Confessions of a Teenage Psychic by Pamela Woods-Jackson Page B

but my budget isn’t.
    “Any suggestions?” I ask them.
    “Moms always like perfume and stuff like that,” Megan says. “Or we could go into the bath store and look at some of those scented soaps.”
    “Okay. Which way?” It’s my first time in this mall and I’m turned around.
    “I think we passed it.” Annabeth looks up at the sign on the sporting goods store behind us.
    “Ohmigod, do you two see what I see?” Megan exclaims, pointing across the mall.
    “What?” All I can see are hordes of busy shoppers.
    “It’s Kensington Marlow!”
    “So?” I ask, annoyed at the thought that my rival— even though she might not realize she’s my rival— is breathing the same airspace as I am. “I imagine she practically lives at the mall.”
    Still, my curiosity gets the better of me and I look in the direction Megan is pointing. Sure enough, there’s Kensi, but she isn’t alone. She’s walking arm-in-arm with a very attractive guy, occasionally leaning her head on his shoulder, laughing as he whispers in her ear. He even leans over and kisses her on the cheek as they stroll along.
    “Who’s Kensington Marlow and why do we care?” Annabeth asks.
    “She’s Quince Adams’ girlfriend, and that is NOT Quince!” Megan says.
    “He’s a college student,” I say, too dazed by Kensi’s betrayal to think what I’m saying.
    “He is? How do you know?” Megan asks me. I see Annabeth give me a knowing look.
    “Um, he just looks older than high school,” I hedge. Still, we all realize that Kensi is cheating on Quince, big time.
    Then a weird sensation comes over me. It’s like everyone in the mall is playing a game of freeze-tag and instantly all movement, voices, noise, and music seem to stop while a thought swirls in my head. In my gut I feel a gnawing sensation and I blurt out, “Quince is here— in the mall!” So much for keeping my psychic premonitions to myself .
    “Where?” Megan searches the crowd. “I don’t see him.”
    Neither do I at the moment, but my radar tells me he’s definitely here. “Quince is going to see Kensi with that college guy!”
    “So let him. Seriously, I’d think you’d be happy if Quince found out his girlfriend is cheating on him,” Annabeth says.
    I wonder if she’s right. “I don’t know… ”
    “Well, I say we find him and tell him,” Annabeth finally says, narrowing her eyes at me.
    I have to stop and think a minute. True, if Quince sees Kensi with the other guy, they might break up, but I refuse to be the reason he finds out. I just got back in his good graces and I want to keep it that way.
    “I kinda feel bad for the guy, though,” Annabeth goes on. “I know what it’s like to have a cheating Significant Other and I’d sure want to know if I were him.”
    “This mall is way crowded today,” Megan says. “We’ll never find him anyway.”
    “He’s at the food court,” I say.
    “Huh? How can you possibly know that?”
    Maybe I misread my gut reaction? “Well, I’m hungry, so if I’m wrong, we can just get something to eat. Come on.”
    “Maybe Kensi is with a— friend or something,” Megan says charitably as we push our way through the crowd toward the food court.
    “They looked pretty friendly all right,” Annabeth says.
    I scan the seating area, and sure enough, there’s Quince over by the pizza place, shoving a piece of pepperoni in his face and laughing at something Kevin Marshall is saying. The three of us walk over, standing in just the right spot to block Quince’s view of the mall corridor.
    “Hi guys,” I say cheerfully. “What are you doing here?”
    It seems like a harmless opening. Kevin gives me his usual look that says Duh! and answers by pointing to the pizza. He probably thinks I’m the most clueless girl on the planet.
    “No, I mean are you here shopping or what?” I ask, hoping to seem a little less foolish.
    “I’ve gotta buy something for my mom,” Quince says, and I bite my tongue when an image of her