I swallowed the lump in my throat and tasted fear. Shivering, I couldn’t take my eyes off the dragonfly tattoo. Its wings fluttered and my head swam dizzily. There was a hammering sound, a heart beating—Danielle’s heart. And I saw the horrific image of her heart soaring through her chest into the air, suspended by wings. The wings flapped wildly, pulling in opposite directions, until the heart split apart.

“Sabine? What’s wrong?” I heard someone ask.

“Huh?” I shook away the weird images, and fought to stay sane. The dizziness passed and I was aware of Britney Spears on the radio and the hum of the car engine. Josh and Even were talking to each other, something about football. And Danielle was leaning toward me with a confused expression.

“Why were you staring at me like that?” Danielle asked, her voice soft like a little girl’s. “Is my hair messed up or something?”

“Your hair is fine.”

“Not too frizzy?”

“You look great. I—I was just admiring your tattoo.”

“Oh, that.” She sounded relieved.

“A dragonfly.” I paused. “It’s really … really unique.”

“Thanks! My grandmother was an artist and I had it copied from an old sketchbook of hers. She’s gone now, but it’s like part of her is with me always.” She glanced at Evan who had leaned back and was smiling at her. “My next tattoo is gonna be for Evan. We could even get matching heart tattoos.”

“Hearts?” I repeated, cringing a little.

“Or maybe our initials.”

“As long as you don’t ask me to pierce my nose or lips,” Evan told her. “I don’t want to look like a freak. Besides, I know a better way of showing you how I feel.”

Suddenly embarrassed and feeling like a peeping Tom, I turned around and looked straight ahead. Agreeing to a double date suddenly seemed like a terrible idea. And I couldn’t shake that sense of fear. How could I warn Danielle about some unknown danger without revealing my gift? Why didn’t my visions come with a how-to book? If I told Danielle I was psychic, she’d think I was crazy. Worse—she might tell Josh and he’d drop me quicker than yesterday’s garbage.

But when I ignored visions, bad things happened. I knew from experience—terrible experience—how real they could be.

What am I going do to? I thought desperately. How can I help Danielle without hurting myself? Of course there was no answer. When it came to predicting my own future, I always came up with a blank screen.

I glanced over at Josh and caught him studying me. “You okay?” he whispered.

“Never better,” I lied, ignoring the slurping noises coming from the backseat. “What movie are we going to see?”

“Evan likes the new Will Smith movie. But if you’d rather see something else—”

“No, that sounds good.”

“Great,” he said. “I told Evan we should check with you before picking the show, but he insisted everyone likes this movie, and he knows more about movies than I do. Still, next time you can pick the movie.”

Next time. I’d never heard more wonderful words. And I resolved to forget about crazy visions, and enjoy my time with Josh.

When we got to the cinema complex in Lodi, Evan wanted to sit in the far back, so that’s where we headed. He wanted an aisle seat, so Josh and I moved over. I was beginning to notice a pattern in Evan’s attitude—it was his way all the time. Josh was so easygoing, he didn’t seem to mind. And Danielle was crazy for Evan, clinging to him like lint. She seemed much more serious about their relationship than Evan.

Warn her, Opal’s voice popped into my head.

“Leave me alone,” I thought.

You have to stop her before it’s too late.

“Go away!”

I realized I’d spoken aloud when Josh set down the soda he’d been sipping and looked at me with surprise. “You want me to go?”

“No. Not you. I mean—” I hesitated, aware that Evan and Danielle were giving me odd looks, too. The movie hadn’t started yet, so I stood and added, “I—I meant I have to go … to the restroom.”

Danielle stood up. “Me, too.”

“Can’t girls go anywhere alone?” Evan joked. “Josh, you notice how they always travel in packs. At school, to the mall, and to the bathroom.”

“It’s so we can talk about you,” I couldn’t resist saying.

“Talk all you want,” Evan said. “As long as it’s good.”

“Only the best.” Danielle bent down to kiss him. “I’ll hurry back.”

“You’d better or I’ll eat your half of the popcorn.” He grabbed a handful of popcorn and shoved it into his mouth.

I turned away quickly. A little bit of Evan went a long way.

“Have you and Evan been going out long?” I asked Danielle as we entered the restroom.

“Three weeks, two days, and six hours.” She set her purse on the counter in front of the mirror and pulled out lipstick, mascara, and a brush. “But it feels like forever. I never thought a cool guy like him would notice me. I’ve usually too busy studying and don’t have many friends. But now I just want to be with Evan all the time. Is that how it is with you and Josh?”

I felt my cheeks heat up. “This is our first date. I hardly know him.”

“But it’s obvious you really like him.”

“Well … yeah.”

“And he really, really likes you. Evan says Josh is superpicky about girls and hasn’t dated since last summer. I have a real good feeling about you two.”

“Do you trust your feelings?” I asked cautiously.

She shrugged. “I guess.”

We stood in front of the mirror, and I searched past her striking beauty for her aura. Faint colors of green and orange swirled in opaque gray. Whatever that meant! Opal was good about telling me what to do, but she was terrible about explaining things.

My gaze locked on Danielle’s tattoo, and I found myself saying, “Danielle, are you in any trouble?”

“Trouble?” She set down her brush and gave me a wide-eyed look. “Why do you ask? I’ve got Evan and everything is great.”

“Yeah, but … see, I—I had this dream. And you were in it.”

“Really?” She giggled a little nervously. “Was Evan in it, too?”

“This isn’t about him. It’s about you.” I hesitated, getting that old sinking feeling, the same one I had right before I was kicked out of my last school, when I’d looked at a popular football player and saw his face burning down to a skull and heard sounds of a car crash. When I’d warned him not to drive after the prom, he’d spread the word that I was a freak. Everyone laughed at me. But when he drank too much on prom night and died in a head-on collision with a truck, nobody laughed anymore. They were afraid. Of me.

“Tell me about your dream while I fix my hair,” Danielle said. “But make it quick. Evan gets in a bad mood if I make him wait.”

“Dreams aren’t important. I shouldn’t have even brought it up.”

“But it’s an amazing coincidence you dreamed about me before we even met.”

“Nothing amazing about it. I’ve probably seen you around school. And I knew I’d be meeting you tonight.”

“I help out in the school office, so you could have seen me there. ”

“Yeah, that must be it. We better hurry or you won’t have any popcorn left.” I glanced at my reflection in the mirror, not sure I liked what I saw, then quickly turned away and followed Danielle.

The movie must have been hilarious because the audience roared with laughter, but it was impossible to notice anything other than Josh’s hand holding mine.

Josh drove Evan and Danielle to Evan’s house. Then we were alone.

Parking in front of Nona’s driveway, Josh turned off the engine but made no move to get out of the car. Instead, we sat silently for a moment in the darkness. Moonlight shifted through nearby trees and shone golden on Josh’s face. I found myself thinking about kissing, hoping Josh wanted to. I held my breath as I unsnapped my seat belt. It slid off my shoulders with a metallic click.

“Sabine—” He cleared his throat.

“Yes?” I said too quickly

He smiled. “I had a great time.” He held out his hand.

“Me, too.” I clasped his gentle fingers.

“I don’t want you to go in.”

“All right.” My mouth was moving but my brain had thrown in the towel. I was numb.

He grinned. “Your parents wouldn’t like that.”

“My parents live in San Jose. I stay here with my grandmother.”

“Really? But don’t your parents miss you?”

“I don’t think so.”

“It’s their loss.” Then he leaned forward, pulled me close, and kissed me.