Chapter 3

At lunch, she settled at the same table by the window. She pulled out her notebook and began sketching the river again, adding lines for the current, shading the banks. The drawing was coming to life under her fingers, and for a few minutes, she forgot about Lila and the whispers.

Then a shadow fell across the page. Tjay looked up. Emma stood there, tray in hand, a hesitant smile on her face.

"Mind if I join?" Emma asked.

Tjay shook her head. "Not at all."

Emma sat across from her and unpacked her lunch—a sandwich, an apple, a small bag of chips. They ate in comfortable silence at first. Tjay glanced at Emma's red backpack leaning against the chair leg. It was the same one she had noticed before, a little faded on the corners.

"You draw really well," Emma said, pointing at the notebook. "Can I see?"

Tjay hesitated, then slid the notebook across the table. Emma studied the sketch carefully, her finger hovering above the paper without touching it.

"The water looks so real," Emma said. "Like you can hear it moving."

"Thanks," Tjay said. "It's the river near my house."

"I've seen it from the bridge," Emma said. "It's pretty there."

They talked about school, about science class and the upcoming project on weather patterns. Emma talked about her love of astronomy, how she stayed up late to watch meteor showers. Tjay listened, and for a while, she felt like any other girl making a friend.

But then Lila walked past their table. She paused, her eyes landing on Tjay and Emma together. A smirk crossed her face.

"Finding new friends already?" Lila said. "Be careful, Emma. She might tell you things you don't want to know."

Emma's expression didn't change. She looked up at Lila calmly. "I'm not worried."

Lila's smirk faltered. She shrugged and walked away, but Tjay's heart pounded. She had seen that look before. Lila was planning something.

"Don't let her get to you," Emma said softly. "She likes to see people scared."

"I know," Tjay said. "But she knows about me. About what I can do."

Emma set down her apple. "I think I know what you mean. I heard some whispers. But I don't believe everything I hear."

Tjay looked at her hands, still smudged with graphite. She wanted to tell Emma the truth. The whole truth. But fear caught her words.

"Maybe one day I'll explain," Tjay said.

Emma nodded. "Whenever you're ready."

That afternoon, they walked home together, even though Emma lived in the opposite direction. They stopped at the corner near Tjay's house, and Emma said, "I had fun today. Can we do it again tomorrow?"

"Sure," Tjay said, and the word felt like a gift.

But that night, as Tjay lay in bed, the old doubts crept back. What if Emma was like the others? What if she only wanted to use her gift? Tjay tossed and turned, fighting sleep, but exhaustion won.

She dreamed. The world blurred and shifted, and she saw a classroom—her classroom. Megan was passing a note to Lila. Lila read it, laughed, and looked at Emma. Then she scribbled something back. The dream faded, but the image stuck: Lila's eyes, cold and calculating.

Tjay woke with a start. The clock read 3:17 a.m. She lay still, staring at the ceiling. The vision wasn't a warning; it was a picture of what was already happening. Lila was turning Megan against Emma, too. Because of her.

She couldn't let that happen. Emma had been kind. Emma didn't deserve to be caught in Lila's web.

The next day at school, Tjay found Emma by the lockers. She pulled her aside, her voice low and urgent.

"I need to tell you something," Tjay said. "But you might think I'm crazy."

Emma's face softened. "I won't."

Tjay took a breath. "When I sleep, I see things. Not just dreams. I see things that are really happening, somewhere else. Like I'm watching through a window I shouldn't have. That's how I knew about the car accident. And that's why Lila wanted me to help her."

Emma's eyes widened, but she didn't pull away. She stayed still, listening.

"I don't control it," Tjay continued. "It just comes. And sometimes it's scary. But it's part of me. I used to think it made me a freak. But I don't want to hide it anymore."

Emma was quiet for a long moment. Then she said, "That must be hard. To see things and not be able to turn it off."

"It is," Tjay admitted.

"But it's also kind of amazing," Emma said. "You see the world in a way no one else does. Maybe it's not a curse. Maybe it's just different."

Tjay felt tears prick her eyes. She blinked them back. "You really think so?"

"I really do," Emma said. "And I'm not going to let Lila or anyone else make you feel bad about it."

They hugged, quick and awkward, but it meant everything.

Later that day, at lunch, Lila approached their table again. This time, her voice was louder, meant for others to hear.

"I heard you've been telling people you can see the future," Lila said. "You're not psychic, Tjay. You're just weird. And you're dragging Emma down with you."

Tjay's hands trembled, but she stood up. She looked Lila straight in the eye.

"I never said I could see the future," Tjay said. "I said I see things. And I only tried to help you because I wanted a friend. But friends don't use each other."

A few students turned to watch. Lila's face flushed.

"You're crazy," Lila hissed.

"Maybe," Tjay said quietly. "But at least I know who I am."

She sat back down. Emma reached under the table and squeezed her hand. Lila stalked away, muttering, but the whispers that followed Tjay were softer now, less certain.

That evening, Tjay walked home with Emma. At the corner, Emma said, "You were brave today."

"I was scared," Tjay admitted.

"That's what makes it brave," Emma said. "See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Tjay said. "Tomorrow."

When she got home, her mother was in the kitchen, stirring a pot of soup. "You look happier," her mother said.

Tjay smiled. "I made a friend. A real one."

Her mother's face lit up. "That's wonderful, sweetie."

Later, as Tjay lay in bed, she thought about the day. She had revealed her secret. The worst had happened—Lila called her crazy. But the best had happened too. Emma believed her. And she had stood up for herself.

She closed her eyes, and for the first time in weeks, she didn't fear sleep. If a vision came, she would face it. She wasn't alone anymore.

The dream came gently, like a whisper. She saw Emma, safe at home, reading a book under a lamp. The image warmed her. She drifted deeper, and the vision faded into ordinary sleep.

When morning came, Tjay woke with a sense of peace. She didn't know what the next day would bring, but she knew one thing: she was done pretending. She was done hiding. The secret was out, and she was still here. Still real. Still Tjay.