Alexa’s eyes slowly drifted open as light filtered through the curtains to cross her face. She was in an unfamiliar bedroom, presumably somewhere in Frankie’s house. She’d been surprised when the scrawny nerd had set up a house party, but for all her social failings (in Alexa’s mind), she’d put on a damn good one. At least, the parts that she remembered were good. Which, upon reflection, were not very many. The dark-skinned girl frowned slightly. She often had gaps in her memory after these events, but usually they weren’t so complete. It’s probably nothing, she thought, and tried to roll over.

It was at that point that Alexa consciously realised that she was not alone in this bed. Strong arms wrapped around her; the naked form of another girl, snuggling up to her and pinning her slightly. Alexa realised she didn’t know who it was she was in bed with, which was very unusual for her. Judging from the slight shakiness in her legs, however, they’d clearly been quite good in bed. She tried to roll again, putting more pressure against the bear hug she was wrapped in, but her mystery bedfellow pulled her in closer, pressing her back against their chest. “Mmm… five more minutes,” a sleep-addled voice mumbled in her ear. Alexa blinked in surprise. That voice, sleepy though it was, sounded like… Making a more determined effort, Alexa started to force her head around. The person beside her made some unhappy noises, moving their hands to her breasts, clearly trying to bribe her back into being the little spoon with the promise of sex, but Alexa was undeterred, and managed to turn herself around to come face to face with… Carmine?

“What the fuck?” Her immediate instinct was to try and pull away from her arch-rival, the shock clearing any drowsiness from her own voice. Carmine opened her eyes seemingly for the first time, a confused frown spreading over her face as her gaze met Alexa’s. Then reality seemed to hit her, and she released her grip on the brunette, jerking backwards in the bed as she woke up fully. Her eyes widened.

“I, uh… yeah, seconded, what the fuck? I… did we… last night…”

Both young women practically launched themselves out of the bed in opposite directions, only belatedly realising that this left them both completely exposed to each other. Alexa cast her gaze around for her clothes, but couldn’t spot them. “What did you do with my stuff?” she hissed, not wishing to raise her voice and disturb - or, worse, attract the attention of - anyone else who might be around after the party.

“What did I do? Do you really think I’m the type to hide a girl’s clothing after I’ve… uh… apparently…” Carmine started floundering for words, unwilling to verbalise the obvious yet unthinkable.

Something snagged Alexa’s attention as she started rummaging through the closets and under the bed, to no success. “Hang on. “Apparently”? You mean… How much do you remember of last night? Because I’ve…” She considered whether it was wise to reveal this weakness, but she had enough faith in the red-haired butch to be confident she’d be an ally in this moment, stuck as they were in the same boat. “I don’t really remember anything that happened at the party,” Alexa admitted.

Carmine’s shoulders sagged in relief slightly. “Me neither… Temporary truce then? Until we get to the bottom of this?”

Alexa nodded, holding out a hand to shake. “Deal. So… I suppose we need to find our clothes, then. Any ideas?”

“You’re certain they’re not in here?”

“As certain as I can be.”

“In that case…” Carmine grabbed a blanket off the bed and held it up to Alexa. “You’re smaller, so this’ll cover you better. How about you go looking elsewhere for them then?”

Alexa rolled her eyes at Carmine forcing her to do the most socially ruinous part of the task, but couldn’t fault the logic. “Okay, fine.” She snatched the blanket out of the other girl’s hands and, wrapping it around herself, strode towards the door, pulling the handle.

It was locked. Or, at least, she couldn’t figure out how to work it, jiggle and push and pull as she tried. She could practically feel Carmine rolling her eyes behind her as the jock strode over and grabbed the handle herself. “Fine, I suppose I’ll…” She tried the door as well, but found it equally stuck.

“Alright, this is just getting creepy,” Alexa muttered to herself.

“No shit, Sherlock. So… do we call for help, or climb out the window?”

Alexa was about to say that neither of those sounded any good whatsoever, when a slight rustling sound attracted both of their attention, and a slip of paper was pushed underneath the door. Alexa immediately snatched it up. Her brow furrowed in confusion as she read it.

“Go on,” prompted Carmine. “What does it say?”

“Well- I- it doesn’t make any sense! It says…” Alexa cleared her throat nervously, before reading the message.

Good morning, my Sleeping Beauties.

Look, everyone at school is both sick of your petty bickering - you’re about to graduate, for pity’s sake, so start acting like adults rather than tweens getting into catfights every five seconds - and everyone can also see through your barely-disguised crushes on each other. So, until you kiss and make up, you’re not leaving this room. Capice?

Oh, and by the way…

Mistress commands you to Remember.

