I ENTERED THE SCHOOL cafeteria at midday and scanned the room for my friends. Greg, Christina, and Eden were sitting together. They all motioned for me to join them. I headed in their direction.
Christina and Greg sat closer together than in the past. Christina hadn’t been hanging with Tommy since we had been to Bev’s house. It was fun being just the four of us.
“What’s with the makeup, Liv?” Eden asked after I sat beside her.
After my date with Andy, I’d decided to try wearing a touch of makeup just for something different.
“I think she looks spectacular.” Greg’s eyes had their sparkle back.
“I agree,” Christina said.
Christina looked happier than I’d seen her in a long time. There were no dark circles under her eyes.
Eden frowned and stuck out her lower lip. “The makeup hides her freckles. I loved them!”
Greg playfully reached over Christina’s head and ruffled my hair. “I think your freckles are adorable. I miss them too!”
I had no idea that my freckles were something people could possibly admire. I’d always regarded them as a curse.
Eden’s compliment meant a great deal to me. She was a natural beauty.
As I pulled an apple out of my lunch bag, I saw Andy walking across the lunchroom. I glanced away but kept an eye on him in my peripheral vision. Creep.
Vicki bounced over to where he sat. She flashed him a flirty little smile.
Andy concentrated on his teammates seated at his table.
Vicki can have him. They deserve each other.
I turned to my three friends. “My cousin Samantha called me last night. She said her church is sponsoring a concert this Friday night at that refurbished theater on Water Street. You guys want to go? It’s free.”
“How good can it be if it’s free?” Greg grimaced.
I named the bands that were headlining. Greg’s face lit up with enthusiasm.
Greg and Christina locked eyes, then looked back at me with eagerness.
Christina chirped, “I’m in.”
“Me too,” said Greg.
“Sounds cool to me,” said Eden.
Samantha had told me the concert would be followed by an invitation for kids to give their lives to God. Sometimes the band members gave testimonies. I hoped Greg would be receptive to the message.
As Christina rose to leave at the end of lunch, I noticed her face pinch in pain. After the others dispersed, I asked, “Are you OK?”
“I’m having stomach cramps from my period. That’s all,” she whispered to me, clenching her teeth and bending over.
Christina had never acted this way during her monthly cycle.
“Do you have any Tylenol?”
“Yeah.” I reached into my backpack and got the bottle. I shook out two pills and handed them to her. “So, is Greg still staying at your house?”
“Yeah. His parents came over Monday night to speak with my parents. They all went into Dad’s office. They were in there quite a while. I suppose my dad convinced them to let Greg stay a while longer. Especially when he smelled whisky on Mr. Monahan’s breath. He mentioned that Greg’s dad agreed it would be good for them to spend some time apart.”
“You guys seem to be getting along really well.” I winked at her.
“He kissed me that night I was at his house.”
I gasped. “I’m so happy for you.” I squeezed her arm.
Christina grabbed her abdomen, stretching at the fabric of her short, black skirt.
“Maybe you should go see the nurse.”
She straightened her skirt. “I have to run to the bathroom first. Then I’ll go.”
“OK. Let me know what she says.”
She limped down the hallway. As I went to class, I prayed that God would relieve my friend’s cramps.
During math class, I heard sirens. I ignored them and tried to concentrate on my test.
A couple of minutes later I saw flashing lights. I looked out the window beside my desk and saw an ambulance parked in front of the school. Someone was being put into the vehicle on a stretcher.
The other students gathered at the window, chattering. Mrs. Collins tapped her pen loudly on her desk. “Get back to your seats and complete your tests.”
I caught a flash of the shirt hanging over the edge of the gurney. It was the same one Christina had been wearing at lunch.
I could hardly concentrate all day, worrying about Christina. As soon as I got out of school I dialed Christina’s cell phone before heading to volleyball practice.
“What happened?”
She broke into sobs. “I . . . I had . . . a miscarriage.”
My head began to spin and a wave of nausea hit me. “You mean you’re . . . ”
“I was.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t even know till now.”
“Have you told Tommy?”
“Not yet.”
“Are you going to?”
“I’m not sure.”
I breathed a prayer for Christina and her parents, for Greg and his parents, and even Tommy.
Jerk.
I sat in the waiting room of the psychologist’s office, staring at the dark wood panel on the walls. Old, cracked chairs faced a TV that was playing the news. I wanted to run out. It took every ounce of control for me to stay seated.
Mom sat next to me, paging through a magazine. Other adults did the same, ignoring the children with them. One looked to be a teenager my age. The other two appeared to be of grade-school age.
“Olivia Stanton?” A nurse in a white shirt and blue polka-dotted scrubs appeared at an open door to my left, holding a folder in her hands.
Mom and I stood.
As we approached the nurse put up her hand, palm out. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Stanton. We’ll need to see Olivia alone first.”
“But . . . ”
“I’m sorry. It’s our policy.”
I walked through the door, hearing it shut behind me. I felt relieved Mom wasn’t with me. I’d get to tell my side of the story first about seeing angels and demons. I hoped to sound perfectly sane so the doctor wouldn’t classify me as crazy.
