Braining Ch. 01

"That, Blair, that. What the hell is that?"

Blair stared at him through her tears, her face a mixture of hurt and anger. "What, you think you're the only one? You think no one else can +remote?"

"What? You... I... what the... I... are you shitting me?" Blair shook her head, but didn't speak. "What did you call it?"

She didn't answer. He grasped her shoulders, gently this time. "Blair, talk to me. Did you say 'remoting?'"

She sniffled, and nodded. "That's my name for it. Technically it's called..." and her voice faltered.

"...telekinesis," he finished her sentence. Tears leaked from her eyes, silently.

"So you have it too?" he asked.

She nodded, sniffled again, scowled at him, and whimpered, "Hello, Captain Obvious. Are you telling me you didn't know?"

"Didn't know? Of course I didn't know, how the hell would I know?"

"Well, I've known YOU had it since about, oh, the 2nd grade." Brian was thunderstruck. She continued, "Maybe earlier. Was it you that pulled down Doug Johnson's pants in kindergarten?" Brian nodded. "I KNEW it," she continued, "I mean, I was pretty sure I knew it.

"In the 2nd grade, at lunch one day, I don't know if you remember, David Skinner was bugging Bonnie, Bonnie, um, I don't remember her last name, you know, she moved away just before junior high. Anyway, David was bothering her, it was really awkward..."

Brian picked up the story, "And I turned over his thermos. I dumped a whole thing of milk in his lap. I had forgotten that story." He chuckled briefly.

Blair continued, "I saw you grimace as you did it. That would have been a huge object for me to +remote at that age, I guess it was for you too. I saw the effort on your face, and I knew then that you had the same ability I had. Until then, I thought that I was the only one..."

Brian pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her, and after a brief moment, she wrapped her arms around him. He said, "We've done so much together, so many years. You never once said anything."

"Well, it's not an easy subject."

"No shit. You freaked me out back there on the ride."

"I did it without thinking, we were out in the sun, and my goodies were uncovered."

Brian started to laugh... Blair slugged him, lightly, on the chest, sniffling, "it's not funny, Brian."

"Your GOODIES?"

Realizing what she had said, Blair began to laugh too. Once they started, all the tension of the last few minutes melted away, and they couldn't stop.

Blair got a paper towel and wiped her face, then began to cry again.

"What now?" Brian asked.

"Brian, I've liked you since the second grade, what you did for Bonnie was so nice, so kind. All I've ever wanted since then is to be your girlfriend, and now I've blown it."

Brian stared at her, not knowing what to say. He spoke anyway, "You're just full of surprises today, aren't you?"

Just then, there was a knocking on the door. "What, we're talking here," Brian yelled.

Phil answered, "Um, you guys OK?"

"Probably, we just need to talk through a few things..."

"OK, fine with us, but there's been a couple of moms with little kids out here waiting to get in, and I think one of them is calling park security. Maybe there's a better place to talk?"

"We'll be out in a minute."

Brian turned back to Blair, "Look, I probably over-reacted. I'm sorry." He paused. "This is a lot to deal with. Maybe I could have handled it better. I mean, I should have handled it better.

"Let's get out of here before security comes. Then, can we back up a bit and talk? Sort of reset? We, um, we've got a lot to go over..."

Phil and Jenn were glad to go off on their own for awhile. The two couples agreed to touch base via cell phone in an hour or two.

Being mid-afternoon, several corners in the food court dining area were wide open, but didn't feel private enough. Brian bought a couple of cold bottles of water, anticipating that this discussion might take awhile. They got their hands stamped at the gate for re-admission, and were walking towards the car, when Brian noticed a picnic table over in some dense shade. Leaves around the table were swaying, so it looked like there was a breeze.

Blair began, "Where do we start?"

Brian said, "I think at some point we should take it from the beginning, and go through it all in an orderly way. But right now, I'm not sure where the beginning is. So, this may not be the best way, but for starters, I have some questions..."

"Okay..."

He began, "So, you've had +remoting all your life?"

"Yeah, you too?"

"As long as I can remember. Only I call it +braining."

"Ah, as in moving things with your brain?"

"Exactly. +Remoting, as in remote control?"

"Yeah."

"When did you realize that it was unusual?"

"At first, I assumed that everyone could +remote, they just didn't mention it. I mean, they didn't mention breathing much, either, and everybody does that. But eventually I noticed that I never saw anyone else do it, and no one else EVER talked about it. So, I guess around the time we were in the kindergarten, it seemed to me that, most likely, no one else could do it. Until I saw you drop Doug's pants, I pretty much felt alone."

Brian asked, "Does anybody else know?"

"No one. I've never told anybody. You?"

"No, not a soul. Well, I guess you figured it out, although I didn't know that until today. So maybe somebody else has, too, but I don't know of anyone."

"You've never told Jon, Phil, anyone?"

"No. You've never told Jenn, any of the others?"

"Nope."

"You said you've wanted to be my girlfriend since the second grade?"

Blair blushed, and whispered, "Yes."

