DISCLAIMER: I own the rights to this story and all of its installments exclusively. This story contains strong sexual content involving minors and/or adults, strong and/or vulgar language, violence, and some references to drug/alcohol use. This story is not intended for minors so if you are underage, please do not read any further. If you, in any way, are offended by this sort of material, please do not read any further.
Tim, The Teenage Mystic
Chapter Six: Curiosity And The Cat
Joey's ideas worked better than any of us had expected. It took us another week before we figured out how to separate knowledge from memories. The key to that was a suggestion from Higgs.
"Tim," Higgs began, "from what I understand, you take it upon yourself to do all the work. Why don't you just let Joey and Suzi offer what they know when you need it, instead of you searching for it? It doesn't appear you can do it any easier than they can anyway."
"Well, sometimes they don't know they have it, but okay. If they don't give me anything back on their own, then that's when I'll go in and get it."
Strangely enough, I found that Joey could recall information better and faster than Suzi could. In fact, when I started working with other people, I didn't find another mind as fast as Joey's for a long time. Using today's computer terminology, Joey became like my primary cache because it was so much faster than other people's. Mine wasn't slow either, but his was a bit faster.
"Hey Joey," I said one day on the bus. "How come you don't use your brain like you could. You could really could have straight A's if you wanted too."
He turned to me and said, "But that isn't as fun."
I was a little disturbed with him dismissing his abilities away like that. That evening I was talking to Suzi over the phone about it.
"It's like all this time we thought he was not as smart as we were... well not really, but he could be so dumb sometimes, and as long as I have known him, he never has made an A in a subject. Come to think about it, he's never made a D or F either."
"Do you think he's doing it on purpose?" Suzi asked.
"I'm not sure. I could always peek in his head to find out, but I don't think he'd like that."
"No, he probably wouldn't. Maybe I could talk to him and see... "
"I'd rather you didn't. Even though he tried to act like it was a joke, he really didn't want me to talk about it any more. He might get upset if he knew I was talking to you about."
"Hmm. Okay. But I'm not going to hide it from him, you know."
"Yeah, I know. I not asking you to. Just don't bring the subject up unless he does. You know, I'm getting a little jealous of you... "
"Me? Why?"
"Joey is really in love with you. You're all he talks about. I've gone back to being just his best friend, and not something more. But really, that's okay. I'm just being a little selfish, I guess."
"Well, you know he still adores you. And he is always talking about you to me, so I think you may be wrong about him there. I even caught him staring at you the other day in English."
"Really? Okay, I could be wrong. Suz, I love you."
"I love you too. Oh... My brother's home. We have to watch what I say in case he starts to listen at my door again."
"Want me to fix him for ya?"
"No, that's okay. I think he gets off on what he thinks we do over the phone. Of course it's nothing compared to what we really do... "
"Yeah... Say, maybe if we let him in on it, he could drive us around and stuff."
"I'd rather not. It's safer with you and Joey living so far away. If we brought my brother into it, I don't know if I could resist messing around with him all the time. I'm pretty sure he couldn't resist."
"Yeah, I see what you mean. If it hadn't been for you, Joey and I probably would have been... well, you know."
"What? Bonking each other?"
"Yeah... But you saved us. I don't want to talk about this though. It gets me down to think how things could have turned out."
"Timmy, I'm glad you're not a homosexual, if that helps any."
"Heh. Shut up."
"Yes, master... "
"Huh?"
"Just kidding."
"You sick puppy," I said as I reached out to touch her mind. I started to tickle her.
"Ohh. Timmy... Stop!" she said between giggles. "My brother... "
"So? If he hears, I'll just make him tickle you too." But I stopped anyway.
"Don't DO that... You know tickling makes me have to go to the bathroom."
"Ohh yeah. Hey can I watch?"
"No way. Some things are still private."
"Awe! I'll let you feel me take a leak... "
"No Tim. Now disconnect, or I'll tell Joey you had a two way with me."
"All right. It's not like he wouldn't have understood or something. He knows how I like a good pee."
