Dreamjumper

Chapter Twelve

Jay flopped down into the left side of the booth, with her entourage following closely behind.

Gabe still looked the same as always - but now that I could see him closely, I noticed that his eyes glinted gold under the dim lighting. Those eyes definitely confirmed that he wasn't from this world, though his clothes said otherwise - he was wearing dark jeans, with a band T-shirt and matching watch.

Cleo, meanwhile, looked completely different. Her hair seemed to glow a pale yellow instead of blonde, and her eyes flashed a dark shade of fuchsia. She looked just as intimidating as she had that night in the restaurant.

Though the two were fascinating, it was Jay's air of confidence that captivated me the most. She leaned forward, resting her arms on the table.

"You were talking about me?" Her dark eyes flashed, accompanied by a smirk. "Well, that's not unusual."

Amy scoffed and smacked her across the table playfully. "I love how you think you're actually funny. Where the hell were you all day today? We missed you at training."

"Dan excused me for personal training. We were learning how to handle weapons - you would think that since it's such a dangerous class, he wouldn't invite some other kid to join us but..."

I instantly tuned out of the conversation after that, only catching bits and pieces of what they were saying. Their mouths were moving so quickly, it was like someone had skipped forward on a DVD. It was clear to me, though, that the two of them were familiar with each other. They both had no problems speaking in front of the entire table, and their mouths were moving a mile a minute. While Luna was Amy's polar opposite, Jay was her long-lost twin.

Jay then turned to acknowledge my presence for the first time, looking me over almost critically. "Who's this?" she asked, her voice cool with a bitter undertone. Though her casual demeanor didn't seem to suggest anything, her underlying irritation threw me off completely.

Okay, so maybe Jay and Amy weren't twins after all. It was so like me, the total humanitarian, to expect only the best from her. Another bad habit of mine, exposed.

If Amy had detected any tone of disdain in her friend's voice, she didn't act like it. She just swung her legs with a smile and said, "Remember the mission that my squad went on? The one in January?"

Jay nodded slowly, refusing to even look my way. "The one where Alistair basically took over?"

Amy winced at that, and glanced back to see if he was anywhere in earshot. "C'mon, Jay, don't say that. To be fair, we were late. Anyways, this is the girl we were sent to turn - Anne Miller."

Gabe smiled, revealing perfect white teeth that seemed to glow against the room's pulsating darkness. "Nice to meet you, Anne. My name's Gabe - I'm a luminate-in-training. Welcome to the Esotericans."

"Thanks," I said, suddenly feeling that my average grin was inadequate. "You can call me Anne. I'm a dreamjumper-in-training," I said, mimicking his words, testing them out on my tongue as if I were tasting expensive wine.

Jay just smirked in response and ran a hand through her shock of raven hair, still not meeting my gaze. "So, is she a halfway or something? She doesn't look like anything special."

I felt a flush creep up my neck in both humiliation and anger. She herself didn't look anything like a dreamjumper or a luminate - who was she to say that I looked ordinary?

"No, she just hasn't fully transformed yet," Luna said quietly in my defense, tracing her fingers along the glowing grooves of the table.

Jay still didn't look at me, her eyes flicking back to Amy coolly. "How long is she gonna be here before she's shipped off to the New York base?"