This is the second installment of a four part series.
Meena is startled awake by the sound of a school bell ringing. She opens her eyes and is blinded by fluorescent lights. She peels her face away from a tattered dark green leather couch that has the faint smell of corn chips and grape soda. The place looks strangely familiar. Then it hits her. She knows exactly where she is.
“What the hell am I doing at my high school?” she asks herself.
A chipper squeaky voice pierces the silence.
“Hi Meena!”
“Mrs. Scanlin, my guidance counselor? What are you doing here?”
“I’m the Spirit of Decisions Past…a least for you, that is” she says with a giggle.
“Are you serious?”
The smile disappears from Mrs. Scanlin’s wrinkled face, smoothing out some of the lines.
“Yes dear, this is serious business. We are here to review some of your earlier decisions to see what happened to you. I have to say, I’m quite disappointed, you always had so much potential.”
This dream is too vivid, Meena thinks. Mrs. Scanlin always sounded exactly like the old lady from those Poltergeist movies.
“Why am I here?”
“Oh, Meena! The better question is when is here…it’s the spring of 1992, your junior year.”
“What?”
“Why don’t we go to my office and have a chat.”
A split second later, Meena and Mrs. Scanlin are standing at the entrance of her tiny office. It was just as Meena remembered – old gum stuck on the brown utility carpet, posters from various colleges plastered all over the walls. For those students that didn't see college as their post high school path, there was a poster from the Army, inviting you to be all you can be. Even Mrs. Scanlin’s small worn out metal desk looked exactly the same.
Meena feels a sudden warmth coming from her core. Her vision blurs slightly and the hairs on the back of her neck stand at attention.
There she is, walking right through her, 16 year old Meena.
“It's me! I can’t believe I ever looked so young. My goodness, I’m a baby!”
“Yes dear, you all looked that way to me. Young and full of promise, but you always had something extra special.” Mrs. Scanlin slowly shook her head. “You just didn’t seem to want to get off your ass and put in some effort.”
Meena was stunned. “Mrs. Scanlin! I didn’t know you used language like that!”
“I’m a spirit dear, I can do whatever I want.” She said matter-of-factly.
Meena’s jaw drops.
“But enough about me, let’s focus on you. If you remember, this was a very important counseling session. Your SAT scores had just come back and you had one of the highest scores in the school. I knew with a bit of extra effort in your courses, you could get into any school you wanted. However, you had other ideas, I’m guessing”
“Can they see us?” Meena asks, pointing to the 1992 versions of themselves.”
“Oh, heavens no!” she said “We’re just souls passing through!”
“Mrs. Scanlin, you’re wearing that awful beige suit!”
“I’m sorry my attire didn’t meet your high standards, but can you shut your cake hole for 5 minutes and try to learn something here?” Mrs. Scanlin snapped.
“Whoa, someone’s touchy about being the 1992 Sears catalog centerfold.”
Mrs. Scanlin puts her finger to Meena’s lips and points her other finger towards 1992 Meena. “Listen!”
Sixteen year old Meena is sitting slouched in the guest chair in front of the desk. Mrs. Scanlin is nearly pleading with Meena to start thinking about her future.
“Meena dear, your SAT scores are phenomenal. We just need to bring your coursework grades up a bit. You’re a very bright girl and you have an incredible future ahead of you. Do you have any idea about what college you want to attend?”
“I haven’t really given it much thought Mrs. Scanlin. I don’t know if I’m even going to college. I’m thinking that I’ll just get a job after graduation and then go to school in a few years.”
Mrs. Scanlin’s eyes widened. She rubs her temples, as if warding off a serious headache and she lets out an exasperated sigh. She places her hands on her cheeks.
“Meena, please listen to a mature woman. That plan seldom works out. Most people start working and create obligations for themselves in those ‘few years’. They create bills or families – things that make it nearly impossible to just drop everything and enroll in college. If at all possible – and it is for you - it’s best to go to school straight away. These so called few years usually turn into decades...of dead end jobs and stalled dreams.
16 year old Meena looks at her watch. “Are we done? I have English next period and Mr. Peterson gives detention if you show up late.”
“Sure Meena, just think about what I said.”
“I will.” she half-heartedly promises.
35 year old Meena spoke. “I remember this now. I thought you were full of crap.”
A smirk came over Mrs. Scanlin’s face. “Well tell me, what do you think now?”
A puzzled look comes over Meena’s face.
“A couple of weeks after this appointment, I contacted you about a couple of college fair road trips over the summer. You never responded.” Mrs. Scanlin shook her head.
“I told you, I wasn’t sure.”
“Right… then about a month later, just before the school year ended, you started dating Scott Davis. That was the beginning of the end. Now there were two pieces of driftwood, going wherever the wind blew. Your senior year, you started ditching school, completely dismissed applying for colleges and had to come back to summer school just to finish your credits. I guess Scott’s spot on the management track at Ray's Fish Fry never quite materialized.”
“Real harsh, Mrs. Scanlin. Scott & I were in love.”
“Ah yes, the age-old reason for unrealized dreams. I would have thought that you, of all people, could have come up with something more original.”
