Now You See Me-Gifted 5 (8 page)

‘I can’t believe that no one is allowed to have visitors in that place,’ Tracey fumed.

‘Maybe Jenna doesn’t want visitors,’ Emily suggested. ‘You know how she doesn’t like people to feel sorry for her.’

Ken was waiting for them just inside the building. He didn’t bother with greetings.

‘What did Amanda say when you called her this morning?’ he asked Tracey.

‘What she said when I called yesterday,’ Tracey said. ‘“Leave me alone.”’ She sighed. ‘Ken, how much longer do we have to do this? I hate going to that table at lunchtime. They don’t want me there and I don’t want to be there.’

‘I’m going to try to get her alone this afternoon,’ Ken said. ‘I’m going to tell her we’ll stop if she’ll confess to what she did to Jenna.’

Emily was looking at Ken quizzically. ‘Ken,’ she began, and then she bit her lip.

‘What?’ he asked.

Emily hesitated. ‘I don’t know how to say this, and – and I know it’s none of my business, but . . .’ She looked at Tracey. Tracey had a feeling she knew what Emily was about to say and it was something Tracey had been wondering about herself.

‘Go ahead,’ she said.

Emily spoke carefully. ‘I used to think . . . well, we all used to think that there was something going on between you and Amanda. Like, you were sort of interested in each other, you know what I mean?’

Ken didn’t say anything.

Emily went on. ‘But now . . . it’s like you totally hate her.’

Ken shrugged. ‘Sure, I hate what she did to Jenna. And the way she put us all in danger when she was involved in the seance.’

Tracey took over. ‘Are you sure it’s not something else too? Like, maybe you’re going overboard because you still have feelings for her.’

Ken glared at her. ‘And maybe you’re defending her because she took over your body and got you a nice haircut.’ And he took off before she had a chance to deny it.

‘I’m going to the bathroom before class,’ Emily told Tracey. ‘Want to come with me?’

Tracey shook her head. ‘I want to find Madame. Maybe she can talk to those Harmony House people so we can visit Jenna. See ya in class.’

‘I won’t be there – I’ve got a dentist appointment,’ Emily told her. ‘I’ll call you tonight.’

Tracey hurried upstairs to Room 209. Madame wasn’t there, but someone else was.

The Queen of Mean, who could usually be found wherever she could see and be seen, and who was always surrounded by friends, was hidden away in an empty classroom and all alone. And she didn’t look mean today. People who were truly mean didn’t bury their faces in their hands.

‘Amanda?’ Tracey murmured.

Amanda looked up. Instantly, her expression changed – but now she seemed more frightened than mean.

‘Leave me alone!’ she hissed. ‘Stop bothering me!’

Tracey took the seat next to her. Ken had said he’d talk to Amanda later, but Tracey figured this was as good a time as any to hit her with the ultimatum.

‘Look, Amanda, you can make us stop bugging you right now. All you have to do is come clean about Jenna.’

‘What are you
talking
about? I didn’t do anything to Jenna!’

She seemed honestly and sincerely bewildered. Ken would say that Amanda was putting on a good act, but Tracey wasn’t so sure.

‘We think you set up Jenna to get her into trouble. You work in the office, which means you can get your hands on the master key to the lockers.’

Amanda still looked confused. Tracey was going to have to spell it out to her.

‘You put the knife in Jenna’s locker.’

Amanda’s eyes widened. ‘Why would I do that?’

‘Because . . . because she was on to you. And you wanted to get rid of her.’

Amanda didn’t blink. ‘On to me about
what
?’

Tracey took a deep breath. ‘We think you’re the spy, Amanda. We think you’re the one who’s communicating with our enemies: Serena, Clare – all those people who want to use us.

Amanda gasped. ‘Are you nuts? Why would I do something like that?’

‘Because . . . because . . .’ Tracey tried to think of a way to explain their suspicions which wouldn’t be too hurtful. It was impossible, so she told the truth.

‘Because you’re selfish,’ she said finally. ‘You don’t care about anyone – you only think of yourself. You think you’re better than the rest of us.’

Amanda’s eyes narrowed but she didn’t deny any of the accusations.

‘And you took that job in Mr Jackson’s office so you can find out more about us,’ Tracey finished.

Now Amanda became annoyed. ‘Is that what you think?’

‘Well, you don’t need the job. And I seriously doubt you’re interested in learning office skills. So what other reason could there be?’

