Marilyn Kaye - Out of Sight, Out of Mind

"This is my friend Am-I mean, Tracey."

Not since this bodysnatching experience had begun had Amanda felt so grateful to look like Tracey. She'd absolutely die if anyone saw her real self with people like this.

"What are you up to?" Jenna asked them.

"Gonna hit Target," Slug said, nodding toward the store. "You ever seen one of these?" From his pocket he pulled out an oddly shaped metal gadget.

"What is it, some kind of weapon?" Jenna asked.

Slug made a snorting sound, which Amanda guessed was his version of a laugh. "Nah. You know those plastic things they stick on stuff so you can't steal it?" He was looking at Amanda now, so she felt obliged to answer.

"It's a security device. The cashier takes it off after you pay for something. Otherwise it sets off an alarm when you leave the store."

"Yeah, right. Well, this handy little number takes that plastic thing off. You can walk right out with half the store in your pocket."

"You'd have to have pretty deep pockets," Jenna said, and Amanda couldn't help laughing, but no one else got the joke.

"I only got two of these things," Slug continued, "but we'll pass 'em around. Then afterward we'll split the stash. I'm going in to check out the place first, see where the good stuff is. I'll be right back." Sticking the gadget back in his pocket, Slug strolled into the store.

Amanda turned to Jenna. "They're going to steal things?"

"Yeah," Jenna replied, in a voice that was just a little bit too cocky. "You have a problem with that?"

"Well, it's against the law, for one thing."

That comment got the rest of Jenna's friends laughing, and Amanda could feel Tracey's face turning red. "Well, you can leave me out," she said.

"Chicken?" Jenna taunted.

Amanda couldn't care less if Jenna thought she was a coward. What worried her was the idea that this enterprise could end any kind of collaboration between them.

"There's Slug," Bubbles said. He was just outside Target's door, and he beckoned them closer. Bubbles, Skank, and Harry started toward him, but Jenna hung back for a moment.

"You sure you're not up for this?" she asked Amanda.

Before Amanda could reply, she heard another familiar voice behind her.

"Hi, guys! What are you doing?"

It was Emily, from their gifted class. She was alone and carrying a bag from the bookstore.

"Just messing around," Jenna said.

Emily smiled vaguely. "I didn't know you two hung out together."

Amanda wanted to correct that assumption, but she held her tongue. "What did you buy?" she asked instead.

Emily reached into her bag and pulled out a book. Jenna read the title out loud. "I Was Marie Antoinette!'

"She was the last queen of France," Emily told them. "Her head was cut off during the French Revolution."

Jenna snickered. "Who wrote the book? Her ghost?"

"No, a woman named Lavinia Pushnik. She claims that she was Marie Antoinette in an earlier life."

Amanda rolled her eyes. "You don't believe that stuff, do you?"

Emily shrugged. "I see the future. Maybe she sees the past."

Now it was Jenna's turn to do some eye rolling. "Emily, anyone can see the past. It's called history. You can read about it in books."

"Mmm." Emily seemed to have stopped listening. Her eyes were glazed over.

"Are you seeing something in the future now?" Amanda asked.

Emily nodded. "Someone who's just about to win the lottery."

"Oh yeah?" Now Jenna looked interested. "My mother plays the lottery every week."

"Someone in Canada," Emily murmured. "Toronto… no, Montreal."

Jenna's face fell. "Oh. Well, I have to get into Target before all the good stuff is gone."

"What do you mean?" Emily asked.

"Jenna and her buddies are about to do some shoplifting," Amanda told her.

Emily's expression changed. "Don't do it, Jenna."

Jenna groaned. "Oh, great! Another goody-goody who's afraid to break the law."

Emily shook her head. "Your friends… they're going to get caught."

"You see that?" Amanda asked. "For real?"

Emily nodded.

Jenna looked skeptical. "You're just saying that so I won't steal anything."

"No," Emily said. "It's going to happen."

"I'd better warn them." Jenna started toward the store.

"No!" Emily cried out. "You'll get caught, too. It's just about to happen."

Jenna hesitated, and that was a good thing. Because only seconds later, a uniformed guard emerged with Jenna's pals, all in handcuffs. They disappeared behind a door marked Security.

"Wow," Amanda said in awe. "How did you know?"

"That's my gift," Emily said, but she didn't sound particularly proud of it. "I see things. Only I never know what to do about them."

"Well, thanks for telling me about that," Jenna said. "I would have had a one-way ticket back to reform school."

"I'm glad I helped you," Emily said, but now her voice was sad. "I don't get to help people much, mostly because my visions aren't usually very clear. And then-well, it's like Madame says, who's going to believe me? They'll just think I'm nuts."

Amanda knew that if she wanted everyone to believe that she was Tracey, she should keep her mouth shut. But she couldn't resist a question. "Could you always do this? See the future?"

"When I was five, I had my first vision. My father was leaving the house to go to work. And I saw that when he got to the end of the driveway, another car was going to come around the corner really fast and hit him hard. But I didn't tell him."

"Did it happen?" Amanda asked.

Emily nodded. "He was killed. Don't you remember? I told this story in class."

"I, uh, must have been out that day," Amanda said. Emily's story was awful, really depressing, and Amanda wanted to change the subject. Luckily, she spotted someone in the mall whom they might find interesting. "Isn't that the new student teacher?"

Just as they all turned to look at her, the young woman saw them. She waved and started toward them.

"Oh, great! A teacher," Jenna groaned.

But the young woman seemed very happy to see them. "Hi, girls! What a coincidence, running into you here!"

Emily said, "Hello, Miss… uh…"

"Serena," the teacher prompted. "This is so cool! What are you up to?"

Personally, Amanda thought she was overdoing the "I'm-your-buddy-not-your-teacher" thing. Jenna also looked doubtful. But Emily seemed intrigued.

"We're just hanging out," she said.

"I am so excited about this job!" Serena told them.

Jenna's eyebrows went up. "Really? Why?"

"Well, it's not just student teaching, is it? I mean, you are really different."

Jenna still looked wary. "What do you mean, 'different'?"

"It's okay," Serena assured her. "I know that you guys are, you know, special. And I really want to know you. As friends, not students."

"But that's what we are," Emily said. "Students."

Serena tossed her head back and laughed, as if Emily had said something uproariously funny. "Really, guys, I'm not like your other teachers. Madame, she's very nice and all that, but she's old. It's not like you can confide in her. I want you to think of me as someone you can really talk to. You can tell me your secrets, your feelings."

"Madame doesn't like us to talk about ourselves to others too much," Emily said.

Serena nodded. "Yeah, that's kind of sad, isn't it? It must be sort of lonely for you guys, not being able to talk about what's important to you."

Emily nodded fervently. "It is."

Serena was awfully eager, Amanda thought. Why would anyone want to tell their secrets to someone they'd just met? The woman was so pushy; it was making Amanda feel uncomfortable.

Jenna seemed to be having a similar reaction. "I'm out of here," she announced and then took off.