Chapter Nineteen
Dr. Eyebright was with a student when I arrived. I hung out in the hall, trying to look casual. I felt out of place and uncomfortable. I shifted my focus on tonight. Camryn had insisted we spend some time together, just the two of us. She’d been so busy with indoor track since she got back from Belize. I felt like we hadn’t talked in forever and I couldn’t wait to hang with her.
“Oh my gosh, Savanah?” Brooklyn’s voice broke through my thoughts.
I turned to stare at her walking out of Dr. Eyebright’s office. “Hi, Brooklyn.”
Her face crinkled up, “What are you doing here?”
Of course, she had to ask that. I had no real reason. I stared at her dumbly, “Um, well.”
“Savanah, are you ready?” Dr. Eyebright asked before I had a chance to come up with some ridiculous excuse.
“Yes Ma’am.” I ducked into her office, waving feebly to Brooklyn.
Dr. Eyebright completely ignored the exchange between Brooklyn and me and went right into our session. “So, how are things going? When we talked last, you felt pretty good with how things had progressed.”
I sat back, relaxing into my chair, “Yeah it is going well. I just wish I could figure out how to send a bad spirit away, so the good spirit isn’t having to dodge him all the time.”
Her brows raised, “It seems we have made some deeper connections?”
I nodded my head, “Yeah, I had the chance to talk to Karson.” I shivered at the memory of her bloody form. “Brock was terrible. He is looking for her all the time and insists that he is going to be with her forever. I just wish I could drive him away, or banish him, or send him into the next level or something.”
She sat silently, while I worked through my anger. I met her eyes, and she began to speak. “Please understand your gift does not require you to fix things. I don’t think you have the type of power to force someone to move on.”
“I thought that was kind of the point, to push them over to start again, live in clouds, burn in damnation, whatever it is. I thought that is what I was working towards.”
Dr. Eyebright smiled sweetly. “You thought you had officially become the gatekeeper to the afterlife? That you saw ghosts, and therefore your job was to start ushering them over?”
“Well, I guess.” It felt incredibly silly to hear that out loud, like I was some super powerful witch or wizard.
“You are still not sure what your purpose is for this gift, but I promise you there is no overseer position for you to fill.” She leaned forward, “Maybe your purpose is to just be there for those that have no one to listen to. Maybe you are here to collect their stories, keep them alive in that way.”
The images of me cataloging all their feelings. Karson’s words came back, “You know you are the first person I have ever been able to tell my side to.”
Stories and emotions, they hadn’t shared since they died, “I wasn’t there to tell him how proud of him I am, but boy am I.” Tyler’s grandpa’s words rang in my mind.
It clicked. Things started to make sense. I didn’t need to fix it all. I couldn’t fix it all. “So listening is helping,” I stated.
“Don’t you feel it helps to be heard?”
I nodded. I thought of how closed I was when I arrived here, how unhappy I was until I found people who knew my secret. Friends. “I can listen. They definitely deserve that.”
“Good, I am positive they will appreciate you listening for sure.”
I frowned, “But is there nothing we can do to help Brock stay away from her?”
“I don’t think either of us have those answers. Remember we are kind of working through this step by step,” she shrugged lightly.
I nodded, still frowning.
After our meeting I met Camryn for dinner and ran into Tyler in the caf. Tyler tried to tag along on our movie date, but Camryn quickly squashed that plan. “You have had her like constantly. You need to share the Han a bit!” Camryn jabbed, “besides, what’s this I hear about you guys going out of town together?” Her brows flitted up and down as Tyler’s face shined with his cocky grin. My expression was complete embarrassment.
“Well, aren’t you just the gossip girl. Gotta know everyone’s business.” Tyler stabbed a piece of her chocolate cake off her plate and ate it as she glared at him. “It’s no big deal, she’s just keeping me company on a quick trip home,” he winked at me and ran his hand up my thigh. “She was worried I would crash without supervision.”
I rolled my eyes, “Hey, it isn’t exactly like that.”
“It’s ok, I think it’s cute,” he kissed my cheek. I flamed beet red. I still couldn’t get used to the public displays of affection, but it was something he did try to keep to a minimum. He knew little things he could get away with, but the major attention grabbers I was not comfortable with at all.
“So, when are you stealing my roommate?” Camryn shoved her plate away, picking up her water.
Tyler took it as an invitation to help finish the cake she hadn’t touched yet. “We’re still figuring it out, but I think maybe Sunday?” He stuck the fork into his mouth.
“Sunday?” My mouth went dry.
“Well yeah, why, are you busy?”
“No, Sunday should be cool,” I swallowed. Nerves about going to his home, potentially meeting his family, and definitely seeing his grandpa’s ranch just felt like a big step.
Camryn caught my expression. “Ok cool, you done?” She looked at my almost empty plate and my non-moving fork.
“Yeah,” I grabbed my things and got up
