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shoulder.
    “So, what did you do during break?” she asked.
    Trained and trained until I dropped, but her question gave me the opening I needed. “Nothing exciting, I was s—”
    “Nothing exciting? With Bran around?” McKenzie wiggled her brow. “We saw you two making out outside.”
    My cheeks heated. She was always asking about Bran. Her crush on him was so obvious and becoming a bit irritating. If she knew what he was, she’d run in the opposite direction. Heck, if anyone knew what I was, they’d run too.
    knew what I was, they’d run too.
    I realized the others were staring at me, probably waiting for a response. I shrugged. “We hung out.”
    “I’ve been meaning to ask,” McKenzie added, leaning closer. “What kind of a kisser is he? He has the most gorgeous lips ever.”
    My jaw dropped at her boldness. “Shut up.”
    “He does,” Nikki added, giggling.
    “How does it feel to date him, you know, an older guy?” Amelia asked, pushing her glasses in place.
    “Seriously guys? Now?” Kylie nodded slyly toward her boyfriend.
    I sighed with relief when they stopped. Bran was my first boyfriend, so this crazy need of my friends to know everything about us was foreign to me.
    “Actual y, I was sick during the break,” I lied, seizing the moment. “It was horrible, especial y the headache.”
    “Sounds like flu.” Kylie said. “Remember when I missed school a few weeks before the break and I told you not to visit or you’d catch it?” I nodded.
    “I had it. Bad, bad, head-splitting headaches.” Not Kylie. I’d heard of flu, but since normal human ailments didn’t affect us, I didn’t pay much attention and had no idea what the symptoms were.
    Please, no nosebleeds and blackouts. “Any other symptoms?”
    “Fever.”
    “My mom had to sponge me down,” Amelia said, pushing her glasses in place. “I caught it from Kylie, my brother got it next, then my father. Mom lucked out.”
    I sighed with relief. Channeling wasn’t contagious, so what they had couldn’t be it. “So just fever and headaches. No nosebleeds?”
    “Gross, we’re eating,” McKenzie griped.
    “Wow, you must have real y been sick,” Kylie said, ignoring McKenzie. “I remember I used to have nosebleeds as a child and I’d freak out.”
    “Me, too,” Nikki piped in. “My little brother would say my brain was leaking.”
    “Yuck. I can’t eat this anymore.” McKenzie pushed aside her quesadil a. “You guys have total y grossed me out.” She got up with her tray and went to dump the remaining food.
    Kylie smirked. “For a doctor’s daughter, she’s anal.”
    McKenzie’s
    reaction
    seemed
    extreme.
    Maybe the conversation bugged her because she’d recently had nosebleeds. I watched her as she came back to the table texting. I wasn’t sure about my next move. One thing wasn’t going to change though.
    Getting inside my friends’ heads wasn’t an option.
    Maybe I should consult with my Guardian buddies first, which meant tel ing them about Valafar.
    I kept an eye on Kim’s table. Although she and her entourage usual y arrived late, none of them showed up during lunch. They probably went somewhere nice to eat. Lucky guys. I hated being confined to the val ey.
    McKenzie’s cel phone rang just as we finished lunch. She had a new ring tone, a catchy pop tune. While she answered it, conversation shifted to ring tones. “Did you change yours, Lil?” Kylie asked.
    “Uh, yeah.”
    “To what?” she asked.
    I tried to think up a tune, but came up blank.
    “Something Bran got online,” I fibbed.
    “Let’s hear it.” She pul ed out her cel phone and punched in numbers.
    The familiar ring sent a jolt through me. I stared at my coat with wide eyes. I couldn’t believe I forgot to throw away the broken cel phone after I picked it up from the ground. That Kylie caught me in a lie was the least of my worries.
    My phone stil worked, which confirmed Bran’s suspicions—one of my friends was the medium.
    Amelia