Out of Sight, Out of Mind

Chapter Twelve

WHEN AMANDA-TRACEY walked into class on Monday, Jenna blinked twice. One of those two girls had been very busy that weekend. Not only was Amanda-Tracey visible, but she'd also been through some kind of transformation.

The outer person was still Tracey, but Amanda's influence was showing. The blond hair was no longer flat and stringy-it had been cut short, to her chin, and it was shining. She was wearing makeup-not a lot, but something made her eyes look bigger, and there was a slick of pink on her lips. And her clothes- they weren't Jenna's kind of clothes, but she knew that other kids at school would consider them cool. This new Tracey wore a long red tunic over cropped jeans, with a short black sweater and red ballerina shoes. She carried her books in a black canvas tote bag over her shoulder.

She was different in other ways, too. She held her head up and took long, confident strides into the room. Even Madame looked intrigued.

But before anyone could comment, student teacher Serena came into the room. "I'd like to see Jenna today," she announced.

She was addressing Madame, but Jenna responded. "Maybe I don't want to see you!'

"Jenna, that's rude," Madame murmured.

Emily leaned over toward Jenna. "It doesn't hurt or anything, Jenna. In fact, it's kind of fun."

"That's right!" Serena said brightly. She turned to Madame. "And don't forget-I do have Principal Jackson's authorization to meet with each student independently."

"I haven't forgotten," Madame said quietly. "Jenna, would you please go with Ms. Hancock?" And at that moment, for the first time ever, Jenna thought she read a little something in Madame's mind.

And find out what this woman is really up to.

Had Jenna imagined that? Or had Madame actually allowed Jenna inside her head? Jenna decided that maybe a session with the student teacher would be more interesting than the usual boring 50 minutes in class.

"Okay." She followed Serena into the room next door. It was just another classroom, nothing special. Serena directed Jenna to sit down. She did, and then Jenna began to concentrate.

But before she could even begin to penetrate the student teacher's mind, Serena suddenly produced a circular object the size of a dinner plate. "I want you to look at the red dot in the center, Jenna." She pressed something on the plate, and it began to rotate.

Jenna tried to look away, but for some strange reason she couldn't. She couldn't close her eyes either. And any possibility of reading Serena's mind evaporated as her own mind went blank.

No, not blank exactly. She was conscious-she was aware of sitting in the room and looking at Serena's plate thing-but there was something happening in her mind. It was being drained…

Time passed, but she had no idea how much. She couldn't take her eyes off the dot. She could hear just fine, though.

"I know all about your special gift, Jenna. But you will not be able to read my mind. If you try to read my mind, you will suffer a severe headache. The pain will become unbearable. This is a posthypnotic suggestion, Jenna. You will never be able to read my mind. Do you understand?"

Jenna didn't think she could speak or even nod her head. She was completely paralyzed. But somehow she must have communicated something, because Serena said, "Good. Now, please follow me."

Then Jenna wasn't paralyzed at all. She rose and followed Serena out of the room. That was when she realized what had been drained from her mind-her will. She would do whatever this woman said. And she didn't even have enough freedom of thought to feel afraid.

They went down some stairs, walked to the end of a corridor, and turned right. Dimly, Jenna knew they were walking into the school cafeteria.

The last lunch session was still in progress, and she was aware of the noise and the people and the general chaos, but it was as if she wasn't a part of it- more like she was watching the scene on TV. Serena led her across the room to an alcove where the teachers ate their lunch. They both stood just behind a column, so Jenna could see the teachers but they couldn't see her.

Now Serena was whispering in her ear. "There is a man at the table. He has light brown hair and he's wearing glasses. Do you see him?"

Jenna saw him, and even in her strange state she recognized him-Mr. Jones, a history teacher.

"During the next few minutes I want you to read his mind," Serena said. She left Jenna standing there and went over to the table.

With all the noise in the cafeteria, Jenna couldn't hear anything that Serena said to the other teachers. But the student teacher's lips were moving and she was smiling as she sat down next to Mr. Jones. And Jenna had no problem at all tuning in to the man; in fact, it was the easiest mind reading she'd ever done.

