Akira hit it off with the counselor. He looked like he was still in college but was thirty-nine and made a lot of sense. He listened a lot but was full of wisdom, and he helped Akira shed the negative stress.
That same week, she started acupuncture. Jade went with her after school and waited. The practitioner was almost seventy and practiced for forty years. She was calm, mellow, and wise. She promised to help Akira shed her old skin and let a new one grow. She had Akira strip to just bra and panties and covered her with a sheet and inserted tiny needles in her feet, ankles, knees, wrists, forearms, and ears.
“You sleep now. I’ll return in about forty minutes. You’ll feel better.”
Akira nodded. In short order, she couldn’t keep her eyes open, and she surrendered to sleep.
A knock at th
