Mental Games - 8. Grad School

Adam and Mike packed up their belongings the day after the New Year's holiday and set out for their campuses in Adam's car. Mike’s program actually started first, in a week, but Adam had until the end of the month before his classes got underway. For that reason, he decided to stay with Mike until then, so he could help him settle in first, before leaving for Baltimore.

Mike was glad that being a graduate student had some advantages. It meant he had a single room and no roommate, so he wouldn’t have a problem about Adam staying with him. After Adam helped Mike carry his belongings to the room, Adam made the bed, which they would both share later, now that he was completely healed.

While staying with Mike, Adam also became familiar with the campus and met many of the other graduate students who were assigned to the same housing unit as Mike. Adam only got a chance to chat with them briefly, but they seemed like a great group, so he was glad Mike would have such nice guys to hang out with. Adam was also pleased that Mike had the basis for a support group and was making friends who didn't seem to care that Mike was gay. This made it so Adam wasn’t quite as worried about having to leave Mike now.

On the first weekend they were at Georgetown, the boys decided to go into D.C. to see some of the sights. It was not only breathtaking to see the places they had merely heard about or seen in photographs, but the experience also filled them with awe. It was amazing to see these national treasures up close and personal.

"The Jefferson Memorial is so beautiful," Adam stated, as he turned toward Mike. "It's also so peaceful, as it looks out over the Tidal Basin and the Potomac River."

"And I love the architectural style of the monument," Mike added. "It reflects elements of Jefferson's own designs when he built Monticello and drew up the plans for the University of Virginia."

"And the statue of Jefferson is huge!" Adam exclaimed, wide eyed. "I thought it would be life-size, but that has to be three times larger than life-size."

"I think the thing I like the most is to be able to read various Jefferson quotes on the plaques along the walls," Mike added, as they made their way around the memorial so they could see every one. After they finished looking at everything, they started down the marble steps so they could continue their tour. "Look, the Lincoln Memorial doesn't look very far away from here, so why don't we go there next?"

Adam agreed and they started out. It was actually a longer walk then it first appeared, because they were unable to travel in a straight line. They had just about reached the desired location when they began to hear a series of popping noises. At first it sounded as if someone was setting off firecrackers, but then people began screaming and started to frantically run in their direction. That’s when Mike and Adam realized something was terribly wrong. After dropping to the ground and taking cover, Adam decided he might be able to help out. Cautiously, he lifted his head, but only slightly, so he could discretely scan their surroundings and look for the source of the disturbance.

Before long, he spotted a man firing an automatic assault pistol – a military style handgun with a large magazine that contains a large number of bullets. Adam had seen one demonstrated on a news program once and had learned that those weapons can contain anywhere from 20 to 50 rounds of ammunition in magazines that are easy to change out, so the weapon is capable of spraying bullets at extremely rapid rates. It had considerably more firepower than a regular pistol, but it was also smaller and easier to conceal than an assault rifle. Unfortunately, it could still do nearly as much damage too.

Just after Adam spotted the shooter, the guy emptied the last of his clip. He immediately reached into the satchel he was carrying to retrieve another, but before he could load it into the weapon, Adam decided to use his mental ability to help out.

‘You with the gun! Stop, put down your weapon and surrender,’ he urged, as he projected his thoughts toward the shooter.

The man immediately stopped what he was doing. He appeared stunned and began to look around as if he was searching for whoever was speaking to him. At the same time, Adam saw several security officers cautiously, but rapidly, moving closer to the man's location. They were approaching from different directions and closing in on the shooter's position, and each one had his gun drawn and pointed in the assailant's direction.

Although Adam wasn't sure if the guy's next actions were due to his prompting or because he saw the others closing in on him, the shooter quickly dropped his weapon and satchel. Then, he raised his hands in the air, holding them above his head, to surrender. As soon as he did that, a few of the security officers rushed toward him and forced him to the ground. Then, they hurriedly slapped handcuffs on him, while a couple of other officers secured the weapon and cache of ammunition.

“Did you just get him to stop firing?” Mike wanted to know, while looking at Adam in amazement.

“He had already emptied his clip by then and I just stopped him from reloading,” Adam answered, trying to downplay what he did.

At that moment, the boys stood up and began scanning the area between them and the shooter. That's when they noticed the bodies of those that had either been killed or wounded during this brief encounter.

“It’s lucky you were here at the time or a lot more people could have been killed or injured,” Mike pointed out, as his body shivered slightly at the thought. “He probably would have shot the security guards too.”

