Free Cathy Hopkins - [Mates, Dates 05] by Dates Mates, Sole Survivors (Html) Page A

I
said.
    ‘Why?’
    ‘You’re making me
nervous.’
    ‘Good.’ He smiled, but
he did as I asked and closed his eyes for the rest of the session. This is a
new one, I thought. It’s strange, but massaging someone’s feet can be as much
fun as snogging. Hope Dad’s not watching, I thought, as I quickly glanced over
to where he was. Luckily he was busy massaging Prudence’s feet and hadn’t
noticed his daughter flirting with feet only two metres away.
    Izzie looked over at
me from where she was being massaged by Moira. She made her eyes go cross-eyed
and pulled a face. So it wasn’t so much the massage, but the person doing it
with you. I thought back to the session yesterday and thanked God he hadn’t
been there then. I think I would have died if I’d had to strip off and have him
massage my back. Although, when I thought about it, it made my stomach go
funny, but in a nice way.
    By lunchtime, I was
floating on air and I wasn’t sure whether it was all the treatments or whether
it was Daniel.
    ‘I think I may be in
love,’ I said to Izzie as we tucked into a lentil cheese loaf.
    ‘Thought so,’ she
said. ‘I saw the way you two were looking at each other in that last session.’
    ‘I know,’ I said. ‘I’m
going to add, “can do foot massage” to my perfect boy list. A definite
requisite from now on.’
    I was looking forward
to the afternoon session and hoped that it would be more nice treatments. Then
I’d have another chance to pair off with Daniel.
     
    I soon realised that
wasn’t to be.
    ‘This afternoon, we’re
going to start with an exercise to vent your pent-up emotions,’ said Chris.
    But I feel great, I
thought. I haven’t got any, so this is going to be a waste of time for me.
    ‘It’s a way to release
anger or frustration that you can’t express,’ continued Chris. ‘The sorts of
feelings that if held in, can gnaw away at your peace of mind. I believe that
negativity is better
out
that in, so now is your chance to let it all
out.’
    ‘Cool,’ said Izzie,
giving me a meaningful look. ‘Unfinished business.’
    ‘You can’t yell at
your boss,’ Chris said, then looked at Iz and me and grinned, ‘or your teacher
or headmistress, maybe. So I’d like you to pick a cushion from the pile in the
corner, then project onto it whatever or whoever has made you angry in the past
- a lover, a parent, a colleague, a neighbour, a friend or even God. As it is
sometimes not appropriate to let your anger out at the person directly, this is
a way to free yourself of it without any repercussions.’
    ‘Excellent,’ said
Izzie, heading for the pile.
    I reluctantly went to pick
a cushion with the others. The idea seemed a bit mad to me.
    ‘OK,’ said Chris, ‘now
let rip. You can throw your cushion, kick it, stomp on it, whatever you feel.
Let your inhibitions go.’
    Izzie picked a red
cushion and started laying into it with passion.
    ‘Poor cushion,’ I
said. ‘What’s it done to you?’
    ‘I’m imagining it’s
all the terrorists who have killed innocent people,’ panted Izzie as she jumped
up and down on it. ‘It makes me so mad sometimes as I feel so helpless and
angry
that I can’t do anything.’
    Izzie’s always
thinking about the problems of the world.
    ‘Who are you going to
beat up?’ she asked, stopping for a moment to catch her breath.
    I looked at the
cushions. ‘Someone closer to home.’ I grinned and picked a brown velvet one.
The exact colour of Tony’s eyes.
    At first, everyone was
a bit shy, then Moira started getting into it. Then Cycling Shorts joined in.
Then Eric and Tabula and then
my dad
! After ten minutes, the place
sounded like a madhouse. Everyone got stuck in. I quickly glanced round to see
what Daniel was doing as I didn’t want to look an idiot in front of him, but he
was going for it like the rest of them. If you can’t beat them, join them, I
thought, and got down on my knees and pummelled my cushion. I felt stupid to
start with, then I