Mastering her Progressive Empath abilities isn’t going as well as Gemma hoped. In fact, months after finding out what she really is, she still has no clue what this truly means. All she can do is wait to see if any new abilities will eventually manifest. Things aren’t going great with Russ either. Unsure of how to handle her Sentient Link with him, she tries to integrate herself in his busy social life but struggles to adjust to her new circumstances.
When she is plagued by recurring nightmares, Gemma realises things are changing and knows she has to do something, fast. The arrival of two sets of strangers in town, both offering the much needed assistance she needs to unearth her powers, escalates the situation even further. Gemma attempts to decipher whose intentions are genuine, but does she have enough time to figure out who has her best interest at heart?
“You look really cute when you’re pretending to be an athlete. Maybe you should dream about running more often.”
I turned and smiled at Russ before looking down at my outfit. T-shirt, old jogging bottoms and the running shoes I dug out the night before. I looked nothing like the real athletes we had at school who were always decked out in trendy sports attire, but I had to admit, swapping my jeans for baggy pants took the edge off my usual uptight appearance.
“You say the dumbest things,” I waved him off in what I hoped was a playful tone. I still wasn’t used to taking compliments from him, even though he constantly threw them my way, but I liked that I could tell he meant every single word he said. Every word.
“I choose to substitute silliest with nicest,” Russ smiled and leaned in a little closer.
I inhaled sharply as I felt the space between us disappear. Classes had finished for the day and he had caught up with me en route to the school’s outdoor running tracks. I knew he wouldn’t touch me because I had explicitly told him not to, but something still fluttered in my chest as I was forced to look into his eyes. Dark eyes that always looked at me with such longing. Urgh! Why did he have that effect on me? Oh wait, I knew why.
Stupid Sentient link.
“Russ.”
Hayley’s voice cut through the energy that had built up between us and I almost sighed with relief when he turned to face her. Sweet, normal Hayley Stern. She was the kind of girl who giggled when boys told jokes, the kind who wore those trendy sports outfits I mentioned earlier. Yes, she was an athlete too. School tennis champ, just like Russ. That’s how they met in the first place. And dated.
