Awaking (The Naturals, #1) Read online

  Apparently she took just a little too long in her appreciation, however, because Lia Roderick, this year’s editor-in-chief, approached Morgan, hands on hips. She looked polished and put together, as usual, with her brown hair in a bob just below her chin and a pale yellow shirt that flattered her soft cocoa skin. Upon seeing Morgan, she immediately put on her not amused face.

  “Are you just going to stand there?” Lia asked, brushstroke eyebrows arched in irritation.

  “I was considering it,” she said, just because she knew it would irk Lia.

  It seemed to work. Lia crossed her arms over her chest and took a step closer to Morgan. “Look here. I know Mr. Kment’s always gone kind of easy on you, but I’m your editor this year, and I don’t want your sass. Do I make myself clear?”

  “I’m sorry, what did you just say?” Morgan asked.

  This comment elicited an exasperated sigh from Lia, who stalked off to terrorize a couple of first-year members of the staff.

  Morgan shrugged and walked back to the table where McKenna and Stew were working.

  McKenna looked up as Morgan approached the table. “How was your run-in with the fuehrer?”

  “Ouch. That’s a bit rough, isn’t it?” asked Stew.

  McKenna shrugged. “Now that her name’s listed as editor-in-chief, I’m sure she’s going to do more micro-managing than ever. And it looks like the micro-managing has already begun. Morgan?”

  Morgan nodded. “She seemed very concerned that I wasn’t working already.” She sighed. “What’re we doing, anyway?”

  McKenna explained their task and Morgan set to helping. During the remainder of the meeting, Morgan noticed that Lia didn’t stop circulating once. She stopped by Morgan’s table not less than a half dozen times. Morgan found it a bit disconcerting. She also noticed Mr. K and Miss Scotford spending a lot of time off to the side of the room, talking quietly to each other. Morgan found this disconcerting, too.

  The meeting went on for another hour. Before everyone was dismissed, Mr. K reminded them that they were meeting again tomorrow to sell ad space in the community.

  At the end of the meeting, Morgan bid farewell to Stew and McKenna. She wanted to swing by and say goodbye to Mr. K, but Miss Scotford was still beside him. Deciding she’d catch Mr. K some other day, Morgan headed out into the hallway, which was filled with knots of people chatting and catching up.

  Morgan wove around the different groups and started down the stairs. Echoing voices told her that there were people at the bottom of the stairs, but Morgan didn’t pay any attention until she heard her own name.

  “I never said I was going to ask Morgan—”

  “Yes you did. I don’t understand why you’re so chicken—it’s what she does.”

  Before the girls came into view, Morgan had already identified the speakers by their voices: the first one was Lia Roderick, and the second was a girl named Alecia Emerick, a regular for having her cards read.

  Lia made an exasperated noise. “She’s a fake. Why do I need to pay someone to tell me what I want to hear? I’ve got you for that.”

  “Lee, you’re so wrong. Morgan’s right, like, all the time! I live by her horoscopes during the school year!”

  Morgan stopped at the foot of the stairs and cleared her throat. Lia and Alecia both jumped, but Alecia recovered quickly, rushing to Morgan’s side and hooking her arm through Morgan’s.

  “Look! It’s fate!”

  Morgan glanced at her out the corner of her eye. “Or I’m just headed to my car.”

  Alecia laughed, pulling Morgan toward Lia. “Morgan, we’re in desperate need of your talents. Lia needs a reading so you can put her mind at ease about her future.” She leaned in toward Morgan conspiratorially. “I think it’s college. Her parents are all over her about applications and visits… It’s all she talks about.”

  Lia waved her hand in Alecia’s direction. “Hello? I’m standing right here.”

  “She needs a reading,” Alecia insisted, “she’s just being stubborn.”

  Lia planted a hand on her hip. “I do not need a reading,” she said firmly. “No one does.”

  Morgan snorted. “Tell me how you really feel.”

  “I’m sorry,” Lia said, her hand moving from her hip to the cross resting in hollow of her neck, “but I just don’t believe in this psychic stuff.”

