Seers by Kristine Bowe Read Free Book Online Page A

asked him to join me at Eri and her friends’ table for lunch. He politely declined, saying he liked where he was. And there he was in his usual seat. I don’t seem to be missed. I guess he was just the welcoming committee, and, with the invite for me to join a group removing my “displaced new girl” label, his job is done.
    Patrick flashes me another award-winning grin and waves me over.
    As I walk toward them, I take them all in. Patrick is flawless. He’s muscled without being too bulky, has elegant features without appearing too polished, his blond hair is tousled and sun-streaked, and he’s funny and easy-going. He would make it hard for me to be a boy in this school. Too fierce a competition. Eri’s the smallest. Very petite. But her olive complexion, dark, shiny hair, and interesting features ensure that she’s not overlooked. Daisy is cute. She’s a dark blonde with light-green eyes. She’s tan, though still paler than Eri. She’s tall and athletically built. She’s curvy but looks strong. She is the all-around teenage girl. Money, looks, great personality, and she actually seems like a decent person. And why wouldn’t she be? She’s got everybody beat anyway. Frances reminds me of Velma from
Scooby-Doo.
Not physically, but because of the seriousness she brings to the group. Could you imagine Scooby-Doo without Velma? All you’d have is the antics of Scooby, the voracious hunger and fumbling of Shaggy, the dumb-jockness of Fred, and the who-cares-about-the-brains-when-there’s-a-short-dress-and-a-shock-of-hot-red-hair? of Daphne. Velma gives validity to the group, enough for them to call themselves mystery solvers. This good-looking group is smart on its own, but with Frances, it is a coveted group for its brains,
despite
its looks. I rest my eyes on Luke, last but not least.
    I am inches from the table now. His body and chin are straight, facing Patrick, who sits opposite him, but his eyes are focused to his left. On me. My lips part as I inhale at … at what? Being caught checking all of them out? Analyzing them? Or at his face? That perfect face.
    “Hey, Leesie! Welcome! I’m Patrick. You’ve met Eri and Luke. This is Frances, and this is Daisy.” He gestures to each of his friends as he goes around the table. “So, Eri says you seem okay. We figured we’d find out for ourselves. How do you like it here so far?”
    I snap out of it and focus on the task at hand, which I’m sure will be a series of questions. The first of which is a trick question.
How do I like it here so far?
I have to be positive or else I am a whiner. But if I’m too positive, I defy the laws of normal teenage angst. “It’s an adjustment, but I like it okay.”
    I answer some more expected questions:
What was your old school like? Why did you transfer?
I answer according to my created backstory.
    “I lived with my aunt in New Hampshire before I moved here. She had me set up with tutors, and I took classes at a school nearby. It was a nice place, lots of land. She ran a stable, so there was always something to do. I loved spending time with the horses.”
    “Ooh, do you ride?” Daisy asks. “You’ll have to come riding with me if you do. I have two horses boarded nearby.”
    “I did ride. And thanks. I’d love to get back on a horse.”
    That part’s true. I see images of horses in the foggy mess of a memory I have.
    “Let her continue, Daisy,” Luke says, bringing us back to what I guess is important to him: my bio.
    “About a year ago my aunt got sick. Cancer. When she found out, she began to make arrangements for me to attend Alsinboro. She had talked before about it being the best on the East Coast. My education, even to her death, was her top priority.”
    “So, she …” Frances hesitates.
    “Yes. She died two months ago.” I drop my eyes instinctively. Even if I didn’t really lose “my aunt,” I’ve lost everyone I knew. Considering I have no past, no clear non-Seer memories, and no family,