In fact, although we hadn’t ended up at the same university, May and I had landed in the same city for our college careers. She was in a prestigious private school on the east side, and I was firmly ensconced in the state school across town. I had agreed to drive her home for the holidays, and was looking forward to the time alone with her.
Pulling up into her parking lot, she was already standing there, surrounded by an assortment of luggage and dirty laundry.
She also had her fingers pressed into her forehead.
I was saddened by the sight, for I recognized the maneuver, having used it myself many times over the last several months. A sudden clarity had come to me in that instant, for up to then I had thought my affliction isolated to myself. Now, I felt sure that the symptoms May seemed to be exhibiting were the same as mine.
I could only guess at one source for our pain.
Loading her stuff into my car, we headed for the highway for our long trip home. She seemed very happy to see me, and was very chatty when she wasn’t holding her head in pain.
“Headache?” I asked after one of her quiet spells.
“Yeah, I seem to be getting them a lot lately, probably just the stress of school.”
I let the statement hang in the air for awhile as I turned onto the entrance ramp and accelerated up to speed on the interstate. Knowing the topic wasn’t one she would willingly talk about without good cause, I tried to come up with a good angle to broach the subject with her. Not able to think of a snappy opening, I decided to just spit it out.
“I’m having headaches too May, and I think I know why.”
Looking at me with hopeful eyes, her mood quickly changed as she seemed to read my mind, her eyes again looking forward.
“Not this again Gabe! I told you before, this subject is off limits.”
It took me a moment to process what had just happened.
“May...did you just read my mind?”
A look of embarrassment crossed her face suddenly.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said as she pulled a sociology book out of her backpack and turned to a bookmarked page, pretending to be engrossed in her reading.
“You did! You just read my mind!”
Slapping the book closed with annoyance, she stared at it in on her lap for a moment before saying anything.
“Ok, I may have gotten a little whisper of what you were thinking…it’s no big deal.”
I was flabbergasted!
“How long have you had that ability?” I asked, thinking I may know the answer already.
“Mostly just since I started college, although it has happened a few times…before.”
“Since that night you mean,” I said with renewed confidence.
May was quiet, looking out the side window, seeming to decide what to tell me.
“Yeah,” she said quietly, looking back at me now. “I think it’s related.”
A pained look crossed her face at that moment, as she again pushed her fingers into her forehead, seemingly trying to push them into her brain.
I gave that some thought. Not only had she gotten the brain thing, she had also gotten at least an inkling of the ability to read minds. I rationalized this out by the fact that she was more intelligent than me to begin with, so there was probably more to work with…for the aliens.
“You wanna hear my thoughts on the subject,” I asked, glancing over at her. She seemed adverse at first, but finally relented by nodding her head.
“Probably couldn’t stop you anyway.”
“I think we all know something happened that night. We’ve all developed a higher brain function, that’s quite apparent from how we finished high school. Up until today, I hadn’t realized that some of us got…more.”
“June did too.”
“June did what too?” I asked, confused.
“June got something else too…sometimes she can see…the future.”
“No shit?”
“Yeah, she came down to visit a few weeks ago, let it slip when she was drunk…she was very drunk. I think she does that a lot now days.”
So, more than one of us got some additional powers, and it was affecting at least one of their personal lives in a negative way.
“Anyway, as I was saying, we got these expansive abilities, making our brains more…powerful. Did you ever think that, maybe, our brains aren’t really able to handle all of this…power? These headaches can’t be good…and June’s drinking. I wonder how the others are faring.”
May was shaking her head. “I haven’t heard from any of the others, but they will probably all be home this week.”
Maybe we should all get together, have a meeting of the minds so to speak. I certainly would be interested in how they were faring, and if anyone had any ideas as to our…condition.
“You got any free time after the holiday?” I asked May.
“I’m supposed to meet up with June and Sandy on Friday night.”
Handy!
“Think maybe all six of us could get together then, or Saturday. I think it would be a good idea for us to discuss this.”
May shrugged her shoulders, “I don’t think anyone would mind, but I don’t know what Jason and Bill have planned.”
“I’ll get a hold of them; I think I can get them there…where is there?”
“We were going to meet at my house; that’s still good for me if everyone can swing it,” May replied.
We spent the rest of the drive being relatively quiet, talking only of classes and family matters, but you could tell the upcoming meeting was weighing heavily on both of us. I was confused by everything I now knew, and more than a little scared. If this…condition was this hard on us after only two years, what did our future hold…and what could we do about it?
As I dropped off my friend at her house, I spontaneously wrapped my arms around her, giving her a prolonged hug. She hugged me back in return. Pulling apart finally, she picked up her luggage and entered her house without another word.
The weekend wasn’t going to be the weekend I had planned when I left school that morning.
Not the same weekend at all.
***
That Thanksgiving was a blur; I couldn’t think of anything but our meeting the next night. I had called both Bill and Jason when I had arrived home, and they both seemed eager to get together on Friday. Of course, I left out the real reason for the “party”.