Something changed in the air as Alexa read the final lines out loud. She staggered backwards as suddenly, new memories, ones that certainly hadn’t been there before, clicked into place. Looking up from the note, she could see Carmine having much the same reaction.

““Mistress”?” Alexa asked. “What- who could that-” She managed to pick something out of the flood of new memories, and her eyes widened as her blanket fell to the floor, forgotten. “Frankie’s hypnosis show.”

The party was going very well, all things considered. Alexa had never given much thought to Frankie; the shy, gangly nerd had never really crossed her radar before, as they moved in distinctly different circles. But between her shockingly high-quality selection of food and especially drinks, and her equally surprising talent in music selection, things were really kicking off at the brunette’s house. There was only one issue: Carmine had also been invited. Looking over at her little gang, Alexa had to restrain herself from rolling her eyes yet again, or she might actually end up pulling something. The jocks were all so loud, and obnoxious, and Carmine was the standout example, letting out another bellow of laughter at something one of her equally annoying friends had said. It was almost spell-binding, how annoying she was, so much so that Alexa couldn’t look away as Carmine tilted back her head, wrapping one arm around a friend’s shoulders. God, imagine if that was me, Alexa thought for a second. That would be… annoying? Yes, definitely… annoying. Nothing else.

She was about to sashay over there and try and get Carmine to do that to her, just so she could prove to herself how annoying it would be to have those strong arms resting on her shoulders, have that head tilt back in laughter at something she’d said, but at that point, Frankie tapped a glass with a spoon and everyone quieted down.

“Alright, everyone! The party’s gonna keep on going in here… but, if you wanna see me try and hypnotise someone, follow me!”

There was scattered whooping, and a small contingent of partygoers - Carmine included - headed off after Frankie. Alexa mentally rolled her eyes. Hypnosis? Really? What, was Frankie gonna grab someone, dangle a pocket watch in front of their eyes, and tell them to act like a chicken?

…On second thought, that sounded like it’d be good for a laugh, if nothing else. And besides, most of the popular crowd seemed to be headed in that direction too, so… Sure, why not?

The small group that had followed Frankie ended up in what seemed to be her family’s living room, away from the main crowd in the family room. She’d set up a bunch of chairs pointed towards a single, isolated chair at one end of the room, which she took up position standing next to. Alexis claimed a seat towards the back, as far as possible from Carmine. As the last people trickled in, Frankie raised a hand for quiet.

“Alright, I’m gonna need to pick out a volunteer to actually be hypnotised.” A bunch of hands shot up, but Frankie gestured for everyone to lower them. “I’m glad you’re eager, but I need to work out who’s most susceptible to hypnosis. So, if you wanna be hypnotised, I’m gonna guide you through a simple exercise. Everyone else, just sit back and relax; there’s no pressure to actually get up here if you don’t want.”

Alexis elected to sit back and watch as Frankie began to lead her volunteers through a routine. She noted that Carmine had eagerly raised her hand at the start, and was now playing along, closing her eyes, holding out her hands, and trying to visualise the bucket and balloon that Frankie had told her to imagine tied to a hand each. Alexis wasn’t sure whether to roll her eyes or laugh to herself; this could certainly prove interesting material for any future arguments between the two of them. Especially since the red-haired girl was really getting into it, her hands beginning to move further apart as Frankie continued to narrate in soothing tones about how they were being lifted and pulled, drawn up and down, into the air and towards the ground. Frankie seemed to clock it as well, her gaze focusing more on the jock as she continued her little spiel. Eventually, she announced to everyone that they could open their eyes, and several of the students - Carmine among them - reacted with visible shock at just how much they’d been influenced by such a simple description. A quiet chatter burst out through the room, which was cut off by Frankie clapping her hands.

“Alright! Thank you everyone for your eagerness to participate, but for this evening, our lucky winner is Carmine! Come join me, please.”

Leaving her seat to whoops from her friends, and another eye-roll from Alexa, Carmine made herself comfy in the armchair at the front of the room. From one of her pockets, Frankie produced a pocket watch on a chain, holding it loosely at her side for now, and cleared her throat.

“Alright, Carmine. Before we get into this properly, I need to make some things clear. First, hypnosis can’t make you do anything you’re uncomfortable with. It might expand your boundaries a bit, but if anything feels a step too far, then tell me, and I’ll stop and make sure you’re okay. And there’s absolutely no shame in that-” here, she seemed to be addressing the audience more than her prospective subject - “so don’t feel like you have to do anything just because the crowd wants you to, or because I want you to. This is just as much about you having fun as it is about the rest of us, yeah?” Carmine nodded in response. “That being said,” Frankie continued, “you should also absolutely give yourself permission to move a bit outside your comfort zone, if that’s something you wanna do and if it sounds fun. That’s half the fun of a hypnosis show, after all. So… you all good to begin?”

