Dare To Love

2

I shook my head. "No. No. No. Unequivocally no."

Andy's pout reappeared. "You haven't even heard my idea yet!"

"I don't have to." I knew Andy too well. His ideas were never 'good.' Spectacular maybe. Life-changing, certainly. Some may even have involved the ritual sacrifice of wine, cigarettes, and my good name (don't ask). But one thing was for sure—they were never just 'good' ideas.

"No, no, this time its really good! I swear it!"

I bit my tongue and tried not to mention that he'd said the very same thing about five times before.

"So, I'm seeing this guy Ian, right?" Andy began despite my protests.

June and I sighed. We'd learned the hard way. We had given up keeping track of all the men Andy had hooked up with. Now we knew it was safer to just nod and hope he didn't get into lurid details.

"He's into new age stuff a lot. He keeps talking about blocked energy flows, positivisim, and the universe conspiring. I don't really get it, but he's cute so I just nod a lot when we're not in bed."

"Is there a point to this?" June asked.

"Sssh! I'm getting to it. So, a couple of weeks ago he asked me to join this group session. They were going to do a healing thing with crystals. And although all I knew about crystals was that they looked good on your ears and wrists, I tagged along." A crease appeared between his brows. "Everyone there was surprisingly normal mind you."

"He sounds disappointed." June whispered.

I shushed her. Andy's stories were always long, drawn-out, mini-melodramas.

Andy didn't even notice. "And so I thought they were going to heal someone who was actually sick. But no, it was someone who was heartsick!" He looked at us, eyes wide in expectation.

"No. I am not attending a crystal voodoo session."

"Aw c'mon, Gia!"

"I really have to leave tomorrow. So, sorry but no."

Andy looked crestfallen for all of five seconds before he dove for the jacket he had discarded earlier and started patting the pockets. Suddenly, with a triumphant "Aha!" he pulled out two black velvet drawstring pouches.

June and I exchanged mystified looks. Andy was acting even weirder than usual. He walked back to the coffee table, opened one bag, and spilled the contents on the tabletop. The bag contained several crystals of varying colors and sizes. Some were rough, some were smoothly cut, and there was even one milky white sphere.

"I have my kit with me!" He crowed excitedly.

When June and I continued to give him blank looks, he sighed. "Sometimes I wonder where you guys left your imaginations. Hello! I have my crystal kit, we can do it here!"

"Do what exactly?" June asked, eyes narrowed.

"The cleansing! Gia's cleansing! We get to heal all the negative energy and encourage the positive energy to flow or something."

"Or something?" I raised an enquiring brow. That didn't exactly inspire confidence.

"Ah basta! I know what I'm doing!" He opened the other bag and thrust one long prism at June. "Good thing I have Ian's crystals with me."

June wrinkled her nose and folded her arms over her chest. "No way. I am not touching Ian's crystals."

"Fine! You can have mine. We have to cleanse them before we use them anyway." Gathering the crystals, Andy went to the kitchen. We heard him muttering to himself as he took out towels and turned the taps on.

"I'm not sick!" I felt I ought to make that part clear.

"Didn't say you were. But this ought to help!" Andy shouted over the sound of running water.

"Please tell me that we're not doing this." I begged June.

June shrugged. "It's been six years, Gia. We've set you up with a gazillion guys. Still nothing. Obviously, something's wrong." When I continued to look mutinous, she put a consoling hand on my arm. "It never hurts to try. Sometimes all we need sometimes is a little push and a little positive affirmation."

Then she glanced to where Andy was ransacking her kitchen. "Plus there are only the three of us here and this doesn't involve anybody getting hurt."

I hope.

"Hoy, June! You have candles, right?"

"Candles?" June looked justifiably alarmed as she walked toward Andy.

I sighed. June was right. Maybe I needed this. Maybe I should start living dangerously again. After all, six years was a long time and I hadn't exactly been a saint before.

Maybe this was my chance for a fresh start.

Somehow, Andy convinced June to sacrifice a week's supply of candles ("It's for Gia! You don't want her to shrivel up, do you?"). We arranged them in a wide circle on June's balcony. Andy had wanted to do the cleansing inside, but June was adamant that the smoke detectors would get triggered.

"Balcony." June's tone booked no argument as she opened the sliding glass door. "That way if anything goes wrong I can simply throw a bucket of water on both of you without ruining my upholstery."

Ah, friendship at its finest.

Andy explained the mechanics as we set the candles up. It involved a lot of concentrating, tapping the positive energy from within, and transmitting healing powers to an object.

In this case, the object was me.

As for myself, I was to sit in the middle of the circle and clear my mind and imagine myself rooted to the ground. I told Andy that it was kind of hard to imagine being rooted when we were on the fifteenth floor, but Andy shushed me and insisted I try.

Fine. I sat cross-legged in the middle of the circle of candles, and tried to comply with Andy's whispered instructions. I envisioned myself coated in a white glow with tenuous roots reaching toward the ground. That way, the energy of the earth would aid my healing. When I felt 'connected,' Andy told me to concentrate on making the glow turn pink.

At least, that's what I thought he said. Man, those tequila shots were lethal.

June broke my concentration when she asked loudly what the hell was she supposed to do with the damn crystals. Andy shushed her and explained that they were just conduits to channel positive forces toward me.

I wanted to ask where the crystals had come from, but decided it probably wasn't worth the convoluted explanation Andy was bound to give.

Anyway, given the state we were in, I was surprised by the degree of reverence June and Andy gave the whole proceeding. That sobered me up. They cared about me and they wanted me to move on.

Hell, I wanted me to move on.

I'd give the pink light a try.

So there I was, sitting in a circle of candlelight, trying to get connected to the latent forces of mother earth, when suddenly—I'm not sure if it was the crystals or the wine—but I felt light and energized at the same time.

One thought pervaded my head: I was ready. I was ready to receive whatever life decided to throw at me.

I don't exactly remember what had happened next, but next thing I knew, June was shaking me awake. Andy said I'd fainted because of the overflowing positive forces. June said it was because of the overflowing amount of alcohol we'd consumed.

Whatever the cause, I gave them a warm, happysmile before I slid back into blessed oblivion.