After saying this, Mike’s body began to tremble even harder and his knees began to feel weak, as his mind was busy processing the events he had just witnessed. He suddenly became unsteady and stumbled as he started to stride toward the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Seeing this, Adam helped to steady Mike and urged him to sit down on the steps for a few moments. Reluctantly, Mike agreed and they sat down for a few minutes until Mike had regained his composure. Once Mike had calmed down sufficiently, he and Adam resumed climbing the remaining steps of the monument, so they could get a closer look at Lincoln’s statue.

“That was fucking scary,” Mike proclaimed just before they were ready to leave after checking the area out. “At first I wondered why it had to happen while we were here, but then I was glad it did. Since you were with me at the time, you were able to stop the wacko from doing even more damage. Without you, the situation could have ended up much differently, with many more casualties. What amazed me the most, though, was that after you'd accomplished getting him to surrender, you were still so calm and acted as if nothing had ever happened. You’ve got to be the most low key and shiest superhero I’ve ever heard of.”

“I told you before, I’m not a superhero,” Adam hissed, mildly upset over the characterization. “I only did what I had to. You would have done the same thing if you had this stupid ability.”

“Yeah, maybe so, but I still think you’re a superhero,” Mike insisted, as he playfully punched Adam in the shoulder. “And it’s not a stupid ability either, because it has proven to be quite handy at times.”

Adam didn’t respond to Mike’s last comment. Instead, they walked over to the Washington Memorial and climbed the steps to the top. Even though it was a magnificent view, when Mike looked in the direction of the Lincoln Memorial all he could think about was what had happened earlier and the lives that had been lost. He also considered that they could have suffered the same fate, if they had walked faster or Adam didn't have his new ability.

After climbing down from the monument, the boys headed over to the White House next. As they were walking along, Mike couldn’t help himself and kept staring at Adam. His gaze was filled with a mixture of awe and deep respect, but it wasn’t merely because of what Adam had done. Instead, it was for what Adam hadn’t done. He hadn’t sought any credit or recognition for the incredible things he had just accomplished. How many other people would have performed such a heroic deed, yet not looked to grab their fifteen minutes of fame after it was over?

When the boys had finished their sightseeing, they returned to the campus. As it turned out, the main topic in the common area that evening was about the shooting at the National Mall. Mike and Adam got sucked into the middle of the discussion as soon as the others discovered they had been there at the time. Now, the other grad students wanted to know what the pair had seen and how they’d reacted. Adam let Mike answer all of the questions, because he preferred to stay in the background and willingly allowed his boyfriend to have the spotlight. As far as Adam was concerned, it had merely been a long and tiring day.

As soon as they got to Mike's room, Adam threw his arms around Mike's neck and drew him forward for a very gentle and sensuous kiss.

"Thanks, babe," Adam offered, once the kiss ended. "I had a wonderful day and really appreciated that you didn't put me on the spot with the others."

"I didn't really do anything," Mike protested, as he gave Adam another quick kiss. "You did the hardest part earlier, when you stopped that guy from killing more people. All I did was explain what we were doing there and what we saw."

"You know you did much more than that," Adam countered, as he playfully pushed Mike backward until he fell onto the bed. "In fact, I think you deserve a reward."

After saying this, Adam bent down and began kissing Mike again, as he began to slowly undress him. It was merely the prelude to one of the most passionate and energetic lovemaking sessions they had ever experienced.

The following day was kind of laid back and they didn't do very much until later that evening. Unbeknownst to Adam, Mike had secretly made a reservation at a very nice restaurant so they could go off campus and enjoy a romantic dinner together. Mike wanted to use the time to show Adam how much he loved and respected him, but it also helped to put Adam in the mood for what Mike had planned next. When they finally returned to Mike’s room, they spent the next couple of hours making out and engaging in another mad and passionate lovemaking session.

The remainder of their time together was much less exciting and eventually Adam had to get ready to leave for Baltimore.

"Why don't I go with you, so I can help you get settled in too?" Mike offered, as he wrapped Adam in an affectionate embrace.

"I'd really love that, but then I'd have to make another round trip to bring you back here," Adam pointed out.

"I could take the train or a bus instead," Mike protested, as he looked into Adam's eyes.

"You could, but I'm sure you'd be better off using the time to study or complete whatever assignments you have been given so far," Adam pointed out. "You've been going to class all week and I'm sure you've got a lot to do, so I'll drive there alone. I really appreciate your offer, though, but it's not necessary. We'll get together again later, when we can each relax and enjoy our time together."