“Look lady, what do you want from me?”
“Oh Dear, here you go again with the wrong question. The real question is: What do you want from you?”
“What the hell am I doing at my high school?” she asks herself.
A chipper squeaky voice pierces the silence.
“Hi Meena!”
“Mrs. Scanlin, my guidance counselor? What are you doing here?”
“I’m the Spirit of Decisions Past…a least for you, that is” she says with a giggle.
“Are you serious?”
The smile disappears from Mrs. Scanlin’s wrinkled face, smoothing out some of the lines.
“Yes dear, this is serious business. We are here to review some of your earlier decisions to see what happened to you. I have to say, I’m quite disappointed, you always had so much potential.”
This dream is too vivid, Meena thinks. Mrs. Scanlin always sounded exactly like the old lady from those Poltergeist movies.
“Why am I here?”
“Oh, Meena! The better question is when is here…it’s the spring of 1992, your junior year.”
“What?”
“Why don’t we go to my office and have a chat.”
A split second later, Meena and Mrs. Scanlin are standing at the entrance of her tiny office. It was just as Meena remembered – old gum stuck on the brown utility carpet, posters from various colleges plastered all over the walls. For those students that didn't see college as their post high school path, there was a poster from the Army, inviting you to be all you can be. Even Mrs. Scanlin’s small worn out metal desk looked exactly the same.
Meena feels a sudden warmth coming from her core. Her vision blurs slightly and the hairs on the back of her neck stand at attention.
There she is, walking right through her, 16 year old Meena.
“It's me! I can’t believe I ever looked so young. My goodness, I’m a baby!”
“Yes dear, you all looked that way to me. Young and full of promise, but you always had something extra special.” Mrs. Scanlin slowly shook her head. “You just didn’t seem to want to get off your ass and put in some effort.”
Meena was stunned. “Mrs. Scanlin! I didn’t know you used language like that!”
“I’m a spirit dear, I can do whatever I want.” She said matter-of-factly.
Meena’s jaw drops.
“But enough about me, let’s focus on you. If you remember, this was a very important counseling session. Your SAT scores had just come back and you had one of the highest scores in the school. I knew with a bit of extra effort in your courses, you could get into any school you wanted. However, you had other ideas, I’m guessing”
“Can they see us?” Meena asks, pointing to the 1992 versions of themselves.”
“Oh, heavens no!” she said “We’re just souls passing through!”
“Mrs. Scanlin, you’re wearing that awful beige suit!”
“I’m sorry my attire didn’t meet your high standards, but can you shut your cake hole for 5 minutes and try to learn something here?” Mrs. Scanlin snapped.
“Whoa, someone’s touchy about being the 1992 Sears catalog centerfold.”
Mrs. Scanlin puts her finger to Meena’s lips and points her other finger towards 1992 Meena. “Listen!”
Sixteen year old Meena is sitting slouched in the guest chair in front of the desk. Mrs. Scanlin is nearly pleading with Meena to start thinking about her future.
“Meena dear, your SAT scores are phenomenal. We just need to bring your coursework grades up a bit. You’re a very bright girl and you have an incredible future ahead of you. Do you have any idea about what college you want to attend?”
“I haven’t really given it much thought Mrs. Scanlin. I don’t know if I’m even going to college. I’m thinking that I’ll just get a job after graduation and then go to school in a few years.”
Mrs. Scanlin’s eyes widened. She rubs her temples, as if warding off a serious headache and she lets out an exasperated sigh. She places her hands on her cheeks.
“Meena, please listen to a mature woman. That plan seldom works out. Most people start working and create obligations for themselves in those ‘few years’. They create bills or families – things that make it nearly impossible to just drop everything and enroll in college. If at all possible – and it is for you - it’s best to go to school straight away. These so called few years usually turn into decades...of dead end jobs and stalled dreams.
16 year old Meena looks at her watch. “Are we done? I have English next period and Mr. Peterson gives detention if you show up late.”
“Sure Meena, just think about what I said.”
“I will.” she half-heartedly promises.
35 year old Meena spoke. “I remember this now. I thought you were full of crap.”
A smirk came over Mrs. Scanlin’s face. “Well tell me, what do you think now?”
A puzzled look comes over Meena’s face.
“A couple of weeks after this appointment, I contacted you about a couple of college fair road trips over the summer. You never responded.” Mrs. Scanlin shook her head.
“I told you, I wasn’t sure.”
“Right… then about a month later, just before the school year ended, you started dating Scott Davis. That was the beginning of the end. Now there were two pieces of driftwood, going wherever the wind blew. Your senior year, you started ditching school, completely dismissed applying for colleges and had to come back to summer school just to finish your credits. I guess Scott’s spot on the management track at Ray's Fish Fry never quite materialized.”
“Real harsh, Mrs. Scanlin. Scott & I were in love.”
“Ah yes, the age-old reason for unrealized dreams. I would have thought that you, of all people, could have come up with something more original.”
“Look lady, what do you want from me?”
“Oh Dear, here you go again with the wrong question. The real question is: What do you want from you?”
