"SO, THROW ME A bone, would you?" pleaded Ruthie. She was asking about Isaac, and about what had happened when she'd dropped me off after school yesterday. It was fun making her wait because her impatience made me laugh. But I couldn't keep her in suspense any longer or I'd be breaking the BFF code. The thing was, I just couldn't work up the excitement I had felt yesterday when Isaac asked me to the dance. Today, it was overshadowed by a sense of apprehension I didn't understand. Part of me wondered if I should have said no."Well," I said, dragging it out a little longer. We were driving to school, and cutting it close to bell time. "What if I said nothing happened?" Telling her might make us late.Ruthie looked like a kicked puppy. "Well, I guess I read the situation differently," she mused sadly. "My skills are seriously slacking. I could have sworn I saw some 'situation manipulation' happening there in the backseat of my car. Plus, that whole kissing chase the other day. I mean,

I REALIZED MY HANDS didn't hurt anymore, which was miraculous but impossible."What?" I gasped. We looked at each other in amazement. "I don't get it!" Was I losing it? "You saw them, right?"Zander ran his hands over mine, turning them over and over, once again sending tingles of pleasure across my skin."All right, class. Back to your seats," ordered Mr. Mac. Zander and I slowly pulled apart. He looked warily at me, almost like he didn't trust me or what he had seen. It killed me. I wondered what he was thinking and hoped he didn't think this was all a ruse to get his attention, because that would make me such a loser. And frankly, I was just as mystified. If I didn't have dried blood and dirt smeared all over my hands, I would not have believed that they'd ever been injured. I pulled out my notebook and peeked at him next to me. He was turned forward, rubbing his face with his hands tiredly. He blinked his eyes a few times and then squished his eyebrows together in concentrat

WITHOUT GIVING IT A thought, I grabbed a knife from the butcher block and headed out the back door. I walked warily around the side of the house to check if the gate was open. It was closed. I stepped cautiously to the other side of the house to a covered area where we kept our trash cans. The knife was trembling in my hand, but I moved forward anyway. Nothing. Where had Zander gone?"Zander!" I called out, my voice cracking. A growl vibrated through the air, behind me, behind our fence. Something was on the other side. I knew the Jenkins didn't have a dog and automatically backed away."Tru! Look out!" In the next moment, Zander was leaping over our fence and toward me. That alone was confusing, because our fence was hecka tall, and I didn't think even our school's track team could leap that high. Bewildered, I gripped the knife and twisted around to run away. I didn't see the water hose stacked in front of me and tripped. "Aagh!" I felt the blade sink into my arm, which had to be

I DON'T THINK I was unconscious for more than a few seconds, because Zander and his brother were still in my kitchen when awoke, and they were arguing pretty loudly. I remember seeing a similar situation on TV - some wildlife show about armadillos. Basically, play dead and the bad guy will leave; play dead and maybe I'd find out what was really going on. "What part of NO did you not hear!" yelled Zander. Something large thumped roughly against the cupboards. I hoped it was G.I. Joe's head. Whatever he had done to me, well, I was still feeling the aftershocks, like little bolts of electricity through my brain. I wanted to hold my head between my hands, but I didn't want to move and gain their attention."Stand down, Zander!" his brother ordered. "This is protocol! We don't leave witnesses. Ever. What's with you?""You could have killed her, you idiot! And she may be more than we think!""She's fine, man, I promise. Back off, would you?" A pause. It was so tempting to look, but I

MOMENTS LATER, WE SAT cross-legged on my bed. I ran my hand over the patchwork quilt that my mom made for me when I was twelve. It was extra soft from being washed so much over the years, and the texture never failed to comfort me. My parents had upgraded my bed to a queen on my twelfth birthday so I would have room for Ruthie to sleep over. It had made me feel so much older. But right now, I felt really young. Of all the memories shared in this room, lots of giggles, lots of tears, lots of secrets - today topped them all. I could feel my life shifting in an irreversible way, but toward what exactly I didn't know. Despite Ruthie's lunch table revelation regarding my incredible health, I knew I could trust her. She had never betrayed my biggest secret, my night vision. As children we explained it away as a secret superpower. As we got older, we decided it was just a fluke gift of nature and we should keep it to ourselves in case scientists decided to experiment on me - well, you never