No Ordinary Girl

Chapter Ten

At sunset, we walked down the hiking trail looping around RAMS.

There was a chill in the air and I wished I'd worn a sweater. Alicia and Kendra were wobbling on their heels, and I was hopping around in my sneakers, almost as if to say, "You silly girls and your silly shoes."

Kendra smiled as she grabbed my hand and then Alicia's – we were all connected. We were all nervous, me most of all. Boys, boys, boys. I could see them in their thoughts. They had gotten all dolled up and had worn the heels for them.

I wasn't thinking about boys. I was just hoping I wouldn't make a complete fool of myself. I was silently begging Alicia and Kendra not to leave me, although I knew they could probably not hear me. I wondered about Kendra. What were her skills?

"So Kendra," I ventured as we made our way around a curb, the night settling down on us. I saw the lake. "How did you get here... at RAMS, I mean... what's your thing?"

She smiled, a freakish grin. "I love that I can tell you this, and you won't think I'm a total weirdo," she started. "I'm a medium," she told me, a proud gleam in her eyes. "I can communicate with those who have passed."

My eyes grew wide. It was one thing to read people, but this was crazy. It brought into question all my beliefs, namely the belief that once you died, you were a goner. "Wow."

Alicia laughed. "She thinks you're a total freak."

Still holding my hand and Alicia's, Kendra shot both our arms up. "Freaksters!"

"Freaksters!" we parroted, laughing our behinds off.

"But I don't," I said. "I don't think you're a freak. I think that's pretty amazing."

"It started not long after my grandmother died when I was eight," she told me. "She came back to talk to me. There was something she needed to tell me."

"Tell her the story," Alicia chirped.

Kendra smiled as we found our way out of the alcove of tall trees lining the hiking trail, and there was the beach, a huge bonfire already lighting up the sky. "Another time... now it's time to get freaky."

I lost all interest in Kendra when I spotted the beach. The sight of the party stole my breath away. Everyone was there; so many kids, or 'freaks', as Alicia would say. Gone were the conservative uniforms, replaced by stylish jeans, ripped at the knees, flashy shirts, little flirty skirts, platform sandals and lots of drinks and cigarettes floating around, being passed around from one to another.

The lake was beautiful in the twilight, and everyone was glowing, and full of life and energy. The chatter of conversations mixed with cheers was undecipherable. I was happy Alicia and Kendra made me over because I actually fit in. Although, I still didn't really know anyone.

Kendra took off like a greyhound at the gate when she spotted her best friend, Sandra. I stuck to Alicia's side like a pathetic little homeless puppy. She introduced me to a bunch of people, and I was too wired to remember their names. Their faces and auras stuck with me though.

Alicia lit up when she spotted a tall boy looking at her. He was wearing a sleek red and black short sleeved shirt, skinny dark jean, and a long silver chain, tipped with a medallion. Tall, and of Asian descent like her, he was stunning. He shot her a shy smile and I could practically see her melt. You didn't need to be a mind reader to know that she was head over heels for him. He walked up slowly to us, his eyes fixed on her. I may as well have been invisible.

"Hi..." she said, almost a whisper.

"Hi," he repeated.

Well, no one had to tell me twice to get the hell out of there and give them their privacy.