A Loner Mentalist Pt. 01

"Deal," Jack said and held out his hand. "Put 'em there!"

Steve, Rob and John put their hands over his and held them there. Jack's heart fluttered at the realization he finally had friends. He hid it well, not wanting to make them see him as a sissy.

"All for one and that one is Jack," Steve said. Rob and John echoed his line and then they ended their hand pile.

Jack laughed. "I guess we are just like the Four Musketeers."

"Eh, not just yet, my fair D'Artagnan," Rob said. "You're still a hothead fresh off the stagecoach from Gascony." He smiled. "But, don't worry! We'll make a Musketeer of you, yet. Trust us!"

The guys launched their campaign for him and he could often see them talk to people about him. For all their glad efforts, the campaign was very slow to take off. Indeed, it quickly started to look like it would never come to fruition. The huge amount of good he was doing in the real world, beyond the halls of the school, seemed to be simply too much for the petty souls to get over. Jack was always called Dog Boy and no one but his friends wanted to even give him the time of day.

Jack wasn't too bothered with the isolation. He had hoped for better, but he had gotten used to it in his old school. With the money he was getting for training guard dogs, he bought himself a smartphone, a computer, and updated his wardrobe. Pretty soon, he had enough cash to buy a used car and he drove it to school.

With his friends talking him up in front of everyone they could get alone and his new duds and car, Jack let himself dream of finally being able to go on a date with a girl. He wasn't hoping for much, just some one-on-one time. He wouldn't even insist on a goodnight kiss if the date went well. Hell, he'd settle for making a strictly platonic friend of a girl. Any girl.

Sadly, his reputation as a higher being was too big a deterrent for the girls. Being a rule breaker and bully was very attractive to the school's females, but training dogs and helping people was, apparently, a put off. Girls ducked out of his sight whenever they saw him coming their way, or they'd embed themselves tight into a group and pretend they hadn't seen him. Even when he found himself alone with a girl, she'd be too evasive for them to have a normal, get-to-know-you type of conversation, let alone for him to try and charm her. Worse still, those talks, as rare as they were, involved the girl telling him she had a boyfriend, right off the bat.

The entire female population seemed to scamper away from him and into the arms of the first boy they could find, just so they wouldn't risk getting hit on by Dog Boy. It was as if he had a bad odor about him and he just couldn't smell it himself. Every time he tried to hook up, some unsuspecting guy suddenly got a girlfriend.

Whenever a guy from school heard a girl had claimed she was dating him, he'd text her an ultimatum to go through with it, or he'd tell Jack they weren't really dating. As a result, the town was full of teenaged couples on dates, each and every night of the week. Jack now had money to go out almost every evening and he drove through the town a few times. The huge numbers of couples he'd see on his drives made him sick of it all and he started spending his free time on his computer.

The security firm paid him cash on delivery and he became financially independent of his mother, though she hadn't noticed it at first. She rarely talked with him, since the divorce, and spent a big portion of her time ignoring him and getting drunk, so she missed it when he had stopped begging her for cash. Then she didn't notice when he bought himself a computer, a smartphone and updated his wardrobe. She was so busy stewing over her failures and ignoring him that she even missed the car for the first week. She had figured it belonged to one of the neighbors who didn't have room in their garage to park it there.

Jack had to literally drive up in it from school and get out right in front of her for her to finally notice the changes. She immediately thought that he was dealing drugs and began berating him over it. He trudged up the stairs and went into his bedroom to go play a game online. He tried ignoring his mother, but she was nearly hysteric as she ranted about his criminal activities.

He rolled his eyes and told her about his job with the security firm. He had to repeat himself a few times and shove one of their business cards into her hand for her to finally hear him. She went quiet for a few moments and he took advantage of it to go online and start playing a first person shooter game his friends had been raving about for weeks.

She went downstairs and called the company. She demanded that she be in charge of his finances and that his payments be made through a bank account she'd open for him. The voice on the phone softly laughed and flat out refused her request. They bid her a good day and hung up the phone.

This did not sit well with Jack's mother.

