Part 6

When I was 13, I got hung up on Star Wars. Not the movie, per se, but some of the stuff that happened in it. Stuff like old Obi-Wan's mind tricks on the Imperial troopers, and those too-cool light sabers.

I got so stuck on that stuff, in fact, that I'd ultimately wound up learning how that mind-control gig worked, through a lengthy process that involved self-hypnosis, meditation, biofeedback, electronics, and a lot of other stuff. And by 'learning how', I mean that I'd actually been able to influence people to do things the way I wanted. The results of that had been that I'd been the one to deflower not only my younger sister's best friend Diane, but even my sister Holly. I suppose I could have gone on some kind of mind-control rampage or something, but I really didn't want to draw attention to myself. The only exception I'd made - and then only under extreme provocation - was when a guy that my sister had gone out with had all but raped her; she escaped only by giving him a shot in the balls that distracted him long enough for her to escape. HIS payback had come when I took over his mind, and implanted the memories of a couple of other girls he'd done even worse to.

Along the way, I'd also tried to figure out those light sabers - which got me into electronics and physics. It was the electronics and physics that really 'clicked' for me, and by the time I got out of high school, I was doing well enough in physics that I'd gotten a scholarship to state college.

It was the start of my sophomore year, and I was standing in line for class registration - bored out of my mind, of course - when I realized that there was an incredibly beautiful head of hair directly in front of me. Black as the darkest night, it was straight, gleaming, and luxurious. Once I pulled my eyes out of its silky depths, I saw that the girl it belonged to was several inches shorter than me - the top of her head was about chin-level on me - slender, and gently curved.

As I was looking her over - she was certainly an improvement over the pimply freshman behind me - I watched as one of her class registration cards fell from her hand.

Ever the gentleman (okay, I wanted a chance to talk to her), I picked it up and tapped her on the shoulder, saying "I think you dropped this..."

When she turned to look at me, I was surprised and delighted to discover that she was the most beautiful Asian girl I'd ever seen. Her skin was smooth and flawless, her lips full but not overly so, a cute button of a nose, and dark eyes that I wanted to fall into.

Her smile, though hesitant, lit up her whole face when she saw that the card I held in my hand was indeed hers. Her voice was musical, with a trace of an accent that I couldn't place, when she told me "Thank you. I didn't realize". She looked at the card a little closer to see what class it was for - Chemistry 201, the same one I was after - then said "Yes, I would have missed this very much", then offered me another tentative smile.

I smiled back, and answered "No problem. It's what I'd want somebody else to do, if it happened to me."

With that, she seemed to lose her nerve, and turned around again.

I still had a girlfriend at home, and I loved her very much - but my girlfriend had also told me that she knew I'd meet other girls at school, and was okay with it as long as it didn't get out of hand. I decided that the girl in line in front of me was one that I wanted to meet.

Using the ability I'd learned, I 'scanned' her, to learn who she was. I was surprised to find that I had trouble understanding her thoughts. I gently prodded her, and got the answer: she was Susan Nguyen, a Vietnamese refugee. She'd been a child when her parents had fled after the fall of that country, and the whole family had first settled in California; then after her parents got settled in, they'd moved to our state that same year. She was a sophomore, like me, but she was majoring in engineering. I also learned that her father was very strict, and would object if she let herself get distracted from her studies - particularly if that distraction was a guy.

I scanned her a little more carefully, and found which particular chemistry class it was she was planning to take. I checked my own schedule, and decided that it would fit reasonably well into my plans, too, and made the necessary changes.

Neither of us had any trouble getting the classes we wanted, and both of us were soon done with registration.

It was another week and a half before we had our shared Chemistry class. I made sure to get there a little early, and found myself a seat generally in the middle - but where I could see people as they came in.

Several minutes later, I saw as Susan came in. I feigned not noticing her, but made sure that she vaguely recognized me when she saw me: knowing how concerned she was about what her father might think, I figured my best bet was to establish myself as a friendly, but benign, entity in her life. She sat several seats, and a few rows, away from me.

The next class, I got there early again and did the same thing - only that time, I let her see me seeing her, and gave her a little smile and wave. It was low-key and unthreatening (to her mind), and she hesitantly smiled and waved back. I gently planted the thought in her mind I was someone she 'knew', and had her sit just a few seats away from me. After the class, I arranged it so that we would casually meet, and said "If we'd known both of us were going to take the same class, one of us could have save the other some time standing in line!", with a smile.

She laughed, and said "Yes, we could. Standing in all those lines was really boring."

I carefully probed her mind, and found that she was both relieved to have a friendly face in one of her classes, and a trifle nervous that I was going to try to start some kind of relationship with her. Not wanting to frighten her, I just laughed with her, and said that I'd see her next time before heading off to do some studying. As I walked away, I scanned her again, and found that she was glad that I hadn't tried to make more of the situation than she was comfortable with, and vaguely disappointed by it, too.

