The Empaths (Book one in The Empaths series)

Chapter Nine

When Lucy arrived at Lilith's house, Teddy had made his escape again. He was running wildly around the front yard, with Lilith and Rachel not far behind. The joy on the little dog's face was so priceless, Lucy burst out laughing.

"Stop laughing and help!" Lilith called as she ran past Lucy, making a dive for the dog and landing face-first on the grass.

This just made Lucy laugh harder. Only now, Rachel was laughing too.

They quickly ran over and helped Lilith to her feet. Judging by the look on Lilith's face, she was not pleased by the whole ordeal, her hair now sticking out in all directions. Teddy suddenly realised that this was no longer a game, high-tailing it into the house before Lilith could exact her revenge.

She shook herself off and pushed her hair back into place. "You know, I'd be angry, but seriously, look at his face." She pointed toward the house where Teddy was now sitting in the doorway, panting. His smooshy little face was split in two by a wide, doggy grin.

"You're right," Rachel agreed. "It's a face that's hard to stay mad at."

Laughing at poor Lilith's grass-stained clothes, they quickly helped Lucy get her bags out of the car and headed inside, hurrying to escape the cold.

"Hi Lucy!" Lilith's parents, Judy and George, were in the sitting room watching television when they walked in.

"Hi." Lucy gave them a quick wave. "Thanks for letting Lilith have us over tonight," she added.

"Oh, it's not a problem at all." Judy was out of her seat in a flash, ushering the girls towards the kitchen. "I've made you some dinner, if you like. And I've also baked some snacks for you to take up with you when you watch your movie."

Lucy was hit by an array of smells as she walked into the Sawyer's kitchen. Judy was obviously a fantastic cook. There were muffins the size of a grown man's fist airing on a plate in the middle of their island bench, and a casserole was baking in the oven. She had even cut up a fruit platter, which was arranged in such a way that it looked as though it had been put together by a professional.

"I think you missed your true calling in life, Mrs. Sawyer," Rachel said as she hungrily eyed the muffins.

"Please girls, I've asked you to call me Judy." She smiled at them warmly from across the room. "Now, dinner won't be long. I can call you when it's ready if you like?"

"That would be great, thanks mom." Lilith stepped around the bench and gave her mom a kiss on the cheek. "Do you need help with anything?"

Judy smiled lovingly at her daughter. "No, you go on and have fun with your friends."

The girls traipsed up the stairs to Lilith's room. Lucy and Lilith sprawled out on the bed and Rachel took the small couch that was in the corner of the room.

"So," Lucy began. "Something weird happened this afternoon." She waited while the others made themselves comfortable. "Sarah came to my house wanting to talk to Scarlett."

"Really? Why?" Rachel asked, pulling her legs up and tucking them underneath herself.

"I have no idea. She really didn't want to discuss it in front of me either, she specifically waited until after I'd left."

Rachel and Lilith looked at one another, and then back at Lucy.

"Any guesses as to what it could be about?" Lilith asked. "We didn't break anything at her house the night we all stayed over, did we?"

"That's exactly what I thought, but I asked her and she said I had nothing to worry about. I'm assuming it's nothing we've done."

"That's so weird," Rachel added. "Does she even know Scarlett?"