Dark Before Dawn by Stacy Juba Page B

always call around that time."
    Tell him the truth, the voice in her mind said. He will be on your side.
    I can’t. He’ll think I’m a freak and Mom will be upset if I tell him.
    Dawn stood and replied, "They do always call around dinner time."
    "If you’re not into psychic stuff, why did you visit a fortuneteller today?" Ken asked, his face deadpan. "I saw you going into that cottage with Candace and Jamie on my way home from school. That place is bad news."
    Dawn rested a hand on her chest to calm her growing anxiety. "We thought it would be fun to get our palms read. You didn’t tell my mom, did you? She’d think it was a waste of money."
    "No, but she knows about the witch rumor. Dad heard about it and called home to see how you were doing. Your mom talked to him on the phone and she didn’t sound happy."
    "Great," Dawn muttered. "Don’t mention the fortuneteller, okay? She’ll blow it out of proportion. It was no big deal, really."
    Ken sighed. "I won’t say anything, but you shouldn’t go back there. I wouldn’t hang around with those girls, either. You think your reputation’s in trouble now, wait till people find out you’re hanging out with Pan Fry and the Bride of Frankenstein."
    "Thanks for the advice." Dawn escaped into the house. Computer keys clicked in the office, her mother working on a project. Dawn inched toward the stairs, but before she could flee, her mother strode down the hall.
    "Can we talk?" her mom asked.
    Shoulders caving, Dawn hung her backpack around the banister and joined her mother in the office. A three-column brochure layout glowed from the computer monitor on the mahogany desk. Models of clipper ships and schooners with dusty white cloth sails were docked on a dark wood bookcase. Dawn sank onto the sofa.
    Her mother loomed over her, the frightened LOOK etched on her face. "I’m sorry about Scott. It makes me sick to think about what happened to him. But Dawn, are the rumors true? Did you really tell Scott about a premonition? Is that why you had a difficult first day?"
    "Mom, I had to warn him. What if I’d been able to save him? I’d never forgive myself."
    "Honey, you have to stop interfering with fate. It’s not natural. If God had wanted you to help Scott, don’t you think he’d be alive? Why can’t you let yourself be happy?" Her mother started pacing in the sneakers she used to walk the beach with Jeff. Dawn wondered how many calories her mother had burned over the years from pacing after a psychic incident.
    Dawn’s throat swelled. It was bad enough feeling like a freak in front of her classmates. Now she’d disappointed her mother. Again. "You don’t understand. If you knew someone was in danger, wouldn’t you feel obligated to help?"
    "Not when my premonitions don’t give me peace. I’m proud of you for being so caring, but it’s not healthy to place all this responsibility on yourself."
    Her mother stopped walking long enough to save her work on the computer. "I just want high school to be better for you than it was for me," she said, turning back to Dawn.
    Wonderful, a guilt trip. Dawn had heard this sob story a gazillion times, about how taking care of her younger half-brothers and growing up with an alcoholic mother had killed her mom’s social life. Not that she didn’t sympathize, but it wasn’t Dawn’s fault her mother had a lousy childhood.
    "I want you to be happy, Dawn. I’m not saying you have to be Miss Popularity. I know you’re introverted, and that’s fine, but everyone needs friends." Her mother shrugged. "Even if you had one close friend, I wouldn’t worry so much. How will you get to know anyone with those rumors flying around? You could be normal, but I’m afraid you’re choosing not to be."
    "I didn’t choose anything," Dawn snapped. "Besides, I made friends and they don’t care about the rumors. They like me for myself."
    "You made friends? Really?" Her mother’s mouth hung open in shock.
    "I’ll bet that’s hard for