by A. D. McLain
Jared stared at her face in wonder, knowing this woman would be significant in his life. He wasn’t sure yet if they’d be lovers, though it felt likely, but he knew she would be important to him.
They sat in silence for a while, listening to the concert and enjoying each other’s company. When the music finally ended, they reluctantly stood and ambled back down the stairs. They stopped just before the curtain. The sounds of patrons filing out into the hall were all around them, and this was the last moment they’d have alone.
“I’d like to see you again,” he said, in the darkened stairwell.
“Me, too.” She pressed her hands against his, their fingers joining.
Jared resisted the urge to kiss her.
He took a deep breath. “There’s an old skater’s park down near the walking path into the woods. Can you meet me there tomorrow at lunch?”
“I’ll be there.” She closed her eyes.
For a moment, he let his control slip and psychically touched her cheek. She jolted her eyes open.
“Where’d they go?” Kara’s asked, from outside the curtain.
“They’ve got to be around here somewhere,” Curtis replied.
Jared smiled to Lexy. He was more than grateful for the interruption.
“You ready?”
She nodded and he pulled back the curtain.
Kara shrieked. “Where… where’ve you been? What were you doing back there?”
Lexy blushed.
“Hey,” Jared said, “you all want to hit that diner down on Charles Street?”
Everyone began chatting about favorite foods at that diner and how good an iced drink would be at combating the muggy summer heat. Lexy and Jared’s appearance from behind the curtain was forgotten.
With a hand at her back, Jared led Lexy to her car. “You coming?”
She looked over at the others, who were laughing as they loaded into their cars. “Not tonight, but I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Can I get your profile?”
“Sure.” Lexy lifted her arm and activated the touchscreen on her watch phone.
With a swipe, she pulled up her profile transfer settings. It was on moderate. The default options for any watch were anonymous, moderate, and full access. Anonymous gave only a first name and phone number. Full access transferred everything down to height, weight, birthdate, and grades in school. She pulled up the settings for moderate transfer and looked over everything, then clicked to allow age and email address. After a few seconds of indecision flitting over her features and a finger hovering over the checked box for physical address, she left it visible. After clicking to confirm, she held out her arm and let Jared touch his watch phone to hers. A click signaled the beginning of transfer. Then the lights on the sides of their screens turned red. A moment later, they heard a beep and the lights returned to green.
“Great,” Jared said. “I transferred my info, too.”
She looked down at his profile on her screen. “You live at Walnut Ridge?”
Jared tried not to let his unease show. “I know it’s kind of a party area, but the rent is cheap and people tend to leave you alone.”
She nodded. “I feel like I should warn you. What they all said about me is true. I never go Psy.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
She smiled. “See you then.”
3
It was chilly in Lexy’s room. A glance at the thermometer on the clock by the bed showed why. The temperature was under seventy. Kara must’ve turned the air conditioner on after she got home, whenever that was. Lexy groaned and tapped the buttons on the screen to turn off the A/C. Hopefully it hadn’t been on long enough to get their power shut off again.
If you used too much power in a given day, the electric company put wattage restrictions on your line which caused brown-outs or full-on power outages, depending on how far you went over. Same with the water. They had to relax all the low-flow toilet regulations after massive sewage backups destroyed the underground sewage network, and people never accepted the modified shower heads. Eventually, the government gave up trying to control water pressure and instead focused on overall usage. You could use an old-style, full-flow toilet or shower head, but you were only allotted so much water to use per day. After that, the water shut off and you had to wait until the next day to use it again. Now, people now were much more careful about when they used water, and living with a roommate made it worse. There was nothing more difficult than making amends after overusing the water and getting it shut off for everyone else. At work or in public, you had to swipe your watch in front of a faucet sensor to turn the water on or off. Depending on your job, you could be granted higher water allotments, but desk workers didn’t qualify for much over the minimum.
Lexy groggily slipped her feet into her house shoes and padded to her door. Most mornings, she got dressed first. But this morning she needed something to drink or eat to perk her up. She lived in a small two-bedroom apartment with a shared living room and kitchen in the center of the bedrooms. Each bedroom had its own private bathroom, and the kitchen was open to the living room. Simple and convenient.
Lexy spent most of her time in her bedroom. Kara was considerate enough, as far as roommates went, but they had nothing in common. Sometimes Lexy longed for the chance to live alone or move back in with her mom. Better yet, she wanted a place that belonged to her. A place where she could raise a family and be free from all the constant interference from the outside world.
As she entered the living room, her desire to move out became even stronger. Kara and Curtis were on the sofa, rocking and moaning. They weren’t wearing their inhibitor bands.
“Oh, come on!” Lexy said. “Can’t you do that in your room?”
“Don’t be a Psude,” Kara said, between clenched teeth. “It’s not like we’re having sex. It’s just—ahhh.” She scrunched her face and squirmed in her seat. “It’s just a little Psy-play.” She gripped the couch, her face and neck growing red.
Across from her, Curtis was also breathing hard. And that wasn’t the only thing that was hard. It was a good thing that men generally wore collection bags, or his nice slacks would’ve been ruined.
