2 Empath by Edie Claire Page B

probably meant that she’d been cheating on him with her thoroughly despicable ex. Again.
    “Hey, girl!” Kylee chirped, joining me at the guacamole table. “Is this a fun one, or what? Do you see Tara?”
    I nodded as I finished swallowing a mouthful of chips. “Listen, Kylee, when did your grandmother say she would call again? I’ve got to shut this empath thing off!”
    She threw me a puzzled look. “Really? Like, totally off? But why?”
    Because, despite her saying about a thousand times that she forgives you for stealing her boyfriend freshman year, I know now that Maddie Silverman still hates your guts. And I really wish I didn’t.
    “Because it’s driving me nuts,” I answered. “There are some emotions that people are better off keeping to themselves, you know?”
    Her eyes gleamed. “Like what?”
    I shook my head. “Just let me know as soon as you hear anything, okay?”
    “Will do,” she answered cheerfully. “Oh, look! Bryan is calling me over again!”
    She sailed off into the crowd, and I dipped another chip into the guacamole. Calling you, indeed, I thought ruefully, remembering how Bryan’s “emotions” regarding the new Tara had nearly burned a hole in my back every time I had accidentally stepped between them. Too bad the guy was not only an operator, but an all-around, first-class jerk — something it didn’t take empathic abilities to pick up on.
    I made a mental note to chaperone Tara home tonight.
    A group of hungry-looking people approached the food table, and I reluctantly gave up my spot by the chips and dip. As I stepped away, I was struck by a sudden feeling of melancholy. I looked around, wondering if I was sensing someone else nearby. But I didn’t see any likely suspects — living or dead. This time, the feeling was my own.
    I sighed. Everyone else’s good spirits had kept mine up so far, but left to myself, I was short on cheer. I might as well face it: I missed Zane. Despite knowing better and constantly warning myself to cut it out, I couldn’t help daydreaming all spring about how much fun we could have together at prom. He was such a fabulous dancer — untrained, but with natural talent. We could rock out like no one else.
    But it was more than that. Even if he came in a wheelchair with his leg in a cast, I would have fun just being with him. Laughing with him, enjoying his killer smile…
    Missing him was seriously painful.
    Kylee and Tara had urged me to go for it and just invite him. “What could it hurt?” they had asked. What they didn’t know was how many times I had already hinted to Zane in texts — and not at all subtly — that I would be happy to road-trip out to visit him in California. It would have required no effort on his part. I had money saved up. But every time I had mentioned the possibility, he had deftly made a joke of it, or twisted my meaning, or changed the subject. He didn’t want me to come.
    I wasn’t sure why, when everything else he texted was so reassuring. He never left any doubt that he wanted to see me again, but in his mind that clearly didn’t mean now — it only meant at some unspecified point in the future, and in Oahu. I still had no idea exactly what his injuries were, or how quickly he was recovering from them, because his few texts on that topic were intentionally vague. So how could I ask him to travel to Wyoming, when he obviously wasn’t well, just to indulge me with a stupid high school dance?
    I couldn’t. So I hadn’t. End of story.
    I wound my way back around to the table where we’d left our bags and pulled out my phone. There was no point in pretending I wasn’t checking for a message from Zane, since pretty much everyone else I knew was either in the room with me or knew it was prom and was leaving me alone. There wouldn’t be any messages. But I had to check…
    I had missed a call.
    A call from Zane!
    My hands fumbled so badly I dropped the phone on the tabletop with a clatter. Luckily the music