She stomped into his room, doubtlessly feeling humiliated after being dismissed out of hand by the people at the security firm. "Jack, you are to give me control of that money," she said. "You are too young to have it at your disposal. It's not even legal for someone of your age to handle money. You have to pay taxes, Jack!"

"The firm is already paying my taxes," he said, not looking up from his computer screen. He was getting killed and called a noob, over and over again. His friends tried to cover for him, but there was only so much they could do.

"Jack, this is serious," she said. "You need to let me handle your money. You're too young for such a responsibility."

"Fuck you," he hissed into his microphone as Rob called him a noob, too.

His mother took that as an insult and was about to explode at him, but she knew that wouldn't do her any good. He had always been stubborn. She took a deep breath, calmed down and changed tactics. "Jack, sweetheart," she softly said, "I'm only thinking of you, here. These people might try to take advantage of your youth and pay you far less than you deserve. I'd like to see what-"

"I already know what military, police and civilian dog trainers are getting paid, Mom," he said. "I assure you, I'm getting top dollar."

She floundered for only a second before smiling and happily saying, "I'm so proud of you for taking responsibility, Jack. It's an amazing accomplishment. What you did. I'm genuinely impressed."

Jack spared her a sardonic look while he waited to be respawned for the umpteenth time. Her supposedly honest tone of voice actually came off as patronizing.

"But, don't you want to just have fun, Jack? Just be a carefree kid that doesn't need to worry about money all the time? You don't need to-"

"Lay off it, Mom," he said, angry that he missed his opponent and let them get away. "I'm not giving you control over my money."

He continued playing his game, chasing an opponent halfway across the map, only to run headlong into a trap and get killed. His mother's facial features hardened during those few moments and she said, "Very well, then. You leave me no choice. Get out of my house!"

He looked up at her and ignored the taunts coming from his headphones. "What?"

"If you think I'm going to slave over a cash register, day and night, while you do nothing but have fun and play with dogs, then you are sorely mistaken, young man! You get the hell out of my house!"

Jack raised an eyebrow at her and said, "Fine." She had long ago stopped inspiring awe and fear in him. After she had stabbed his father in the back, she no longer inspired any respect in him, either.

His calm response made her face turn red in anger. "Fine? Fine?! That's all you have to say to me?! Fine?! Well, then, fine! You pack your shit and get the fuck out! I'll call the police and they'll take you away to a group home, where you won't be able to train any more dogs! They won't even let you keep Spot. And you won't be getting any more money, mister smartypants! You're gonna get picked on by all the teenaged psychos they got locked up in there. They're gonna teach you a lesson and then we'll see whose life is in tatters, when you're tossed out on the street at eighteen and you have no skills, no job, no diploma to get a job with... then we'll see how long it takes you to start sucking men's dicks in cars!"

"Nope," Jack calmly said and turned his attention back to his game. The mention of sucking dicks by his mother was almost enough to make him flustered.

His mother's jaw dropped at how calmly he disregarded her rant and she struggled for words as her arms flailed impotently at her sides. She wanted to strangle him to death for his insolence, but the fact that he was way bigger than her and always had a dog around, gave her pause. Spot was lying next to his chair even then.

"Nope," she hissed in disbelief. "Is that all you have to say? Nope?"

"Uh-huh," he said, trying to get a shot with the sniper rifle. He wished she would just leave him alone, like she always did.

"You're just like your father. You'd rather see everything go to Hell in a hand basket than share. You'd rather be poor than share your wealth. You would rather shoot yourself in the foot than-"

"Oh, my fucking God, Mom! What the fuck are you on about?!"

"The fact that you would rather have your life ruined than share it with me!"

Jack sighed and logged out of his game. He looked up at his mother in annoyance. "Look, the reason we're not sharing our lives is because you don't want me around." He cut off her protests with a raised hand. "Don't even! We both know you only fought for custody to hurt Dad. You don't give a shit if I live or die, do you?"

"How dare you, young man? How dare you!"

"As for you ruining my life," Jack said and then shrugged with a smile. "Go ahead. Try. Give it your best shot. Or your worst. But, to be sporting, I will share a little tidbit of my life with you. I am a legally emancipated minor."

"What?"