Before she could stop herself, Lexy wondered how many bags he’d already been through since last night. Then she shook her head and covered her eyes to avoid staring. They continued to moan and gyrate, not the least bit concerned about having an audience.
Lexy stomped to the kitchen to pour a glass of juice. Just then, papers and dishes fell from the coffee table. Curtis and Kara shook together, clutching onto the side of the table and the couch’s fabric. Once they were done, they plopped back against the couch, with a shared sigh. Lexy rolled her eyes and went back to scavenging the cabinets for something to eat. After pulling out some bread and butter, she fired up the toaster and stepped back. Curtis said his goodbyes, put on his inhibitor band and left. Kara stumbled into the kitchen and filled a glass of water from the sink faucet. She downed it in one long gulp. The toaster dinged.
“So…” Lexy put another slice of bread in the toaster, “a simulgasm. I guess you two must be compatible.”
Simultaneous psygasms were difficult to achieve, for two reasons. To stimulate another person psychically required concentration, which was hard to do while also being stimulated. Second, people were selfish, and a me-first mentality left little room for thinking about on someone else’s pleasure. Usually the dominant person received the majority of the focus, returning the favor only as a means of asserting control over the other person.
“I like him.” Kara shrugged. “What about you and his friend, Jared? How did your wavelengths mesh last night?”
“It wasn’t like that. We just watched the concert like the rest of you.”
“Speak for yourself.” Kara put her glass down and took a slice of buttered toast from Lexy’s plate. “Curtis and I disengaged the bands and started trading psygasms before the end of the third song. We didn’t turn them back on until ha
lfway through the last set. He has an incredible mind for pleasure. There was this one move he did—I swear I thought his mouth was actually on my breast, and the way he could stimulate multiple spots at the same time. Mmm. You should get him to loosen you up a bit. You could do a lot worse for your first psinterlude. I can ask him for you, if you want.”
Lexy tried to restrain a look of discomfort and horror. “That’s okay. Think I’ll pass.”
“Girl, you need to let go, already. I can help you get started, if that would be easier for you. I don’t mind. It’s at least an hour before I need to get to work.”
Lexy choked on a piece of toast and took a swallow of juice. “Thanks, but no. I have a date with Jared today, anyway.”
Kara grinned. “Oh, well in that case, have fun. Sure you don’t need me to show you any tricks? There’s this one where you imagine—”
“No!” Lexy threw her hands up. “Thank you. It’s just a regular date.”
“Aw, how cute. If you’re feeling too shy, I can tag along and do him for you. He doesn’t even have to know. He’ll think it’s you. That way you can ease into it, let him do his thing on you without all the stress of trying to focus on reciprocating. You can just enjoy. I’ll just change my weekend workday to tomorrow. It’ll be fine.”
Kara really was trying to be helpful. In a way, it was kind of sweet. In a way.
Lexy closed her eyes and took a breath. “I appreciate the offer. I really do, but I’ll be okay, I promise.”
“Okay. But I expect a full report tonight.”
“Sure. Oh, Kara, you know where my skates are? I spent an hour looking for them last night.”
Kara cringed and dusted breadcrumbs from her hands. “Yeah, sorry about that. One of the wheels popped off the last time I wore them. I held on to them to get it fixed, but then I forgot about it. Why? Do you need them today?”
“I did. That’s okay. Don’t worry about it. I’ll think of something else.”
“No, wait.” Kara rushed over to the tablet mounted on the wall and pulled up a shopping website. She found skates like the ones Lexy had. “Awesome, and they’re on sale today, too. Here.” She tapped the Buy-and-Print button on the screen, flipped the power switch on the printer and grinned. “According to the status bar, the skate should be finished printing in about thirty minutes. The other skate’ is in my room.”
Beside her, spinning and whirling sounds emanated from the 3D printer as the roller skate printed.
“Thanks. That gives me enough time to get dressed.” Lexy turned to go back into her room.
Kara grabbed her arm. “Hey, check this out. They have the new shoes I wanted last week.” She pointed to a black ballet shoe with a red dragon on the top and red trim along the side. “Those would look so awesome with the red shirt and black shorts I was planning to wear to work. They’re on sale today, too. How cool is that? Wait, it has a three-hour download and print time? That sucks. That means I won’t have them before I leave.” Her face fell.
“No, but if you buy them now, they’ll be ready for you by the time you get home. That way you can wear them out tonight.”
Kara brightened again. “Yeah, I can wear them tonight. Curtis and I were planning on checking out that new nightclub on the edge of town. I can wear my red silk dress. Those shoes will be perfect with it.”
Lexy left to get ready for her date.
She held her skates by the shoelaces, slung over her shoulder. The parking lot was full of cars, but there were few people around. A couple boys on skateboards did tricks up and down wooden ramps inside the concrete bowl thirty feet away. Lexy watched, captivated. They couldn’t have been any more than thirteen or fourteen. They wore bands, or she would’ve guessed they were even younger.