"Pardon my bluntness, but why am I only finding out about that now, when we just graduated from high school?"

"Wellll, umm..."

"What is it?" he asked as gently as possible...

"This is hard to say..."

"After the last few minutes, the commando thing, +remoting, after all that, what could be so difficult?"

"I'm, um, I'm worried... about answering that."

"Look, I promise not to blow up again."

"It's not that. It's just, there's more."

"More? OK, more... OK, let's see... um, can you make it simple?"

"I'll try. Brian, look, I've liked you for almost ever. Damn, this is hard..."

"What can I do to make it easier?"

"Just listen." She paused.

"See, the thing is, I didn't think we could really connect until you got the other side of it."

"What do you mean, the other side?"

"The other side of +remoting, you know, +pushing."

"Pushing? I don't get it..."

"Oh, but you do. I don't know what happened, but you've made some sort of breakthrough recently, and whatever it was, lately I've seen you +pushing. You know, +pushing an idea into someone else's thoughts. It must be rarer than telekinesis, I've never found anything to read about it. I've looked in books, magazines, scientific journals, as far as I can tell, there's nothing."

Once again, Brian had thought that the day couldn't have any more thunderous surprises, and he was wrong. He was stunned. "I call it +mentalling. I've only had it for a few weeks. Um, look, Blair, um, I need to tell you about something I feel kind of guilty about..."

"What?"

"Ever since Jenn told Phil that she wasn't going to wear a bra today, I've been +mentalling you to do the same thing."

"Really? Cool. Look, don't feel bad. I've been +pushing for years, and one thing I've noticed, it's like what they say about hypnosis, you can't get someone to do something they wouldn't otherwise be willing to do. So, seriously, don't worry about it, obviously I was up for it. I have to say, though, I'd been wondering where the thought came from."

"I didn't think you had received it -- when I picked you up, you had a bra on."

"Mom was home, she would have flipped if I'd left the house braless.

"So," she continued, returning to the bigger question, "I've never been able to maintain a relationship for very long with someone who can't +remote. I've tried several times, but it makes me crazy, worrying all the time about keeping that deep of a secret. And I hate having to hide something that is such a major part of me.

"So, taking that and extending it, even though you can +remote, I didn't think you and I would work out, long-term, if I could +push, and you couldn't.

"And I didn't want to give it a try, and have us fail, when possibly if you ever learned to +push, we could get together then, and succeed. So I've been taking my time, hoping that you'd get it. Then, the other day, I saw you +push the band, and you +pushed Jenn to get you a drink."

"I was brand new at it. I wasn't even intentionally trying to influence the band, I just thought it, and they got it. The drink thing, that was intentional, I wanted to see what I could do, and what I couldn't."

"Then you +pushed me to come out back with you. Jeez, it had been such a long time since spin the bottle, I had forgotten how much I like kissing you. Then when you +pushed Terese's knees together- "

"You saw that?" he interrupted.

"Yeah, and it reminded me of when you dumped milk on David Skinner, it was such a sweet thing to do. Then, when you began +pushing my knees apart, I was a goner."

"Really? A goner? Because it's been kinda hard to tell."

"Well, it's not a simple situation we have here. We have a lot to cover, a LOT," her eyes welling with tears again.

"And I wasn't confident that we could get through it," stifling a sob, "get through it without, without, well, what sorta happened. I've never talked to anyone about any of this, ever, so I don't have ANY experience with how to bring it up, what makes sense, what doesn't. I didn't mean for you to find out about it this way, but I screwed up! Brian, I'm sorry, I just, I just wanted to cover myself up."

"Blair, look, I'M sorry, really, it was a lot to process..."

She kissed him, tentatively at first, then when she felt him return it, long, deep, and passionate. She felt a hand on her back, and one on her thigh, and then she also felt her tank top raising up. She broke off the kiss and giggled.

"No, wait, not yet... not yet. There's more."

"Jeez, are you kidding me? More? I don't know how much more I can take."

"Let's get it ALL out in the open."

"You're right. You're right. OK, deep breath, I'm bracing myself. I'm ready, I think. Maybe. What else?"

"Um, I have a confession, too."

He waited, with no idea what to expect.

"I've been +pushing you to like me."

"Really? Cool. For how long?"

"Um, since about the eighth grade."

"You didn't have to do that -- I've always liked you, even before that."

"No, not to like me, to LIKE me."

"I'm telling you, I DO like you. I mean LIKE you."

"Now I'm worried that it's just because I've been +pushing you."

Neither one spoke for a moment.

Brian broke the silence. "You said yourself that you can't get someone to do something against their nature."

"True, I did."

"Well, to quote you, obviously I was up for it. I can't think of any way to prove it, I can just show you, with action, over time."

She nodded.

"Um, anything else?"

"That's not enough?" They both laughed.

"Blair, look, I think we're doing a good job of resetting, and talking things through. But, could we back up a little more?"

"Where to?"

"How about right before the car came out of the tunnel?"

Blair giggled and punched him lightly in the chest. "You're SUCH a guy..."

(to be continued)