“How did you do that?” I asked my brother later. We were sitting in the backseat of the car, waiting for Dad. “How did you make that waffle float?”

Jackson had a stunned look on his face. “I — I can’t explain it,” he stammered. “I stared at the waffle, and …” He lowered his voice to a frightened whisper. “Jillian, something weird is going on. I —”

Dad climbed in behind the wheel. Jackson changed the subject. He started talking about the White Sox.

I tuned out. I thought about breakfast. Something just wasn’t right.

*  *  *

At noon, I stepped into the lunch line at school. I called to Marci and Ana Li, my friends from the swim team, to save me a seat.

And guess who jumped into the line ahead of me. Yes, it was Nina Lerner.

“You don’t mind if I get in front of you, do you?” Nina asked. “I have low blood sugar. I have to eat something right away.”

“No problem,” I muttered.

She picked up a soup bowl, started to raise the lid on the big soup pot, and then put it down. “The soup is probably too spicy. It will upset my stomach.”

“No, it won’t,” I said. “It’s just chicken soup. It’s not spicy at all.”

Nina spun around. Her mouth dropped open. “Excuse me? Jillian, I didn’t say anything about the soup.”

“I — I heard you —” I said.

Nina squinted hard at me. “I love that skirt and vest,” she said.

“I got them at this awesome shop at the mall,” I told her. “You know. The one next to Dogs ’n’ Things.”

The soup bowl fell out of her hand and crashed into pieces on the floor. “Are you a witch or something?” Nina cried. “Are you reading my thoughts? I didn’t say a word to you, Jillian!”

She spun away from me and carried her tray down the line.

I stood there, staring after her, feeling strange. I had a whistling sound in my head. No. More like whispering. Dozens of soft voices …

“Wish I could have that dessert,” I heard Nina say. “But it might have corn syrup, and I’m allergic.”

I gasped. I realized Nina didn’t say that out loud. She was too far away for me to hear her.

What’s happening to me? I asked myself. I really AM reading her thoughts!

I heard a scream from the other side of the lunchroom. I turned around — and let out a cry.

A chair floated in midair above a table.

Jackson sat at the table with a couple of his friends. The three of them stared up at the floating chair. Kids screamed and pointed.

My brother had the strangest expression on his face. The others were crying out in shock. But Jackson looked like he was thinking hard. Concentrating on the chair.

Was Jackson making the chair float?

I remembered the floating waffle that morning.

I had to talk to my brother. We had to figure out what was going on.

Two teachers hurried across the room. One of them grabbed the chair and pushed it back down to the floor.

“I’ve seen that trick on TV!” a girl said.

Did she say it — or did I read her thoughts?

I suddenly felt dizzy. Confused. I pressed my hands against my forehead.

The bell rang. I set my tray down and hurried to class. I didn’t have any lunch. But I wasn’t hungry. My stomach felt tight as a knot. I couldn’t shake off my dizziness.

On my way to Miss Hawking’s class, Brandon Meadows, a friend of Jackson’s, passed by me. He gave me a shy wave. And I heard him say, “Wow. Jillian is looking totally hot today.”

I could feel my face grow warm. I knew Brandon didn’t say it. He was only thinking it. I read his mind!

“I never knew he liked me,” I muttered.

I was desperate to talk to Jackson about what was happening. But class had already started. He sat on the other end of the row from me.

Miss Hawking was telling everyone to settle down.

I waved at Jackson and tried to get his attention. But he had his head buried in one of his textbooks.

I read his thoughts. He was bummed because he did the wrong science pages last night. He hoped he wouldn’t be called on.

Could Jackson read MY thoughts? I was desperate to ask him.

Miss Hawking finally got everyone quiet. “I hope you all did your homework,” she said. “At two-thirty, I’m giving a surprise quiz on it.”

I glanced at the wall clock. It read 2:05.

I turned to my brother. He had a sick look on his face. I could hear what he was thinking: I’m totally doomed.

“Take out your wildlife notebooks,” Miss Hawking said. “Let’s see what you were able to find out about the manatee. We’ll start with you, Ana Li. Is it a fish or a mammal?”

I didn’t hear Ana Li’s answer. I was scrambling in my backpack to find my notebook. Where was it?

I pawed through everything. Then I remembered that Nina had borrowed it. And she’d never returned it.

I hoped I could fake it. Miss Hawking gets very angry if we forget our notebooks. I glanced at the clock. Still 2:05?

“Now, tell me,” Miss Hawking continued. “In what kind of waters can we find the manatee? Nina?”

I didn’t listen to Nina’s answer. I turned and gazed down the row to my brother. He wasn’t listening to the manatee discussion, either.

He was staring hard at the clock.

2:05.

Jackson didn’t move a muscle. Didn’t blink.

I tried to read his thoughts. But I couldn’t.

Why was he concentrating so hard?

What on earth was he doing?