Terese and Alana
(This is a continuous story in multiple parts. It will only make sense if you read it in order.)
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P r a c t i c e
"Blair, have you ever found anyone you couldn't +push?"
"No, but, remember, I don't do it very often. I really want to keep it below the radar."
They went to the mall, and experimented with all sorts of inconsequential +pushes, such as getting someone to shift their shopping bag from one hand to the other, getting someone else to stop and check out a store window that she was going to pass. They got one poor guy to take the escalator up, and down, and up again, and down again, before letting him pass it.
At one point they saw Jon across the food court. They had a huge laugh getting him to stop and gaze at a window display of purses. When they "released" him, he looked bewildered, checked around to see if anyone had seen him, and quickly walked off.
It seemed that they could +push anyone.
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Brian's brow was furrowed; Blair asked, "What's up?"
He sighed. "I'm just wondering how we can get through all the scenes without everything blowing up in our faces. Jenn is the most complicated, because she has a boyfriend, who happens to be my friend Phil. I know that they have a very loose, unusual relationship, but I know I'd be really angry if Phil or anyone else was hitting on you, and I keep thinking that Phil will probably feel the same way."
"Jenn says that she and Phil are 'non-exclusive,' so I don't think you have to worry about Phil."
She paused, gathering her thoughts. "There's a facet of +pushing; it's going to take me a minute to explain it, because I've never thought about it this way before. For lack of a better term, it's all about permission, and it works both ways. You can +push someone to give them permission. You can also +push to receive permission from someone – you've already done it that way, it was one of your very first +pushes."
"My mom and the Pepsi."
"Exactly. You +pushed her not to lecture you about a soft drink right before dinner; in other words, to give you permission to have a Pepsi."
"I didn't even realize I'd done it. I wouldn't have any idea how to do it again."
"If you think of 'permission' as a major, complicated concept, you'll psych yourself out and fail, but it's easy if you just break it down to a few simple pieces. With your mom, I'm sure that you just +pushed something like a combined image of you, Pepsi, and 'OK,' all at once. She received it, and since she didn't realize that it came from you, she just accepted it as her own thought.
"For Phil, for your peace of mind we'll do the same thing – just think of you, Jenn, sex, and 'OK,' all in a bundle at the same time, and +push it to Phil."
"How will I receive his permission?"
"It doesn't work that way. With any +pushing, there's never a response. Nobody ever says 'OK, got it,' we just see from their actions that they received whatever we +pushed: Dan sang the correct words, Jon looked at the purses at the mall. With permission, you're +pushing them a feeling of, 'this is all good.' They receive your +push, but they're not aware of it – they just feel like that's what they've always thought."
"Doesn't this violate that thing we talked about, that you can't +push someone to do something they're opposed to?"
"No, not at all. We would never be able to get Phil's approval if he and Jenn weren't so 'open.' With your mom, if you had +pushed her for permission to do something terrible, like shooting heroin, it would never have worked."
Brian contemplated that for a minute, and nodded in agreement.
A brief minute later, he looked worried again. "What about you? Isn't it going to be awful, knowing that if our plans work, all five of your closest friends are willing to 'misbehave' with your boyfriend?"
"It's my idea, remember? I want them to be with you. It's how I'll know that you're freely choosing me."
"What if one of them isn't willing to cross that line?"
"That won't happen, because we'll +push them permission beforehand."
"You're sure that works?"
"It definitely works. I did it last summer, with Justin."
"Shannon's boyfriend?"
"He is now. Last summer, he was MY boyfriend."
"That's right, I remember that."
"Justin's a nice guy, but of course he can't +remote or +push, and I had gotten to the point where I couldn't stand hiding my abilities from him. I had heard that Shannon really liked him. She didn't consider him available, so she was chasing some other guy, but it was Justin who she really liked.
"I +pushed her permission to pursue him, just like I described: a bundle of Shannon, Justin, going out, and 'it's OK.' While I was at it, I +pushed the same thing to him. All I had to do then was be unavailable to do anything with him for the next couple of weekends, and presto, they were going out. Everybody won: she got the guy she liked, he got a new girlfriend that he's much more compatible with, and I didn't have to deal with any of the drama of breaking up with him."
Blair anticipated Brian's follow-up question. "That didn't get anyone to overlook their values, either. Justin and I weren't that tight, so he didn't resist turning his attention to someone else; and Shannon really liked him, so she was glad to get the go ahead."
"Are you positive that your permission is what got them together?"
"Shannon's a decent girl – she didn't go after Justin until I +pushed her it was alright, so, yes, I think her part of it was because of my permission. And Justin is a decent guy – I'm sure that he would have done a proper 'breakup' with me, except he had such a strong feeling of 'this is OK.' That HAD to have come from my permission."
Blair let Brian ponder this for a moment.
She continued, "With you and the girls, remember what I said before: none of them are prudes, they're all open to sexual situations, as long as there's nothing sleazy involved. Once I +push permission to them, they won't even have a thought that having sex with you would possibly violate our friendship."
"Are you +pushing me permission right now not to worry about this?"
"No, I'm not," she laughed. "But maybe I should." Brian laughed too.
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T E R E S E
While nearly everyone had been happy for Brian and Blair when they got together, Terese was initially a holdout. She had carried a torch for Brian for several years, and she went through a visible depression – but the group rallied around her, and by mid-summer, she appeared to be back to normal.
Blair had thought that Terese would quickly find a new guy to fixate on, but she hadn't. She and Brian both bombarded Terese with images in which they were comfortable friends, and she seemed to be accepting that.
They had thought that coming up with the setup for Terese would be the most difficult, but in the end, it was the simplest, falling right into their laps.
Phil's parents were going to be out of town, and the band organized another grain alcohol party. Although Brian and Blair had long since abandoned Brian's original plan for seducing Jenn via the grain party, they took that basic idea, inverted it, and applied it to Terese.
Terese's house was only a couple of streets over from Blair's, on the opposite side of the neighborhood from Phil's. The plan started with Brian and Blair giving Terese a ride to the party. They picked her up, and chatted casually on the way. "How late are you planning on staying?" Terese asked.
"Not late, I have to work tomorrow morning," Blair said.
"Cool, I do too. I wouldn't mind at all being home by 12." Perfect...