"You do? Well, maybe for your birthday I will let you, but not today. Now I gotta go. Love you."
"I love you too."
I sat back thinking of her birthday suggestion. My mind eventually wound back up thinking about Joey's mind though. The more I thought about it, the more I was convinced that he was acting dumb on purpose all these years. In first grade, he seemed to finish his work before anyone else. But everyone thought it was because he just didn't try to get it right since he made so many obvious mistakes.
Those obvious mistakes may actually have been deliberate. And later, Joey must have realized how to cover up his smarts better by slowing down and making less obvious errors. He was now so good at appearing to be a straight C student that he even had fooled me. At least until now.
The next day, I mentioned to Suzi I was going to talk with Joey during lunch so she wouldn't expect us. I managed to catch Joey before he entered the lunchroom, and talked him into having lunch with me in our room upstairs.
Once we were settled down and started to eat, I came right out with it.
"Joey, why have you been pretending you're not as smart as you really are?"
Joey looked at me in surprise, then I felt him put a barrier up between us. It wasn't anything I couldn't get around, but I didn't think he had done it intentionally so I stayed out of his head in any case.
"It's none of your business," Joey said darkly.
"Joey, come on. You're actually the smartest person I've ever met. But you purposely screw yourself up. Why? I just can't get this out of my head."
"I don't want to talk about it!" Joey said. "Leave me alone about it, or I'll... "
"I'm sorry, Joey. Okay, I give up. I won't force it from you either." I said, realizing he was really upset about this.
"You better not. You really don't wanna know anyway."
I could tell he was thinking about it, and it hurt just to do that.
I looked in his eyes, getting that familiar feeling, then started to try and comfort him. I really hurt. I almost broke the contact from the sorrow. I didn't know what it was caused by, but I knew why he didn't want to be reminded of it. He shuddered, then I realized he was going to cry. I had stirred up too many buried feelings.
We were sitting on the floor, so I just scooted over to him and hugged him as he started to bawl. I held him for what seemed like ten minutes while he cried. He finally settled down, hiccuping like people do after they cry.
"I'm sorry," I said for the tenth time. "I didn't know it made it you feel so bad."
"I guess," he said sniffing, "you might as well know it now."
"You don't have to put yourself through that again. I can live without knowing."
"No. I think I want to tell you. I have never told anyone, but I want to now."
I stayed silent, still holding him. I had my back against the couch with him laying against me sideways and moved to get a little more comfortable. I motioned for us to get on the couch, so we got up off the floor and sat down next to each other on the cushions.
Before he could start having second thoughts about it, he began.
"When I was real little, I had an older sister, Sarah. She was great. I used to sometimes call her mommy by accident. She was eight years older than I was, and she was a straight A student at a special school for gifted children. I was four years old when she graduated high school. She wanted to become a doctor, so the next year, she went away to college. She was only twelve... "
Joey stopped and wiped the tears away, which were quickly replaced by new ones. "We never saw her again. She disappeared. My mom got a call from the school... " He stopped again and started to blubber again.
I grabbed hold of him and pulled him with me as I laid down. I put my arms around him and started drawing him into a light trance. He never knew I was doing it.
"Joey, just let go of your sadness. Let it go. You don't need to be sad anymore. You don't want to be sad, do you?"
"No... " he said softly.
"I am going to rub your chest, and as I rub, you will feel the sadness go away. It will make you feel happy and peaceful."
I started to rub his chest through his shirt, and after a few minutes, he sighed with relief.
"Feeling better?"
"Yes... " Joey said in even a softer voice.
"Joey, imagine yourself on a cloud, far far up in the sky above your body. You feel happy and free on that cloud. Nothing can hurt you up there, nothing can make you feel bad. If you have something you want to tell me, it won't hurt to think about it, or to talk about it. Do you have something you want to talk about?"
"Yes... "
"Go ahead. Tell me what you want to."
"My sister... she's dead. Someone grabbed her and took her somewhere and she died."
"Is that why you pretend you're not as smart as you really are?"
"Yes... "
"Why?"
