THE SEVENTH

S.D. Wasley

YA Paranormal Romance. Suspense

Released Jan. 23^rd / Evernight Teen / 69.5k

~Editor's Pick~

Sixteen year old Mimi Alston has company. No less than three ghosts follow her around, and only she can see them. At her last school, she was known as the girl with imaginary friends. Now Mimi’s starting fresh in a new town, where she’s determined to make some real friends and fit in for once. She’s ready for a normal life...except Mimi never counted on her fascination with troubled goth-boy, Drew.

When she’s invited to join the elite Gifted Program, Mimi discovers she’s not the only one at the school with an unusual talent. Maybe being normal isn’t even an option anymore.

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Excerpt

My final class was English. Drew was there. He looked terrible, like something had broken him. I couldn’t help but stare and he looked back into my face with those green eyes. I thought about my face smiling and sparkling in the mirror and realised I was actually conscious of how I looked when it came to Drew. That wasn’t like me. Did he have some kind of compulsion towards me, like Gabe had said? Maybe I just had a compulsion towards him.

There was only one seat left, possibly because I had been examining myself in the mirror for too long at break. It was next to Drew. I took the seat with a mixture of delight and dread. He stared at his notebook when he saw me coming his way. Our lesson was on characterisation, and the teacher was explaining archetypes, protagonists and antagonists. I found it hard to concentrate but then suddenly it was time for partner discussions. We were supposed to decide which roles the different types of characters fulfilled in our assigned novel.

I looked at Drew. He was staring down at his file and drawing another of his black ink vortexes on a blank sheet of paper.

“So, err, are we going talk about protagonists?” I asked.

“Are you serious?” he replied without looking up.

I was relieved. “Cool. I didn’t really want to either. But it would look weird to Mr Cambridge if we didn’t talk at all.”

Drew scribbled more furiously. I waited. Eventually the pen stopped and he looked into my face. My heart just about stopped. My mouth went dry.

“What is with you?” he hissed angrily.

I shrank away. So much for a compulsion, Gabe, I thought bitterly, turning my face away as tears threatened to flood my eyes. More like revulsion. I flicked through my textbook blindly, hoping the teacher would figure I was trying to work out his characterisation problem.

But after a few more moments Drew spoke again, his voice devoid of anger and bitterness.

“Sorry, Mimi,” he said. “Just … sorry.”

Ugh, the tear spilled onto my cheek. Lame. I pretended to brush my hair back and swiped past my cheek, removing all evidence.

“What’s your problem?” I said coolly, still flicking through my book.

“You shouldn’t let yourself get sucked in by them,” he said, his voice low and so desperate that I turned back to look into his eyes again, forgetting the fear of showing my tears. “It’s bullshit … all bullshit. None of this gift crap is real. She’s encouraging our delusions.”

Now I got angry. “Screw you,” I said, my voice shaking with the effort to stay quiet. “Do you know how long I’ve believed I am insane? I just found out I’m not and you know what? I’m glad. It’s not fun to think you’re nuts. You can wallow in it all you like, but I just got released from the psycho ward and I can’t wait to get my life back.”

Drew dropped all pretence of being tough, or cool or whatever. He stared at me with his mouth open. I glared for a few moments and then looked away. It was hard to keep gazing angrily at his face without being distracted by the extraordinary beauty there. Even the thick white makeup and black painted lips couldn’t hide it.

“You don’t know anything about it,” he said in my ear after a pause. “You just wait.”

It sounded like a threat. I raised my hand and excused myself. I went straight to my dorm room after making a brief appearance in the nurse’s office to claim a migraine. She took my temperature and peered at me for a moment, but seemed to believe me and told me to go lie down.

I lay on my bed, my mind buzzing. I tried not to think about Drew because I felt bad whenever my mind went there. I had been completely honest with him––I wasn’t crazy, and I was celebrating. I could hardly wait until the next time I could sit in that roomful of gifted kids and find out more. I was okay. I had a gift. These three ghosts who silently joined me as I lay on my bed, one on my swivel chair and two sitting on my floor, were ghosts … not figments of a psychotic imagination. For me, no matter what Drew thought, that could only be good news.

Author S.D. Wasley

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Guest Post

Gabe and Mona chat at the end of Mimi’s first day

“So. New girl.” Mona grinned at me as we headed towards the dorms.

“Oh, there was a new girl?” I feigned innocence but couldn’t help a smirk.

She elbowed me in the ribs, in usual Mona style, nodding at Mimi’s back. Mimi was walking with Patience. She looked like she was trying, in a shy, stilted way to chat with Patience. Good luck, I thought. Patience was even more shy than Mimi. “Whaddya reckon?” Mona persisted.

“She’s got a secret. She seems scared. She’s got a lot of determination, too. She won’t be giving up her secret in a hurry.”

“Do you think she’s one of us?”

“Could be. The main vibe I got from her was surrounded.”

“Huh?” Mona frowned. “By us? We were just being friendly.”

I shrugged. “Maybe by us, I’m not sure.”

“Anyway, when I asked what you reckon, Gabe, I was asking what you thought of her. Mimi, as a girl.”

“She’s a girl?” The elbow dug in again. “Ow! Okay. Yes, I did notice she’s a girl. A pretty hot-looking one, too,” I added in a low voice.

“I knew it,” she screeched. Mimi glanced back over her shoulder at the noise, and I grinned at her quickly, giving Mona an elbow in return.

“Keep it down,” I muttered.

“You should ask her out,” Mona commanded. “I think you guys would make the cutest couple.”

“I know, right? We totally would,” I sighed. I wanted to keep the conversation jokey. I knew what Mona was like with her matchmaking. Handle with care. Mona was giggling and I relaxed a little. “Maybe she’s not my type, though. She could be, like, a total princess, or something.”

“She’s not a princess,” said Mona. “You can tell. I think she’s gonna be really cool, when we get to know her. She’s no Cassie.”

I snorted. “Nice, Mona.”

“You know what I mean. She’s cute, huh?”

I surveyed Mimi as she walked ahead. I wasn’t going to say it to Mona, but yes, I thought Mimi was incredibly cute. I watched her gorgeous long hair and that butt in her faded jeans. I shrugged. “She’s pretty cute.”

“Hey, I’m not the Empath, but I know what you’re thinking,” Mona sniggered.

“I’d have competition, if I did want to make a move.”

“What?”

“Drew.”

“Drew?” Mona glanced over at Drew, staring at the ground as he walked, his hair sticking up in those crazy black spikes. “You think she likes him?” she asked dubiously.

“Not sure. She feels something for him. She got pretty excited about him in Homeroom this morning. But it’s more what he felt for her.”

“What was it?”

“Like … volcanic shock. And then he was up and down, roller coaster style – angry, sad, excited, happy. It was weird.” I thought about it for a moment. Mona had been trying to hook me up with girls for over a year now. This was the first time I’d actually felt any kind of serious interest. There were a couple of girls I’d dated but they’d both gone kinda Cassie on me. Princessy. Mimi looked different, to me. “Anyway, how about we let the poor girl settle in before anyone starts dating her?”

“If it comes down to you and Drew, Gabe,” said Mona, “he doesn’t stand a chance. Get in there, boy!”

I couldn’t help a smile.