Carmine nodded again. “Absolutely,” she said quietly.

Frankie beamed. “Great!” She held the watch up in front of Carmine’s face, allowing it to spin on its chain, catching the light and bouncing it into the jock’s face. “So, for now, I need you to follow along with my instructions. Don’t feel like you have to force anything; don’t worry about if it’s working; if you’re really hypnotised or not. Just follow my instructions to the best of your ability, like you did with the bucket and balloon test just now. That sound good?” Carmine nodded, and Frankie continued. “Good. So for now, I want you to keep your eyes on the pocket watch. See how it reflects the light; see how it sways and spins; moving slow enough that you can just about make out the intricate detail on its casing. Let your eyes track it as it moves back… and forth… just like that. It’s easy to just watch the watch; it’s simple to just let your mind start to fill with thoughts of the watch… and only the watch… nothing else, the watch slowly but surely pushing every other thought out of your mind as it sways back… and forth… back… and forth… finding now that your eyes are locked to the watch; that you can’t look away, no matter how hard you try. Go ahead and try that for me now.”

Alexa realised with a start at this point that she’d been getting caught up in Frankie’s spiel, allowing her own gaze to lock to the watch, and her own thoughts to grow more distant. She tried to tug her focus away from the watch, even as she distantly registered Carmine attempting the same, and almost managed it, but-

“And stop trying for me now,” Frankie ordered, and both Carmine and Alexa relaxed, eyes snapping back to firmly land on the watch. “It’s easier to just focus on the watch, easier to let your eyes and your thoughts and your mind just get locked and bound to the watch. Isn’t that right?” Carmine nodded slightly, and Alexa found herself mentally concurring before she even had a chance to consciously think it through. “That’s right; you’re doing very well. Just letting the watch and my words guide you further down this path; deeper and deeper towards… trance. That’s right; you’re already in a light trance. You can feel it, can’t you? Your thoughts getting fuzzier… gaze getting softer… body relaxing slightly.”

Alexa realised, breaking out of the growing mental static, that this was applying just as much to her, and tried to shake herself out of-

“And it looks like, now you’ve had your attention brought to it, that you’re breaking yourself out of trance, just a little bit. And that’s perfectly normal, but it’s not what you want right now, is it? And really, it’s so much easier to stop worrying about how you’re feeling, and to just be.” Frankie punctuated her statement by snapping her fingers, and Alexa found her train of thought grinding to a halt, jumbling out of order, as her eyes locked onto the watch again and her body slumped just a little more. “There we go,” Frankie smiled. “Just letting yourself focus and follow and float and fall; putting your worries aside; allowing yourself to just sink into a peaceful, relaxing trance; getting ready to put on a good show. Your body’s getting heavier, now, thoughts getting slower, eyelids drooping more and more with each second, each moment, each blink. You’re hanging onto all of my words now, each word, each syllable, each sound drops you a little bit more, makes you fall further into a nice, suggestible, obedient trance for me, and for all these fine folks watching you. That’s it, such a good girl,” and oh, Alexa felt a shudder go through her at those words, but Frankie had swooped in again before she could have a chance to interrogate that, “and you’re getting so close to falling into a deep, hypnotised sleep for me, isn’t that right?”

“Yes,” Carmine whispered, projecting her voice just enough for everyone to hear.

“Yes,” Alexa echoed, barely enough for her neighbours to spot and realise that she too was dropping.

“That’s right; you’re doing so well for me. I’m gonna count down from ten now… and when I hit zero, all your thoughts will slip away, and you’ll fall asleep for me, ready to obey my every command. Ready? Ten… nine… eight… seven… six… five… four… three… two… one… zero. Sleep.” Frankie’s voice had dropped to a whisper, and the snap of her fingers echoed like a gunshot in the room, and both Carmine and Alexa responded to it like it was, jolting in their seats, before slumping over entirely, dead to the world.

Carmine snorted indelicately as the memories came back to her. They were both sitting on the bed now, firmly at opposite corners, and she was trying to avoid openly ogling the popular girl in front of her. Mockery proved a good distraction from tracing her dark curves with her eyes. “Ha! You totally didn’t believe in it, but she got you good!”

Alexa waved her hands in annoyance. “I… well… she… How do you even know that; you were knocked out just as much!”

“Yeah, but in trance! I was still aware… sort of… and so I definitely remember you being pulled up next to me. And then… Oh, God,” she groaned, as more memories reappeared.

