Mike was anxious. Beyond anxious actually. Waiting in front of a classroom, he mentally recited the digits of Pi to calm his nerves. 3.1415926535897932… He was about to pass his LSATs in order to possibly get into Harvard and follow his adoptive parents' steps, as he had always wanted. Mike knew he was a genius, everyone told him so and his brain did not work like everyone else's. But it was Harvard Law School. The prestigious law school to become a prestigious lawyer to work in a prestigious law firm. Everyone's dream.
Jessica and Harvey had both prepared him intensely for this moment. They had helped him study and made sure every subject was well understood. Mike could not disappoint them.
The supervisor finally opened the door to the classroom to make the students enter. It was not long before Mike was in front of his LSAT, making sure to answer all of the questions to the best of his knowledge.
It has been 4 weeks since Mike had passed the LSAT exam. Four long and excruciating weeks to wait for his result. Mike had spent most of these weeks trying to keep his mind off of it but failing miserably. He was stressed and it affected the people around him. Jessica and Harvey were often at the other side of the wrath. They were all walking on eggshells and it was driving everyone crazy.
Finally, after 4 weeks, the letter Mike had been waiting for showed up in his adoptive mother's mailbox. The elegant font wrote From Harvard Law School to Mike Pearson-Specter. Jessica was the first one to see the letter and she had to put all of her willpower not to open right then and there.
Mike was at the moment working as a bike messenger in the city. It was not Jessica's, nor Harvey's idea, to have the kid risking his life in the streets of New York City to earn a few bucks while the adoptive parents could easily provide for his everyday spending. But Mike wanted to be as independent as possible.
The truth was that Mike was secretly seeing Trevor again despite his parents' forbiddance. In order to buy the pot from his friend, and now dealer, he needed fast money and for his parents to never find out about it.
So when Mike finally finished his drive of the day and returned home, Jessica was waiting for him with the precious letter. She had texted Harvey for him to hear about some good or bad news in the following hours.
"Mike, look what came in the mail today," Jessica said, bringing the letter in the air.
Immediately, Mike's eyes sparkled with joy and excitement. Finally, he would know what the future had in store for him. He did not need to wait for another second and tore the letter open. Mike did not read the entire letter, he just read the APPORUVED and ACCEPTED, and a smile burst on his face. Jessica knew her son enough to know it meant some pretty good news, not that she ever doubted it. She did the only thing a mom would do; she hugged her son and made him promise to call his dad as soon as possible.
Harvey and Jessica threw their son a celebration diner at his favorite restaurant, they even let him have a glass of their fancy bottle of wine. When they were finally over, Mike talked about his plan to spent the rest of the night with his friends Harold and Rachel to celebrate the good news. Not seeing any wrong, Jessica and Harvey let their son go. Truth be told, Trevor had gotten him to this awesome party and he just needed to go.
When he arrived at the party, Mike could easily smell the scent of marijuana and booze in the air. He immediately spotted Trevor and the fun could finally begin.
Two hours later, Mike found himself around a poker table, not sober at all, with some big bad douche guys. However, even with his mind blurred with drugs and alcohol, Mike could tell the arshole in front of him cheated and it costed him and Trevor dearly.
The two guys left quickly after that and Mike was trying to forget everything but he quickly realized Trevor was growing more and more anxious. Like the good friend he was, Mike was trying to get some answers out of him.
"Trevor, let it go," he said.
"I can't, I need that money back, I haven't paid the weed yet" Trevor finally spilled.
It didn't take a genius to figure out what the problem was. "You took a loan from a drug dealer?" Mike exclaimed. "Why did you bet with money you don't have?"
"I don't have some rich lawyer parents who can get me out of everything" Trevor spat in his friend's face.
Mike was slightly hurt by these words. He had done a lot of things to be able to still hang out with his friend, despite his parents' words. "We need to think about something" Mike tried to resonate with his friend.
"I've been thinking. And the only solution I've come up with… You're not gonna like it. Because I can't do it."
Mike knew immediately what his friend was talking about "We've talked about this; I'm not stealing any test for you"
"Not just any test, the test you've just aced," Trevor said. The answers to the LSAT could pay them great money. "It's not out there yet. Nobody has it. Tell me you haven't memorized every question and every answer, Harvard boy. Use it to help me. Please."
For some weeks, Mike was beginning to see what his parents had always warned him about Trevor. He was clearly using Mike in order to advance whatever the cost may be. Mike could lose everything from his acceptance into Harvard to his relationship with his parents. But Trevor was his only friend and friends helped each other. So, Mike reluctantly agreed to it.
Two days later, Mike was sitting on the sofa at Trevor's apartment waiting for his friend to come home after selling to some girl a math exam.
He then heard the door and Mike knew all of the cheating would be done soon. He did not need that kind of thing just months before going into Harvard.
Trevor stepped inside his apartment and confirmed that it was done and he had the money.
The day after, Mike found himself wandering in the streets with Trevor when two officers approached them and asked to talk with Trevor about some stolen test. Mike blanched and could not see straight for a second. Trevor had not been in the class where the exam had been stolen. It would not be long before the officers would be brought to Mike or Trevor would rat him out.
Guilt overcame Mike. He was guilty of cheating and he had agreed to Trevor's stupid plan. But if he came forward and told the truth, the school would fail him and he wouldn't go into Harvard. However, Mike could not forget everything they did together and all the times they had each other's back. So Mike did the only thing he deemed right; go to the principal office. There, he told every single thing that incriminated him. Mike would not live with the guilt of Trevor's expulsion while he was learning to be a big shot lawyer at Harvard.
