Sophomore Paige Alban gazes around an unfamiliar room. Potion bottles, purple walls, and a crystal ball fill the room with a mysterious aura. Although she is skeptical, Alban anticipates her first psychic reading.

The psychic performs her palm and card reading along with three questions. As pieces of Alban’s future are revealed, the large group of friends she came there with, including junior Franklen Lockhart, stand witnessing the ordeal.

Psychic Tricia is a local psychic on Belair Road and discovered her psychic ability at only five years old. Her gift traces back to both her mother and father’s side of the family. Many JC students have visited Tricia lately.

According to Tricia, the right psychic can make a believer out of anyone. “A lot of psychics ask a lot of questions. I don’t ask questions. I tell you what I see,” Tricia said.

Alban had the opportunity to ask three questions of her choice at the reading: “Will I go out of state for college? What will my future job be? Will I ever get a serious disease?” To Alban’s surprise, Tricia predicted she would go into the medical field, which has always been an interest to Alban. “It was strange, but I wasn’t really creeped out,” Alban said.

Tricia carried on with Alban’s reading as Lockhart watched and formed conclusions. He, too, was skeptical going in but later changed his mind. “After some of the stuff she said to the people I went with, and after she nailed really specific stuff that no one else would know, or things she couldn’t know, I was really impressed and freaked out. It was really scary, so I probably wouldn’t go back. Never again,” Lockhart said.

Junior Daphne Karas also visited Tricia. Karas went with junior Hana Patrick, who had previously been. Karas sat and watched as Tricia spread cards out across the table. “I was kind of skeptical at first, and I was pretty nervous,” Karas said.

After listening, Karas was surprised by what she was told. “I think it was really weird because she told me really private stuff, and it kind of made me believe. It’s really crazy, weird, and creepy that she knew that stuff. I’m just creeped out thinking about it now,” Karas said.

As a psychic, Tricia is used to skeptics coming into her business. According to Tricia, she likes to tell people about their past to help her break down the wall of skepticism. “Anyone can tell you about the future, because you don’t know your future. But to make it believable, you need to know something about the person to give them confirmation,” Tricia said.

After reflecting on her experiences Alban vacillated between believing and skepticism. As Tricia closed up Alban’s reading, Tricia told Alban a few questionable things, causing her to become skeptical.

“Towards the end, I didn’t believe it because she told me three things I could never see happening,” Alban said.

Whether you take the side of a skeptic or a true believer, psychics provide you with an experience that you will never forget and one that will leave you pondering about your life, and what’s to come.

Pia Scotto is a Community Editor and Erin McCloskey is a Copy Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.