*****
“You think I'm the answer to your prayers?”
Blushing, he lowers his head, playing with the ends of his hair nervously. “I know how that sounds and I swear I'm not crazy.”
“I don't think it’s so crazy.”
“You don't?”
“No, I mean we can hear and communicate with dead people. You praying for someone that’s the same way seems pretty normal. I’m pretty sure that’s what the psych answer would be too.”
“I really don't wanna know what our professor would think of us.” he says before laughing. “Can you imagine how quickly he would have us locked in rubber rooms with white coats?”
At the mention of white coats I bow my head, my body freezing in place. Considering I’d been at the center for over two years with people that at times needed that very thing in order to protect themselves, I wasn't sure how I felt about him turning it into a joke. It’s so much more then something to poke fun at.
“What did I say?”
“Nothing. It was n—nothing.”
The look on his face tells me he didn't believe me, which really shouldn't surprise me. I sucked at all things remotely social and hiding the truth I was even worse with.
“Tell me, Serenity.”
“I've been there.” I said, those three words already more than my throat could manage.
“You've been where?”
“In a place where those white coats you're laughing about are used.”
I watch as my words register and his eyes cloud over, going from their clear almost translucent blue to a shaded grey. His lips curve down and I know what he’s doing. I made him feel guilty.
“I had no idea. I'm sorry.”
“It's okay. It was a long time ago, but hearing anything remotely close to the way things were in my time there, still bothers me, ya know?”
He nods, squeezing my hand gently. “I get it. I'm sorry I didn't think before I spoke.”
Choosing to brush it off, not wanting this one comment to ruin what had so far been a really great time, I shrugged. “No harm done. Though you're right. We'd be locked up if we ever told him. He doesn't seem like the type of guy to be open minded.”
The tense air around us lifted after that and just as easily as it had before, the conversation began to flow easily. I’m more than a little happy now that Emma accepted the date for me. It is turning out a lot better than I ever could’ve imagined.
Holding On To Heaven Page 20