sung out. I fished my mobile out and checked the caller ID. It was Bryan. Lit class just got out. My finger hit the button to silence the ringer without answering.
“Not going to talk to him?” Jinx asked, a wrinkle of disapproval forming between her brows.
“No, he can wait. I just don’t want to think about him right now.”
She sighed. “Okay, then, how much time do you have? We could work on teaching you how to create blocks to keep emotions out if you want.”
“Sure, I have two hours before I have to be at work,” I replied.
“I’ll go get us some sodas and then we’ll get started,” she said patting my knee as she bounced off to the kitchen.
A short vibration buzzed from my phone, indicating a text message. I peeked at the screen.
“WE NEED TO TALK.”
I ignored it. I knew on some level that I was acting childish. It’s not like he’d been my boyfriend or anything. He could go to the stupid dance with anyone he wanted. It’s just that I really thought he liked me. Now, I had to wonder whether he was just being nice to me because Lony died and he felt sorry for me.
“IF YOU DON’T ANSWER, I’M GONNA HAVE TO TXT THE WHOLE STORY TO YOU & WILL TAKE ALL DAY…”
I jabbed the off button hard. Let him text until his thumbs bleed. Didn’t mean I had to read it.
Jinx returned with two Diet Pepsis, set the drinks on top of a stack of mail strewn across the top of the coffee table and dragged a chair up so that she sat across from me, our knees a foot apart.
“Okay…so learning how to block signals takes practice. You might get a bit of a headache at first, but like any other muscle, once you get used to using your mind in this way, it’ll get stronger and it won’t bother you anymore.”
I nodded.
“Now, tell me what you are sensing from me right now.”
I studied the woman in front of me, sitting cross legged. I wasn’t getting much of anything off of her. Dressed in a pair of ancient Levi’s and an apple green t-shirt, her springy hair tangled up into a bun held in place by a couple of wooden pencils, Jinx appeared to be totally at ease.
“I don’t feel much from you. Just a general feeling of contentment,” I said.
She grinned, “Good! I’ve been feeling very even-keel today —not too happy, but not upset or anything either. Now, I’m going to think about something that will change my mood. Let me know what you feel.”
She lowered her gaze to her lap, but her face remained perfectly neutral. I wondered again how old she was. Her oval-shaped face was un-lined, but her eyes held wisdom in their depths, giving her an ageless feel.
After a moment, the atmosphere in the room changed. Low levels of vibration tickled my mind. I tasted them with my sixth sense.
“There’s something…not quite sadness…more like nostalgia. Longing?”
Jinx giggled and the vibrations changed to a warm happiness. “That’s so cool! I was thinking about my mother. She died when I was so young that it’s hard to feel sad about it. I just sort of miss her, you know? I always wondered what it would be like if she had lived. Let’s try another one!”
She steadied her face again and concentrated. This time the buzzing grew with tension. My pulse increased a little.
“Anger?” I asked. “Frustration?”
“Yep,” she said, letting the emotion fade. “My cell phone company completely screwed up my bill this month and I spent half of the morning yesterday on the phone with —” she raised her fingers in air quotes “ —customer service, which was really just a call center in Bangalore or someplace.”
I was pretty pleased with myself. Maybe this empathy thing wouldn’t be so bad when I got used to it. I picked up my soda and took a long swig, letting the effervescence tingle the inside of my mouth before swallowing.
“Alright,” Jinx continued, “I’m going to summon that same feeling again, only I want you to try to block me.”
“How?” I asked.
She pursed her lips together and squinted. “I don’t know. That is, I don’t know how to describe it. It’s second nature to me now. Okay…use your mind to feel the signal that I’m broadcasting.” She must have turned her thoughts back on Bangalore because the frustration meter ramped up again. “Can you feel it?”
“Yes,” I replied. My eyes drifted closed. Slowly,