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bothering me since gym.
    My face must have alerted her to my
preoccupation, because as we washed the dishes she asked, “Are you
sure everything was okay today? You seem a bit…distracted.”
    “Well, no, not really.”
    Her drying hand slowed, and she gave me a
penetrating look.
    “What?”
    Her voice was serious, and I knew where her
thoughts had gone. I was in the same place. It was a place I wasn’t
happy about. It was our default mode: running. Despite not wanting
to live in such a tiny town, I hated moving and hated the thought
of facing another first day so soon after this one.
    “You know about my…”
    “Gift? Of course I do,” she said quickly.
    She was uncomfortable, and I knew why. She
felt guilty about everything that was happening to me; guilty for
the curse I faced. But, I didn’t blame her, especially since she’d
been honest with me about my curse. “Well, this morning in gym
class I heard a girl say in her thoughts, ‘I guess it is true that
the child pays for the sins of the parent,’ and I was wondering if
she somehow knew?”
    Ellen put down the plate and braced herself
against the countertop. Her face was sad. “I don’t think she knows
what you are. I think she’s just been talking to her parents.”
    “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    “I told you how conservative people are
here?”
    “Yes.”
    “Some people here feel that a mother who has
a child outside of marriage is a sinful creature, and the child
will be punished because of the mother’s lack of morals.”
    “Those people are backwards,” I said, my
temper flaring.
    “It’s what they believe.”
    “Well, they should believe in something
different!”
    “Saying that doesn’t change anything,
Clare…You of all people shouldn’t judge them.”
    I scrubbed hard at the plate in my hands,
focusing my anger there. “I shouldn’t judge people, even though
their opinions suck?!”
    “No, that’s not what I meant. You simply know
how hurtful judgmental thoughts can be,” she replied. “You hear
them all the time.”
    “I just don’t like people thinking bad
thoughts about you.” I avoided her eyes as I asked the next
question. “You think we should leave?”
    “No,” she said firmly, putting an end
to the discussion. Her face transformed into a penetrating look I
recognized all too well. “Are you sure that’s the only reason for
your preoccupation? It feels like there’s more.” Did you meet a cute boy?
    I fought my blush, hating that my pale skin
flushed with color so easily. How could she possibly know that I
kept thinking about stupid Mr. Popularity and everything he had
said to me? Our moments together kept replaying in my head like a
broken record, as I tried to understand if he was something else I
should be worried about, or if it was okay to feel attracted to
him. Not that I was attracted. Not at all.
    “There were a couple of cute boys, but don’t
worry, they’re part of the Elite. They won’t be interested in me
beyond the fact I’m new and different. Once my shininess wears off,
they’ll go back to ignoring me.”
    “Well, you do look a bit dark, sweetie, not
that you are dark. Judgmental thoughts remember?”
    I laughed once without humor. “Yeah.”
    Irritated, I dumped the water from the tub I
had been washing in. There was no way he would be interested. Ellen
was right. I was too dark. “I’m going to go on a walk,” I said.
    “All right.”
    I started to leave the kitchen, but she
stopped me with a hand on the shoulder. Her thoughts circled around
the idea that people thought I was a degenerate because of her
youthful actions. “Clare…I wanted to tell you…”
    “Yeah?”
    “If I wasn’t so against clichés, I’d say you
were my sunshine.”
    “It’s a good thing you hate clichés,
then.”
    “Yeah…but you are, you know…my sunshine, not
a cliché.”
    “I love you, too,” I said.
    She dropped her arm and leaned against the
counter, deep in thought. Her thoughts