Speak No Evil

CHAPTER FOUR

AS AMANDA APPROACHED ROOM 209, she spotted Nina lingering just outside the door of the class.

‘What are you doing here?’ she asked her ‘frenemy’.

Nina fluttered a thin strip of paper in the air. ‘You left this in my mother’s car yesterday. It must have fallen out of your bag.’

Amanda took the paper and examined it. It was the receipt for a pair of shoes she’d bought at the mall the day before.

‘You need this if you want to return the shoes,’ Nina pointed out.

‘I love those sandals, I’m not going to take them back,’ Amanda replied. Then she frowned. ‘Why are you giving me this now? Why didn’t you give it to me at lunch today?’

Nina smiled sweetly. ‘I forgot.’

Amanda doubted that. Nina knew that Ken was in this class with Amanda. She was just looking for an excuse to hang out in front of the room and ‘accidentally’ run into him.

‘Thanks,’ she said, tossing the receipt in her bag. ‘Bye.’

But just as she suspected, Nina remained by the door. From her seat in class, Amanda could see Ken arrive and Nina stopping him. They weren’t able to talk long — the bell was about to ring — but Amanda fumed anyway.

She knew she shouldn’t be surprised. Ken was a highly desirable guy, popular and good-looking. And Nina had always competed with Amanda for everything from leadership of their clique to being the first with the current ‘It’ handbag, so why not with boys? It was only natural that Nina would go after the same one Amanda wanted.

Nina knew that Amanda was interested in Ken. Ever since he’d kissed her underwater at a pool party last summer, she’d had feelings for him. (OK, the kiss was the result of a dare from some other guys, but even so, it was a kiss.) In her efforts to get a relationship going, she’d had ups and downs, but right now, things seemed to be going well. There was no way she’d let Nina intrude.

She flashed her most brilliant smile at Ken as he took his seat, but there was no opportunity to talk. Madame called for everyone’s attention.

‘Yesterday, I asked you to think about how you could use your gifts in positive ways. Does anyone have any thoughts on the subject?’

Charles spoke. ‘I’ve done that. I got the gun away from that woman Clare, when she had Emily in her car.’

‘Yes, I remember,’ Madame said. ‘But I’m interested in discussing how you can help others — not just the people in this class, but society in general.’

Martin piped up. ‘You mean, like a superhero? If I could get a handle on my power whenever I wanted, I could run around saving people from bullies.’

‘Let’s not jump that far ahead,’ Madame cautioned. ‘I’m not telling you to become superheroes, we’re just trying to explore the potential of your gifts. If you did have control, you might have opportunities to benefit mankind.’

Emily had a question. ‘But how? Like, what if I had a vision of a plane crashing and I called the airline to warn them? They’d want to know how I knew about it.’

‘What good would it do anyway?’ Jenna asked. ‘They wouldn’t believe you.’

‘And if they did believe you,’ Tracey chimed in, ‘you’d be revealing your gift. Which we’re not supposed to do.’ She looked at Madame. ‘Right?’

Amanda was mildly surprised that Madame didn’t make her usual quick response to that question. The teacher actually seemed uncertain. Finally, she spoke.

‘There may be situations where you will be able to safely reveal yourselves,’ she said slowly, ‘to certain people, and under certain conditions. But that’s not what I want us to discuss now. At this point in time, I want you to think about ways in which you could use your gifts discreetly. To help people without calling attention to yourselves.’

What’s the point of that? Amanda wondered. We wouldn’t get any credit for our good deeds.

Jenna suddenly burst out laughing. Madame looked startled.

‘What’s so funny about that, Jenna?’ she demanded to know.

‘Sorry, Madame. But I was just trying to imagine Amanda doing a good deed when she wouldn’t get any credit for it.’

‘She was reading my mind, Madame!’ Amanda complained. Then she realized she’d just affirmed what Jenna had said, and she sank back in her chair. From the corner of her eye she could see Ken looking at her, and it wasn’t exactly in admiration. Did he really think she was the kind of person who would never do anything for anyone else?

