Bren
squinted, “Her?” She pointed at the girl.
The girl saw and made eye contact
with Dani. She waved.
“Oh,” Dani said, “She goes to my
school. That’s why she’s familiar. I
guess that’s her dad or something.”
“Are you kidding?” Bren said, “That
has to be a psychiatrist.”
“How do you know?” Dani asked. She
saw the girl talk to the psychiatrist some and saw him talk back.
“He’s got that look,” Bren said,
“Also I have a hunch.”
The crosswalk light turned green and
Dani and Bren crossed. Dani saw the girl and the man stay where they were. When
they reached earshot of each other, the girl said, “Hey, Dani, I’m a friend of
Neil’s. I don’t know if you remember me.”
“Yeah,” Dani said. She frantically
searched her head for friends of Neil’s that she might know in some way. Not
Mary, not Elys, not Hana, not Lindsey, not Sara… “Krista?”
“Astrid Halkyard,” the man said,
“I’m sorry we’ve bothered you. We were looking for people that Astrid knows.”
“I know her,” Bren said.
Dani shot her the old really? glance, but Bren failed to
notice or at least deigned to reply. “You do?” The man said.
“I tutored her,” Bren said, “And we’ve kept
in touch over the years.”
“Yeah,” Astrid said, “That’s right.
Brenda.”
“Small world,” the psychiatrist
said, “I’m Dr. Galerius Cook, her psychiatrist.”
“Brenda Alba,” Bren said, “Good to
meet you. Why were you looking for her friends?”
“I’ll explain in a more private
area,” the psychiatrist said, “Would you mind relocating to my office? It’s
only a single block away.” He indicated eastward. “This test will only take
five minutes, if that.”
“Test?” Dani asked. Tests were
usually pretty lame. She had to know what
she was getting herself into.
“Yes,” the psychiatrist said, “If it
is not too much trouble.”
“Can we hear what the test is?” Dani
asked, “Before we agree to it?”
“That’s certainly wise,” he said,
smiling in a way that came off to Dani as somewhat creepy and patronizing,
“It’s a test that will show whether or not Astrid has a psychic ability.” He
then winked as though to say, play along
please.
Dani was pretty sure that psychic
abilities existed, though. “Oh, wow,” she said.
Asta had remained silent this entire
time. She felt somewhat patronized herself. She was preparing to say something,
had taken a breath several times to do so. But she was short and skinny and
still feeling like anything she could say would sound silly (she hadn’t stopped
being shy for sure, especially around two older and taller girls who seemed to
not care if what they said sounded strange).
When Asta had finished psyching
herself out, she mustered up the courage to speak. Here’s what she said.
NEXT CHAPTER
NEXT CHAPTER
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