who rolled her eyes and turned toward Katrina and Lux.

"Hey guys," Katrina said. "I brought along a new friend. Everyone, this is Lux. Lux, this is everyone who matters at our school. Welcome to the inner circle!"

Tyler looked up with obvious interest. "Hi Lux," he said. "I'm Tyler."

"Hi," Lux replied. "It's nice to meet y'all."

"Cute accent," Marty said. "I love Southern girls."

"I'm sure Lux has better things to do with her time than you, Marty," Kimmy said. "Try Katrina. She'll sleep with anyone. Anyway, hi, Lux. I'm Kimmy Everheart. Don't mind Marty. He's new to the whole popularity thing."

"I know you," Lux said. "You're Julia's friend, right?"

Kimmy managed to cover up her immediate annoyance at being referred to as Julia's friend. "Yeah, Jules is the best! How do you know her?"

"We ran into each other in the girl's room. She's very nice."

"Oh absolutely! She makes friends everywhere she goes. Apparently, she even makes them in the bathroom." Kimmy laughed.

Katrina sat down next to Kimmy and Lux sat beside Janyss. "Hi," Janyss said. "I'm Janyss. I think we have gym together."

"Right," Lux replied. "I knew I recognized you."

"So, tell us about yourself, Lux," Tyler said.

"What would you like to know?" She asked.

"Anything and everything," he replied charmingly.

"Well, I'm sixteen. I'm from Tennessee. I currently live with my aunt in this adorable brownstone in Brooklyn. I like croutons. I can't pick just one favorite color, so I usually choose rainbow. I love singing and dancing but I don't know if I'm any good at either. I really hate romantic comedies but watch them anyway. Sad songs make me cry. I'm an only child. I was adopted. From what the paperwork says and from what I've read online about astrology, I was literally born at the exact moment that Cancer shifted into Leo, so I claim both signs as my own. I love curling up with a good book. I try to be nice to everyone because I think it makes the world a better place. I love animals and had a cat, a dog, a horse, three baby ducklings, and six chickens back home. I enjoy long walks on the beach..." She laughed and her entire face lit up. "Is that enough?"

"Oh, I think that's a pretty good start," Tyler said with a grin. "It sounds like you'll fit in fine with us, Lux. We like friendly people." The look on his face told me she'd said something he found important but I wasn't sure what it was. Maybe it was that bit about her zodiac sign and the timing of her birth. That sounded pretty unusual and specific. Suddenly, I was even more concerned about her hanging out with them.

I better make sure my charges warn her away from Tyler and Company before she gets in too deep, I thought. I just had to hope she would listen.