Madame was angry. ‘Jenna, how many times do I need to remind you? You have absolutely no right to eavesdrop on your classmates’ thoughts! It’s rude, and you’re invading their privacy.’

‘But I wasn’t reading her mind,’ Jenna protested. ‘It was my own thought.’

Liar, Amanda thought. And she didn’t care if Jenna heard her.

Tracey spoke. ‘Jenna, you’re not being fair. Remember when Amanda was in my head? She did a lot of nice things for me.’

‘Yeah, because she was afraid she was stuck being you forever,’ Jenna retorted. ‘Look, all I’m saying is that Amanda won’t ever be a superhero. She’s too selfish.’

Madame was losing patience. ‘Could we please get back to the subject? Charles. . can you think of a way you could use your gift discreetly to help people?’

Charles thought about it. ‘OK, what about this? I’m in a supermarket, and there’s this little old man who wants to buy a can of soup. Only it’s on a really high shelf and he can’t reach it. So when he’s not looking, I make the can of soup come off the shelf and into his shopping basket.’

Martin looked at him scornfully. ‘You think getting a can of soup off a shelf benefits mankind?’

Ken had a problem with this too. ‘And when the old man sees the can in his cart, and he doesn’t know how it got there, he’ll be afraid he’s losing his mind.’

Madame smiled. ‘It was a positive thought, Charles, but you can see there are ramifications and consequences to every action. Sarah, you haven’t spoken. Do you have a comment to make?’

‘No, Madame,’ Sarah said.

‘For this class, I asked you to think about how you could use your gift in a positive way. Did you do this?’

‘No, Madame.’

Amanda was shocked. She’d had other classes with Sarah, and the girl was widely known as Little Miss Perfect who always did what teachers told her to do. It was weird that she would actually not do the assignment. Amanda herself hadn’t done the assignment either, but if Madame asked, she would say that she’d thought and thought about it but hadn’t been able to come up with an example. Sarah was such a goody-goody, she wasn’t even capable of lying!

‘Well, Sarah, think about it now.’ Madame’s tone was kind but firm. ‘You have a very powerful gift. More than anyone else here, you have the ability to help people. Sarah, are you listening?’

Sarah had lowered her head, and no one could see her face. ‘Yes, Madame.’

‘Then answer me. What could you do to benefit mankind?’

‘I can’t,’ Sarah replied in an almost inaudible whisper.

‘Why not?’

Sarah raised her head, and now Amanda could see tears streaming down her face. ‘I can’t, Madame. I can’t!’

Amanda was taken aback. The girl looked and sounded unbelievably upset, like she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown or something. It was awful, Amanda could feel her pain. .

Uh-oh, this was dangerous! Quickly she concentrated on coming up with another emotional reaction. Silly girl, why is she freaking out? What a wimp. .

But now Sarah was sobbing hysterically, and Amanda couldn’t drown out the sound. She had to make this stop before pity overwhelmed her.

‘Leave her alone,’ she said loudly. ‘She hasn’t done anything wrong. She’s doesn’t have to benefit mankind if she doesn’t want to!’

‘You would say that,’ Jenna declared. ‘You’re so selfish, Amanda!’

Madame hurried over to Sarah and put a hand on her shoulder. ‘Sarah, you need to calm down.’

But Sarah continued to cry, and Madame turned to Emily. ‘Could you take Sarah to the infirmary, Emily?’

‘Sure,’ Emily said. She got up and went to Sarah’s desk. ‘Come on, Sarah.’

Still sobbing, Sarah rose from her desk and left the room with Emily.

For a moment, the room was silent. Then Martin asked, ‘Why does she get so upset when we ask about her gift, Madame?’

Before Madame had a chance to reply, the chiming of three bells sounded from the intercom. It was followed by the voice of the school secretary.