"Yeah," he said. "The firm's lawyers petitioned the court on my behalf and I was granted legal emancipation." She gaped at him in shock. "How else could I earn money without you taking it from me? If you want to kick me out, fine. Kick me out. I'll just find a house of my own, with a big yard for the dogs, and get on with my life. No one will come to haul me off to a group home, or whatever."

Jack would have done all of that on his own, years ago, and moved to a new town with a new school, but he knew he would be greeted with the same kind of derision and disrespect there as he had been greeted in this school. Compared to the crap he had gone through in his last school, this one was actually an improvement. His friends said all high schools were the same, cesspools of bullying and inequity, and he agreed with them completely. Only college seemed like it might be a different kind of setting.

She looked at him with an expression that was a mixture of grief and betrayal. "Your move," he said. He added a sarcastically sweet, "Mommy."

She blinked away some tears. "This isn't fair," she said. Jack rolled his eyes at the thought of her launching into another lamentation of her life. "This situation where you live here and I pay rent and all the bills and you just earn money for fun. If you want to stay here, with me, then you have to pay half the rent and half the bills."

The way her voice suddenly became calm to the point of being emotionless made him take notice of her words all the more. He conceded her point and felt like a complete cad for hiding his money from her. He swallowed back a lump in his throat. "That sounds fair. Deal."

"And you'll be the one that pays everything for as long as you have been hiding this from me."

The thought of parting with that much money made his guilt recede. "No deal," he said.

"It's only fair," she said.

"Counteroffer," he said. "The firm's receptionist is knocked up. She'll go on maternity leave next month. Finding her replacement is up to her and she's been dragging her heels about it. I trained her dog for free, so she owes me one. Instead of paying full rent and bills, and as an apology for being less than completely forthcoming, I get you the job." His mother looked to be thinking it over. "It's about fifty percent more than you make at the supermarket and the hours are fixed."

"Dental?"

"I think so," he said. "Yeah."

"Deal," she said. She held out her hand and he stood up to shake it. From then on, his mother and he were more roommates than family. Her new job and smaller expenses improved her outlook on life and she became far more agreeable to be around, though she was still no doting mother.

By the time Jack turned eighteen and was close to finishing senior year of high school, he was on the verge of going insane. His contact with the opposite sex was ranging between minimal and nonexistent. He had yet to have more than one conversation with the same girl in the same month.

He had all but made peace with the fact that he was going to go to college a virgin, but was he out of line to ask for a kiss? Just one kiss? Even a practice one?

Here he was, a young man of nearly six feet in height, a cute face and wiry frame, that could, at times, read minds and even mildly influence them, and he still hadn't had his first kiss. His friends had tirelessly worked on fixing his social status, but they had very little luck with it.

Since he had absolutely no luck getting anywhere with real girls, he let his imagination run wild. In his daydreams, he was adored by a harem of hot girls and his biggest worry was in which order he was going to pleasure them. In most of his fantasies, the girls were willing and eager, but in some, he found himself dreaming that he had made them such with the use of his power.

As surprised as he was with those fantasies, he was floored to find that they excited him the most. His dick would be hard for half an hour after he indulged in those. That arousal, in turn, made him feel ashamed. He knew for a fact that he would never do as dishonorable a thing as actually subjugating a girl's mind and making her his sex slave. Even with his constant isolation from girls, he wasn't tempted in the least.

The one thing he found was that the more he let himself indulge in such fantasies, the less the burden of his social isolation weighed on him. He decided that the fantasies were ok, so long as he kept them to himself. He stopped feeling so ashamed of them. He even caught himself idly thinking on the how of them, every now and then. As a purely theoretical exercise.

He had long ago determined that his power worked best when he could mimic the emotions and thoughts of the subject. For years, he had meditated to suppress his own emotions. He would calm his mind and instill it with just the emotion he guessed his subject was feeling. During the time he spent training the guard and attack dogs, he slowly came to suspect that the stronger the emotions involved were felt, the stronger the mental link became. He decided to try the opposite approach to things.

He had more anger, loneliness and frustration inside himself than he could handle. He joined the school's theatre company and worked hard with the drama teacher to be able to tap into those emotions and convert them into whichever emotion he needed to mimic. The acting techniques and his meditation exercises worked hand in hand to make him both a decent actor and a better mentalist.

