Jennifer Barnes - The Naturals

I rolled my eyes, but couldn’t bite back a smile.

“So take whatever time you need. Figure out how you feel. Figure out if Dean makes you feel the way I do, if he’ll ever let you in, and if you want him to, because the next time my lips touch yours, the next time your hands are buried in my hair—the only person you’re going to be thinking about is me.”

I stood there, looking at Michael and wondering how it was possible that I could instinctively understand other people— their personalities, their beliefs, their desires—but that when it came to what I wanted, I was just like anyone else, muddled and confused and stumbling through.

I didn’t know what it meant that my aunt had been a killer, or how I felt about the fact that she was dead.

I didn’t know who had killed my mother, or what losing her and never getting any closure had done to me. I didn’t know if I was capable of really letting someone else in. I didn’t know if I could fall in love.

I didn’t know what I wanted or who I wanted to be with.

But standing there, looking at Michael, the one thing I did know, the way I always knew things about other people, was that sooner or later, as a part of this program—a part of this team —I was going to find out.

Jennifer Lynn Barnes is the author of a dozen novels for young adults. She has advanced degrees in psychology, psychiatry, and cognitive science and recently completed her Ph.D. at Yale University.

She is now a professor of psychology.

You can find her online at www.jenniferlynnbarnes.com and www.jenniferlynnbarnes.tumblr.com