Bloomington Page #3

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I watched some of the episodes

of your show while you were gone.

I know, I'm sorry!

I couldn't help it,

they were on TV one night!

Well, what did you think?

Uh, well...

You hated it.

No! No, I didn't!

You were great.

You were adorable.

Thanks.

You looked very happy.

I was.

I loved working on that show.

Was it hard when it ended?

Yeah...

but I was already

off the show by that point.

I had asked to be written off.

Why?

Sorry, am I being too intrusive?

No.

Uh, I just felt like I needed

a break after Mark died.

I didn't want to be there without him.

And of course we didn't

tell that to the press, so...

there were all sorts

of speculation, drug rumors,

people saying I went crazy...

all sorts of stuff.

Would you ever go back to it?

Acting?

I don't know.

I'm not nearly as cute

as I was ten years ago.

Or precocious.

The things they had you

saying on that show...

really, what child talks like that?

Well, every genius, teenage,

cargo-ship,

class A engineer talks like that.

I guess I haven't met any.

Turn the tether propulsion systems

up to 95, 52 degrees,

and call the command center.

Keep the reaction control systems

at 3-5-1, 11 degrees.

This is Tyler, signing off.

And what is tether propulsion?

I have no idea; I never asked.

- It sounds sexy.

- Does it?

You're stronger than you look.

What else did they make you say?

Uh...

gravitron-polarity generator...

trimagnesite...

carbon nanotuber...

rotovator...

I can't believe you got

the third one right, jerk!

What about you, Jacks?

If you wanted to hold my hand,

all you had to do was ask.

Holy crap! How did you get an A on this?

Jackie was short-listed

for the scholarship.

You know, the big one.

Congratulations!

You should have told somebody.

I just found out like five minutes ago.

I still have to write this

essay, though -

"Why I Should Be The One

To Get All Of Your Money."

One of those.

- Like it matters.

- Sandy.

What do you mean?

I'm just sayin', I think it's great

that you work so hard

even though you

don't have to like the rest of us.

Why don't I have to?

Because you have a career already.

It's not like you'll have to get

a job as a therapist when you grow up.

Why don't you grow up?

You don't know that about her.

I'm not criticizing, I'm just saying.

Jackie, you know I think

you're great, honest.

Yeah, I know.

See?

Do you have to go?

Yeah, sorry.

I just remembered something.

By the way, I signed us up

for that research participation thing.

I can't remember the date exactly,

but it's on the board.

Thanks. See you guys later.

How old were you when they died?

Uh...

Fifteen.

How old was your brother?

Sixteen, I think.

I heard all about

a certain name on a short-list today.

Did they ever find out what happened?

No.

Pilot error, probably.

They never found

anything wrong with the plane.

Of course I've been afraid

of flying ever since.

I mean, I do it if I have to,

I just don't really like it.

All done.

You know,

I actually have my pilot's license.

Really?

I got it for the show

'cause I thought it would help.

Of course we made the network

pay for the whole thing.

Oh, smart girl.

Impressive.

Is it true they found the body

of a student in your trunk one time?

Is that what they're saying now?

What else?

That you're in the

witness protection program.

And?

And your parents were in the mob.

Oh...

And you're a vampire.

Wow, I never knew I had

such an interesting background.

Probably shouldn't deny any of it.

I can tell you this though...

If my parents were in the mob,

then so was Professor Hecht.

He and my dad were best friends.

Really?

He was the best man in their wedding.

Actually, I think I have

a picture of him somewhere.

Is that why you're not

afraid of getting caught?

Yes. Exactly.

It's a nude picture.

Catherine...

Yes...

How many were there before me?

I don't know.

Well, what happened to them?

It ended. They left.

Am I different?

Would you believe me if I said yes?

Do you want me to help

you write your essay?

I'm pretty good at it.

OK, there's perception and reality.

Perception is the confluence

of these two streams.

There's sensation, what you feel;

and cognition, what you know.

You can present the board

with just reality,

facts about educational background,

or you can guide them towards

how you want to be perceived.

An ambiguous image

is open to multiple interpretations

on a perceptual level.

You need to make sure

your essay is unambiguous.

Teach them that

you're the one that deserves this.

Don't just say "I did this one thing",

"I took this one class".

Tell them how to feel about it.

Point them to it,

and fill in the blanks.

Have you ever seen one of those pictures

that are made up of two images

and they're so well combined that

you can't really tell

which one you're looking at?

You don't want your essay

to be like that.

Tell them which one they're looking at.

Anything less and you're

gonna leave the door wide open,

and out goes your scholarship.

Good.

Really good.

It's a good start.

Take a look at the last paragraph,

though. It needs some clarity.

OK.

Hey, Catherine?

Yeah?

What's your article about?

Boring stuff.

What kind of boring stuff?

You know, the abnormal psych kind.

Like what?

Catherine?

Well, it's based on the theory

of the reversal of self-denial.

I've never heard of that.

What's the reversal of self-denial?

You know what denial is, right?

It's like, if you deny yourself

something for long enough

for whatever self-imposed reason,

the moment you are faced

with any real external imposition,

you're gonna voluntarily want to do

the thing that you were

trying so hard not to do.

Did you just make that up?

No.

Here, have a seat.

Why?

Because I'm gonna

demonstrate the theory.

All right.

Now, you know how you're always

so quiet when we have sex?

- Is that a problem?

- No.

I just wondered why, is all.

So I figured, if you're so darn quiet

when you don't have to be...

let's see how quiet you can be

when you absolutely have to.

Are you nuts? Stop.

Hold on to the desk.

Trust me, you're gonna need it.

Shh...

Cured.

Bastard!

Did you make a wish?

I did.

- What did you wish for?

- I can't tell you!

Let's hurry up and eat

because I have a surprise for you.

Another one? Ahh!

Yes, but this is a top secret surprise

in a top secret government location.

You see, I'm going to be testing

the Mahoney Principle for Reducing Fear.

Is this retribution

for the library thing?

Absolutely not.

The principle states

that fear can be greatly reduced

by knowledge of the inner-workings

of that which is feared.

Such as,

if a child is afraid of monsters

you should take them

to the set of a horror film.

Once they see how the monster's made

they will cease to be afraid of them.

Trust me, I've seen it happen.

What journal was that published in?

None.

Mahoney is my mother's maiden name.

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