Wow, she's hot! Is she coming on to me? I hope so. I wonder if she's got a boyfriend. If I can get her alone later, I'm going to ask her out.

Serena returned to Jenna. "We can leave now," she said, and Jenna followed her back to the room they had been in before.

"Now," Serena said as they returned to their seats, "I want you to tell me what Mr. Jones was thinking when I spoke to him."

Jenna had no choice. Like a parrot, she repeated the thoughts she'd read. '"Wow, she's hot! Is she coming on to me? I hope so. I wonder if she's got a boyfriend. If I can get her alone later, I'm going to ask her out.'"

Serena smiled. "Excellent! Now, Jenna, I'm going to take you out of your hypnotic state. Watch the red dot again."

She held up the object, and this time it spun in the opposite direction. Again, there was the odd passage of time-seconds, minutes, she couldn't tell.

Suddenly, Jenna felt like someone had just tossed a glassful of water in her face. She wasn't wet, but she was very awake.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Serena asked cheerfully.

"Was I really hypnotized?" Jenna asked her. "Absolutely," Serena assured her. "Why do you ask?"

"Because I remember everything we did."

Serena continued to smile. "Of course you do. This isn't some sort of witchcraft, Jenna-it's psychological science. I'm not attempting to change you-I simply want to understand you-all of you. You kids with your special gifts, you need special attention."

"But why did I have to-"

Serena interrupted her. "That will be all, Jenna. Please return to the classroom and send Ken in here now. We have a few minutes left."

Jenna stared at her. But now Serena had opened a notebook and was totally preoccupied with writing something. Clearly, she wasn't going to be answering any questions that Jenna might ask, so Jenna did as she was told.

But for the rest of the school day, she thought about the odd experience. She'd been with Serena for more than half a class period, 30 minutes. But the events that took place could have taken up only ten minutes or so. Had Serena made her do things she couldn't remember? Or had the rest of the time been occupied with staring at the spinning plate with its stupid red dot?

Jenna kept hoping to run into Emily sometime during the day so that she could compare their individual experiences with the student teacher. When school got out for the day, she hurried to the main exit and positioned herself there to wait for Emily to come out.

When she saw Amanda-Tracey emerge, she looked away, expecting that the other girl would do the same. But instead Amanda stopped and spoke.

"What did that student teacher do? Did you get hypnotized?"

"Yeah."

"What was it like?"

Jenna shrugged. "No big deal. She didn't make me quack like a duck or anything like that." She paused. She really wanted to tell someone what had happened. "Actually, it was kind of silly. All she wanted me to do was read another teacher's mind to find out if he wanted to date her."

"You're kidding! That's all?"

Jenna nodded. "I'll bet when she hypnotized Emily that she asked her if they have a future together." Amanda laughed. "And she probably told Charles to push him in her direction."

Jenna started to laugh, too, and then she remembered whom she was talking to. She cocked her head to one side and pretended to be noticing something for the first time that day.

"You look different."

Amanda nodded. "Yeah, I got a haircut. And I bought some clothes and makeup."

Jenna sniffed. "Perfume, too. Must be nice having all that money to spend on stuff like that."

"You think Tracey's parents ever give her money?" Amanda countered. "They barely know she's alive."

Now Jenna was interested. "So what did you do- take the money while you were invisible?"

"No. I earned it. Babysitting for the clones. And these aren't exactly designer clothes. I got them at Target."

"Oh."

Amanda shifted her book bag to her other arm. "I have to go."

"Wait, I have to ask you something. No, I mean, I have to tell you something."

"What?" Amanda asked.

"Don't ever feel sorry for me."

"I don't," Amanda replied.

"You did on Friday, at my place. I read it."

"Well, you read wrong. I never feel sorry for anyone." With that, Amanda sauntered off.

Jenna stared after her. Did Amanda mean that? She tried to read her thoughts now, but the gift didn't kick in. So maybe it was Tracey whom she'd made a connection with.

But that didn't feel right either. If Jenna were in Tracey's situation, the only person she'd feel sorry for would be herself.