“Look at this,” one of them called out.
After gathering speed, he skateboarded up the side of the bowl and did a twisting jump off the edge. The trick was flawless, but his landing wasn’t. He pulled his legs back around under him, but one wheel hit the ground at an angle, sending him off balance. At his neck, knees, and elbows, black pouch bands blossomed into an inflatable helmet and pads. He rolled across the ground and started laughing. His friend helped him to his feet and pushed the deflate button on the pouch around his neck. The inflatable protectors pulled back into the vinyl bags, again hidden from view.
“That was awesome,” his friend said.
They went back to skating.
“Lexy, over here,” someone called.
She turned and looked back over her car roof.
Jared walked over to her, smiling with a twinkle in his eyes. “You brought skates. Good.”
He motioned to a bench and they sat to put their skates on.
“Want to leave your shoes in my car?” Lexy asked.
“No, we’ll need them later. Come on.”
Lexy took his hand and let him lead her down the walking path. A breeze blew as the sun beat down on them. She could feel small beads of sweat roll down her neck and back. Nut shells, empty and broken from previous walkers, crunched under their wheels. Sporadic trees became a forest with all the shade and relief afforded by their proximity. Without the constant sunlight, it became chilly.
“This way,” Jared said, at a split in the path.
Lexy looked at the other passage. It turned and curved back toward the cars. The path they were now on stretched deeper into the forest.
The rolling trees were peaceful as the wind filtered through the branches, and Lexy felt her lids growing heavy. She clutched her fingers tighter around Jared’s and felt a return squeeze. She grinned, wondering where this path could lead. Why would anyone create a paved pathway so deep into the woods? Flowers lined the passage, and limbs dangled above. Birds rustled leaves overhead. Squirrels scampered up tree trunks. A rabbit ducked under a bush. Perhaps the architects had wished to share this space with everyone so that even those on skateboards and roller skates could find rejuvenation in this alcove of natural treasures. With the skating bowl so near the walking path, she could imagine it met many travelers on wheels. Or perhaps it was designed by a hiker with limited time who wished to explore the woods more quickly. Without their skates, this walk would take substantially longer. But Lexy didn’t care about that. She loved spending time outside, away from her apartment. But everyone she knew was always rushing. They rushed to work and rushed home so they could go out to the clubs. They rushed into and out of relationships, instead of sticking around to see how things could develop. Everything was centered on the moment.
Lexy looked at the uneven terrain and rocks peeking out of the ground. By contrast, the ground below the path was raised and smooth, to give an even walking surface. It was then that she realized the path was most likely put in to prevent falls while walking through the forest. Nature walks were generally looked upon highly. They had a calming effect on people and could lower stress. But when in nature, you were at greater risk of injury, and injuries caused negative thoughts and feelings. The path was a way to guide people and keep them safe. It was enough to make her want to take off her skates and go climb the farthest tree just to spite them.
“Here’s a good place to stop.” Jared brought them around to a tree stump wide enough for them both to sit. “Change into your shoes. We’re going off-path.”
“You must’ve read my mind.” Lexy laughed silently to herself as she began unlacing her skates. “I was just thinking we should do that.”
He chuckled. “No mind-reading here. We’re going someplace specific, and you can’t get there following the path any further.”
He pulled off his skates and stuck his feet into pre-tied sneakers. They were soft and dingy. On the side, there were dark gray scuff marks, and the heel was bent in and cracking.
“Do you come out here a lot?” she asked.
“Sometimes. It’s one of several places I go to relax. Here, hand me your skates.” He held both of their skates by the laces and tied them to a low-hanging branch. “That way, they’ll be here w
hen we come back.”
“What if someone takes them?”
“I leave stuff here all the time. It’ll be fine. Besides, if I’m wrong, I’ll buy you new ones.”
With a wink, he took her hand and a shiver ran up her arm. They stood still for several moments, eyes locked, staring at each other. The wind blew and branches swayed. A beam of sunlight surrounded them, reflecting off white dandelion seeds swirling in the air.
“I don’t know where you’re planning on us going,” Lexy said, “but I’d say this is a pretty good spot right here.”
“Then you’ll love what comes next.” Jared led her off into the grass.
They ducked under branches and sidestepped thick bushes. There was a faint outline of a trail, with grass pressed down and spots of dirt visible. She heard a tapping noise and wondered if she’d imagined it, but the sound grew louder with every step they took. Accompanying the sounds, she began to see the dim glow of Psy energy.
“What’s that?” she asked.
“You’ll see.” That twinkle was still in his eye.
He led them farther into the woods and the sounds grew louder. Eventually, they came to a tree-lined arena filled with playing fields of every type, going on for at least a mile. There were areas courted off for basketball, football, volleyball, tennis, baseball, and soccer. To their right was a series of racks filled with balls, bats, rackets, replacement nets, helmets, and anything else you could possibly need to play any sport. And people were everywhere. They jumped, swung, sprinted, and laughed. A group of men played full-contact football, plowing into each other to the ground, then helping each other get back to their feet.