Reluctantly, Mike gave in and agreed that Adam was probably correct. After an emotional send off, Adam got in his car and began the drive to Baltimore. He felt awful that he and Mike weren’t going to be together for a while, but he also knew he wouldn’t have time to dwell on it for very long. Once his classes started, he’d have to totally concentrate on his studies and wouldn’t be able to think of anything else. In a way, it would help him maintain his sanity.

Shortly after his classes started, Adam learned there was an LGBT alliance on campus. After thinking about it for a while, he decided to join it. He felt it would provide him with a support group he could depend on, and he was actually glad he'd made that decision. It was not only nice to know he wasn’t the only gay on campus, but there were others he could talk to about how he was feeling. Although he didn’t have a lot of free time to devote to it, he used the meager hours he had to become an active member.

One of the activities the LGBT alliance had planned was a Valentine dance, which they had scheduled for a Saturday night. As soon as Adam learned about it, he contacted Mike and they made plans to attend it together. Adam made the trip to pick Mike up on Friday and then they spent all of Saturday together. Since the dance was held in a private conference room with a DJ and no others were around to object, it turned out to be a very intimate and enjoyable affair for everyone attending.

Mike and Adam danced nearly every dance with each other, and most of them were slow dances, so they had plenty of time to cuddle and embrace each other. They also got a kick out of looking around the room every now and then and noticing how content everyone else seemed as well. It was nice to see them have the chance to enjoy the same type of opportunity that their straight classmates were able to participate in and took for granted.

Mike and Adam also hoped to spend their spring break together, but unfortunately those weeks were scheduled at different times for their Universities. Although the boys were disappointed, they got over it quickly. They agreed that Adam would drive over and spend time with Mike during his break, but he would also pick Mike up and bring him to Baltimore during Mike's week off. They wouldn't have a lot of time to spend with each other, but they would take whatever they could get. There would be other opportunities ahead to spend time with each other and their careers were too important to them to worry about such petty things.

About a month before the semester ended, the LGBT alliance at Johns Hopkins was planning to hold a major fund raising event to benefit the Wounded Warriors Project. This group helped veterans that had been injured in war and supplied them the support they needed to function in society again. The members of the alliance felt this was a worthwhile organization, especially since they were all preparing for the medical field, so they wanted to offer their support.

As soon as the Johns Hopkins University administrators recognized the positive publicity potential of the event, they helped to publicize it nationwide. Once the date was set, the administrators placed ads in both professional and general publications announcing the event. The information contained a phone number that people could call to donate, as well as a website address, so they could donate online. The event was also promoted in public service announcements on multiple radio and television stations as well, so it quickly became a major undertaking.

Adam agreed to work on the phone bank when this event took place. He would answer calls from potential donors and then record their information and the amount they were willing to donate. When the big day came, he was only one of many there to help out. The event started off slowly, which meant that not everyone was on the phone at the same time. This proved to be an advantage, because it soon became apparent there was a slight problem. It all started when a few of the others noticed one of the girls slam the receiver of her phone onto the base.

“What was that about?” someone asked, since she’d just hung up on a caller.

“It was a prank call from that Hillsboro Church group that protests everything,” she answered. “When I answered, the caller started telling me how God hates fags and we’re all going to hell, so I slammed the phone down on him.”

“I think you mean the Westboro Baptist Church,” Adam corrected. “Next time someone like that calls, let me speak with the caller. Just give me a signal and I’ll take it for you.” Adam was actually telling everyone this, not just the girl that took the first call.

“Why? What do you think you’re going to do?” one of the other volunteers wondered.

“I just want to see if I can make the person feel like a jerk,” Adam stated. “Everyone tells me I have a way with people, so maybe I can turn things around on them.”

Although the others weren’t sure how he was going to accomplish this, they thought it couldn't hurt and was worth a try. The next time one of them received the same type of call, that person signaled Adam and he grabbed the receiver.

“The soldiers are getting killed and wounded because of you fags,” the caller was shouting. “God is making them pay for your sins and because you’re pushing your homosexual agenda on the rest of the country.”

“That’s very interesting,” Adam began, “but we still need to help the wounded veterans. Why don’t you take a moment and give me your credit card information so I can put you down for a donation.”

Unbelievably, the man must have done what Adam had requested, because the others noticed he was typing the information into the computer.

“I’ll need the expiration date and security code as well. You can find the security code on the reverse side, next to your signature,” Adam followed.

“What do you need that for?” the person asked.

“Since we don’t have your card to scan,” Adam began, “we need that information to show that we were actually speaking to the cardholder on the phone.”

The man must have given him this information too, because Adam began typing again.

“And how much shall I put you down for?” Adam asked next. “Five hundred dollars? That’s very generous of you and we thank you sincerely.”