Driving back to May’s on Friday, I was working out how the conversation should go in my head.
“Hey guys, how’s it going? Had any good headaches lately?”
“Know what I’m going to do tomorrow? No, seriously…do you?”
Small smile, but I knew I would probably approach the subject very carefully. I had no idea what these guys had been through, nor how it was affecting them. I was not really looking forward to this meeting, and yet…I was.
May opened the door before I even knocked, reaching out and pulling me in by the lapel of my coat, kissing me soundly on the lips.
What the hell?
Pushing me away and looking me in the eyes, the bangs of her soft brown hair swayed as she shook her head, “I’m sorry, but I always wondered…”
She said it with a determined look, maybe a little softness around the eyes. “If I’m dying or something…well, I just thought I’d like to know…sorry.”
As I reached out to her, to tell her that I wasn’t sorry, that it was all I thought of some nights…there was a knock at the door. Glancing at the door, then back at me… she let go of my coat, hesitated, then proceeded to answer the door.
The moment was gone.
No! Another door had been opened, and I wasn’t willing to let it close again, at least…I wasn’t going to let it close if I could help it.
Outside May’s door stood Bill, June, and Jason.
“Hey girl,” June said loudly, sloppily wrapping her arms around May’s shoulders…she’d already started drinking. Bill and Jason came on in around June, off
ering their hands in greeting, truly happy to see me it seemed, as I was to see them.
We headed into the family room and May got us all refreshments as we found seats, jabbering away like the old friends we were.
Sandy showed up five minutes later, and there was a repeat of the hugging as she went from May’s conservative one to June’s sloppy and boisterous one. Sandy’s red curly hair was pulled back into a ponytail, a good look for her. Her smile was less brilliant than I remembered, but genuine nonetheless.
Waving at the guys, she asked for a diet soda when May offered, and took a seat between Bill and Jason on the couch.
It was good to be around these guys again, although I had already observed the telltale signs of headaches from June and Bill.
Bill piped up then, “Hey guys. Ask Jason what he’s been up to lately!”
We all turned toward Jason as he looked down, embarrassed. “I’m not doing anything that exciting,” he said to the floor.
“The hell he isn’t,” Bill exclaimed, “he’s already working on an important medical cure, got a research grant and everything!”
There was a chorus of congratulations from around the room as Jason’s face darkened a couple of shades of red.
“What kind of cure,” Sandy asked, “I mean… a cure for what?”
“Lymphoma, large-cell lymphoma, but really it’s nothing, I’m only working with rats.”
“Where did you come up with an idea about that,” I asked, amazed.
“It just came to me while studying my cellular biology one day, just popped into my head!”
This was going to be more involved than I had thought. Not only was everyone doing great in school, but now Jason was working on a cure for cancer. On top of that, I was beginning to get a little miffed that I seemed to be the only one that hadn’t developed an extra special set of skills.
“Common sense,” May say in a low tone beside me.
I looked over at her, confused by what she had said but struck by how beautiful she looked tonight.
“What?”
“You have more common sense than any of us; maybe that is your super power.”
Reading my mind again…seems that it may happen a little more often than she had let on.
I smiled shyly at her, and then went back to listening to the others. One thing about my friends, you might hear some competitive banter once in awhile, but none of us competed against one another for superiority over the others. Everybody here was interested in what was going on with each other, and were truly happy for you when things were going right.
That’s one thing that was making what I felt I had to do hard; everybody was just hitting their stride. But it didn’t feel real…and I was guessing that it was probably killing us.
***
When the conversation finally hit a lag, I decided to jump in. Since I hadn’t yet come up with a plan to broach the subject into the conversation gently, I went with the old standby…I blurted it out.
“Is everyone having headaches?”
If there had been crickets, there would have been chirping.
May finally broke the silence, admitting that she was having painful headaches daily. Sandy, June, then Bill also followed suit, admitting that they were experiencing them daily. June also said that she knew this was going to come up.
Jason was the only one that remained silent. Letting that knowledge stew for a few moments, I observed relief on a couple of the faces surrounding the room. Well, at least there was that; I had been worried about the reactions.
“What about…any extra stuff?” Did you know May can now read minds?”
It came out before I thought about it, but a quick look over at May reassured me that she was ok with my statement. The room remained silent for a few more moments, before June revealed her ability to see the future, seeming relieved to reveal it to everyone.
Sandy also admitted to having an ability, saying she could plant ideas in other’s heads, at least to a point. Bill then revealed he had developed the power of Telekinesis; he was able to move small objects with his mind.
“Jason, any extra abilities come your way?” I asked hesitantly.
He remained still for awhile, looking down at his drink before glancing up, looking annoyed as he sighed.
“Nope,” he said with a fake smile, “apparently I only received an extraordinary understanding of biology as my gift.”