"I... I didn't want to be smart like my sister. I didn't want to go away and never see anyone again."
"What about now? You don't think that way any more, do you?"
"No... "
"Why do you still pretend?"
"Cause I don't want it to hurt."
"Joey, do you still love your sister?"
"Yes... " he choked out.
"Joey, you're up on that cloud. So far from anything that hurts. Nothing can hurt you. Not even thinking about your sister... Now, would you like to do something for your sister to show how much you love her?
"Yes... " he said still filled with emotion.
"Do you think your sister likes watching you from heaven while you pretend you're stupid?"
"I... I don't know... "
"Don't you think she would want you to grow up and do the things she didn't have a chance to do?"
"Yes... " he said shakily.
I started rubbing his chest again, like my mother does to me. "Your sister didn't die because she was smart. She died because someone took advantage of her age. Maybe she was too young to go to college at twelve. But what happened to her won't happen to you, because you're smarter than she was."
"No I'm not!" he said fiercely, shocking me.
I decided to try it from a different angle. "Your sister would be very sad to hear you say that. She would want you to be smarter than she was. It would protect you. She will protect you. I will protect you. Even Suzi will protect you. Your sister didn't have anyone but herself back then."
"I... I... "
"Joey, your sister wants you to be as smart as you can. She wants you be all that you can be (but not in the army). She has to live her life through you now. By not letting yourself do everything you are able to do, you're cheating not just her, but yourself. Do you understand?"
"I... I didn't mean to!... " Joey started crying again softly. I kept rubbing his chest, and waited him out.
"It's okay Joey. You didn't know. But now you do... She loves you, and so do I. There's no reason to feel bad because it isn't too late. You can still be as smart as she was, and make everyone happy. You want to be happy, don't you?"
"Yes... " he said with a new calm voice.
"So what are you going to do... "
"I'm going to be smart."
"And how does that make you feel... "
"Happy."
"That makes me feel happy too," I said as I kissed him on the forehead.
"Tim?" he said as he opened his eyes.
"Huh?" I said, partly because he was awake."
"You're the best," he said. He stretched his neck out to kiss my cheek, then relaxed again and hugged me.
"How long were you awake?" I asked later.
"I came out of it when you said I was smarter than she was. I was never all that deep in the first place."
"Did you mean everything you said?"
"Only time will tell," he said giving me a wicked grin.
Time did tell, although not right away. I wasn't sure if he had problems kicking his old habits, or he just didn't want to cause everybody to go into shock. Probably a mixture of both.
A couple of weeks later, we were ready to try our new link with another person. We were trying to decide who.
"It should be someone who is pretty smart. I mean, that is the main idea after all," I said.
"Well, if you want me to keep doing it, it better be another girl."
"Why?" Joey said. "I mean, I totally agree with you, but I would have thought you would like another stud to play with. Or are you missing your old girlfriend Marsha?"
Suzi stuck her tongue out, then said, "Sometimes I think you two are about to explode with testosterone. I just think we need another girl to even things out before adding another 'stud' to the corral."
"Guys, I wasn't planning to have sex play with the people we add. It would get way too distracting. But I guess it wouldn't hurt to have another girl as long as it stops there. Anyway, I've just got to the point that our three ways don't get me tired anymore. I don't know how hard a four way will be, but I know I can't do a fiver yet."
"Well," Joey started, "I guess that means we are looking for a smart girl. How smart is Marsha?"
"I don't think Marsha would be a good choice," Suzi said slowly.
"Huh? Why?" Joey asked.
"She and I haven't really been all that close lately. We're still friends, but, well, I have you two, and she has... someone else."
"Oh yeah? Who? Maybe we can get them both... " Joey said real excited.
"I don't think so. I've noticed Tina Peters and her spending a lot of time together and... "
"Tina Peters!" Joey and I both cried. I made a face, and Joey started faking a shudder.
"Now stop that. You guys don't know her like I do. I know she's a little overweight, but she's really a nice person."
"Hmm. She does have the biggest boobs in the ninth grade... " Joey pondered.
