seat beside Mercy, keeping her eyes carefully averted. “Hi Mercy. Hi Greg , ” she mumbled.
“Hey Felicity .” Greg spread his fingers in a greeting .
The bell rang and Mercy tried to concentrate on the teacher’s words, but she was painfully aware of the great number of times Lindy and her friends glanced back at her, glaring when they met her gaze.
Mercy contented herself by imagining them being whisked far, far away to some other dimension . Someplace where they couldn’t hurt anyone .
When class was over, Greg walked her to her locker and grabbed her threadbare backpack, hooking it over his shoulder. He grinned and fell into step beside her as they headed for the main door. The hall filled with noisy, jostling students. Felicity caught up with them and walked behind her to the exit.
They walked in silence, but it was strangely comforting. Somehow, being flanked by Greg and Felicity made h er feel safe…almost invincible.
Greg walked them out to Kelli ’s car and thumped her door with his hand after he had closed her inside. He winked and turned to hook up with his baseball buds.
Felicity slid into the back seat beside her cello. “He must really like you. He sure is staking his claim.”
Kelli let out a gurgle of glee. “Yep! You’re branded now.”
The drive home was filled with blissful chatter from Kelli and Felicity, but Mercy remained deep in thought. She was being bullied by three hideous girls and seemed to be helpless to defend herself. The fact that Greg liked her made it a little more bearable, but she thought the situation could only get worse. In fact, it seemed to have escalated since Greg first started paying attention to her. Maybe that's it. Maybe Lindy is jealous because Greg likes me .
When Mercy entered the empty house, the silence consumed her…prickled her skin . She wanted to tell Gran about her horrible day. She wanted to feel her grandmother’s arms enfolding her in a hug. And she wanted to eat an after school snack her Gran usually had waiting on the table .
I miss you Gran. Please come home .
She opened a can of soup and heated it in the microwave. The heaviness in her chest was almost unbearable. Still, she thought she should try to do as Gran wished and carry on as normal, whatever that was. She carried her soup to the table and pulled out the chair. Alistair leaped onto the other chair and s a t, staring at her. She could almost hear him miaowing to her, although he remained silent. Where is Gran? Am I experiencing a Martian Mind Meld with a cat?
“I don’t know where she is,” she said aloud, but Alistair continued to interrogate her with his huge emerald green eyes.
She lifted the spoon and forced herself to choke down the contents of the bowl bite-by-bite while Alastair maintaine d his silent scrutiny . "There...Are you satisfied?"
He jumped down from the chair and made himself comfortable by curling up in the overstuffed chair. Only the tip of his tail flipped back and fo rth to hint at his aggravation.
Mercy cleared the table and washed her dishes, then sat at the same table to finish her homework. She arranged her books and papers in her backpack and left it by the door so she could grab it in the morning on her way to meet the girls .
She picked up the remote to turn on the television . Scanning the program s , n othing drew her interest until she happened on a channel she hadn’t noticed before. WTC? Maybe it was something new . She turned up the sound and settled on the sofa to get her mind off her present situation.
Two girls about her own age were having some sort of a dialogue. The dark haired one was talking…“So this is your first assignment?”
The other girl nodd ed. “Yes, I’ve read through the chapter in the handbook, but this is my first actual assignment. I’ve never divined anything before.”
Alistair startled her by jumping up beside her. She stroked her hand down his back and he settled into her lap.
“Let’s get started