Mind Games (Mindjack Origins) Read Free Page B

cat-eats-bird smile of satisfaction. You won’t be sorry, Raf, I promise. She tosses a smile at Kira, like an afterthought. “See you later, Kira.” She says it brightly, but I hear the threat underneath it.
    Jessica saunters down the hall, throwing extra sway in her walk. I glare at her back. You won’t be fooling anyone, Jessica. Everyone will know you blackmailed me into this. I’ll make sure of it.
    Everyone will think I’m brilliant, she thinks without glancing back . I’ll be the girl that finally got you back on track, saved you from making a desperately tragic mistake with that zero.
    I think several nasty curse words that would horrify my mother, but Jessica’s out of range. When she finally disappears around a corner, Kira folds her arms and fixes a stare on me. “So, you want to tell me what that was all about?” she says. “I swear your girlfriends are getting stranger all the time.”
    My head whips back to her. “She’s not my girlfriend!”
    “Really?” Kira says. “With the way she was looking at you, and you checking her out all the way to the corner?” She shrugs. “You could do worse, Raf. She seems nice and she’s cute in a trying-way-too-hard kind of way.”
    My shoulders drop. “She’s not my girlfriend.” My voice is low, weak. Of course, that’s precisely the rumor Jessica will stir up after the Gamesdance. If I’m lucky, Kira won’t hear it. I grit my teeth. Tony is behind all of this, helping me out by stabbing me in the back.
    “Whatever, Santos,” Kira says. “So, are you going to come over this Saturday to help me get through some of those sim-casts?”
    Saturday? That’s the Gamesdance. The one I’m apparently going to with Jessica. “Um, no. I can’t, I’m … busy.”
    Kira glances down the hall. “Right,” she says. “How about Sunday? No school on Monday. We can stay up late and eat that awesome popcorn my mom likes to buy from the Boy Scouts.”
    “I’m…” I swallow. “I’m leaving on Sunday.”
    “Oh.” Kira frowns and picks up her gym bag from the floor. “Well, I’m doing Mr. Hampton’s take home test tonight, along with my other finals. Finishing up early. Don’t really see the point in sticking around here, you know? With nothing to do but study, this zero’s getting some A’s and getting out.”
    I grimace at her use of the word zero .
    “I guess…” She pauses. “I guess this is goodbye then.” She puts on a million watt smile, the one she brings out when things are bleak and getting worse. “Well, have a nice summer, Raf. Have fun with the Twisters, and, you know, don’t break too many hearts in Indiana.” She turns to walk away down the hall.
    I should say goodbye. I should tell her to stop, explain what really happened with Jessica. But I don’t say anything, just watch her go.
    Maybe Tony is right. Maybe I need to stop waiting for Kira to go through the change. Maybe I need to forget about the fact that I know everything about her: the way she likes her hot cocoa lukewarm and her ice tea ice cold; that she likes her music classical and her runs long and strenuous. Maybe a summer in Indiana is just what I need to forget the way she makes my skin prickle and my heart pound. Maybe I should date someone like Jessica—only less horrible—to help me forget. Even if I doubt it would work.
    But I’m certain of one thing: the next time I see Tony, I’m going to punch him in the face.

 
     
    Kira and Raf’s story is just beginning!
     
    Open Minds
    (Book One of the Mindjack Trilogy)
    Available in ebook and print
    Amazon , Barnes and Noble
     
    When everyone reads minds, a secret is a dangerous thing to keep.
     
    Sixteen-year-old Kira Moore is a zero, someone who can't read thoughts or be read by others. Zeros are outcasts who can't be trusted, leaving her no chance with Raf, a regular mindreader and the best friend she secretly loves. When she accidentally controls Raf's mind and nearly kills him, Kira tries to hide her