  “Fine.” Morgan disentangled her arm from Alecia’s and started toward the stairwell door.

  “No, wait!” Alecia ran ahead of Morgan and blocked her path.

  Morgan crossed her arms over her chest. “Look, even if she did want a reading, why would I help her? She’s insulted my abilities, and she was a jerk to me at the meeting. So, if you’ll let me pass...”

  Alecia cast an exasperated look over Morgan’s shoulder. “Lee, will you just do it?”

  Morgan turned just in time to see Lia’s face soften. She sighed. “Fine.”

  Alecia clapped excitedly, but Morgan shook her head, still looking at Lia. “My question stands. Why should I help you?”

  “I’ll pay you double,” Alecia said quickly.

  Morgan turned to survey her but didn’t respond.

  Alecia looked panicked. “Triple!”

  At this, Morgan smiled. “Okay. Where do you wanna do it? I’d rather not be out here in the stairwell.”

  “There’s a teacher’s lounge right over here…”

  Alecia led the way through the hall and pushed open a door to reveal a dingy lounge with a dozen dilapidated chairs arranged around a long table and a few sad-looking couches lining the walls.

  Before Morgan could take in much more, Lia brushed past her and planted herself firmly on the closest couch.

  “Let’s get this over with,” she said, arms crossed over her chest.

  “Wow, tell me how you really feel,” Morgan muttered, sitting beside Lia on the bench. Without waiting for a retort, she held out her hand, palm up, toward Lia. “Gimme your hand.”

  After the slightest moment of hesitation, Lia obliged. She placed her hand in Morgan’s, palm up, but her fingers were curled over as if she were contemplating making a fist. With her free hand, Morgan unfurled Lia’s digits. She felt the tension in Lia’s hand, felt her start slightly when Morgan brushed her thumbs lightly over the flesh of her palm. As Morgan looked at the different lines—heart, head, life—she tried to block out the thoughts swirling in her mind. Alecia said Lia’s worry centered around college. It wasn’t surprising. Lia was, as far as Morgan could tell, an overachiever at everything. That her parents were behind it in some way was understandable. As Morgan thumbed Lia’s life line, she relaxed herself. Exhaled. Her skin started to tingle, but she figured it was due to the fact they were in a room students weren’t allowed to be in. Or because she was itching to go out to her car and check her cell phone. To focus, she closed her eyes.

  “College isn’t going to be an issue for you,” Morgan said after a moment, eyes still closed. The tingling intensified in the region of her arms and hands. “You shouldn’t worry about it. Change is coming your way, and… you’ll need to embrace it. You need to go down the path set before you—”

  Without warning, Lia pulled her hand away from Morgan. The tingling sensation stopped. Morgan’s eyes opened and she looked at Lia. “What the hell?”

  “I’m done,” Lia said, standing. “I just… This is a waste and I’m done.” With that, she stalked to the doorway, pushed past Alecia, and headed out to the hall.

  Alecia immediately made a move to follow her, but Morgan cleared her throat. Alecia turned and crossed to Morgan, opening her purse and pulling out her wallet. After Morgan closed her fingers around the payment, Alecia went after Lia.

  Morgan took a moment to collect herself before venturing into the hallway herself. In her years of telling fortunes, she’d had all kinds of reactions, but no one had ever reacted so strongly to such an innocuous reading. Lia didn’t need to worry about college. It didn’t take a psychic to figure that one out. And change
was coming her way. No kidding—they were about to enter senior year. She didn’t understand what there was to be so upset about.

  When she got back out to her car, she immediately retrieved her phone from the glove box. She had received three text messages, all from Ris.

  Hey, you’re done at 11, right?

  I’ve got your first client booked at 11:45.

  Are you done yet???

  Morgan typed out a quick reply—Done now. Coming to you—and headed toward Ris’s house. Fifteen minutes later, the two were set up in their usual spot under a pavilion at the park near Ris’s house.

  For years, Morgan had been telling people their fortunes at school during lunch—or, very occasionally immediately before or after school. It was last summer that Ris suggested they continue the business into the summer. Though they weren’t at the park every day, most weeks they were there at least three days—and Ris was good about always having Morgan’s time fully booked.