After Adam hung up, the others stood gawking at him and wanted to know how he’d just done that.

“Did he really just donate $500?” one of them gasped.

“He certainly did,” Adam agreed, while flashing a cheeky grin.

“It doesn’t matter. He’ll just call his credit card company and cancel the transaction later,” someone else offered.

“I don’t think he can,” Adam stated. “These calls are being recorded to prevent fraud and since we have all of his information and it was his voice authorizing the transaction, I doubt he’ll be able to cancel it later.”

The others weren’t sure if they agreed with Adam's logic, but they still thought what happened was both amazing and ironic. The guy was calling to protest and ended up helping them out instead. When the next call like that came in, the club member taking it eagerly signaled Adam that he was needed.

Without hesitation, Adam hurried over and took the receiver. The person was spouting similar BS as the previous caller and Adam used the same tactic against him.

“And how much shall I put you down for?” Adam asked, once he had the caller’s credit card information. “$100. Thank you very much.”

This happened several more times before those types of calls finally stopped. When someone noticed that the members of the Westboro group were no longer calling in, he began to joke about it.

“I guess they must have given up,” a rather slender boy dressed in a Johns Hopkins t-shirt teased. “I’m not sure if they ran out of money or were just pissed off that they weren’t getting the reaction they wanted.”

Everyone else had a good laugh over his comment, but they were still confused about how Adam had pulled it off.

“How the heck did you do that?” a sassy blond girl wanted to know. “I still can’t believe they just changed their minds and gave us money instead.”

“I guess they just liked my voice and couldn’t resist,” Adam quipped, giving a tongue-in-cheek response.

“Yeah, right,” a cute dark-haired boy challenged. “Now what did you really do?”

“You heard my side of the conversation. I guess they just felt guilty about what they were doing,” Adam replied. “I suspect they must have decided it was their penance to contribute and accepted it as God’s will.”

Although none of the others believed him, they could also tell they weren’t going to get a straight answer from Adam. Therefore, they let the subject drop and began tallying up how much they had made. When the final figures from the phone and online contributions were determined, they had done extremely well. The Wounded Warriors would benefit greatly from their efforts.

Just before final exams were to begin, one of the alliance members came up to Adam and asked a question. Dennis hadn't ever really spoken to Adam before this, other than to say hello, because he was rather shy, but this was obviously important enough to bring him out of his shell.

“Since you have a way of convincing people to do things, do you think you could talk Dr. Jacobs into going a little easy on us with the final exam?” Dennis inquired. “His other tests have been real ball busters, so maybe you can convince him to give us a break this time.”

“Yeah, right,” Adam shot back, while rolling his eyes.

“No, I mean it!” Dennis insisted, as he attempted to convince Adam of his sincerity.

“He may be tough, but I don’t think your future patients will complain,” Adam responded, as he stared at Dennis. “I’m sure those you treat in the future won’t want a doctor that just coasted by in school because his professors took it easy on him. No, I’m afraid you’ll just have to do your best.”

Although he didn’t really appreciate Adam’s answer, Dennis didn’t argue the point further. Instead, he turned around and slunk away with his shoulders slumped forward, showing his disappointment. He probably realized the idea was more than a little crazy too. After all, how likely was it that Adam actually had that kind of power or ability to begin with? Adam, however, couldn’t help but wonder if this guy would have given up as easily, if he’d actually known the truth?

Mike’s classes had not only started earlier than Adam’s, but they finished sooner too. Since he couldn’t hang around on campus for the extra two weeks, he talked one of his classmates into dropping him off at the Johns Hopkins campus on his way home. Mike didn't bother to call Adam first and tell him he was coming, because he wanted to surprise him. Mike knocked on the door to Adam’s room and then waited. Adam's eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw who was standing there, and after a moment of staring like a deer in headlights, Adam reached out and hugged his boyfriend.

"What are you doing here?" he finally blurted out. "You never said anything about coming over."

"Yeah, I wanted it to be a surprise," Mike agreed, before giving Adam a kiss. "I just couldn't stay there."

“Ok, you can stay here then,” Adam offered, as he gave Mike a hug, “but we won’t be able to spend much time with each other. We can eat together and share a bed, but I’ll be spending most of my time at the library studying. I don’t want to be distracted from getting ready for my finals, so you’ll have to entertain yourself.”

"That's not a problem," Mike agreed, since he knew Adam would want to do his very best.

Once that had been settled, Adam walked out to the car with Mike and helped him carry his things inside. They stacked most of his belongings out of the way, except for his clothes.