The next time we saw each other, she didn't hesitate to take a seat next to me. Both of us paid close attention to the instructor, but still had to exchange a few comments and questions along the way. Toward the end of the class, we were told that we would be broken up into groups for the lab portions of the class. One of the teaching assistants came in with a list, and I quickly probed him to find out if Susan and I were to be in the same lab. We weren't, but that was easily taken care of. At the end of class we all filed by the podium and were handed our lab assignments. Susan stayed with me, and I pretended surprise - but didn't have to fake the pleasure - when we 'discovered' that we both had the same assignment.

We chatted a little about the class, then went our separate ways - a scan of Susan revealing that I was well on my way toward being completely accepted as a harmless presence.

When we reported for our first lab period, Susan and I stood next to each other as we waited to find out who we would be partnered with. Again, I reached into the mind of the TA (Teaching Assistant) to ensure that Susan and I were paired up. When it happened, she looked at me doubtfully, and asked "Did you say something to him so he would partner me with you?"

"Never met him before in my life. If you look around, you'll see that the lab partners are people that were standing next to each other - just like we were."

She did look around, and saw that I was right. She couldn't know, of course, that that was just what I'd 'guided' the TA to do.

Satisfied that it was just the Universe working in Strange Ways - and not me being tricky - Susan relaxed, and we started doing the experiments in our workbooks.

For once, Fate smiled down on me: it turned out that Susan was as meticulous and careful in chemistry labs as I was, so we got the proper results with little difficulty. It also happened that our respective weaknesses in chemistry were balanced out by the other's strengths - what I wasn't sure about, she was, and vice-versa. We finished the experimental portion of the class quickly enough, and were among the first few teams to leave. Outside, I asked her if she wanted to go to a local diner and have some supper while we did the analysis of the lab. She hesitated, and after I quickly scanned her to find out why, told her "We work pretty good together in the lab, so I figure we can help each other with the analysis. I'm a little hungry and thirsty, and the diner doesn't mind people studying there as long as they buy something every now and then. I'll pay, or we can have separate checks; it's up to you."

She still wasn't completely sure, so I gently reached into her mind and brought up the justifications she needed; a few moments later she agreed.

Inside the diner, we were soon shown a booth, and after looking over the menu, I ordered a grilled cheese sandwich and iced tea; Susan decided that tea was enough for her.

As we waited for the food, we took the opportunity to tell each other about ourselves, and compare notes on the few instructors we had in common.

When my sandwich came, I saw that Susan was curious about it, so I offered her some of it. It took a little convincing, but she finally agreed to take half of one of the halves it had been cut into. By the time she finished it, I could see that she liked it. After she'd taken a sip of her tea to finish washing it down, she admitted that she'd never had it before, but decided it was pretty good. By the time I finished the rest of my sandwich, we were ready to start going over our notes for chemistry. We sat there in the diner for another hour, cross-checking each other on the class, and generally getting to know each other. By the time we were ready to leave, Susan was visibly more comfortable with having me around. I paid the check over her mild protests, and we left to go back 'home' - her to the dorms, me to the house I shared with two other students.

After our non-date to the diner, it didn't take long before Susan and I were regular study partners for chemistry. At her request, we tried meeting in the library, but it didn't take her long to realize that the diner was a far superior study environment. I always behaved myself, never trying to get any closer to her - physically or emotionally - than she was comfortable with. My ability to scan her mind to see what the limits were helped considerably. Along the way, I learned more and more about Susan, and a little about the Viet culture and what her life had been like both before and after her family had left Viet Nam. In return, she learned about me and my family, and my girlfriend Diane.

Mid-term exams came and went, and Susan and I both did better than we'd expected - or even hoped. It was a few weeks before Thanksgiving, and we were both in the diner studying when our concentration was broken by a loud voice.

"So, this is where you are! What are you doing here, and why are you not studying?! And who is this boy with you?!"

Both of us turned to look at who was shouting. I saw an older Asian man, and from the way Susan reacted when she saw him, I figured that it must be her father.

"Well? Speak to me! Tell me what you are doing here!"

"I am studying, Father."

"Studying? You call this studying? How can you study in a place that serves food?"

"It is a very nice place to study, Father - it is very quiet when there is no one shouting."

That gave him reason to pause for a few moments, and he went on at a quieter level "Why do you study here? Why are you not in the fine library this school has? And who is this boy?"

"Father, I study here because it is a better place for that. Yes, the library is very nice, but not for studying. And this boy is Michael; he is in my chemistry class."

He turned to give me a look that plainly said he suspected I was guilty of all manner of crimes and criminal intentions, but simply hadn't been caught yet. I quickly scanned him, and discovered that he was essentially a bully, used to getting his own way with people by frightening them with his personality - and only respecting those that he couldn't intimidate.

"So why do you study with him, and not someone else?"

"Because he is my partner in our laboratory experiments. Both of us work and take notes on the same experiments, so we are able to study our results easier. I explain things that he doesn't understand, just as he does for me. We work very well together."

"Yes, I think he would like to work very well with you!"

It took her a second, then Susan got the implication her father had just made. She looked horrified, and told him "Father! It is not like that - at ALL! We only study together, here!"

