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“Mom, would you mind if someone joined us for dinner at Downtown Mall?”

  Sure. What’s her name?” She turned to look at me over her shoulder.

  “His name is Braedon Shaw.”

  I watched my parents turn and look at each other holding each other’s gaze for a few seconds before turning back to look straight ahead. I sank down in the backseat, hoping they weren’t going to bombard me with a ton of questions about a guy I hardly knew. I had only talked to him a few times before the party, so I didn’t really know anything about him.

  After a few minutes of silence, I managed to find the courage to ask them if it was okay for Braedon to join us for dinner.

  “I don’t see why not. I would like to meet him.” My dad smiled, looking back at me through the rear-view mirror.

  I texted Braedon to let him know that it was okay for him to join us, and where to meet me when we got there. Emerson nudged me with her elbow, flashing her bright smile. I knew my family was happy that I was trying to make friends and be as normal as possible. We arrived at Downtown Mall fifteen minutes later, and my stomach began to turn from my nerves. I didn’t want my parents to make him feel uncomfortable, but deep down I knew they wouldn’t chase him off with their ridiculous questions. I sent him a quick text that we were heading to The Den for dinner. By the time we made our way past the stores to The Den, Braedon was standing off to the side of the entrance, looking at his phone. He had on jeans, and a tight navy blue, long- sleeved shirt that hugged his arms.

  “Wow. You look great, Karsyn,” he smiled.

  “Thank you. Braedon, these are my parents, Stephen and Jenna Alexander, and my sister Emerson. Hope you haven’t been waiting long?”

  No. I just got here a few minutes before I saw you walking this way. Nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Alexander. I’m Braedon Shaw,” he said, holding out his hand.

  Dad looked at me and smiled when he shook Braedon’s hand. I knew right then and there that he was on Dad’s good side for doing that. For the first time in a long time, Dad’s brown eyes looked bright and not dull from worry.

  Braedon held the door open for me after my parents went inside with Emerson. Being close to him was almost too much to handle. I wanted to kiss him, but I didn’t know if he felt the same about me. After we were seated, Dad started in asking Braedon what he planned to do after high school, even though I kept mouthing for him to stop. Braedon humored him and answered his questions, even after I told him he didn’t have to answer them. Finally, after a few minutes of answering never-ending questions, my mom told him to ease up on Braedon so he could enjoy himself. I felt so bad for Braedon having to deal with my dad.

  “Are you busy after dinner, Karsyn?” Braedon asked, trying to scoot closer to me.

  “I don’t think we’re doing anything.”

  “Would you like to walk around Downtown Mall with me? I can drive you home later if it is okay with your parents,” he looked at me, then over at my parents.

  “I don’t see why not,” my mom smiled.

  We finished our meals and headed toward the door when I heard someone say something about me. I turned to my right, and there sat Blair and her followers. Braedon turned to confront her, but I grabbed his arm before he could reach her table. “She’s not worth it. Don’t let her get to you. That is what she wants in order to make herself feel better.”

  “You are right. She’s not worth my time anymore.” Braedon took my hand in his walking out of the restaurant. We met up with my parents outside. They weren’t able to witness the encounter with Blair and her minions. I had a really bad feeling about her and the trouble she could eventually create for me. I gave my parents each a hug and told them I would be home later. They each told Braedon it was nice to meet him. My sister gave me a hug and whispered that I did well.

  “Where do you want to go?” Braedon asked, lightly squeezing my hand.

  “Hmm. I don’t know. Where do you want to go? We can walk around for a little bit while we decide.”

  After walking around for a little bit and nearly running into Blair again, Braedon decided it was time to go somewhere else, where we wouldn’t have to worry about seeing the bitch. I instantly felt guilty for what popped in my head. I may not like her, but I had no right in wishing maybe she would be the one in my vision.

  Chapter 3

  The next morning, I woke up to someone downstairs in the kitchen getting pans out of the cabinets. It had to be Dad in the kitchen on a Sunday morning, making bacon, eggs, and pancakes for breakfast. Dad’s Sunday breakfasts were the best, and something I had missed for a while now. Dad hadn’t cooked for the past few months, which was probably from everything that had been going on. I got up and made my way downstairs to see if he needed help, and if he didn’t, I would sit at the island and watch him cook. “Good morning, Dad. Do you need any help fixing breakfast?” I gave him a hug.