Mike was true to his word and gave Adam all the space he needed. It worked out well and Adam’s finals went better than anticipated, so he was ecstatic when the last one was over. Then, he and Mike loaded up his car and got ready to head home. Since Mike had spent the previous summer and fall with Adam's family, they had agreed to spend most of this summer with Mike’s mom and dad. They would spend the final two weeks with Adam’s parents, before they returned to their respective campuses in the fall.

Adam had met Mike’s parents before and thought they were really nice, so he thanked them several times for letting Mike help him recover the previous summer and fall. Mike’s father quipped that they probably couldn’t have been able to stop him anyway, but they were glad that Adam was better now.

“So where are we going for vacation this year?” Mike wanted to know.

“Ummm, we’re not going on vacation this year,” his mother stammered. She looked somewhat embarrassed after saying this.

“Why not?” Mike demanded as he flashed her a surprised look. “We always go somewhere or do something special. Why not this year?”

“Yes, that’s what we’ve done most years, but we didn’t do anything last year either,” she explained. “Actually, it worked out that you wanted to stay with Adam, because money was tight.”

“Why? What happened?” Mike countered, since he was now very concerned.

“Things aren’t very good where I work,” his father answered. “Last year the company wouldn’t allow any overtime and cancelled all of the raises and bonuses, so we didn’t have any extra money. This year the raises and bonuses were very small, but the company also increased our share of the cost for health insurance. Right now, we’re having a tough time making ends meet.”

“Isn’t there something you can do about it?” Mike pressed, hoping he could find a way to fix this problem and make things better. Even though he was disappointed about not going anywhere, he was more concerned about his parents getting by.

“I tried to refinance the mortgage and lower our payments,” his father answered, “but the closing costs were more than we could scrape together. Spending that much just to refinance also seemed to defeat the purpose. We could just barely scrape together enough money to send you during the semester and did everything we could think of so you wouldn't have to get a job.”

Mike was depressed once the discussion with his parents ended. Still reeling from the news, he took Adam to his room so they could talk about it further.

“I want you to use your power to help my parents,” Mike announced, once they were alone. There was no doubt after looking into his eyes that he was very serious about this.

“What can I do?” Adam shot back, since he was uncertain how he could help out.

“I don’t know, but we’ll figure something out,” Mike answered. Even if he didn't have the answer yet, he was still hoping they could figure out something.

Adam looked at him oddly, so Mike knew something was bothering his boyfriend. "What?" Mike blurted, since he didn't know what was wrong.

“Ummm, it's just that I said I wasn't going to use my powers for personal gain,” Adam responded, while his eyes pleaded with Mike for understanding.

“You wouldn’t be gaining anything and it would really help my parents out,” Mike answered, undeterred. “And besides, how would this be any different than what you did for the people at the homeless shelter?”

Adam thought about this for a minute and realized Mike had a point. After a few seconds more, he finally responded.

“So what can we do?” Adam relented.

“Maybe we can help my dad get the mortgage refinanced,” Mike suggested. “You can use your ability to get the bank guy to do it without any closing costs.”

“I can try, but will your dad want to do that now?” Adam wondered.

“Let’s go ask him,” Mike answered, as a look of hope registered on his face.

Excited, the boys went to find Mike’s father. He was sitting at the dining room table going over some paperwork.

“Dad, Adam and I have an idea,” Mike began as soon as his father looked up at him. “Let’s go down to the bank and see if maybe you can’t get a better deal on refinancing the mortgage. We’ll come with you and maybe we can help somehow.”

“I doubt there is anything you can do,” his father answered, "but I guess it couldn’t hurt to try either. The only thing I have to lose is a little of my time, so let’s see how it goes.”

Seeing they had just agreed to do this, the three of them changed into something business like, but not too formal. Then, they drove down to the bank and Mike’s father asked to speak with the same person he had dealt with before. After a short wait, they were led into the man’s office, where they shook hands before sitting down.

“What may I do for you today, Mr. Berman?” the banker began.

“I just wanted to discuss the possibility of refinancing my mortgage again,” Mike’s father replied.

Almost as soon as Mr. Berman finished saying this, Adam began to barrage the banker with his thoughts.

‘You will offer to refinance his mortgage at a good rate and with no closing costs. Just like I know you’ve done for some of your other customers.’

The banker suddenly seemed perplexed and started to speak several times, but no words ever escaped his lips. Finally, and in a very slow and halting manner, he began to respond.

“Uhhh, I’m actually, ummm, glad you came back,” the banker stammered, before he finally found his voice. They all looked at the man and waited to see how he was going to respond.