He turned to look at me again, and I simply nodded to confirm what she'd just said. He didn't look like he believed me, but wasn't ready to come out and call me a liar. Susan was a different matter, though.

"How do I know this is true?" he demanded of her.

"I can show you my papers", Susan told him. She rummaged around in the knapsack she carried, and pulled out a handful of papers; it took me only a glance to recognize them as the quizzes and exams we'd had. She set them down on the table and told him "See here? These are the scores I got in the beginning of the class, before Michael and I started to study together. And here are the results I got with his help", as she slowly shuffled through the stack.

"How do I know that this is because of him?"

"Because I have already told you so. Father, there are things about chemistry that I don't understand - but when I study with Michael, he is able to explain them to me in a way that is different than our teachers do, and I understand it better. I have never deceived you, Father, and I tell you that these scores are because I have been able to study with him."

He looked at me again, and I finally spoke up, telling him "And I know that MY grades have improved because of Susan - there is some of this that I don't understand, and she helps me as much as I help her. Both of us are doing better in chemistry than either one of us would do alone."

That pretty much took the air out of his sails, but he still wasn't ready to give up, saying "But you should still be studying someplace other than this... place."

I got an idea, and quickly planted a couple of thoughts in Susan's mind: that maybe it was time to stand up to him, and show him that he was wrong. She resisted a bit, but I was able to find a couple of ways to motivate her, so it wasn't but a few seconds before she spoke up again.

"Father, you are not the one going to school here, I am. And I am the one that has to decide what places are best to study in. Did you go to the dormitory that I live in?"

He answered that he did, and she asked "Did that seem like a good place to study to you? With all the noise and activity there?"

He grudgingly admitted that it didn't, and she went on "That was the decision I made, too, Father. Now, would you come with us to the library so that I can show you something?"

Though unhappy, he said that he would, and waited while Susan and I got our things together. He was surprised when Susan picked up the check for the coffee we'd been drinking, and paid the bill. Outside, he demanded "So, he makes you pay for his help?"

"No, Father. I paid this time because it was my turn. Last time, he paid - for exactly the same things we had tonight. If we eat, each of us pays for our own food."

As we made our way toward the library, Susan and her father got into a conversation in what could only have been Vietnamese - the only parts I understood were the occasional English words that got tossed in. By the time we got to the library steps, their talk had ended, and we were walking in silence. After we got inside, Susan showed her father around the library while I quietly kept the two of them company. She finally led us back to the front door, where she softly told her father "Now, Father, you have seen the library that you want me to study in. You have seen that the lighting in most places is poor for studying, and the only places where the lighting is good are crowded. In the diner, the lighting is good at ALL the tables and booths. You have seen that the library restrooms are located all on one floor, so that it is inconvenient to use them. The restrooms in the diner are easy to get to. You have seen that there is no food or drink allowed in the library; in the diner, there is plenty of food and drink so that I can stay alert and refreshed while I study. You have seen the signs in the library demanding quiet; in the diner, we are free to speak in tones that are easy to hear - and understand. Tell me, Father - is it better for me to study in the library, or the diner? Which one is the better place for me to get the most from the education you are paying for?"

Standing up to him like that, and asking the questions she had, had pretty much cut him off at the knees. I could see by the look on his face what his honest answer had to be - and Susan could see it, too. We walked outside while he contemplated what he wanted to say next.

Standing on the steps, we found that he had to try one more tactic, insisting to Susan "I want you to stop studying with this boy!"

"No, Father. It is by studying with him that I have gotten the good grades that you expect from me. Are you telling me that you will accept lesser grades if I do not study with Michael?"

"But it isn't proper!"

"What isn't proper, Father? He has never tried to kiss me - or even hold my hand, except when it is necessary in our class. He is polite, and a gentleman, and we have never done anything wrong - the ONLY place we study together is the diner, where there are others."

He didn't have anything to say to that, either, and turned to me and demanded "You will stop seeing Susan!"

I just looked at him calmly and answered "No, sir, I won't. When I study with her, MY grades are better. I am here on a scholarship, and I need all the help I can get from Susan. If she says she doesn't want us to study together any more, then I have no choice but to accept it - but the decision is HERS, not yours. You aren't in our chemistry class."

"I tell you to stop!"

"No."

The quiet conviction of my tone must have made him realize that he couldn't bully me the way he was used to doing to others. He stood there for a couple of minutes, looking back and forth between Susan and me, before he finally said "Okay. You study together, its okay with me. But no funny business!" - the last directed at me.

"No, sir", I agreed.

He still didn't seem sure that I wasn't going to try something, but since I'd agreed, he didn't have anything to say. Susan took a step toward him, and he turned to her and said "In Viet Nam..." before Susan interrupted him, saying "But this isn't Viet Nam, Father. This is America. We are HERE, now, and this is where we must learn to live. Father, you send me to school so I can get a good education and do well in America - but what good is my better education if I don't know how to LIVE here - to work with people, make friends, and be a part of this society? Even after we got to this country, you kept all of us in the Viet community, and did not let us learn how to become Americans - not even a little bit. If everything Viet was so good, why did we have to leave? If America wasn't a better place, why did we come here?"