I was taken aback by his response, having never really given a thought to the possibility that anyone would consider this a gift. Well, of course it’s cool to be smarter than everybody else, but was it worth it?
The room was quiet for a long minute as everyone digested what they had heard. Most of us, it would seem, were at least happy to know that they weren’t alone in this, but I was still worried.
“Ok, I have a theory…anyone want to hear it?”
Everybody around the room looked up, nodding. June was actually smiling at me after I said it. Jason was still the holdout, staring at his glass intently, not indicating a willingness to move, much less listen to me.
“I think that, that night…two years ago…at June’s, we were abducted, by aliens. I think they did something to us, increasing our minds’ abilities beyond the norm, way beyond. I think everyone here probably has that figured out by now, but my question is…is it healthy?”
“In my opinion, these headaches are a warning,” I plowed on quickly. “I don’t think our human brains have the capacity to operate at this level indefinitely. I’m afraid that if we don’t do something, they will…implode.”
This was a night for silent thinking as the room fell once again into a hush, a worried look passing over more than one face in the circle.
“Say you’re right,” Sandy piped in, “what can we do about it?”
Several heads around the room nodded, all of them thinking the same question.
Damn, I was hoping that they would have a good idea. I guess common sense was going to have to get us out of this, my super common sense.
“Well, I did have a thought, but it will take a little time.”
“Whatever it is, I’m all for it,” June said with excitement, leaning forward in her seat with interest.
“Ok, back at school, our psychology department has a guy that does regressive hypnosis. I was thinking I would approach him with my problem, see what he suggests. If I can figure out what happened to us that night, maybe it would give us an idea of which way to turn. After all, we have some of the best minds in the world gathered here in this room.”
Everybody around the room started talking at once, seeming relieved to be doing something, recognizing the possible danger of our situation.
Everyone it seemed, but Jason.
Standing up suddenly, he threw his cup of soda across the room, ice and cola splattering against the wall.
“I can’t believe you guys!” he huffed. “We have been given a great gift, and you are ready to just throw it away?”
Walking over by the door, he angrily grabbed his coat off the wall. “I’ve got a chance to do something good, something good for humanity. I’m not going to give that up, not for you guys…not for anybody!”
Looking over at Bill, he yelled, “You coming?”
You could tell Bill was conflicted, looking quickly around the room before shrugging his shoulders and rising out of his chair to follow Jason out.
Slamming open the door, Jason stalked out, saying “I hope you guys will be very happy with your mediocrity.”
Grabbing his own coat, Bill looked around the room quickly, mouthing “sorry” before following Jason out the door. I got up and closed the door after him, then helped May clean up the ice and soda on the wall and floor.
“Don’t worry about him,” Sandy said, trying to be reassuring, “He’ll come around. The rest of us are behind you 100%!”
Everybody left in the room, the three girls and myself, seemed to be of one mind, and I was pretty sure Bill was also in the fold. I did ha
ve my doubts however, that Jason would eventually come around. He was working on something very important for the world, and I could see where he wouldn’t necessarily want to stop willingly…to let his project go.
The party had lost its luster on us however, and we soon left to go to our respective homes. I made arrangements to pick up May Sunday afternoon to drive back to school.
That earlier shared moment with May was gone for the moment. I reassured myself that it was not forgotten however, and that that door would not close…at least not yet.
I had been waiting for it to open for too long to let it pass without further investigation, but we had the rest of our lives to figure it out.
Didn’t we?
***
I picked May up that Sunday, and we had a nice time on the ride back. Not a great time, the pressure of our issues hanging over our head making thinking of the future unrealistic at that moment. Nevertheless, we had a comfortable drive back to school, and I had a lonely feeling in my stomach when we parted at her parking lot.
The next day between classes, I sought out Dr. Eisler in the psychology department, finding him deep in thought at his desk. The desk was covered with papers in unbalanced looking piles.
Startled when he finally noticed my presence, he sat up quickly, muttering, “Help you?”
I explained that I was interested in doing a regression therapy session with him, and that I was just here to sign up.
“All of the spots are filled for this semester; you’ll have to come back after Christmas break…I have no time right now. You can make an appointment at the departmental secretary’s office down the hall.”
With that, he looked back down at his desk and started sifting through the nearest stack of papers, ignoring me very effectively.
I stood there, not knowing which way to turn. Leaving this for another month had not entered my thoughts when I had come up with this plan. Although there may be no problem with putting it off, I had an inkling that it may matter. It may matter very much.
“Dr. Eisler, if I may,” I said, determined not to let this drop so easily. “I have a story to tell you that may change your mind.”
The psychoanalyst looked up with a doubtful look, dismayed that I was still there. Seeing the determined look on my face however, seemed to soften his outlook. Sitting there and looking at me intently, he finally relented by saying, “I have five minutes.”
Nodding, I turned and closed the door to the office, taking a seat on the only chair not stacked with papers.