Having honed the ability to fuel his power with every bit of emotion he could muster, his dog training became a cinch. He would completely take over the dogs' minds and simply put knowledge into them, making his training gig a chore, instead of a job. He even began to idly wonder if he might really be able to one day use his power to get himself laid. Every time he asked himself that, an image of Jack White's gravestone would pop up in his mind's eye, nipping that line of thought in the bud.

One day, in early spring, he was walking through the school's corridors, thinking of a particularly tough AP exam he had coming up. He was so preoccupied with his considerations that he didn't notice the posters on the walls until he nearly bumped into the janitor who was taking them off. When he looked at the posters, he gasped in shock.

The only three people he could call friend, Rob, Steve and John, were on the posters, naked and duct taped to the school's flagpole. There were different photos on the posters and Jack could see the pictures were the product of several cameras and taken during a lengthy period of time. It was an incredible humiliation and Jack was seething with rage when he saw it. He dialed their numbers, but they all went straight to voicemail.

He ran around the school and tried to find his friends, only to see everyone move away from him when they saw him coming. As he walked down the hall, he heard some kids talking around a corner. He crept closer and listened. They mocked his friends as they looked at the photos and amused themselves with guessing who could possibly be crazy enough to do it. Jack grit his teeth and listened, resisting the urge to tell them off. None of their theories sounded plausible, but he kept count of them, anyway. When a new kid joined the group conversation, she giggled and told of how John had run away from school when he saw the photos.

They laughed and Jack rounded the corner to stride past them on his way to the parking lot. They all shut up and stiffened, except for one girl that quickly walked off in the opposite direction.

Jack left school and drove to John's house. John's sister answered the door and said John was at school. Jack thanked her and left without telling her that wasn't true. He found no one at Steve's place, or at Rob's. He drove to the employees' parking lot behind the bowling alley. It was a quiet and mostly unused place where the boys liked to meet up. Sometimes, they would simply hang out there for the entire night out, using a nearby bench as a couch. Jack found them on the bench, sitting dejectedly.

"Guys," Jack said, concerned, "what the hell happened? Who did that?" His friends just hung their heads and kept quiet. "Tell me and I'll make them pay!"

"Yeah," Rob asked. "What are you gonna do? Sic Cujo on them? Forget it!"

"Well, if not me, then the vice principal will," Jack said, only to be cut off by Rob.

"The vice principal, much like the principal and the PTA," Rob said, "feels that psychological and physical abuse is good for the soul. Toughens a young man up. Besides, it's all online now, and it'll never go away."

Steve looked up and gave a bitter smile, despite his black eye and swollen lip. He gestured at his face and said, "My dad already made his feelings on the subject known." Jack stared at him in horror. "He says if I let people bully me, then that's what I deserve."

"What the fuck," Jack whispered in astonishment. "How would your dad fare if he went up against our school's football team? I bet they'd be able to beat him into a pulp!" Steve shrugged and looked down again. "Guys, we have to do something about this! We can't just let this slide!"

"I'm going home," Rob said and got up.

"Rob, wait," Jack said, but Rob just turned around and got on his bike. John and Steve followed his example and the three of them morosely pedaled away from Jack, each going off in his own direction.

"Fuck," Jack swore. He went home, too, and went online. Everyone in the school was buzzing about the flagpole boys and sharing the photos so it took him a lot of time and effort to figure out who had posted the stuff originally. It was three older guys that had graduated in the past few years. Jack quickly noted the one online friend they all had in common that still attended his school; Mia Newman.

Mia Newman looked like Megan Fox with bigger tits, a cuter smile and no tattoos. She was also the head cheerleader and would routinely mesmerize the entire student body with her own body at every pep rally. Guys wanted to be with her, girls wanted to be her. As hot as she was, her social standing in the school was only partly due to her looks. She also knew how to use them. She routinely dated only older guys that drove her everywhere. Each day, a different one would squire her around like she was the queen of the universe and discussing her beaus and what-all she got up to with them was a favorite pastime for the female students.