Even as far away as consciousness felt right now, Carmine knew that Frankie was chuckling nervously next to her. There was a very distant worry in the back of her mind that she’d done something wrong, but then Frankie spoke up.

“W-well, it looks like we have a second volunteer! Or maybe a medical episode? Can someone make sure she’s not dying, and I’ll come check on her in a second. Carmine, you’re doing great, and for now, I just want you to allow yourself to drift and drop further for me every second. Just luxuriate in the feeling of trance, knowing that you’re doing so well, and waiting for me to return to you soon. Can you do that for me?”

“Mmm…” Carmine mumbled. She could feel time stretching out as she relaxed further into trance, allowing her body to sink into the chair.

“Good girl,” Frankie whispered, and then Carmine heard her footsteps moving away, through the crowd, and to the back of the room.

Alexa was vaguely aware she was slumped on the floor, but she wasn’t really paying much attention to that right now. The trance had snuck up on her, but now she was under, it felt like she could do nothing else but sink deeper. She was vaguely aware of Frankie’s footsteps approaching her, and then a gentle hand was on her shoulder and Frankie was addressing her - quietly enough to be soothing, but still loud enough for the whole room to hear her.

“Can you hear me, Alexa?”

“Uh-huh,” she muttered into the carpet.

“How are you feeling?”

“Sleepy… relaxed… obedient… hypnotised.” The words just naturally flowed out of her mouth.

“Okay. So, now that you’re under, do you want me to wake you up? Or… do you wanna put on a bit of a show?”

“Wanna be part of the show…” Damn right, the last parts of her consciousness thought. There was no way she’d allow Carmine to upstage her!

“Great! So, as I told Carmine, if you ever feel uncomfortable, you can always ask me to stop, and there’s no shame in doing so. I want you to have fun as much as the audience, yeah? So… lemme just grab a second armchair, and then I’ll get you up there!”

Frankie’s footsteps retreated, and Alexa could hear the shuffling of furniture. She could also hear people seemingly talking about her, but making sense of what they were saying was too much of a task for her dazed mind. Frankie returned.

“Okay, Alexa, I want you to slowly open your eyes, remaining in this deep, relaxed trance for me. Can you do that?”

“Yeeeaaah…” Slowly, the brunette forced her eyes open. Frankie was crouching just in front of her.

“Good. And now you’re gonna let me lead you to your new seat.” The bespectacled girl held out a hand, which Alexa obediently took, allowing herself to be pulled through the crowd, up to the new chair next to Carmine’s. The jock was fully sunk into the seat at this point, looking dead to the world as Alexa was guided to sink back into the armchair. “And now you can fall back to sleep for me,” Frankie instructed, and Alexa’s eyes slammed shut as she fell into her seat, slumping over towards Carmine as she did so.

Carmine was just about aware that she was now sharing the stage with that bitch Alexa, but she couldn’t really summon the willpower to care that the unfairly gorgeous, generous hottie was next to her. Not when sinking and submitting felt so much better as Frankie returned to her script.

“There we go, two glamorous assistants, sinking more deeply by the second under my control. There we go, both feeling so relaxed, so tired and sleepy for me, that there’s just zero tension in any of your joints. If I pick up your arm,” and she grabbed Carmine loosely by the wrist, “I can just move it around, let it flop back and forth, and you find you can’t resist; can’t summon any strength or energy or willpower to let it do anything other than what I want.” She dropped the jock’s wrist, and her arm just flopped back into her lap. “Or if I start moving your head around,” and it took several seconds for Carmine’s sleepy mind to realise she must be demonstrating on Alexa, “it just goes along with my hands, like a pretty little bobblehead for me. I can move your head back… and forth… left… and right… I can make you smile… aww, doesn’t she look cute like that, folks?” There was a general murmur of approval from the crowd.

“Now, of course, you’re both so limp and pliant and relaxed because I want you to be. Because right now, I’m in charge,” Frankie continued. “So if I decide to give you some energy, but tell you to channel it into being stiff, and rigid, and immoveable, you’ll immediately switch to that state. I want you to find now that energy’s seeping back into your bodies, but it’s still totally under my control. Find yourselves feeling compelled to stand up now, and open your eyes, but remaining mindlessly controlled.” She supplemented the order with a snap of her fingers.

Carmine rose to her feet, smoothly and calmly, her eyes gliding open but not registering Frankie’s slightly nervous - but increasingly calm and in-control - presence just in front of her, nor the crowd further beyond, gazes locked to herself and the girl next to her, mirroring her movements. No, despite the fact that she could only barely see Alexa out of the corner of her eye, the brunette was the only person she could really think about right now; all her remaining spare mental space was going towards her nemesis next to her, who she was now united with in trance. But then Frankie spoke up again, and her attention was completely taken up by her Mistress’ words.

