just a part of us, along with our violet eyes and the Frost family name, and no one had ever really asked many questions about our powersâexcept me.
It took some arguing on Grandma Frostâs part, but since the doctors couldnât find anything wrong with me, they eventually discharged me that afternoon.
Grandma took me to her house, which was located a few streets over from the downtown district in Asheville. I stayed with Grandma on the nights that Mom had to work late, so I had my own room there. Grandma insisted that I stay in bed for the rest of the day, but she let me call Bethany.
âGwen!â Bethany shrieked in my ear. âAre you okay? What was wrong with you?â
âIâm fine,â I said. âIâm at my grandmaâs house. The doctors think I had a seizure or something. They ran some tests, but they said Iâll be fine. Iâll be back at school tomorrow. I donât even get a day off.â
âWell, whatever it was, it was freaky, â Bethany said. âEspecially since you kept right on screaming even after you passed out. You were yelling and thrashing around like you were possessed or something the whole time. Everyone at schoolâs talking about it.â
I winced. âThey are?â
âOh, yeah,â Bethany said. âEverybody was texting about it.â
I sighed. So now I was going to be even more of a freak than I already was. Gwen Frost, the seizure girl. Great. There went any chance I had of finding a date for the sophomore prom, which was coming up in a few days. I might have dumped Drew, but I was still going to the prom, since my mom had found the perfect dress for me.
âWhat about Paige?â I asked.
âWhat about her?â I could hear the confusion in Bethanyâs voice. âShe was just as scared as the rest of us were.â
I wondered about that, especially when I remembered the weird look Paige had given me before Iâd picked up her hairbrush, but I didnât ask Bethany any more questions about Paige. She wouldnât know the answers, anyway.
I talked to Bethany a few more minutes before Grandma came into my room and said that I needed to get some rest. I told Bethany Iâd see her tomorrow and hung up. I spent the rest of the day lazing in bed and reading the comic books I had stashed in my messenger bag. Grandma Frost had stopped at school and picked up my bag on the way home from the hospital. Sheâd also gotten my homework assignments for the classes Iâd missed, but Iâd do those later. I figured I deserved to slack off a little.
Grandma made a great dinner of spicy, Southwestern chicken, black bean salsa, and roasted sweet potatoes. For dessert, we had sticky-sweet apple enchiladas sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and topped with vanilla bean ice cream. I didnât eat much, though. I was too busy thinking about Paige and what might be happening to her.
My mom finally called late that night.
âItâs done,â she said in a weary voice. âI told Paige that I was your mom and got her to talk to me. She told me exactly what you saw with your psychometry, and I arrested her stepdad.â
I let out a tense breath. âSo Paige is okay now?â
âShe will be,â my mom said. âPaigeâs mom is out of town on a business trip, so Paige and her sister are staying with some relatives. I called her mom, and sheâs on her way back home right now. She was horrified by what I told her. She had no idea that was going on. Nobody did, except for Paige. Her stepdad threatened to start doing the same thing to her little sister if Paige told anyone what he was doing to her.â
We didnât say anything for several seconds.
âYou did a good thing today, Gwen,â my mom finally said in a gentle voice. âA really good thing. Iâm proud of you.â
âFor what? Freaking out and screaming my head off?â
âYou know what I