Energized by Mary Behre Page A

bottle.
    â€œWorked up a thirst tonight?” Karma asked, grinning when Hannah nodded. She took a pull from her own bottle, then tilted her head to one side as if studying Hannah. “Your aura’s looking better. It’s a vibrant orange again. Not that sickly yellow it had been when you walked out of Niall’s office. And definitely not that hot orange red it was when you two walked into it.”
    â€œYou really see auras. It’s not just an impression of people’s characters you get when you talk to them, is it? You see actual colors. All the time?”
    The dishwasher made a
shunking
noise, indicating the next wash cycle. Karma eyed it, then lifted herself onto the clean table and sat. Hannah folded her arms over her chest, but didn’t join her on the metal table.
    â€œYep. I literally see colors around living people.” Karma lowered her eyes and hunched her shoulders. “Pretty weird, huh?”
    â€œNo, not at all. I think that’s amazing. I have my own little, um . . . talent.” She hesitated briefly, but figured if Karma saw auras, she shouldn’t be weirded out by Hannah’s gift. “I touch objects and get visions.”
    â€œYou’re a psychometrist!” Karma’s expression brightened. “I’ve heard about people like you but I’ve never met one in person until now. Now that’s a cool gift. How does it work? Is it like mine? Do you do it all the time? Bet that’s a great way to weed out loser dates.”
    Hannah laughed. “It
can
come in handy for spotting the creepy guys but it can be a bit of a pain too. I don’t just see visions from objects—metal objects—I mean. I, um, well. Shoot, it’s going to sound nuts but I actually live the vision.”
    Karma frowned. “You mean if I handed you a fork, you’d get into my head and fish around?”
    â€œNothing quite that diabolical.” Hannah twisted her braid in her fingers. “It’s more like you hand me something and whatever memory you had when you were handling it will be one I walk through. I’ll see it, hear it, smell it, taste it, just likeyou did. Like a dream, sort of. You know how it’s all bright and shiny when you’re in the dream and it fades after you wake up? My visions are like that.
    â€œIn a way, I am you for a few minutes. But I cannot search for other memories once I’m in there. Usually, I wonder a question, like what’s your favorite guilty secret TV show or something before I touch the object. Unless you were really upset when you touched it before me, I’ll usually only see the answer to my question.
    â€œI think it’s an invasion of privacy to go rooting around in someone else’s memories, you know. Anyway, I don’t think I can do something like that. I’ve never tried. And I wouldn’t. It’s kind of, you know, icky.”
    The dishwasher emitted a loud hiss, then water ran down the drain. Karma glanced from it to Hannah, then grinned. “We’re so going to get along. Tell you what—” Michael Bublé singing “Home” rang out from her pocket. Karma held a finger in the air, then tugged out her cell. “Hey, Ziggy . . . I’m closing up . . . How about I stop by the station in an hour? No, I don’t need a ride . . . No, I won’t walk there alone in the dark . . . Yes, I can’t wait to see you either.”
    Karma ended the call. Her dark brown eyes were bright with excitement. “Tell you what, I need to finish up in the office and sign the time cards for everyone. Can you do the dishes? You don’t need to put away the clean ones, just load the dirty ones into the dishwasher and get it started.”
    Karma pulled the clean rack of dishes out of the dishwasher and set up another one for the dirty ones.
    After receiving a quick demonstration on the machine, Hannah agreed.