Okay, so my hair wasn’t the height of fashion. I kept it long, since it was easier to put into a ponytail. “Unless there’s a salon here at school, I’m pretty much screwed,” I said.
“Oh, no, you’re not!” Cece jumped up and reached for her cell.
“Wait! Who are you calling?” She was already pressing buttons.
“Kate. She’s great with hair! I mean it, you’ll look like you stepped out of a magazine and — oh, hey, Kate. What’re you doing right now? Oh, good.
Yeah, maybe. Hey, can you come over and bring your hair scissors? Violet has a date tonight and she desperately needs you to do something with her hair. Nah, I’ll let her tell you. Trust me, you’re not going to believe it.” She flashed me a grin. “And bring Sophie — we’ll give Violet a makeover.
Sure, call Marissa. I know. that’s exactly what I was thinking. Okay, bye.”
I let my breath out in a rush. Well, there went my privacy. I didn’t know why it mattered; they’d have found out anyway. I knew Cece and her friends well enough by now to know that there were no secrets between them.
And a makeover sounded kind of fun. It was one of those things that normal girlfriends did together — if they weren’t busy with fencing tournaments, or generally avoiding large groups of people who might become friends and therefore star in their depressing visions.
Hanging out with the girls, going on a date. a week at Winterhaven, and already my life was changing — for the better, I hoped. Not bad, I thought, smiling happily to myself.
Not bad at all.
“Okay, open your eyes.”
I did, and just sat there blinking at my own reflection. Sophie had lined my eyes with some dark, smoky liner and brushed my lids with plumcolored shadow. My eyes had never looked so bright green, so exotic. I don’t know what else she did to my face, but my cheeks shimmered and my lips looked almost pouty. I could have easily passed for nineteen.
And my hair. it was still the same boring light brown, but now angled bangs hung across one eye and the bottom of my hair flipped up and out just below my shoulders.
“Wow!” Marissa said, behind me.
“Wow is right,” Cece agreed. “So, what do you think?”
Everyone looked at me anxiously. A slow smile spread across my face. “I like it.”
Kate’s eyes met mine in the mirror. “I can’t wait to see everyone’s expression when you walk into the dining hall!” she said with a grin.
Sophie nodded enthusiastically. “We’ll have to touch up everything after dinner, though. Before you go out. Where are you going, anyway?
There’s a movie tonight, a seven and a nine fifteen. Or maybe to the café?”
I shrugged, unable to look away from my own reflection. “I don’t know. He didn’t say.”
“But he told her he wants to show her something,” Cece said with a giggle.
“Hey, no fair. I want to see too.” Marissa actually smiled at me. Thank God. I was finally breaking down that barrier of hers. “You think he’ll at least buy you a coffee before he whips it out?” she added, wiggling her dark eyebrows suggestively, and everyone burst out laughing.
“Hey, have you heard from Allison?” Kate asked Cece once the laugher died down. “Can she write from wherever they’re keeping her?”
The playful mood in the room sobered at once. “I haven’t heard from her at all,” Cece said. “Not once. Not a letter, not a phone call. It’s like she dropped off the face of the earth.”
“Well, have you considered, you know”—Kate waved a hand in the air—“going to her? Just to see if she’s okay?”
Cece wrinkled her nose. “I don’t know. I guess I could. What do you guys think?”
“Do you even know where she is?” I asked, sitting down on my bed and reaching for my boots. It was almost time for dinner. Nine o’clock seemed forever away.
“I don’t have to know where she is,” Cece answered, shaking her head. “I just have to will myself to her. That’s the way it works.”
It took me a minute to catch on, to realize that they weren’t suggesting that Cece actually visit her; they were suggesting that her astral self do it.
“I think you should,” Marissa said, putting on her own shoes. “Why not?”
“Yeah, I guess I could. I’d feel better knowing exactly what happened to her. I just always feel so bad, like I’m invading someone’s privacy or something.”
Sophie shrugged. “Well, her parents are jerks. I wouldn’t worry about them. Why don’t you go tonight?”
“Nah, it’s easier in the morning. I can’t do it when I’m tired. At least, not on purpose.”
Summoning the courage, I finally asked, “How exactly do you do it?”
She sat down on the bed beside me. “Well, it sometimes happens spontaneously, when I’m not even trying. But. it’s kind of hard to explain. I have to really relax, get my body to sleep even though my mind stays awake. Sometimes I just focus on a sound — like a humming in my head. Next thing I know, there are these awful vibrations. Scared me to death the first couple of times. And then I just pop out. Usually my hands and feet first.
Sometimes my head sticks, and that’s kind of weird. And then I have to get away from my body, or the cord will just jerk me back in.”
“The cord?” I was still a little fuzzy on the details.
“Yeah, that’s kind of hard to explain too. The astral cord— it keeps me tethered to my physical body. But it’s really disorienting when you’re too close to your body, so I get away as fast as I can.”
I had to ask, even though I felt stupid doing so. “Where exactly do you go?”
“Anywhere I want,” she answered with a shrug.
“But. but what if someone sees you?”
“No one can see me. They might hear me, if I wanted them to, but they probably wouldn’t remember it. Hey, Kate, throw me my bag, will you?”
Kate was standing by the door, nowhere near Cece’s bag. I didn’t even flinch when the bag lifted itself off the desk and flew right into Cece’s lap.
“Show-off,” Marissa called out.
“So what’s everyone else doing tonight?” I asked.
“Something with Jack,” Kate said, smiling coyly. “Clothing is optional.”
Marissa made a face. “Gag. What about you, Sophie?”
“Studying,” she answered with a sigh. “I’m getting a little behind in trig.”
“Don’t be such a square, Soph.” Marissa rolled her eyes. “It’s Saturday night. C’mon, live a little. Go to the movie with me and Cece.”