  Today, Ris had people scheduled back-to-back until two o’clock. Though the day was just like dozens before it, Morgan was acutely aware of one difference: she was preoccupied. In between every client, she surreptitiously checked her phone to see if there was a missed call or a text from Kellen.

  Morgan hadn’t told Ris about Kellen, Tesin, and Wen. She couldn’t find a way to tell her about one part without bringing up the others. And though she’d asked if she could bring Ris to whatever party Tesin had suggested she come to, she wasn’t entirely sure how she’d explain the situation surrounding the invitation to Ris.

  Morgan was in the process of turning her phone off and on again—in case there was something wrong with it—when her last client of the day sat down across from her, so she didn’t immediately register who it was. It wasn’t until the client cleared his throat that Morgan actually focused on him.

  “Corbin?” she asked incredulously.

  Corbin smiled, flashing his straight, white teeth. “And hello to you, too.”

  “What are you doing here?”

  “Investment banking. What do you mean, what am I doing here?”

  Morgan just stared at him for a moment, unsure how to respond. “Nothing… It’s just… I’ve been doing this for years and you’ve never had a reading.”

  “Well,” Corbin said slowly, “after the drama last night, Clare and I were talking. She seems to think that starting my senior year without consulting you is—what did she say? Careless.” He smiled.

  Morgan smiled too. Leave it to Ris to turn any situation into a marketing opportunity.

  “You know, about last night—there’s something I think you should know. I saw Lynna almost yelling at Marya and Shayna for saying what they said to you. She seemed… I’ve never seen her that mad.” He shrugged. “She seemed to think them bringing up… you know… was below the belt, you know?”

  In her mind’s eye, she could see an image of Lynna yelling at her minions. The thought made her smile, but she was confused. “Why are you telling me this?”

  He shrugged. “I see Lynna a lot—we kinda run with the same crowd. And I’ve never seen her lose it like that in public. I’ve also never seen her apologize when something gets out of hand. I figured she’d never tell you she was sorry for what they said.”

  Morgan shifted, uncomfortable. “I appreciate it, Corbin, but Lynna and I aren’t BFFs. We never will be. You can’t mend a relationship that doesn’t exist.”

  His eyes flicked to the table. “Sorry.”

  She took in a breath and released it, forcing her face into the polite, secretive smile she reserved for customers. “Ready for your reading?”

  Corbin met her eyes, the contrition from the previous moment replaced completely with a broad smile. “I’m signed up for a palm reading, I think.”

  Morgan put her hands out on the table, palms up, and after a moment, Corbin placed his right hand in both of hers. As usual, Morgan leaned over the palm in her hand and began running her thumbs over the different lines. Then she let herself begin the reading.

  All day, her distraction had kept her from feeling much from any of her clients, but it didn’t divert her now. She laid aside the concern about Tesin’s invitation and Kellen’s impending phone call and allowed herself to get lost in the reading. She drifted, at first, around the sorts of information that usually came to her—Corbin had an older brother to whom he never quite measured up; he chose to play guitar mainly because his brother had never touched one; there was a soft spot in his heart for Ris, who was his first kiss back in fifth grade.

  But then something happened that Morgan never experienced before. It was as if any walls between them were suddenly transparent: Not only could Morgan see inside Corbin, Corbin could see inside her.

  Morgan pulled her hands away. The connection snapped.

  Corbin looked at Morgan, bewilderment clear in his green eyes. “Was that… normal?”

  Morgan barely heard him. His voice seemed to be coming to her from a great distance. Darkness hovered in her peripheral vision, threatening to envelop her. She braced her palms against the edge of the table in an attempt to keep upright. Her breaths came in short, shallow gasps. She felt as though she’d just run a mile.

  “I’ll take that as a no,” Corbin said quietly.

  Chapter Five

  Morgan hazarded a glance over at Ris, but Ris seemed blissfully unaware that anything out of the ordinary just occurred. Morgan knew she needed to get herself under control before Ris noticed anything was amiss, otherwise Ris would not rest until she made Morgan explain what happened.

