Out Of Time (Book 0): Super Unknown by Donna Marie Oldfield Page A

us?”
    “OK,”
she reluctantly agreed. How could she turn down such a handsome stranger?
    “Shall
we go to Two Sugars?” the blonde girl asked the hot boy.
    “No
way, I’ve seen the cops milling around that place lately. Let’s try Frank’s
Café. It’s pretty quiet there.”
    The
group started walking down the street, so Scarlett followed them.
    “Why
are you afraid of the police?” she asked. They all turned and gave her that
collective look of disbelief again.
    “Everyone’s
scared of them, Scarlett. They’re evil. You know that.”
    Actually,
she didn’t know that.
    “My
uncle’s a policeman. I always thought they wanted to help and protect us.”
    “Scarlett,
are you crazy?” the blonde asked. “Did you bang your head? Maybe she banged her
head. Neelam, do you think she banged her head?”
    “Lucy,
go easy on her,” said the girl who Scarlett assumed to be Neelam.
    “Scarlett,
the police used to be good, but they’re not anymore. Don’t trust them.”
    “What
does that mean?” Scarlett thought.
    “I’ll
explain later,” Neelam replied.
    “What
is she, psychic or something?” Scarlett thought, again without speaking out
loud.
    Neelam
looked at her.
    “Actually
yes,” she said in her head.
    Scarlett’s
eyes opened wide with shock.
    “Did
you just speak in my head?” she yelped in horror.
    She
felt like her personal space had been massively invaded.
    “Scarlett,
I’m so sorry,” she said aloud. “Please don’t panic. It’s so hard to adjust to
you not knowing us. We used to be best friends.”
    Neelam
stared at Scarlett, her big brown eyes begging her to trust her. For some
reason, Scarlett’s instincts told her it was the right thing to do. At least,
she hoped it was her instincts and not Neelam playing mind tricks. She was very
confused.
    “Here
we are,” the girl called Lucy said. “We’re at Frank’s now. Are you going to
come in and have a coffee with us?”
    The
two boys pushed the door open and the warmth from the heaters inside escaped
onto the cold, autumn street. It would be nice to go in there for a rest.
    “OK…”
Scarlett said, as she followed them in.
    “Scarlett!
Come and sit down,” the hot boy said as he gestured at a seat next to him.
    She
silently cursed herself for blushing again. What was wrong with her? She’d
never felt so giddy and nervous around a boy before.
    “Go
on,” Neelam assured her. “I’ll get you a drink. What would you like?”
    Scarlett
stared at the wall above the counter. This place needed to get some better
signs – one said a cup of coffee was £17 instead of the usual £1.70 or so.
    “Can
I have a hot chocolate please?”
    “Sure.”
    Scarlett
weaved her way through the plastic tables to join the others at the back, near
a run-down old jukebox. She pulled a chair out and sat down. Everyone looked at
each other awkwardly.
    “So,
do you really not know who we are?” asked the blond boy. He was cute, but not
as good-looking as the dark-haired one.
    “No.
Not a clue,” she replied.
    Silence.
    “Maybe
they wiped her brain,” the hot boy quietly suggested, while leaning into the
table so as not to be heard.
    Scarlett
glanced around, wondering who might possibly want to overhear them, but the
place was empty bar the waitress and a couple in the corner.
    “I’m
Dylan,” the boy said. “That’s Jay,” he said, pointing at the shorter blond.
“This is Lucy,” he added, gesturing to the pretty, funkily dressed blonde girl.
“And that’s Neelam.” He nodded in the direction of the girl with long dark hair
at the counter.
    Neelam
gave Scarlett a friendly smile as she brought the drinks over and sat down on
the other side of her.
    “Hi,”
Scarlett said. She realised she sounded a little too surly, but she was so
tired she couldn’t help it.
    “So,
who are you?” she asked.
    “We
all have special powers,” Lucy whispered.
    “Lucy!”
Dylan scolded in a big-brotherly manner. “Don’t go round announcing