Accidentally Evil by Lara Chapman Page B

two-three-four, out two-three-four.”
    I follow her breathing, and in a few minutes I don’t feel like I’m going to die. Lady Rose squats in front of me, her hands on my knees and an orangey-red haze all around her.
    â€œWhat do you see when you look at me?” she asks.
    â€œOrange. Or red. Maybe a mix of the two.”
    She smiles and stands up. “That’s wonderful. Perfect, actually.”
    I shake my head at her. “It feels the exact opposite of perfect.”
    She drags a chair over and sits in front of me. “Let me explain what’s happening, Hallie.”
    â€œPlease. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m losing it. I’m going crazy here.”
    She pats her soft hand on my sweaty one. “You are not going crazy. You have inherited another gift.”
    My mind rewinds in warp speed. “But I’ve been so careful. I haven’t touched anything that wasn’t mine.”
    â€œYes, you have,” she says. “You borrowed my pen today. Remember?”
    In that moment everything becomes clear. The pen. The colors.
    â€œI inherited your gift.”
    â€œYou did. Well, if you want to get technical, you inherited my mother’s gift. It was her pen you were using. She gave it to me a few years before she died. I didn’t think about it until after I’d put the pen in your hand. That’s interesting,” she says, teacher turned scientist observing her test subject.
    â€œHow?”
    â€œMy mother was a medium. Can you hear or see spirits?” she asks.
    I shake my head. “No.” I hope I never do.
    â€œSo you inherited my gift, not my deceased mother’s. That’s different than what we thought.”
    I don’t like the way this sounds. Like everyone is watching me to see what freakish thing happens next. Like I’m an alien that must be dissected and figured out.
    â€œHonestly, Hallie, I think you’ll find this gift helpful. And I can help you read them.”
    â€œRead what?”
    â€œThose colors you’re seeing behind everyone? Those are their auras.”
    â€œHow is that going to help me?”
    She folds her arms over her chest. “For starters you can figure out right away what people are like. No more surprises when someone spreads a rumor about you. You will know not to trust someone if their aura is deep purple.”
    I don’t say anything. “I didn’t even know auras were real. I thought it was one of those hippy things.”
    Lady Rose laughs. “No, Hallie, they’re very real. Let me ask you something. What color is Ivy’s aura?”
    â€œBlue. Light blue.”
    Lady Rose nods. “Yup. She’s all the things that light blue represents. Peaceful, honest, intuitive.”
    â€œSo you can see all these colors too?” I ask her.
    She nods. “For almost twenty years now.”
    â€œDo they go away? Or will I always see them?”
    â€œOnce you’ve seen them, you’ll always see them.”
    â€œI can’t live like that. It’s too distracting.”
    â€œI felt that way at first too. Trust me. You get used to it.”
    I find that incredibly hard to believe.
    â€œYeah, I know you find it hard to believe. We really need to work on your mind control. Every single thought you have comes into my head. It gets a little annoying.”
    She laughs, and I try to laugh with her, but it comes out sounding more like a psychotic sob.
    â€œWhy don’t I have an aura?” I ask her.
    â€œYou do. We just can’t see our own. Want to know what your color is?” she asks.
    â€œI don’t know. Do I?”
    â€œYou, my dear, are a brilliant shade of yellow.”
    I look around me but don’t see anything.
    â€œWe can’t see our own auras. But trust me, yours is impressive.”
    â€œWhat does yellow mean?” Confused? Intimidated? Overwhelmed?
    â€œYellow is a wonderful color. People with yellow