Amanda’s lips tightened. Tracey got the feeling there was something she wanted to say but she was keeping it inside.

‘It’s not just me,’ Tracey added. ‘Jenna, Emily, Ken . . . we all think you’re spying on us.’

‘Ken . . .’ Amanda murmured. ‘So that’s why he’s been acting so nasty.’

‘That’s why we’ve
all
been acting nasty,’ Tracey corrected her, but she could tell it was only Ken that Amanda cared about.

‘If he only knew why I took that job, he’d feel so bad about treating me like this,’ Amanda declared hotly.

Tracey blinked. ‘Then why don’t you tell him? I mean,
us
? You could tell me right now why you took that job.’

For once, Amanda seemed uncertain. She bit her lip, and rapped her manicured fingernails on the desk. Finally, she spoke.

‘Can you keep a secret?’

‘That depends,’ Tracey said carefully. She hated the idea of swearing to secrecy before she knew what the secret was. What if Amanda was up to something that might put all the Gifted students in danger?

‘I’m not going to tell you unless you promise not to tell anyone,’ Amanda stated. ‘Not your friends, not Madame, not anyone.’

Tracey was torn, but she knew that if she didn’t give in she’d learn nothing. ‘OK, I promise. Why did you take the job in the principal’s office?’

Despite the fact that they were alone in the classroom, Amanda lowered her voice.

‘Remember when I went into the hospital last month to get my tonsils out?’

Tracey nodded.

‘Well, you know that wasn’t me in the hospital.’

Tracey nodded. ‘Like I told you when you came to school, Emily and I went to visit you at the hospital. We could tell it wasn’t you.’

‘And you remember who I was when I was out of my body.’

Again, Tracey nodded. ‘You were the woman who was working with Serena on that seance scam. I forget her name.’

‘Margaret. And when I was in Margaret’s body, Serena took me to a meeting. And you know who else was there? Clare, the woman who kidnapped us. And that man who claimed he was Jenna’s father.’

‘So there really is a conspiracy,’ Tracey murmured in wonderment.

‘Someone else was there too,’ Amanda said. She did another of her dramatic pauses.

‘Who?’ Tracey asked impatiently.

‘Mr Jackson.’

Tracey drew in her breath sharply. Nobody liked Mr Jackson, and Jenna was always saying he gave her the creeps. But this was a little hard to believe.

‘But Madame says he doesn’t know about us!’ Tracey exclaimed.

‘Madame doesn’t know everything,’ Amanda countered. ‘I’m pretty sure it was Mr Jackson who planted the knife in Jenna’s locker.’

‘But – why?’

‘If he’s in on the conspiracy, then he knows about Jenna’s gift,’ Amanda said. ‘Jenna was in the office earlier today, and Mr Jackson saw her. Maybe he was thinking about us, and he was afraid Jenna read his mind. So he had to get rid of her. I can’t prove it, but he did leave the office just after Jenna was there, even though there were all these people waiting to see him.’

‘Maybe he had to go to the bathroom,’ Tracey offered weakly.

Amanda gave her a sceptical look. ‘Yeah, sure. And maybe he went to the cafeteria and picked up a knife.’

Tracey’s head was spinning. But everything Amanda said made perfectly good sense.

‘What did Madame say when you told her about Mr Jackson?’ Tracey wanted to know.

‘I didn’t tell her,’ Amanda replied. ‘And you’re not going to tell her either.’

‘But Amanda, this is important! If our own principal is working against us, we’re in danger right here at school!’

Amanda agreed. ‘And I’m going to prove it. All by myself. That’s why I’m working in the office – so I can watch him, so I can listen in on his meetings and phone calls, and read his emails. I want to get real evidence.’

‘But you’ve already got evidence,’ Tracey protested. ‘Even if you can’t prove that he put the knife in Jenna’s locker, you know he’s guilty of
something
. You saw him with your own eyes. Well, Margaret’s eyes. He was meeting with people who have tried to get to us. That proves he’s a bad guy.’

‘It’s not enough,’ Amanda said. ‘Who’s going to believe that I was in someone else’s body?’

‘Madame would.’

Amanda shook her head. ‘That’s not enough. Look, Tracey. You said I think I’m better than the rest of you. Well, socially, that’s true. I am.’

Tracey rolled her eyes. ‘You’re not exactly modest, Amanda.’

