Chapter 8
Finally, the school day ended. Claire and I skipped out of the classroom.
“I’m so excited about your birthday party,” Claire squealed. She looked over to see Billy and the other boys from our class horsing around on the front lawn. “Has Billy responded yet? Is he going to be there?”
“He better be there,” I said. “We live together.”
“Oooh,” Claire said, making kissy-face noises.
“Stop that,” I said. “I mean we live in the same building. I’m just worried that no one else will be there and that it will be a disaster.”
“What are you talking about?” Claire said. “Everyone in the class is super excited about your birthday party.”
“Really?” I said. I was pleasantly surprised. Before I could respond, Claire interrupted me.
“Boy, for someone who can read minds, you don’t know how much your friends like you.”
I smiled wide, and yelled, “I can’t read minds, Claire!”
Then we heard the sound of a car horn. Mrs. Voyance signaled to Claire from her car.
“Krystal, I have to go,” she said. “Promise you won’t tell anyone about…you know what.”
“I promise.”
“Pinky promise,” Claire said.
“Okay,” I replied.
We interlocked our pinkies, forming the sacred bond of the pinkie promise. Then Claire waved goodbye and went home.
I saw Mom walking up the sidewalk, and I ran up to her.
“How was school, honey?” she asked.
“Fine,” I said. “Today we learned about fractions, but I also learned something about my friend, Claire.”
“Really? What?” Mom asked.
“Oops,” I said, remembering the pinkie promise. “I can’t tell you. It’s a secret.”
“In that case, forget I asked,” Mom said. “Ready to go shopping?”
“Aw, yeah!” I said.
The party supply store was right near the school. Inside, each aisle was decorated with a specific theme. My favorite was always the carnival and circus aisle.
“Mom, look,” I cried, pointing to a row of feathered masks. “These are amazing.”
I tried one on while Mom filled her basket with streamers and garlands.
A woman with an overstuffed shopping cart pushed past in a hurry. She had an oversized hairdo piled high atop her head and an oversized bag hanging from her shoulder.
“Excuse me,” she said, rushing to the register.
Excuse you! I thought. I dove out of her way but was grazed by the shoulder bag. I managed to glean a vision from it.
I closed my eyes and tilted my head. The vision came into focus. Then I walked over to the teenaged stock boy straightening the shelves.
“Hi, mister,” I said, tugging on his apron. “You may want to clean up the mess in the next aisle.”
The stock boy walked over to where I was pointing. He looked down the aisle. All he saw was the rude woman with the overstuffed cart. She was barreling past a tall pyramid display of cone-shaped party hats.
The teenager looked confused. “Uh, I don’t see any—” he began.
Before he could finish his sentence, the woman’s bag sideswiped the pyramid display. It teetered back and forth a few times before toppling over. Whoosh!
The woman yelped as she was covered in an avalanche of paper hats. The stock boy ran over as fast as he could.
“My hair!” the woman shrieked.
The pointy ends of some party hats were stuck inside her beehive.
“My art,” the teenager yelled, picking up the scattered items. “Now I have to create the display all over again.”
I covered my mouth to stop laughing out loud and went to help Mom finish shopping.
***
When Mom paid for the supplies, we headed home. Billy was sitting on the front steps of our building. I sprinted toward him.
“Hey, Billy,” I said. “Look what I got.”
I held up a bag full of party supplies. Billy didn’t look up. In fact, he was hiding his face. His eyes were red.
“What’s the matter?” I asked.
“Bad news,” Billy said glumly.
He nodded toward a white van parked on the street. It said PAULY’S PLUMBING on its side.
“I flooded the bathroom,” Billy said.
“Ew!” I said, holding my nose. “That’s gross.”
Billy smiled halfheartedly. “I wish that’s what happened,” he said. “I thought it would be cool to film a home movie with my digital camera.”
“It was going to be an ocean adventure,” he continued. “I had my pirate ship and my rubber sea creatures and everything.”
The hairs on my arms stood up. Pirate ship. Sea creatures. “I had a dream just like that,” I interrupted.
“Whoa,” Billy replied. “Do you think it was a premonition?”
“Well, what happened next?” I asked.
“I turned on the water to fill the tub, right? And I had the camera in one hand, and I was splashing the ship with the other like this…”
Billy demonstrated his filmmaking technique as he spoke. “I figured that would make the attack look more realistic, which it totally did,” he said. “Then I switched off the camera but forgot to turn off the water.”
“Uh-oh,” I said.
“Exactly,” agreed Billy. “The water poured out of the tub, onto the floor, and out the front door. My parents called the plumber and the landlord. They say I caused a lot of damage. And that I’m in big trouble.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” I replied.
“Yeah, it’s a bummer,” Billy said. “But that’s pretty cool about your dream, though.”
I stood up and said, “I have got to tell my parents what happened. You see, my dream was showing me the future.”
“Okay,” Billy said. “I’ll catch you later.”
I ran all the way up to our apartment, taking the stairs two steps at a time. The door was open.
“Mom? Dad? Where are you?” I yelled.
“We’re in the living room, honey,” Dad answered.
“You’ll never guess what happened,” I said.
When I walked into the room, I stopped dead in my tracks. I could not believe my eyes. Immediately, I started to cry.