  “No, but you can keep me company while I cook. We can catch up on things. It has been too long since we’ve had one of our talks.” He smiled. “Sorry about all the questions last night. I hope I didn’t scare him off. He seems like a nice guy. Did you meet him at school?”

  “Yes, I met him at school. No, you didn’t scare him off. Thank goodness. He is nice. I like him a lot.”

  “Does he know about you, Karsyn?” Dad said, glancing at me over his shoulder.

  “No.”

  “Are you going to tell him, or going to let him find out and hope he doesn’t run away? I personally would tell him. He has the right to know. Yeah, he may freak out and end up staying away from you. At least you will know before you give your heart to his boy. I don’t want you to fall for him, and then he breaks your heart by running.”

  I knew he was right, but I was scared that Braedon would run and never talk to me again. He would see me like most people do, someone to be feared and misunderstood. I lowered my head while Dad went back to cooking breakfast. I could wait to tell him for a little longer, but then he would probably be pissed that I wasn’t honest with him. I knew I had to make a decision soon because I didn’t know when and where the next vision would show up. And would the next vision show me who was going to die, or show me more pieces to the puzzle? I sat there, playing with the placemat on the island and watching Dad flip the pancakes onto the plate. “Dad, what if he decides to not talk to me anymore?”

  “That would be a shame and his loss. He would be missing out on being with a beautiful, smart girl. I would have to wonder about his intelligence, to be honest.”

  “Thank you, even though you are biased,” I smiled.

  “I may be biased, but he shouldn’t let something like that scare him off if he truly likes you. Who cares what other kids say? They react to things they don’t understand, instead of taking the time to realize you are still the same person.”

  I got up and walked around the island, throwing my arms around his neck. “Thank you, Daddy. I love you.”

  “I love you too, Sweet Pea.”

  ****

  After Emerson and I cleaned up the kitchen from breakfast, I went back upstairs to check my phone and get going on my homework that was due tomorrow. I saw there was a message from Braedon. I texted him back, saying that I was about to do homework since I didn’t do any of it yesterday. I was about to start on my English homework when my phone started vibrating on the bed.

  “Hey! Hope you don’t mind me calling you instead of texting. I wanted to hear your voice if you want to know the truth.”

  “It’s fine. I’m kinda glad you called. Sorry about not being able to do anything today. I have so much homework. I am the Queen of Procrastination.” I laughed.

  “Yeah, I should probably do my homework too. I am just trying to hold off as long as possible. Wish I could see you today, but I guess I will have to wait till tomorrow. I will let you get your homework done. Text me later. Bye, Karsyn.”

  “Bye, Braedon. I will.” I put my phone down on my bed, and reluctantly went back to doing my English. It didn’t take me long t
o do it since I had already read Sleepy Hollow at my previous school.

  I ended up texting Braedon about an hour later after we hung up. I asked him if he was doing his homework too, and if he could spare a couple of hours away from it. He asked for my address and told me he would be here in about an hour. I jumped off my bed and ran to the bathroom to take a quick shower.

  “Emerson, do you have a sweater I can borrow?” I asked as I knocked on her door. I tried to respect her privacy, even if she didn’t respect mine.

  “What kind of sweater are you wanting to borrow?” She flopped down on her bed.

  “Braedon is going to be here in a little bit to pick me up.”

  Emerson fell flat on her ass trying to get up in a hurry. “We have got to find you a sweater. Where are you going, so we can figure out what type of sweater?”

  “I think we are going to hang out at Tyler’s for a little bit. Tyler is picking up Sophie. So, nothing too fancy, but I don’t want to look like a sewer rat either.”

  We stood there looking for the perfect sweater, making me realize I needed to go shopping for some more clothes soon. We had her bed covered with sweaters that we had pulled out of the closet and drawers, but none of them were catching my eye. “Emerson, what am I going to do? He’s going to be here soon and I’m not even ready.” I flopped down on top of the sweaters.

