The Empaths (Book one in The Empaths series)

Chapter Two

A feeling of unease followed Lucy around for most of the day and into the evening. It was like a bubbling nervousness building up in the pit of her stomach.

The following day, she woke to the same sensation.

Leaving the house that morning for her run felt strange, like something was constantly niggling away at her. Usually, her morning run helped her work through her anxiety, putting it to rest for a while, but today felt different.

As the day wore on, the feeling only worsened, and she found herself distracted, staring out of the school cafeteria windows into the overcast sky.

"Lucy? Earth to Lucy? Are you alright?"

Lucy blinked rapidly, only realising now that Rachel was waving a hand in front of her face. She hadn't even noticed her friend had sat down beside her.

"Sorry Rach. What did you say?"

Rachel laughed. "Maybe we really do need to start you on coffee in the mornings. I was just saying that Jared texted me. He said he tried to call you but you didn't answer."

Lucy pulled her phone from her bag. Four missed calls from her brother. She sighed. "Damn. Sorry. It's on silent. I didn't hear it."

Rachel looked across at her, eyebrows pinched. "Are you sure you're alright?" she repeated. "You've been a bit distant since yesterday."

"I'm fine. Just tired, I guess." Lucy rubbed her face with her hands. "I must have had a bad night's sleep or something. I just feel, well, tired," she finished with a shrug.

For Lucy, life was often like this, unfortunately. Some days were good, others she would spend in a daze, and every now and then, a bad day would sneak up on her and it would be an all-out nightmare.

Lately, it seemed that the good days did outweigh the bad.

Rachel nodded, but she didn't look convinced. She had watched Lucy go through those bad days, so she knew the signs.

And so did Jared. He stormed up to their table and looked at his sister expectantly, his eyebrows practically climbing into his hairline.

"What?" she said, trying, and failing, to look nonchalant.

"Don't play dumb with me," he said, throwing his bag on a seat and sitting down at the table with a thud. "Did you forget how to use your phone?"

Lucy shifted uncomfortably. "No. I just didn't hear your calls. My phone was on silent. Is everything alright?"

He arched an eyebrow. "I'm fine," he replied, leaning his elbows on the table. "But you're not, so, what's wrong?"

"It's so weird that you guys can do that," Rachel interjected. "How you just know what the other is feeling." She gave a quick shiver.

"It's a twin thing." Jared said, waving her off dismissively before he returned to eyeballing his sister.

"I know, I know. Still, it's pretty amazing," Rachel went on, unaware of the stare down that was taking place between the twins. She absently took out her lunch and set to work pulling the crusts off her sandwich.

Lucy eventually rolled her eyes and answered her brother. "As I just said to Rachel, I'm tired." She looked at Jared, who knew exactly what was wrong. She could see his internal debate happening so vividly on his face that she almost laughed. He settled on a quick glare before understanding washed over his expression. He knew that she didn't want to talk about it right now.

"Alright. Fine," he mumbled, then he dropped his phone on the table and pulled out his lunch.

Lucy contemplated what Rachel had said about them being able to sense each other's feelings. She had heard plenty of stories about twins sensing things that the other may have been feeling from miles away, but in Lucy's case, it wasn't just Jared's feelings that she was able to tap into – she could also pick up the feelings of others.