"Yeah, and her butt is kinda... er but like I said, I can't do a five way, so let's just leave them out of it, okay? Unless you volunteer to give up your spot," I said to Joey.
"Nope. I'm not gonna give up my ticket on this ride. Okay, so who else is there? Hey! We don't have to only go with the ninth graders, do we? There's this one Junior on the cheerleading squad that... "
"Joey!" Suzi and I said in unison.
"We're looking for smart girl first, looks second, okay?" I said.
"But she is smart. And good looking. Jeez guys, I'm not stupid, ya know."
I smiled at that for a moment, then said, "Well, let's go through the ninth graders first. Then if no one looks good, we can look at the other grades."
We started thinking up names, but it was soon pretty clear we were getting nowhere.
"Tim," Suzi began. "Maybe we could, um, browse around a little. You know? If we could, well, pop in their heads and see if they are what we need... "
"I don't know if that would be such a good idea. I mean what if we find that one of them likes me or Joey? That might tempt me or him to do something we wouldn't have done if we just didn't know. You know?"
"Well what if you just let me do it?"
Joey interrupted, "And if you find out that she likes you? What's the difference in that?"
"I doubt anyone but Marsha would feel that way. Since I've been with you two, I haven't spent much time with the other girls. And if one of them was interested in me, so what? I would think that would be a plus for joining our... group."
I cut Joey off before he could comment. "I think she's right. If you do find someone who likes you, and she isn't a total airhead, then I think she'll be our best bet." I paused when Joey have a dissatisfied huff, then said, "But we should start with the pretty ones first, okay?" I said, partially to Joey.
I saw Joey was agreeable with this, so I linked up with Suzi and we started to find our first candidate. For the first one, I had to show her how to find what we were looking for, but after that one didn't look promising, all I had to do was make the connection between Suzi and the next girl. We were on our eighth girl when Suzi indicated she wanted me to look too.
"What?"
"Something is wrong... " Suzi said out loud to me. "Can't you feel it?"
I did some checks, and didn't find anything. "No, I can't. What do you feel?"
"I don't know. Katie just doesn't feel the same as the other girls. I can't really explain it. She just feels... unnatural or something... "
"Really? That's how you felt to me the first time. I wonder... "
I did some more looking, but still didn't find anything. Katie as far as I could tell had a perfectly sound mind. She didn't have any weird sexual thoughts, and her thinking seemed completely normal.
"I still can't find anything. Maybe I've gotten used to the way your mind feels from my accidental adjustments. You're going to have to search for it. I can't pick anything up. Just let your mind move around in her head, going wherever you feel that weird feeling getting stronger."
I waited patiently, and I was just about to suggest moving on when she grabbed my arm and dug her nails in. "I found it!" she said in a strained voice.
I quickly joined her, and connected Joey too when he complained. What we found gave both Joey and I a hardon.
It was a memory, apparently overlooked by both Katie and... someone else. There was nothing else left in her conscious mind to indicate she had ever been more than a normal school girl.
The memory was an experience she had, probably during the past summer break. She was nude except for wearing some kind of leather collar with a leash. She was having an intense orgasm while a full grown man's cock was pumping in and out of her ass. The memory was very brief as it was only for the duration of the orgasm.
"Wow," was all Joey said as we all disconnected. Suzi and I remained quiet. I could tell they were thinking about what it would feel like to have been in Katie's place.
"I think this would be a good time to think together... " I finally said.
"Okay, but I have to warn you, you may not want to know what I'm thinking about," Joey said.
"I think we all know what you're thinking," Suzi said truthfully. "We're all thinking the same thing."
"I doubt that," he replied. I should have listened to him.
"Well, I think this is going to take more smarts than I have, and I need a woman's point of view. So, are you in or out Joey?"
"I'm in, but just don't be too surprised by what you find. Okay. I guess I'm kind of over it anyway."
I connected, and started throwing out questions. I felt Joey was still disturbed by what he had been thinking, and like a fool I checked it out.
"Shit, Joey," I moaned as I broke the connections immediately.