“Now, I want you to each hold out an arm, straight to your side.” Both of them did so, pointing away from each other. “Good. Now, find that your bodies - and especially your outstretched arms - are frozen in place, locked there, stiff and rigid and bound in position. Completely immoveable, no matter how much anyone tries to move them.” Carmine felt the change rolling over her, felt her muscles tightening more than she’d ever consciously experienced. “Very good,” Frankie cooed, and Carmine felt a wave of happiness spread through her limited consciousness, unable to show it on her schooled mask of a face. “Now, then… who wants to try move them?”

A flurry of hands shot up through the small crowd, and Frankie picked out a couple of volunteers. Carmine could feel them, more than see them, pressing down on her arm, but to no avail, as her muscles resisted any and all attempts at being moved. The bigger expressions of shock, however, came from Alexa’s side of the “stage”, as the weedier girl proved equally immoveable. Chuckling slightly, Frankie thanked her temporary volunteers and sent them back to their seats. “Now, I, of course, can move them easily if I want them to be moved.” She pressed lightly on Carmine’s arm, and it levered neatly back against her side, before doing the same for Alexa. “Which means that I essentially have a couple of poseable statues here for your entertainment. So… what position should I put them in?”

A bunch of overlapping voices yelled out suggestions, but one seemed to stick out to Carmine - and to Frankie, too. “Was that “dancers”?” she asked. “That sounds fun… maybe they could be dance partners!”

Adjusting Carmine’s arms so she could sort-of carry her, Frankie wheeled her around to face side-on to the audience, before bringing Alexa over to face her. Then she began the process of putting them into a waltzing hold: Carmine’s arm moved down to Alexa’s waist; Alexa’s corresponding arm to Carmine’s shoulder; their other hands clasped together; and then the two of them tilted slightly over so that they appeared to be mid-dip. Frankie squidged their cheeks, instructing them to smile, and they both did; their gazes, already locked, seemed to become ever-so-slightly… heated? Frankie seemed to notice this detail and spoke up. “Okay, in a moment, I’ll snap my fingers, and your minds will return to their normal state. Your bodies will still be frozen in place; your minds will be ready to drop back into trance like they are now, but you’ll be awake and aware and able to speak and look around. Minds waking up in 1, 2, 3…”

*Snap.*

Carmine blinked in confusion as she fully realised that oh, Alexa was very close to her. And they were in quite an intimate position. And they were gazing deeply into each other’s eyes. She flushed, looking away and trying to move, but found her muscles locked up, like she’d been turned to stone.

“What the-” she gasped. “I- you- Frankie!”

Alexa was looking just as baffled and embarrassed, her expressions and emotions having pretty much mirrored Carmine’s. “Huh? When did- why am I-”

“Aww, you make such a cute couple,” Frankie cooed from somewhere neither of them could see, to general giggling from the audience and more furious blushing from both subjects, followed by indignant spluttering as they tried to regain control of the situation.

“What? No, you- we’d never-”

“Are you joking? You made us- I-”

As Frankie spoke up, Carmine could absolutely hear the accompanying eye-roll. “Okay, that’s enough chatter from the both of you for now; I’ve got a show to run here. You’ll turn back into mindless statues at the snap of my fingers. Dropping back into trance in 3, 2, 1…”

“I, uh… My memory gets a bit blurrier from there,” Carmine admitted. Somehow, the two of them had moved closer to each other on the bed as they’d talked the night’s events over, leaning in out of solidarity at the situation they both swore they’d been forced into. They were now awkwardly sitting next to each other, Alexa having to resist the temptation to lean into the jock’s shoulder.

Alexa’s brow furrowed. “Yeah, mine too. Like, you were definitely my footstool at one point… then I was your, ugh, your horse or something… did she make us think we were puppies?”

Another snort from Carmine, laughter softening her features. “Oh, yeah, we definitely were. Y’know, I’ve said it before, and this just proves it… you’re a bitch!”
Alexa scowled, but inexplicably found herself trying to swallow laughter. Why did she find that funny? “Yeah?” she fired back. “Well, I always told you you’d look better under me…”

Carmine did actually laugh at that, before hastily schooling her expression back into one of offence. “I- uh- excuse you,” she lamely retorted.

“But, uh, seriously,” Alexa continued, “I think we might’ve forgotten that bit, because after that, things started getting weird, right?”

Carmine’s eyes widened. “Right…”

“Sleep,” Frankie ordered, and both puppies slumped to the ground, remembering themselves as hypnotised humans. Alexa vaguely realised that she was nestled up against Carmine’s body, but couldn’t really bring herself to care as Frankie addressed the audience.