‘Madame, could you come to the office, please?’

Madame sighed, and went to the door. ‘Class, continue discussing positive ways in which you can use your gifts,’ she ordered them before walking out.

Naturally, everyone started talking about anything but that.

‘Do you think Carter is telling that doctor all about us?’ Charles asked.

‘He can’t talk,’ Martin pointed out.

‘But he can,’ Tracey piped up. ‘Remember? I told you guys, I saw him talking to that Serena.’

Amanda didn’t care what Carter was doing. She was more concerned about what Ken might be thinking after that little exchange with Jenna. Did he think she was selfish too?

‘Ken. .’

He was staring straight ahead, and he didn’t seem to have heard her. Or maybe he was intentionally ignoring her. Nervously, she nudged him. ‘Ken.’

He turned. ‘Oh, sorry. I was listening to someone.’

Immediately, she turned on her most sympathetic expression. ‘A dead person?’

He nodded. ‘You remember that sweet old lady I told you about? The one who was hooked on a soap opera before she died?’

She didn’t remember, but she nodded anyway.

‘She wanted to know what happened in the last episode.’

It came back to her. ‘Oh, right. You’ve been watching it for her.’ She wrinkled her nose. ‘Isn’t that a drag? I mean, it’s a really stupid show.’

‘Yeah, it’s awful. But it meant a lot to her.’

‘Well, you’re doing a good deed, I guess,’ Amanda said. Are dead people still considered part of mankind?’

Tracey interrupted their private conversation. ‘Ken, what do you think?’

‘About what?’ Ken asked.

‘Carter. Do you think he’s talking about us?’

‘He might be telling the doctor,’ Ken suggested.

‘I’m not worried about that,’ Jenna said. ‘Doctor Paley’s a good guy. He already knows about me. And Madame wouldn’t be talking to him every day if she didn’t trust him. But there are a lot of creepy people living at Harmony House. Serious losers, kids with bad connections. I hope he’s not talking to them.’

‘Yeah, I wish I knew what was going on over there,’ Charles commented. ‘Too bad he’s not allowed to have any visitors.’

Martin turned to Jenna. ‘Couldn’t you get into the place?’ They know you there.’

Jenna shook her head. ‘Doesn’t make any difference — they’re really strict. There’s a guard who won’t let anyone past the reception area unless they’ve got a pass.’

‘I could get in!’ Tracey declared. ‘The guard wouldn’t see me if I’m invisible. I could follow Carter around and find out what he’s up to.’

‘Forget it,’ Jenna said. ‘Remember what happened when you tried to spy on him before? And you became visible again? No offence, Tracey — I know you’re improving but you just don’t have enough control of your gift. You could get into serious trouble if you’re caught there.’

‘I’ve got an idea,’ Martin said.

Jenna rolled her eyes. ‘Let me guess. You’ll punch out the guard.’

‘Jenna, don’t tease him,’ Tracey hissed.

But Martin really did seem to be developing some control. ‘I’m thinking Amanda could get in.’

Aghast, Amanda turned to him. ‘Me?’

‘Like Jenna said, the place is full of losers,’ Martin said. ‘There’s got to be someone checking in who you could feel sorry for. You could do your body-snatching thing, take over and go in as that person.’

Amanda stared at him in horror. What kind of insane idea was that? Then she caught Ken’s eye. He was looking at her with interest.

‘You think you could do that?’

‘She could,’ Jenna broke in, ‘but she wouldn’t. Do you really think Amanda’s going to do something to help us?’

Amanda swallowed hard. ‘Don’t speak for me, Jenna. I could try. .’

‘Today?’ Jenna asked.

‘Um. . let me think. . I don’t even know where Harmony House is. .’

‘I’ll take you there,’ Jenna declared. ‘Right after class.’

That was definitely admiration on Ken’s face. Amanda swallowed again and smiled thinly.

‘Great.’