  “First you need to get your ass off my clothes,” she said, pulling me up off her bed.

  I grabbed a turquoise hooded tunic sweater and tried it on real quick, asking Emerson what she thought of it. She instantly gave it two thumbs up. She sat me down at her vanity and put my hair up since she didn’t have time to do anything else with it. She pulled a few wisps of hair loose around my face. She finished my makeup right as the doorbell rang.

  “Karsyn, Braedon is here,” Mom said, knocking on Emerson’s door.

  “Okay. Could you tell him I will be down in a minute? Thanks, Mom.”

  “What’s wrong, Karsyn? You seem really on-edge. Is everything okay?” Emerson asked, putting her sweaters back in the drawers and closet.

  I sank down in her vanity chair, staring toward her bedroom door. “Dad told me this morning that I need to tell Braedon about my visions. I know he is right, but I really like him. I don’t want him running off because he is scared of me.”

  “Wow. What are you going to do?” She sat down on her bed. “Do you want to tell him?”

  “I do, but I know what will happen. Then again, if I don’t tell him and he finds out, he will be pissed too. Ugh!” I leaned back over the chair to where my head was hanging down. “Why can’t I be normal? All I want is to be able to date a guy and not worry about him leaving me because he is scared of me.”

  “Karsyn, Braedon is waiting for you down in the living room with your dad. I think you should go rescue him,” Mom said, as she opened Emerson’s door. I raised my head up, so I wasn’t looking at the ceiling. Now, I really felt bad for not being ready on time. I knew Dad was down there making Braedon nervous. Why should I be worried about telling him about my visions, when I have Dad to chase him away for me? I got up, fixed my sweater, and glanced in the mirror before heading downstairs to save Braedon.

  “Sorry about not being ready when you got here, Braedon,” I said, walking into the living room. I blushed the minute Braedon turned to look at me from the couch. He didn’t have to say anything to me to make me blush; all he had to do was look at me with his blue eyes. I didn’t want to screw this up, but I also didn’t want him to find out from someone else either.

  “You look great. Are you ready to go to Tyler’s house? He is probably back from picking up Sophie.”

  “Sure.” I gave my parents a hug and told them I would be back later. Braedon reached for my hand as we headed for the door. Right then and there, I knew I had to tell him soon and hope for the best.

  ****

  “Karsyn, you look amazing. Come help me pick out a movie for us to watch,” Sophie said, leading me into the family room. “Tyler started to text me last night and then asked if I wanted to come over for a little bit this morning. I am afraid this is all a dream, and I’m going to wake up drooling on the table in the lunchroom at school.” She started shuffling through the movies on the shelf.

  “Sophie, you are beautiful. Tyler would be an idiot not to realize it. This isn’t a dream. It is all real, so stop worrying and enjoy,” I smiled. The more I was around Sophie, the more I could tell she had low self-esteem. I couldn’t understand why. She was pretty, smart, caring, and didn’t seem like she had a mean bone in her body. Yet, she had a hard time understanding why Tyler wanted to be with her. I managed to get her mind off worrying about Tyler by talking about which movie we should watch. Before we had a chance to pick out a movie, the guys came in with drinks and snacks. The guys told us since we weren’t able to find a movie, that it was their turn to pick one out. Sophie and I looked at each other, rolling our eyes. They didn’t want to watch a chick flick, and we didn’t want to watch some kind of war movie. So, we told them we would watch a good action movie with them, as long as it wasn’t gruesome. We could tell they didn’t like the terms but knew they had to agree if they wanted us to watch the movie with them.

  “What about the homework that you said you had to get done today?” Braedon asked, sitting next to me on the couch.

  “I did most of it earlier, and I will finish the rest later. What about your homework?”

  “I might finish it later.” He put his arm around me. “Right now, I want to spend time with you.”

  Tyler said down next to Sophie on the other couch to the right of us and got the movie going for us.

  Toward the end of the movie, I looked over at Tyler and Sophie who were clearly not watching the movie anymore. They stopped kissing when they heard the credits start to roll. Sophie ran her fingers around her mouth to fix any smudge marks from her lipstick. I got up to go into the kitchen to get some more tea, and Sophie came in a few minutes later. “Did you and Tyler see any of the movie?” I laughed.

