“You’d have to, to come all the way out here,” I said.
“You love Devin,” Julie said. “You should tell him, he’d like that.”
“Uh…”
“I know you’re not really dating,” Julie continued. We were too far back from the rest of the group for anyone to hear, but a tingle of dread still trickled down the back of my neck.
“How did you…?”
Had I made a mistake? Was I not being attentive enough? Affectionate enough?
I didn’t know why Devin thought I could fool anyone. I was hopeless. Clumsy. A big hopeless, clumsy idiot. I couldn’t doanythingright.
“I’m psychic,” Julie said, squeezing my arm and dragging me away from the dark path my thoughts had just wandered down.
“Really?” I asked. I wasn’t sure I believedanyonewas psychic, but if Julie knew something no one else knew…
“No,” Julie beamed at me. “Marta told me, so I wouldn’t blow your cover. I don’t like Brad any more than she does. Idolike you.”
“You just met me,” I pointed out.
“Your flowers love you,” she said, which sounded almost as ridiculous asI’m psychic.
Iwantedto say flowers didn’t have feelings, but I wasn’t sure that was true, either. Hadn’t they done studies that showed talking to your plants was good for them?
Part of me secretly thought that my flowers looked better and lasted longer because I talked to them, too.
“And you love your flowers,” she added. “So I like you.”
“Thanks,” I said. “I like you, too.”
Even as I said it, I was surprised by how true it was. I wasn’t used to making friends easily. Aiden had been my only friend for a long time.
And then there’d been Devin. Devin was my friend, too.
Two friends. One of which I’d nearly died of happiness cuddling with last night.
Having a third one who I could just offer my arm to and walk with like it was nothing at all balanced things out nicely.
“What did you mean? About our auras matching?” I asked, finally working up the courage to say what I really wanted to.
“Yours and Devin’s? They do,” Julie said. “And it’s so cute. You look so pretty when you stand together.”
“I…”
“You don’t believe me,” Julie said, like she’d had to say it a thousand times.
I knew what it was like to feel like people thought you were an idiot. Like what you were saying didn’t have any value.
“I just can’t see it,” I said, and I was surprised by how close to the truththatwas, too. “That’s all.”
“Okay.” Julie nodded, apparently accepting that. “Want me to read your palm later? You’ll be able to see that.”
“Sure,” I agreed. What harm could it do? I’d seen her reading Alex's before, and he seemed fine now.
“Are we forming a band?” Chris asked, dropping back from the crowd ahead to join us and taking my other arm without a moment’s pause.
That was… nice, in a way. Strange, but nice.