The nurse led me to a private office at the end of a hallway with white painted walls and dark wood paneling halfway up the wall. A large mahogany desk sat in the middle of the office, with a brown leather chair behind it. Bookcases lined almost every ounce of space except for right behind the two seats opposite the desk. She motioned for me to sit in one of the two chairs. I sank into the deep leather cushion.
“Dr. Stein will be in momentarily.” She smiled. “Relax.” She put the folder on the desk and walked out.
I looked at all the framed certificates that covered one entire wall. He certainly looked qualified. I hoped he would also be sympathetic.
I heard a knock on the door. “Olivia?”
“Yes?”
A man in a brown sweater, pleated blue pants, and shiny leather shoes walked in, holding a pad of paper in one hand. He looked to be in his mid-forties. He shook my hand. “I’m Dr. Stein.” He took the chair behind the desk, set down the pad of paper, and folded his hands. “So, Olivia, why are you here?”
“I see spirits.” I figured I’d just blurt it out and get it over with.
His eyebrows lifted. “OK.” He scribbled on his notepad.
“Does that mean I’m crazy?”
“Not necessarily. But it is unusual.” He pushed his round-rimmed glasses up his nose. “People in the Bible saw angels. Are you a Christian?”
“Yes.”
“I’m Jewish.”
I wondered if that would work for me or against me.
“So, tell me about these spirits you see.”
I told him about the angelic choir I saw at church. He scribbled on his pad as I talked. Then I described Mike.
Dr. Stein put down his pen, took off his glasses, and gave me a slight smile. “Are you taking any drugs, prescription or otherwise?”
“No. Never.” He probably wondered if I was hallucinating. Smart of him to rule that out.
“Do you have a boyfriend?”
“Not right now.”
He flipped back to a previous page in my file. “Your schoolwork doesn’t seem to be affected.”
I wondered what else Mom had told these people when she made the appointment.
“Perhaps these visions of yours are the result of your longing for a boyfriend-someone to be close to.”
“But Mike is real.”
“Has this spirit of yours asked you to do anything harmful, like jump off a cliff with him?”
“Of course not. He’s my guardian angel.”
“What else do you see?”
I jammed my hands into my jacket pockets and looked at the floor. “I see demons. I’ve watched my guardian angel fight them.”
I was probably entering into the “severely wacked” category, but I might as well get it all out now.
Dr. Stein put his glasses back on and wrote furiously. After a couple of moments, he looked at me. “Tell me about the demons.”
“I saw one attack my father. It was choking him, and my dad was coughing and gripping his chest. The demon was green—sort of lizard-like.”
“Hmmm.” He raised his eyebrows, then scribbled on his pad of paper again. “What did you do when you saw this demon attacking your father?”
“I prayed. Mike came to my dad’s defense and defeated the demon. I didn’t see the actual fight, since Mike took the demon through the wall with him into our front yard. But later Mike came and told me he’d won the fight.” It all sounded crazy coming from my mouth. “Am I nuts?”
“Olivia, the only nuts in this room are the peanuts on my desk.” He offered a brief smile, holding out the bowl of peanuts, offering me to sample one.
“No, thank you.”
He set the bowl down in its previous spot. “I’d like to learn more about this spirit world you see. That may take some time.”
“How long?”
“Oh, perhaps a year or so, depending on how many times a week I see you.”
“What?” I didn’t want this to take over my life for the next year. “Look, I’m sure you’re good at what you do, but to be honest, all I want is for you to tell my parents I’m normal.”
“I can’t make that assessment based on just what you’ve told me today.”
“Well, what’s your best guess based on what you’ve heard so far?”
He leaned back in his chair. “As I said, it’s too early for me to give a diagnosis.”
I felt light-headed. Then I felt a touch on my shoulder. Thanks, Mike.
I needed that.
“What if I don’t come back to see you?” I asked calmly.
“If you’re not properly treated, your life could be in danger. These visions could torment you to the point where you’re no longer able to cope. In my experience, individuals who see things like you do have a tendency to become suicidal or bipolar, or have panic attacks.”
I could understand why someone would become that way if they didn’t know what they were seeing—or why.
“They aren’t visions. They’re real.” I crossed my arms in defiance.
Realizing how much I looked like my mom doing that, I uncrossed them.
Dr. Stein rubbed his chin. “Your response to your belief that a demon was attacking your father tells me you do have some coping skills. You prayed instead of jumping in. Some of my patients who have hallucinations throw things or yell at the voices they hear. Sometimes they even harm themselves.”
Mom and Dad had caught me praying out loud the night the demon attacked my father. Fortunately, no one had heard me talking to Mike. I needed to be careful that no one did.
Dr. Stein looked me in the eye. “Why don’t we bring your mom in now?”
Great. I could already hear my mom telling him, “She’s crazy, just like her cousin.”
After he walked out of the room, Mike whispered, “Your mom is in for a big surprise.”
I smiled. Mike could be very creative.
“But you’ll need to be patient. Give me a day or two and I’ll come up with a solution.”
I couldn’t wait to see what Mike had up his sleeve.