“Isn’t that precious, folks? Now, speaking of… I always intended for this show to get a bit spicier; we’re all adults here, after all, so this ain’t gonna be your school assembly or talent show hypnosis act. But given who exactly our volunteers are… I think we should take things in a particular direction. So… gimme a cheer if you’re aware of how badly these two get along.”

What sounded like most of the audience responded.

“That’s about what I thought; they’re infamous, aren’t they? And I think we can all agree it’s getting ridiculous, isn’t it?”

There was a ripple of laughter through the crowd. Alexa could just barely make out some of her friends’ voices among it.

“And, well, I’m sure you’ve seen some of the looks they’ve given each other in the school throughout the years. You’ve definitely seen the looks they’ve given each other tonight; how they’ve been all over each other, when I gave them the chance. So… who’s been waiting for them to put aside their differences and start making out?”

Somehow an even bigger cheer went through the audience, this one seemingly led by the girls.

Frankie chuckled. “What say we help them along tonight?”

There was some more cheering, and even some scattered applause there. Alexa was just about summoning the willpower to get indignant, but it was all too much effort. That was definitely the reason she dropped it, and not because there was any truth in there whatsoever…

Frankie crouched down next to them. “Alright, my lovely subjects. Alexa, I want you to picture Carmine in your mind; Carmine, I want you to picture Alexa. Take all your thoughts and opinions and feelings towards the other girl; everything that makes up your mental picture of her, and lay all of it out. Some of it will be positive, and some will be negative. Can you both see that?”

Two quiet noises of affirmation came from the crumpled forms beneath her.

“Good. Now, I want you both to take the negative side of your thoughts about the other girl, and pull them off to the side in that picture. And once you’ve done that, once all your negative thoughts are sectioned off from the positive thoughts, you’re going to put those negative thoughts in a box in your head… then you’ll shut the box and lock it tight… and then you’re going to give me the key.”

Alexa ran through those steps in her mind. As the mental box shut tight with a little click, she could feel all those thoughts becoming more distant from her. Why… why had she been getting so annoyed at the amazing girl next to her? Slowly, she rolled off of Carmine’s body and reached out a limp hand in the general direction of Frankie’s voice. She could feel the nerd’s hand brushing against hers, taking the key away from her. Then, after a few more seconds, Frankie spoke up again.

“Right. Good girls, you’re doing so well. So, now your negative thoughts about each other are locked away, you’ll be unable to bring them to mind. You know they exist; you know they used to be there. But right now, you can’t fathom what those thoughts might be, or why you might have held them. Can you feel that?”

Again, two quiet noises of affirmation.

“Very good. So, on the count of 3, I’ll snap my fingers, and you’ll wake up with this new outlook on each other, only able to recall your positive thoughts about the other girl. And…” a smile came to Frankie’s voice, as though she’d thought of something devious, “you’ll be compelled to answer any questions I ask you honestly, and to follow any orders I give you, as long as you feel safe and comfortable to do so. Waking up in 1, 2, 3…”

*Snap*.

Alexa blinked, stretched, and sat up next to… oh. Carmine was right next to her, and Alexa found her gaze helplessly drawn to the jock. The way her eyes blinked slowly as she took in her surroundings; the way her lips parted ever so slightly; how her shirt was riding up a little bit to expose her abs; how… how her eyes seemed equally locked to Alexa, flicking between her cleavage and her lips, as though she was drawn to her. Alexa made a small, nervous noise, tucking her hair behind her ear and shuffling back onto her armchair. Carmine mirrored her, beat for beat.

Frankie’s voice cut through her reverie. “How are you feeling, girls?”

“I- uh- g-great! J-just fine!”

“Y-yeah; I-I’m all good too. Peachy!” A cute little blush was forming across Carmine’s face, highlighting her equally adorable freckles; Alexa found herself unable to settle on a place to look, squirming in her seat.

“You sure?” Frankie teased. “Because right now, you both seem a bit distracted…”

Alexa tried to come up with a cogent rebuttal, but found herself reduced to mostly lovestruck stammering. Her one saving grace was that Carmine seemed… no, how could she be in the same boat? She was way out of Alexa’s league, surely. And besides, she’d been such a bitch to her…

Frankie clapped her hands, startling both subjects. “Alright, well, I don’t think we’re ever going to get anything more done here if you two don’t clear the air. So… Carmine, why don’t you tell everyone how you feel about Alexa?”

Alexa shrank back into her seat as Carmine, blushing bright red, tried to gather her thoughts. As the jock took a deep breath to answer, however, Alexa jumped in.

