what? Weâre here for lunch!â Mason and Jason ran up to me, their lunch trays precariously balanced. âCan we sit with you?â
Counselor Case hurried over.
âBoys, let Emma have her lunch in peace,â she said, and turned to me. âSorry. The boys have a two-hour delay at the elementary school. Weâre killing time.â
âThey can sit with me,â I told Counselor Case. I actually enjoyed Mason and Jasonâmost of the time. Plus, they just got rid of Jazmine James, so I felt like I owed them one. I slid over so they could sit on my bench.
âDo you mind if I run to the office?â Counselor Case said. âIâll be back in just a few minutes.â
âNo problem,â I said as she left.
âEmma, did you see those new triplets?â Jason asked me. âThey were in Momâs office this morning with us.â
âThey look a lot alike, donât they?â I asked them, unwrapping my tuna sandwich and carefully setting the pickle Iâd packed to the side.
âThey have magic powers,â Mason added, digging into his hot-lunch mac and cheese. âThey showed us.â
âNot magic,â Jason scoffed. âTelepathy. And telepathy isnât scientifically proven. But . . . it was spooky.â
I thought about what the triplets had done after the interview.
âWhat did they do?â Tess was fascinated.
âThey said they read one anotherâs minds,â Jason said, popping a chicken nugget in his mouth. âThey showed us. They had a whole conversation without words.â
Hmmm. It was interesting what the triplets had done earlier too. While Payton and I couldnât really readeach otherâs minds, I often did think I knew what she was thinking. And I thought about the coincidencesâtwin-cidencesâthat Payton and I had.
âI bet we can do that,â Mason was saying. âJase, think of something and Iâll tell you what it is.â
Jason stared at Mason.
âYouâre thinking . . .â Mason paused and put his hands to his forehead. âYouâre thinking that Emmaâs friends are cute.â
âI was not!â Jason jumped up, his face red.
Mason raised an eyebrow.
âMason,â I warned, âbe nice to your brother.â
âLetâs see if he can read your mind,â Courtney said. âFor real, though.â
âOkay,â Jason stared at Mason.
âHeâs thinking that his mac and cheese is gross,â Jason said.
âYeah!â Masonâs eyes widened. âI was. How did you do that?â
âReally? Do you think you read his mind?â Tess asked.
âI donât know,â Jason said. âIt just popped into my head.â
âIt might be the nonverbal signals,â I pointed out.âYou may have seen Mason grimace, indicating he wasnât enjoying his food.â
âNo, Iâm the psychic twin,â Jason said. âMasonâs just psycho.â
Mason stuck out his tongue. It was covered in mac and cheese. Gross.
âEasy, guys,â I said. I took a bite out of my apple.
âTry to read my mind again then,â Mason challenged Jason.
The two boys stared at each other. And stared.
âWhy arenât you saying anything?â Mason challenged.
âYour brain is empty,â Jason said. âAs usual.â
âHey!â Mason said. Before we could stop him, he reached into Jasonâs mac and cheese with his hand and squished it around.
âBoys!â I said. âCut itââ
âHey!â Jason protested. He knocked Masonâs hand away, and the goo from the mac and cheese flew off Masonâs hand and sprayed us all.
âWhat theââ a voice behind us yelped. I turned around to see that Hector had mac and cheese in his hair too.
âEw, Hector,â Jazmine said, leaning away from him. But unfortunately for her, she leaned
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