The Weird Travels of Aimee Schmidt: The Curse of the Gifted by J.A. Schreckenbach Page B

for the first time since class began forty-five minutes earlier, she looked over her glasses, surveying each student. Aimee froze. She couldn’t breathe. And twenty-three others sitting around her did the same thing. Finally, after a very long minute Dr. Morris turned back to her pacing, and Aimee inconspicuously slid the phone from her lap back into her pocket. She took a deep breath and looked up at Chelsea. Chels grinned and shook her head.
    The rest of Aimee's day lingered like a prison sentence. She vaguely remembered attending every class, and walking down bright hallways crammed with noisy students, but she didn’t recall anything else until the final bell rang at three thirty. She escaped to the parking lot. The snow had stopped, and only small patches of gray crystallized mush dotted the ground. This was good news. She hated driving in the snow. She jumped in her car and noticed Dad’s grocery list posted to the rearview mirror. There was plenty of time to stop at the store before heading home to start dinner for her dad. Unlike Chels, she loathed shopping for clothes, but shopping for food was fun. It would give her a diversion before Chelsea came over. Four hours of thinking about nothing but Dylan would be too mind-boggling.
    It took her less than ten minutes to reach her destination. She pulled into the parking lot and grabbed the list before bouncing into the store. It was too early for the after-work crowd so she decided to take a little time and meander through the clothes department before moving on to food. As much as Aimee hated clothes shopping, it would kill some time.
    She strolled over to the casual wear, and at the end of the sectioned area Aimee noticed a silver toned mannequin. The lifeless body was decked out in a flirty turquoise cashmere sweater.
    “Wow , ” she whispered. She stroked her fingers lightly across a sleeve. It felt incredibly soft, luxuriant, and the low V neck gave it a sexy look. The color was perfect with her eyes. She found one in her size hanging on a rack close by and held it up to her body, then modeled it in front of a display mirror.
    The sales assistant strolled by and asked, “Can I help you find something?”
    “Thanks, but I’m fine.”Aimee stepped back and studied the sweater against her frame.
    “It would look gorgeous on you.”
    “Yeah, I really like it…” Aimee pulled up the sleeve. Her fingers probed for the price tag. “…but I don’t really want to spend too much.” She quickly eyed the tag. Sixty-nine, ninety-nine. Her mouth slid into a frown.
    “Here, use this coupon.” The sales assistant handed Aimee a twenty-five percent off coupon on all winter apparel.
    After one more fast glance at the bright blue sweater against her pale skin, Aimee decided she had to buy it. It was perfect for tonight. “Thanks, I think I will.” She had plenty of money in her checking account. She rarely splurged on clothes, but her mood at the moment turned generous. She gently laid the sweater in her shopping basket and moved on.
    Next she wandered over to the jewelry counter and spotted a pair of silver dangles in the display case. A young girl with curly carrot red hair came up to help. Aimee thought she remembered her from school so she forced a smile acknowledging the girl's cheerful greeting. Still feeling charitable with the ample amount in her account, Aimee added the earrings to the basket. That was enough shopping for her outfit. She figured she better leave a few things for Chelsea to pick out so Aimee headed over to the food department.
    The rest of the shopping was completed within fifteen minutes. Aimee still had plenty of time to dawdle when she got home. After arriving, she put the food in the frig, then grabbed a basket of dirty clothes from Dad’s bathroom. Tomorrow would be busy so she wanted to get a head start on the wash. She stuffed the washing machine with dirty jeans, socks, and underwear, then looked at the clock. Four twenty-five. She