“W-wait, no, you- you don’t have to say anything. I… I know I’ve been horrible to you; that I could never compare to you, you don’t need to tell everyone. I know I’d deserve every word of what you’re about to say, but I don’t want to think about it right now. I-I’ll go…”

She went to stand up, past a concerned-looking Frankie, but a pressure around her wrist stopped her. Looking back, she could see Carmine had grabbed her, a gently teasing look on her face.

“Rather egotistical of you, to say that you deserve to be called the hottest girl I’ve ever met, isn’t it?”

“Buh?”

Carmine let go of Alexa’s hand, and moved to stand facing her. “Or that you’re the funniest girl I’ve ever met; or that you make everything you do look so effortlessly cool; or how good a friend I know you are to… to people who’ve actually earned it; or how you just radiate charisma; or any of a million other things. You… I’m so lucky to have you in my life, and… I threw it away by being a bitch to you. I… I’m sorry; I should be the one to leave.”

Carmine went to turn away now, but even before Frankie began to whisper to Alexa, “I think you should return the favour, don’t you?”, the brunette had mirrored Carmine’s gesture, grabbing her retreating form.

“Hold up a minute. For starters, have you never looked in a mirror? Because there’s no way I’m the hottest person you’ve ever seen when you’re right there.” Carmine stopped, stunned. “And there’s your determination, how you just apply yourself to anything you set yourself to; how confident you are; how you manage to light up a room just by being there… If you get to say all those incredible things about me, there’s no way you can call yourself inadequate when you’re even better.”

Alexa realised that at some point she had brought a hand up to cup Carmine’s cheek; she almost dropped it, but instead tilted her head in a silent question - is this okay? Carmine nodded, and leaned in; Alexa met her hesitantly in a kiss. She was just barely aware of some scattered cheers and wolf whistles from the audience, but in that moment, it didn’t matter - nothing did, except for the fact that she was kissing the girl who she’d had a crush on since the moment they’d first locked gazes.

As they moved apart, blushing and grinning sheepishly at each other, Frankie stepped back up. “I, uh… well, that got more intense than I’d anticipated. Are you two feeling okay to continue with the show? There’s no shame if you’re not… and remember, you are still compelled to answer honestly.”

Carmine spoke up first. “I’m, uh, fine to keep going? I-if you are, that is.”

“Y-yeah, I’m also good.”

Frankie grinned broadly. “Perfect! In that case… when I snap my fingers, you’ll both forget that there’s an audience here; to your minds, it’ll be just the two of you in this room. And you’ll want to keep kissing, getting as intimate as you’re comfortable with - because your subconscious minds will still know you’re being watched. Forgetting we’re here in 3, 2, 1…”

*Snap.*

Carmine instantly pulled on their still-joined hands, tugging Alexa back in for another kiss. Their embrace quickly grew deeper, steamier; some of their old rivalry returned as their tongues shoved against each other, Carmine eventually winning out and forcing her way into Alexa’s mouth. The darker-skinned girl decided to up the ante, moving a hand to Carmine’s chest, feeling her over her shirt; the redhead gasped at the sudden stimulation, allowing Alexa to push her tongue into Carmine’s mouth. The jock quickly recovered, however, and returned the gesture, tearing a quiet moan out of Alexa’s throat as Carmine felt up her chest. Alexa’s other hand moved down to grab Carmine’s butt; Carmine’s other hand snaked down between them, moving towards- but Alexa grabbed her before she could reach her destination. “Not yet,” she whispered, and Carmine immediately backed off with a murmured “sorry.” Alexa’s lips curved into a smile. “But to make it up to you…” she whispered, and, taking Carmine’s hand, she slipped it under her shirt, guiding the redhead to her bra. Carmine immediately caught on, feeling her up more intimately than before, and then, backing up slightly for another inquisitive look, slipping her fingers onto the bare skin of Alexa’s breasts. Alexa moaned louder, and Carmine whispered, “You can always return the favour…”

Once again, Carmine’s memories of this moment became a delightful blur, as if she’d almost been drifting back and forth between full awareness and an erotic haze. As she tried to recall, she only got flashes, but what flashes they were. Alexa’s hands reaching beneath her belt to cup her rear through her panties. Carmine pulling Alexa’s top off, followed quickly by her own. Both of them panting against each other, stumbling out of their pants, leaving them in just their underwear in front of - as Carmine now knew objectively - a massive crowd, all looking on enraptured.

“Did we… did we really do all that?” Alexa asked. Her tone was somewhere between delighted awe and abject horror, but the expression on her face tended solidly towards the former.

“I… yeah, wow, we really did. And then some, I think… But how did we end up here?”

As Carmine asked the question, the final pieces of the puzzle fell into place.