  For a minute or so, Corbin stared at a fixed spot in space, a look of bewilderment on his face. Then he gave himself a little shake. “I should take Clare home.”

  “What?” Morgan managed to ask.

  Corbin met her eyes. “Do you wanna try to explain what just happened to her?”

  Without waiting for a response, he stood up. He wobbled a little when he first got to his feet, but as he walked over to where Ris sat, his steps were sure and steady. “Hey, Clare,” he said as he approached. “Morgan said it’d be okay if I walked you home today.”

  Ris looked up at him, confused. “Okay,” she said slowly.

  “Great.” Corbin held his hand out to Ris. With a small smile, she took it and stood.

  As they walked past Morgan, Ris glanced at her. Morgan was able to pull herself together enough to smile until Ris looked away again.

  Once Corbin and Ris were a fair distance away, Morgan rested her elbows on the table and buried her face in her hands, trying to figure out what just happened. She thought back to what Wen explained to her the previous night, about her being a Feeler. Was this just an extension of the things she experienced before? And why was it happening now? It was almost as if learning about her supposed ability had made it stronger.

  How long she sat like that, Morgan wasn’t sure, but the next thing she was aware of was someone saying her name. When she looked up, she saw Corbin’s wide green eyes studying her.

  “What?” Morgan asked after a minute.

  Corbin didn’t say anything. Instead, he sat down next to Morgan and continued to look at her.

  Morgan stared back. Then she began to get irritated. “Stop it. You’re creeping me out.”

  Corbin laughed humorlessly. “I’m creeping you out? Right.”

  “Look, I don’t know what happened.”

  “I read your mind, that’s what happened.”

  Morgan nodded. “Yes, I’m aware. What I meant was I don’t know how it happened.”

  Corbin didn’t say anything for a long while. He opened his mouth a couple times as if he was going to say something, but nothing came out.

  “If you’re gonna say something, do it,” Morgan snapped finally.

  Corbin put his hands up incredulously. “What the hell can I say to something like this? I just read your mind.”

  Morgan shook her head—an unwise move, considering it brought on a wave of dizziness. “If you don’t have anythin
g to say,” she said, bringing a hand to her face, “then leave.”

  “I don’t think that’d be the best idea right now,” Corbin said. “You don’t look like you could even stand up.”

  “I’m fine.”

  “You’re lying.”

  Morgan didn’t respond, and for a few minutes Corbin didn’t speak either. But Corbin didn’t have to express himself in words for Morgan to know what he was feeling: his emotions radiated off him like heat from the sun and Morgan could feel them all: unease, panic, concern for Morgan. Embarrassment. Curiosity. Wonder.

  “You doing okay?” Morgan asked, breaking the silence.

  “Processing,” Corbin said. “I kinda feel like I should be waking up soon, you know?”

  “Freaked out?”

  Corbin shook his head, a look of nonchalance on his face. False bravado, Morgan knew, but she didn’t think it appropriate to call him on it.

  “I didn’t know you and Lynna were cousins,” Corbin ventured tentatively.

  Morgan made a scathing noise.

  “Wow. I mean, you guys don’t exactly seem like relatives.” Corbin looked down at his hands. “I’m sorry about your mom,” he said quietly. “I mean, I guess I knew the highlights from people like Marya and Shayna, but I had no idea… Morgan, it must’ve been awful.”

  “It still is.”

  “I’m sorry,” Corbin said. He looked up at Morgan. To his credit, his gaze was devoid of pity. After a moment, he spoke again. “I invited Clare out to the party tonight.”

  Morgan raised an eyebrow. “What party?”

  “The party Kellen and Tesin and Wen invited you to last night,” Corbin said matter-of-factly. “You’re right—you shouldn’t go alone. And now I’m giving you a way to have Clare there. And me.”

  “Yeah? How do you plan on that happening?”

  Corbin smiled. “That’s easy. When Kellen calls you, you’ll call me with the details. I’ll call Clare and she’ll ask if she can invite you.”