  “We saw about three-fourths of it, I think,” she giggled. “I really like him, Karsyn. I am afraid he will be different towards me tomorrow at school. What if he is one of those guys that only shows me attention and affection away from school and his friends?” She sighed.

  I walked over and gave her a hug. “I don’t think he’s going to do that to you. He’s lucky to have you, not the other way around. Always remember that, Sophie.” I grabbed my drink off the counter and walked back into the family room. We didn’t have time to watch another movie, so we decided to go get something to eat. On the way to get pizza, I kept thinking about what Dad had said to me earlier about telling Braedon, but I didn’t want to ruin this perfect day. The longer I waited to tell him, the harder it would be. I couldn’t bare him being afraid of me. I sat there looking out the window most of the drive to the pizza place, listening to Braedon and Tyler talk about football.

  “Karsyn, are you okay? You are really quiet all of a sudden. Do you want me to take you home real quick?” Braedon asked, glancing over at me briefly.

  “Sorry, I’m so quiet. I have a lot on my mind.”

  “Want me to take you home? I can if you want, but I’d rather you come with me for pizza,” he smiled.

  “You don’t have to take me home.” I smiled.

  We arrived at the pizza place about ten minutes later. There were a lot of people pulling in behind us, trying to find places to park. We hurried up and walked inside to beat the crowd of people. Sophie sat across from me on the inside of the booth, that way we could talk without bothering the guys while they talked and watched football on the TVs hanging throughout the restaurant.

  I sat there looking around the place and saw one of “Blair’s Minions,” and knew she would be on her phone texting Blair that I was there with Braedon. Tomorrow at school was going to be a pain in the ass, especially if I had to deal with her. I had to figure out a way to avoid her or put a stop to it before she could real
ly make my life hell. I was hoping to have a little longer to deal with everything, but time had a different plan for me. My visions had already started up again, and I didn’t have time to deal with Blair and her followers. I tried to ignore her, but Olivia kept staring over at us, then putting her big ass nose in her phone. She was one of the girls that Alexina and Sophie warned me about. She liked to run and tell Blair anything and everything. From what they told me, Blair didn’t treat most of her friends the greatest, yet they still remained loyal to her. Blair, Olivia, and the rest of their friends were pretty, but complete bitches. They could cause a lot of trouble for me.

  “Well, look who we have here,” Olivia Nichols said, standing in front of our booth. She flipped her blonde, curly hair over her shoulder. I couldn’t help but stare at her hair as she stood there glaring at all of us. Her curly hair hung in perfect ringlets past her shoulders. Sophie’s curly hair was pretty, but nothing compared to Olivia’s frizz-free curly hair. “Olivia, what the hell do you want?” Sophie snapped. “Wow, I didn’t think you were allowed out alone away from Blair. I mean most of the time your nose is shoved up her ass. A lot of kids around school wonder how you are able to breathe.”

  “Were you trying to be funny? If you were, you need to work on it,” Olivia rolled her eyes.

  Braedon glared up at her. “Olivia, why don’t you take your troll ass back over to your table before I have the manager escort you out for harassing us?”

  “You know Blair won’t be happy when she finds out you are here with her.”

  “I don’t give a shit what Blair thinks! You need to remind her of that.” Braedon stood, looking down at her. “I’m not going to tell you again. Leave us alone, or I will get the manager.”

  She glared at me, walking back over to the rest of Blair’s coven. She sat down and leaned in toward the middle of the table. Her mouth was moving too fast for me to even attempt to read her lips. As I was about to face Sophie, I caught them all stop at once and look over at me. Olivia mouthed something at me from her table. I wanted to go over there and ask her what the hell she just said, but she wasn’t worth the time. I wasn’t worried about her. She was a follower. I didn’t know much about her, but that was something anyone could pick up on. I decided I wasn’t going to give them any more of my attention. Sure enough, they got bored and left. I felt bad for letting them distract me from Braedon. Now, more than ever, I had to tell Braedon about my visions before it came out, and Blair created even more trouble for me.