Chapter 24
At school on Monday, Nick found both Cat and Emily waiting at his locker. They weren’t talking, and Emily was turned with her arms folded, as if miffed at finding Cat there too.
“Hello, ladies!” His voice came out a higher pitch. This couldn’t be very good.
“I’ve got something to discuss with you, but it can wait until World History,” Cat said.
Emily remained quiet and tapped her foot.
“All right.” Nick raised his eyebrows. “We’ll talk in class.”
Cat left in the direction of the gymnasium, leaving him and Emily alone. He turned to her, taking note of her defensive stance.
“Why is she always hanging around?” Emily asked.
“You know why.” Nick opened his locker. “The research project.”
“I don’t see my partner outside of class,” Emily accused. “Can’t she talk to you there?”
“She said she would.” Nick shoved his backpack on the small shelf. “Now, what’s up?” He slammed the locker closed.
“Does anything need to be up?” she said more sharply than normal.
“Come on, Babe, don’t be mad. You know I love you.” He turned her toward him and put his hands on her shoulders, rubbing until he felt them relax. “Let’s go to the cafeteria and get something to drink.”
He slung his arm across her shoulders as they walked to the cafeteria and stood in line.
“I’m sorry to be such a bitch this morning, but she’s always hanging around. She has that look.”
Nick wasn’t sure what “that look” was exactly, but Em was bothered by Cat’s.
“She’s on the prowl, and she has you in her sights,” she huffed.
He laughed and nuzzled her ear. “Only you do it for me, baby.”
She looked at him with a tilt of her head, evaluating his sincerity.
“I’m lucky to have you,” she finally said.
“No, I’m the lucky one!” he declared as they reached the cashier and paid for their drinks and sat down.
****
“So what did you need to tell me this morning?” Nick took his seat by Cat in World History.
“I’ve found a past-life therapist in Grand Rapids.” She paused, waiting for his response. None came, so she sighed and pressed more. “Have you thought about it?”
He hadn’t. “No.”
“Would you go with me after school on Wednesday?”
“I’d have to skip football practice.”
“Can’t you skip just once?” Cat scowled.
He could, but he wasn’t playing his A game yet, and he knew Coach was growing concerned. But try as he might, Nick couldn’t get upset. Maybe he wasn’t meant to play pro football or college football for that matter. Wow, that was the first time he’d ever thought that.
“I guess I could skip this once.” What in the hell was he getting himself into? More stuff to mess with his head?
She tilted her head and raised her brows.
“You’re going to have to tell me more,” he said, intrigued but a little concerned.
“It’s not scary, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“What if I find out bad stuff about myself?” Nick chewed a nail. “Like I was an ax murderer or something?”
“Don’t you want to know why?” She frowned at him.
He blew out a sigh. “Not really.”
“Forget it, then!”
“No, I’ll go.” Morbid curiosity.
“You sure?”
“I said I would, and I will.” He knew he was going to regret it.
****
Later still, his mother took note of his silence.
“What’s up, Nick?” his mother asked. She was sitting on the couch, scrolling through her e-mails for work.
“Nothing.”
“Give!” she said with a laugh.
Mothers had a sixth sense about stuff like that. “School. Football. Homecoming,” he said in a singsong voice. The usual suspects for a stressed kid in high school. And not to mention, Past-Life Regression session. He’d let his mother take her pick from school, football, and homecoming.
“Research paper?”
“Coming along.”
His mother didn’t press further. “Football?” she asked.
“I can’t seem to get my groove back this year.” He let out a long sigh.
“A slump?”
“Sort of.” His mind went back to the past-life session.
“Homecoming is fun,” she said. His mother closed her laptop.
“Em and I are nominated for junior prince and princess. Gary and Tiff too.”
“That’s great!” She leaned forward for him to continue. “I always liked Gary. He’s like a big sheepdog.”
That made Nick crack a smile. Gary was big and goofy at times.
Nick hoisted his backpack, saying, “I’ve got homework.”
His mother nodded before reopening her laptop. “You’ll get things figured out.”
He grunted noncommittally and took the steps two at a time to his bedroom and closed the door. He leaned against it for a moment and caught his breath. He had never been winded from running up their flight of steps before. Maybe he should lay off drinking for a bit. When his breath normalized, he went to his computer and typed in Past-Life Therapy and waited.
Past-life regression uses hypnosis to recall memories of past lives. During hypnosis the therapist asks questions to help the patient recall alleged past lives. It is believed that experiences, attitudes, aptitudes, and relationships from prior lives follow into the current lifetime. Regression can be used as a way to discover a person’s purpose in life. The technique has been refuted when inaccuracies of the recalled events have been proven false. There are more skeptics of the practice in the West than in Eastern cultures.
Nick scratched his chin and reread the definition. There wasn’t anything to prove rebirth or reincarnation was a real thing. He would keep an open mind on Wednesday but discount anything that was suggested to him during the session.