**Bear with me on this. I think some major editing is desperately needed.

CHAPTER 1

“Two scoops of Rocky Road in a waffle!” I called out to my trainee, Fay. Turning back to my customer, I said sweetly, “That’ll be $3.57, ma’am.” She grumbled about prices, even though she knew it was perfectly reasonable. Out comes a five, and I used this lady to get rid of half my pennies; it’s getting late. I grinned at her as I dumped them in her wrinkly prune hands.

Fay tripped over her untied shoelace, and I grabbed the cone before it becomes floor goo. Quickly, I handed it to the buyer. She looked sourly at me then basically attacked the ice cream in a hunger rage.

/OK, then. She needs to get out more./ I turned my attention to my next customer, who was biting his lip indecisively, despite the five people in line behind him.

“Boo!” I yelped, and sprung around to see the source of the voice. Of course, I knew who it was.

“Reagan, I swear you gave me a heart attack!” She laughed, throwing her head back in amusement. Reagan always had her hair up in a messy updo, with yellow-blonde strands falling down. It was these strands that bounced around cheerfully now.

“Give me a break, Deena. And dream something interesting for once. I’m sick and tired of this ice cream shop.” She proceeded to fill a waffle cone with ice cream. “Although it does have some wonderful attributes.”

“OK, OK.” I imagined us in a luxury hotel room, one with plush carpets and a fridge stock full of delicious foods. When I had opened my eyes, we were there. It was a dream, of course. Reagan went skipping off to the fridge, after swallowing her ice cream with superhuman powers. (Wow, I wonder why?)

You see, Reagan and I are not exactly human. Well, we might be. Just what we are has always been a wonderful topic of discussion. I have a perfectly normal mother and father. Same with Reagan. Same with Alyss. Oh, did I forget Alyss?

A girl with long, sleek black hair was suddenly lying on the bed in front of me. No cloud of dust or anything. I blinked and she was there. “Hey, Alyss. You’re late.”

“Studying for Finals tomorrow, unlike you lazy bums.” Alyss looked at me pointedly, and I made a Cicada appear. That girl loves her literary magazines. As she flipped through to find something that looked interesting, she spoke to Reagan. “Why exactly did you want to get together tonight?”

“To make some progress. Ever since I started dating Carlton, we haven’t really talked about it.”

“Carlton doesn’t know about it.”

Alyss scoffed and pushed her hair out of her eyes. “If you really loved him, you could trust him. I think he might like to know that he’s dating an Other.” Yes, that’s what we called ourselves. Others. Because we were something other than the rest of the world.

Reagan looked horrified. “Oh, God. But what if he freaked? Oh, /God./ What if he didn’t believe me? /Oh, God. What if he told someone?”/

“Calm down. Alyss, she’s not at that point in the relationship. Reagan, of course Carlton wouldn’t. He likes you too much. Like he would ever risk losing someone as hot as you.” This statement did not make her feel better. “Relax.”

“There’s no reason to freak out. Or there wouldn’t be any if you were dating Will.”

I swiveled around to glare at Alyss, still reading her magazine as if she hadn’t just broken a cardinal rule. “Alyss!”

Looking back at Reagan, she looked about ready to cry. But Alyss didn’t stop there. “He loves her, you know. Just won’t admit it. Then again, Reagan never did anything to force him.”

“Alyss!” Reagan collapsed on the floor, weeping. She sounded strangled, like her love for Will was killing her. Like Alyss was killing her. “Alyss!” I shouted again.

Alyss was watching Reagan with a horrified expression. I guess she had forgotten how much Will affects her. “Baby, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it. It’s all his fault; he’s terrible.” She walked over and attempted to comfort her, but the crying just got more hysterical. Then we blinked, and she was gone. She had left.

Damn.