Perception Read Free

minutes to get to my locker, grab my books, and make it to my next class. The herd was moving a little slow for me to accomplish all of that in time, so I zigged and zagged, apologizing when I accidentally hip-checked a freshman, and finally got to my locker. I spun the dial and started knocking off the numbers.
    “They really should give us more time between periods,” the girl at the locker beside mine said.
    She wore a black T-shirt and a black skirt with fishnets. Her hair was also dyed black, with one bright blue streak on the side that fell in front of her face as she bent down to pick up a dropped notebook. I figured she was new in school. I would have definitely remembered her from last year. There aren’t many people at Eastport High who stand out. Standing out is bad. I know this from experience.
    “Seriously,” I agreed. “It’s like they want us to be late. I’m calling it detention entrapment.”
    She laughed heartily.
    “Was it this bad at your old school?” I asked, figuring I’d be nice and reach out.
    She straightened. “What do you mean?”
    “You’re new here, right?”
    Her brow furrowed. “No, Clare Fern, I’m not.” And with that, she turned on her heel and sped down the hallway.
    “Clare, what did you say to her?” Kendra asked, appearing beside me.
    “I asked if she was new in school,” I said, still confused.
    Kendra burst out laughing. “That’s Mallory Neely.”
    Mallory Neely. I knew her, of course. She was the quiet girl, no friends that I knew of. She kept to herself, eyes cast down at all times, and never spoke unless spoken to. She was invisible. I’d actually felt slightly jealous of her in the past because I’d rather have been invisible like her than a big neon flashing bully target.
    “I didn’t realize it was her,” I said.
    “Why would you?” Kendra rolled her eyes. “No one notices Mallory. Except this year she shows up looking like a mall goth. Finally wanting some attention, I suppose.”
    I shrugged. “I think she looks cool.”
    Kendra bit her lip. This time last year, she’d have called me a freak, and now she wasn’t even disagreeing with me. I felt like I’d entered a parallel universe.
    “Hey,” Kendra whispered, leaning in close to me. “You know the algebra quiz Mr. Frederick is planning?”
    “Yeah …” I answered warily.
    “Why don’t you spend a few minutes in his classroom while he’s in the teachers’ lounge. And … you know …” She waggled her eyebrows. “See if you can use your powers to get us the answers.”
    I sighed, not bothering to hide my irritation. “No,” I said simply. There were about ten thousand different reasons why I would do no such thing — fear of getting caught being one of them. But Kendra should have known by now I wasn’t going to “Dance, Monkey, Dance!” whenever she asked. I wasn’t some sideshow at a carnival. She had asked a couple times for me to do a reading of this or that at school. I always refused.If she truly wanted a reading, she could come to my place of business and pay like everyone else.
    “What’s up, Kendra,” Tiffany said as she approached her locker, almost directly across the hall from mine. She sneered at me and said, “Hey, freak.”
    Apparently, Tiffany never got the “Clare’s cool now” memo. No matter how much her friends supposedly liked me, she never would. Tiffany had always been the one to rally the anti-Clare troops and instigate all devious plans against me. She’d ramped up the torture last year after my brother, Perry, hooked up with her and never called her again. I had to suffer for my brother’s man-whore ways. As part of her revenge plot, Tiffany had set her sights on my boyfriend at a party, and Justin had been dumb enough to fall for it. Yeah, alcohol was involved, but that’s no excuse. It would take a lot more than tequila to make me lose my virginity to Satan.
    “Don’t mind her,” Kendra whispered into my ear. Then she bolted over to