If Mike had hoped the principal would go easy on him, he was wrong. The principal already knew about their plan and, the girl they had sold the test to being his daughter, he was asked the resigned from his position.
"I'm expelling you from this school and then, I'm gonna call Harvard. Believe me, when I tell you, you're never going there" the words still resonated in Mike's ears. He was done. No Harvard. And to expect to work one day at Pearson-Specter Law firm, you were expected to have graduated from Harvard, no exception.
On autopilot, Mike got up and went out the door. He could not remember how he got to his bike and even less how he got to his mother's house, but he somehow managed. Seeing the bright Aston Martin in the driveway only sent his nerve to another level. He could not begin to wonder how disappointed his parents would be. He had a hard time believing his parents would ever talk to him again.
Mike was tempted to leave and figure out another way to announce to his parents he would never be a lawyer. But where would he go? He could not bear the company of anyone at the moment and spending the night in New York's streets was just a death wish. So, he took all of his courage and pushed the front door to his mother's house open.
There she was, sitting on the couch, with a glass of expensive red wine. Harvey happened to be there. They were probably celebrating their latest win. They were chatting happily.
When Jessica heard the front door opened, she knew it was her adoptive son and called out to him "Mike, come in, we must tell you about what Louis did today" she said, a hint of laughter in her voice.
She turned around to look at her son, but as she saw his face, the smile vanished from her face. He was pale, paler than she had ever seen him. Even paler than when he caught the flu a few years back and he was awfully sick. Something must have been wrong with him.
"Mike, what's wrong?" she asked her son.
The teenager couldn't form any words out. He opened his mouth but no words left him. Harvey and Jessica watched their son with great interest.
Harvey got up and went to his son. He put both of his hands on the younger man's shoulder, to ground him and effectively get him out of his torpor.
"Mike" Harvey gently shook his son. He needed to know what was wrong to know how to help him.
"I… I won't go to Harvard" Mike finally got out. Saying it for the first time made things worst. As soon as he confessed, Mike suddenly found his shoes really interesting. He couldn't dare to look at his parents and see the disappointment in their eyes.
"What do you mean?" Jessica asked, getting up from the couch.
Mike took a deep breath. His parents required an explanation and it was better to get it over with right then. So, he explained everything. From his meetings with Trevor to the dealing, the cheating, and then his encounter with the principal. At some point in their conversation, Mike found himself sitting down on his couch, his parents on each of his sides. He didn't know how he found himself there, but in his emotional state, he could guess it was easy to handle him.
His parents listened intently. They didn't interrupt him. They wanted to hear to full story before jumping to conclusions.
When Mike finally finished telling his story, he noted there was tears track on his cheeks. They were tears of sadness, knowing he would never be a lawyer like his parents, and shame, knowing what he did was bad and he deserved everything that happened to him.
He felt Jessica's hands brushed against his cheeks, removing the tears from his face. It was a maternal touch she had developed over the years watching over Mike. "Oh Mike," she said. It was her turn to be lost at words. On one hand, she wanted to be angry at Mike. If he needed money, he knew he could come to them. It would have been a better solution than cheating for someone. On the other hand, seeing her son so sad shattered her heart. She just wanted to hug him so tight he would forget all about his problems.
On the other end of the couch, Harvey was fuming. He thought he had enough of that Trevor's guy. He should have made sure he was out of Mike's life for good. If it wasn't for that so called-friend, Mike would still have a future.
The two parents exchanged a look over their son's head. Over the years, they had learned to read from each other's minds. With just one look, they knew exactly what the other was thinking; if someone could do something, it would be them. They were not two of the best lawyers in New York City for nothing. Harvey gave Jessica a curt nod before getting up to make a few calls, while she had to distract Mike for a few minutes. They could do something, but nothing was sure.
Jessica, seeing Harvey get up and leave, gave in to her maternal instincts and enveloped Mike in a bone-crushing hug. She couldn't handle seeing him so upset, no matter how wrong he was.
For the next few minutes, mother and son were ready to enjoy each other embraces. Jessica then saw Harvey re-enter the living, giving Jessica a nod with his head.
"Mike, I have something to tell you," Harvey said. Immediately, his son got out of Jessica's arms and looked at his father in his eyes. Harvey seemed to want to have a serious conversation with him. No doubt to reprimand him and to cut him off and send him to the foster system. The thought alone made the younger man's stomach churned. The only thing worst than not going to Harvard was to lose the only family he had left.
Harvey continued, not knowing the turmoil inside Mike's head, "I just placed a few calls to some of Harvard's recruiters. They are good friends. They already got wind of what happened, but they are ready to overlook it if you promise it is the only mistake you make. They expect a perfect record from you."
The look of shock on Mike's face was worth all the trouble Harvey could have gotten into by trying to get Harvard to favor his son.
Harvey went on, "Of course, this means you won't hear from Trevor ever again. I told you once and I'll tell you again; this boy is not good for you. He keeps bringing you down."
Mike immediately nodded his head. "Anything. I'll do anything, Dad," he said.
"We mean it, Mike," Jessica chipped in, "you can't see Trevor ever again. You've seen what he can bring you into."
"I promise. Harvard won't hear from me except that I'm an excellent student," Mike assured his parents.
Harvey and Jessica nodded, thrusting their son. This problem would teach him how quickly his life could be altered with one mistake. "Good," Jessica said. "We now need to put this behind us and look forward."
It was Mike's turn to nod. He couldn't help but thank his lucky star to have put such incredible parents in his path.