"No."
The teacher moved on to Ken, but Jenna had tuned out. Emily was still on her mind, and she couldn't shake her. It was as if she was stuck in Jenna's head, and Jenna didn't know why. So, Emily was sick-so what? It was probably nothing serious, just a cold or something. Maybe she had thrown up that day's disgusting lunch.
Then why was she still in her head?
Jenna jerked as the answer came to her in a flash. She was thinking about Emily because Emily was trying to contact her.
But why would Emily want to communicate with Jenna? The answer was obvious: because Emily knew that Jenna could read minds. And she wanted Jenna to read hers, right that minute. But why?
Jenna shut her eyes and concentrated. Emily… I'm listening. I'm trying to hear you. What do you want? Emily?
Nothing… and then Emily began to fade from her mind. Another face replaced her-Serena, the student teacher.
This was getting even weirder. Why would Serena want to communicate with Jenna? Was she having a problem getting Mr. Jones to ask her out? And what did this have to do with Emily? Because now Emily was coming back inside Jenna's head.
Emily was trying to tell her something about Serena. But it was all blurry and fuzzy, because, because… because Emily was under hypnosis.
The bell rang, and Jenna leaned forward. "I have to tell you something," she whispered.
"I don't understand," Amanda said when she heard what had been going on in Jenna's mind. "What does it mean?"
"Emily's trying to tell me something. I think she's in trouble. And it's something to do with Serena."
"But Emily's at home sick, isn't she?"
Jenna wasn't so sure. "Do you have a cell phone?"
Amanda shook her head. "That was the next thing I was going to tell Tracey's parents to give me."
"Well, I don't have one." Jenna regarded the passing stream of students and stopped. "You've got one, don't you?"
"I just told you-"
"I mean, the real you."
Amanda looked practically offended by the question. "Of course I do. Everyone who's anyone has a phone."
Ignoring the insult, Jenna dashed down the hall and cornered Other-Amanda, who was standing at her locker with a couple of her snotty friends. "I need to use your phone," Jenna declared.
"What?"
Jenna repeated her demand.
"Are you serious'? Do you actually think that I would lend you my phone?" The two girls beside her looked horrified, as if Jenna were in the process of holding them up with a weapon. Which gave Jenna an idea.
She moved in closer to Other-Amanda. "Give me your phone," she hissed, "or I'll have my crew take care of you."
One of the girls clutched Other-Amanda's arm. "You'd better do it. She knows really bad people."
But this Amanda was just as tough as the Amanda that Jenna knew. "Forget it," she snapped.
Fortunately, her friends weren't quite so gutsy. "Here, you can use mine," one said, and she thrust it into Jenna's hand.
Jenna dialed the number for directory information. There were five Sanderses in the town, and Jenna told the operator to try the first one. There was no answer. No one answered the second one either, but on the second try she got someone.
"Hello?"
"Can I speak to Emily, please?"
"Emily's at school! Who is this?"
"Uh, wrong number." She tossed the phone to its owner and ran back to Amanda-Tracey.
"She's not at home, and I should have guessed that. She has to be nearby for me to be getting a message from her."
"You think she's somewhere in this building?"
The images of Emily and Serena were coming faster and faster, and they were dark. "Yeah. Let's start in the basement."
The bell rang to signal the beginning of the next class. The two girls were heading for the stairs when a hall monitor appeared from around the corner and blocked their way.
"Where are your hall passes?"
Jenna had no patience for this nonsense. "Get out of our way."
The boy grabbed her arm with his right hand and Amanda's arm with his left. "Okay, you're both going to the office."
Jenna struggled to free herself, but he was a big kid and was strong. She turned to Amanda. "Do something!"
Amanda got the message. In less than a second, the hall monitor was holding nothing in his left hand. "What the heck-?"
Jenna had hoped the shock of Amanda's disappearance would cause him to loosen his grip on her arm, too, but he only tightened it. She barely felt it, though, because now her head was actually hurting. Emily was trying very hard to reach her, and she knew something had to be terribly wrong.
But Jenna didn't have Martin's strength, or Charles's ability to move things, or Tracey's gift for becoming invisible. She wasn't Sarah-she couldn't force the guy to release her. All she had was the feeling that Emily needed help.
She'd have to count on Amanda to help her. Or Tracey Or whoever was inside that invisible body.
AMANDA HAD NEVER BEEN in that part of the lower level of the school. As far as she knew, it was nothing but storage
rooms and plumbing and stuff like that. And she vaguely recalled signs directing a media club to meet down there, but only nerds belonged to clubs like that, so she wasn't sure.
One thing was clear-it was dark. And invisibility didn't seem to give her any special viewing powers. She edged alongside a wall, trying to feel her way.
Luckily, she had no problem with her hearing. From down the hall, she picked up a faint whisper. As she moved closer, the voice became recognizable.
"You must do this, Emily. Keep your eyes on the red dot and listen to me. Think deeper… deeper."