Chapter 1
The Mind Reader and the Clairvoyant
The new year 7s streamed into the building like bees into a hive. Nick had finally spotted Gordon and was swimming against the swarm. He threaded his way towards his best friend, relief oozing from every pore. Gordon noticed and waved. Nick wouldn't be growing out of that new blazer any time soon. There was room for two of him in there.
Grace signalled to a girl already by the door. "That's Miranda," she told Gordon. "She's my best friend from primary school." The girl waved back and stood waiting...
"Does she know about Zoë?"
"No, nobody does; only my mums, and now you and Zack."
"Your mums...? How many have you got?
"Two."
Nick and Gordon followed Miranda and Grace into the big Main Hall. 180 had seemed like a lot of children in the playground; but it didn't seem like so many now. They fitted on six rows of chairs at the front, either side of a central aisle. Zack and Zoë sat side by side in their new school uniforms. It was odd seeing them like that: perched on the edge of the stage, getting a good look at everyone else. It didn't seem odd to anyone else because noone else could see them. Noone else knew they were there.
Teaching staff stood along both sides. A smiling lady walked out to the front to face them. She put a finger to her lips and you could have heard a pin drop. She made a "Please stand" motion with her hands. Everyone obediently stood up. Gordon was reminded of his visit to the Planet of the Apes, where the principle form of communication was sign language. He got an image of that 500 lb silverback gorilla on the Starship Velociraptor's viewing monitor.
The gorilla had stretched out his hand and flicked it back: clearly inviting him to a close encounter of the third kind...
"Wow! - he's impressive...!"
Gordon went rigid with shock. That had been Grace's voice in his head, as clearly as if she had just spoken to him. It wasn't the telepathy that startled him so much - Zoë would have taught her that, as Zack had taught him. It was the fact that she was reading his mind...
"Whoah!" he thought back. "How long have you been able to do that?"
"Do what?" Zack asked him. It was a crossed line - like being on the phone to two people at once.
"She's always been able to do it," Zoë informed them both. OK - three people.
"Grace just read my mind!" Gordon told Zack.
"Whoah...!" Zack said.
Zoë was smiling, while Grace's eyes danced with mischief. It had been fun surprising Gordon with that little party trick of hers. Normally she kept it under wraps. Nobody likes being labelled a weirdo. With children, it doesn't take much...
The headteacher strode down the centre aisle to the front of the hall. Most of the children remembered him from the Welcome Evening they'd attended at the end of the previous term. He motioned them to sit down again and welcomed them to their new school. They were to listen carefully to their names being read out, tutor group by tutor group. Each group would then follow their tutor to their new form room and be given their house badges, timetables and a lot more besides...
Templemead High School had three houses: Ash, Elm and Oak. First up was Ash. The head of Ash House introduced his two year 7 tutors and the names were read out. Gordon mentally ticked off those who came from his school as they stood up and followed their tutors out of the hall. He thought he detected a pattern: each of the pupils from his primary school class had a best friend with them in their tutor group. The exception was Kieran, but Gordon had little sympathy for him. Separate him from one toe-rag and he would simply team up with another. There was never any shortage, and finding each other was one of the few things they were all good at...