Amanda ignored that. ‘But you guys look down on me! You think my gift is worthless, you think I can’t do anything important. Well, I’m going to show you I can.’

So
that
was what this was all about. It wasn’t enough for Amanda to be the prettiest, the best-dressed, the most popular girl at Meadowbrook. She wanted to be queen of the Gifted class too.

‘Amanda, that’s stupid!’ Tracey declared. ‘We should all be working together on this.’

‘And let someone else get the credit? Forget it!’ Amanda began ticking items off on her fingers. ‘It was Jenna who figured out that Serena was hypnotizing Emily to get winning lottery numbers. Ken saved Jenna from going off with that man who said he was her father. Charles got the gun away from Clare in the bank robbery.
You
pulled the scarves off Serena at the seance. Well, now it’s
my
turn to be the hero.’

‘But this is too dangerous!’ Tracey protested.

Amanda looked at her watch. ‘The bell’s about to ring.’ She got up. ‘So now you know I’m not the spy, and you’ll stop hassling me, right?’

‘But how am I going to persuade the others to stop if I can’t tell them what you’re up to?’

‘Find the real spy,’ Amanda said. She started out of the room, but paused at the door and looked back. ‘Did you say you visited me at the hospital?’

Tracey nodded. ‘With Emily.’

Amanda frowned. ‘Did anyone see you there? Were any of my real friends visiting?’

‘Not while we were in the room.’

‘That’s a relief,’ Amanda said, and left.

Tracey didn’t even feel insulted – by now, she was used to the way Amanda protected her social reputation. Besides, she was still reeling from Amanda’s revelation and she couldn’t give much thought to anything else.

Mr Jackson, their very own principal! He wasn’t exactly loved by the students, but he was an important man in a highly respected position. He was an educator! How could someone like that be a criminal?

She supposed it was possible that Amanda had just made up the story, to throw suspicion off herself. But Tracey didn’t think so. Amanda just didn’t seem like she had that much imagination. And it
was
Mr Jackson who had brought Serena into their class . . .

It was all beginning to make sense. If they were in on this together since the beginning, Serena would have told Jackson what she’d learned about their gifts. But Serena wasn’t around any more, and someone was still feeding Jackson information. Someone in the class.

But if Amanda wasn’t the spy, then who was? There was still one person she considered to be capable of treachery – Charles. Now was as good a time as ever to check out
his
private life. So, just before the Gifted class, she ducked into the bathroom.

Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and conjured up an image of her former self, friendless and lonely. She dredged up sad memories of isolation, alienation, feeling worthless and unimportant. She concentrated intensely on the emotions she’d known back then and the sensation of not being seen. She visualized herself fading away, and then she started to feel it. The sensation of being weightless, lighter than air . . .

She opened her eyes and looked at the mirror over the sink. There was no reflection. She was getting better and better at this! Pleased with herself, she left the bathroom, went upstairs, and positioned herself outside Room 209, where she could hear what was going on.

There wasn’t much to hear, though. Apparently, Madame had set them to work on some sort of writing assignment, and her classmates were industriously scribbling away in silence. So she amused herself by roaming around the building, dancing in front of oblivious hall monitors and peeking through classroom windows. She considered going to the office and checking out Mr Jackson’s activities – but there was always the chance she might inadvertently reappear. She couldn’t risk it.

She came back to Room 209 just before the bell rang. When the door opened, Charles was the first to emerge. That wasn’t unusual – he could make that wheelchair go very fast, and the others stepped aside to let him pass. Tracey was never sure if that was because they were trying to be kind or if they were afraid he’d run them over. She suspected that Charles would prefer the latter reason.

Ken was right behind him. She thought she might tell him what she was up to. It was comforting to know he could hear her when she was invisible, when no one else could. But Ken brushed by her so quickly, she didn’t have a chance, and Charles was moving in the opposite direction.

People jumped out of the way as his motorized chair tore down the hall to the lift. As far as Tracey knew, he was the only student permitted to use it. She hopped in with him, and rode down to the main floor.

She’d never paid attention to how Charles got home. Today, for the first time, she noticed the white van parked just in front of the exit. A man stood by the vehicle, and when Charles appeared, he opened the back door. A ramp slid out, and the man pushed Charles’s chair up into the van. Tracey stayed close behind, and got inside just before the man closed the door.