"Well I tried to warn you."
Suzi looked back and forth between our faces, then said to Joey, "What was it?"
Joey started turning red, and I couldn't help blushing too.
"Will someone please tell me!" Suzi said getting frustrated.
"I was thinking... I mean, after feeling Katie... "
"Joey wants me to fuck him up the butt," I said in a flat voice.
I felt like we had crossed a line somewhere. Worse, I felt I was doomed to become corrupt. There was no doubt in my mind that someday I would find my dick in his butt, and I also wanted him to do the same to me.
I knew I had somehow made my best friend into something he wasn't. Joey had never been a saint. But he didn't have a homosexual bone in his body. I felt I had corrupted him, made him impure.
(It took me several years to realize homosexuality was not an evil of life, just viewed that way by society. Some of the ideals our society hold to be true are based on ignorance. At the time, I was as ignorant as the rest.)
"Well, I don't blame him," Suzi said. "What's with you two? Jeez, after finding out what it feels like, I want to have you both do it to me. But if that time ever comes, it isn't because we couldn't control ourselves."
Joey and I didn't say anything. So Suzi continued.
"Tim, remember how you said if it wasn't for me, you and Joey would probably been having sex all the time with each other? Think about it. Wouldn't it have happened even if you had never had your powers?"
"No," I said.
"He's right," Joey said. "I couldn't have done anything more than jerk off. We probably would have never even jerked each other off."
Suzi didn't let up. "Remember the first time you two messed around? You told me so many times because it used to make me so hot. Tim, you said that you both liked it when your dick had touched Joey's butt. You may not have thought of it then, but if you guys had never had a two way, don't you think you would have figured it out by now?"
"But none of that matters. Joey wants me... ME... to have sex with HIM. Real sex. That would have never happened if I hadn't done what I did with my powers. Even if we would have fucked each other, he would have always been doing it to get off while thinking about a girl. But now... "
"Hey, Tim," Joey interrupted. "This isn't like what she was saying, but... I don't think it is all that bad. Okay, so you have changed my senses about what turns me on. But... well, it's like I opened my other eye. Ya know? Before, I only could see having sex with a girl. Then I opened my other eye and saw I can have more than sex with just a girl.
"Besides, you haven't forced me into doing anything. You gave me the choice about everything, and even kept me from doing it when I wasn't thinking straight. If you and I had never even met, I probably would be a total sex hound, going after every girl I thought I could lay. I'm pretty sure I could have Tanya Quinn do it with me tomorrow if I sweet talked her enough. But I don't love her. Hell, if it wasn't for you and Suzi, I would never have known what love is. It would have always been sex without love.
"So maybe you changed me into a fag. I don't think so. If I really wanted to have sex with guys, then I would feel attracted to other guys, not just you.
"Look. You two did change me into something I wasn't before. You changed me into a lover... What I am trying saying is, if any of us ever goes all the way, we wouldn't be having sex. We would be making love. And I wouldn't want it any other way, homo or not."
When Joey stopped talking, you could have heard a pin drop. Suzi gave Joey a peck on the cheek, and they held hands while they waited for me to make up my mind. Joey's words kept going around in my head, but I still couldn't put my guilty feelings to rest.
The bell rang before I could think things out completely. Suzi and I had a test to take, but I felt I needed to tell them something definite before we split up.
"I... I can't shake this feeling that we crossed some kind of line we shouldn't have crossed," I finally said.
"Fuck the lines," Joey said. "Who gives a shit about what other people say or think."
When I didn't respond, he added, "You know what? I know you will never become the monster you think you're becoming. Tim, you're a good dude. Stop beating yourself up about it."
"Joey's right, Timmy," Suzi said as they got up, hand in hand.
Joey held his hand out to me to help me up and said, "Of course I'm right. I AM smarter than he is, ya-know."
I couldn't help but smile at that one. As I took his hand and got up, I said, "You might be smarter, but I'm better lookin'."
Joey started to protest so I added, "If you don't think so now," I paused, putting on a wicked grin, "I'll just have to change your mind somehow."