“Bedroom, now,” Carmine growled against Alexa’s ear. The brunette gasped happily, trying to tear herself away from their embrace, and stumbling towards-

*Snap.* “Both of you freeze,” came the command, and Carmine found her muscles locking in place, still mostly hugging Alexa tightly, hands having only just left any intimate areas. Alexa was clearly subject to the same effect. Frankie continued to speak. “You’ve both done so well, and I’ll let you get back to your fun eventually… but that won’t make for a very good show, and it’s about time for us to wrap up. So for now, you’re finding your minds becoming more relaxed; more sleepy; more trancey. Moving back into that hug… there we go… and dropping deep, falling back into that armchair, Carmine, in 3… 2… 1… sleep.”

Carmine collapsed backwards, eyes slamming shut, landing on the chair and immediately snuggling down into it, Alexa following her, landing as a soft, warm weight atop her body. She could distantly hear Frankie delivering a closing spiel to the crowd; was just aware of the cheers and applause they received; could just about tell that everyone was decamping back to the main room of Frankie’s house; but none of that really mattered compared to the intimate embrace of Alexa against her.

She was, however, more properly aware of Frankie when she crouched next to the pair of them and began to talk. “Good girls; very good. You performed so well for me; you were such good subjects; we put on a great show, didn’t we?” Both of them murmured sleepily in agreement before Frankie continued. “Now, I need to wake the both of you back up, and then you’ll be able to get back to it, but… I think I want to have one last bit of fun with you. Are you both okay with that?” Carmine would have followed Frankie anywhere at this point, hypnotised or not, and so found herself quickly making another concurring noise, as did Alexa. “Excellent! In that case, when I snap my fingers, you’ll both open your eyes, still deep in trance, and follow after me.”

Frankie moved away, and Carmine could hear the rustling of cloth, before she snapped her fingers and Carmine’s eyes slowly, smoothly opened. She and Alexa stood up and began to trail after Frankie, like obedient little ducklings, up to a second storey bedroom. Frankie pointed towards the bed, and both her subjects immediately walked over there, sitting down and awaiting orders. Frankie dumped their clothes, which she’d gathered up, on the floor, then snapped her fingers. “Sleep,” she commanded, and both girls fell backwards once more.

“Now then,” Frankie said. “I could just wake you up, remove any of my influence from your minds, and leave you alone. However… be honest with me. Carmine, if I were to do that, would you be able to move past your petty rivalry with Alexa?”

Carmine thought over it, long and hard. Eventually, she answered. “No, I don’t think I would.”

“Alexa, how about you?”

“…No.”

“That’s what I thought… but why?”

Words came to Carmine’s lips first. “Getting all that information dumped on my awake self… I’d be convinced that you did something else to me; made me act in a way I wouldn’t normally. I’d be willing to dismiss it all as forced; as fake memories or beliefs.”

“Same here,” Alexa spoke up from next to her.

“Again, that’s about what I expected. So, here’s what’s gonna happen… actually, both of you, sit up, eyes open for this, please.”

Carmine rose up, Alexa doing the same alongside her. Frankie was standing in front of them, an almost imperious manner to her bearing now.

“Good girls. First, from now on, I want you both to refer to me as “Mistress”. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Mistress,” both girls intoned simultaneously.

“Yes, just like that. Next… strip off and place all your underwear on the clothes pile.”

“Yes, Mistress,” both chorused. Standing up, Carmine methodically removed her bra, her panties, and her socks, Alexa again a near-mirror for her. Both girls were soon standing naked in front of their Mistress, completely, blankly, unashamed. Frankie looked stunned for a couple of seconds before recovering.

“Wow… that’s very good of you; you’re both doing so well. So, my orders. When I leave the room, you’ll wake up, but still feeling in love with each other, and you’ll do whatever you want. However… after you fall asleep; when you wake up the next morning; you won’t be able to remember any of the events of my hypnosis show. It’ll be completely gone from your minds, until you read or hear the phrase, “Mistress commands you to Remember”. And when you do remember, it’ll be sequential, in such a way that you only regain those memories in order, step by step, so you can see exactly how you ended up together. Do you understand?”

Carmine felt a shudder go through her body as the command hit home, and she and Alexa once again responded, “Yes, Mistress.”

Frankie stooped down to pick up the clothes pile, and was most of the way to the door when she stopped, seemingly struck by another thought. Neither Carmine nor Alexa had moved, both standing still and staring blankly ahead, ready to spring back to life upon Frankie exiting. “Oh, one more thing. But I don’t want you to remember this at all until I make use of it. When I, and only I, say…”

Alexa frowned as she tried to pull the memory back, but she couldn’t quite reach it. Carmine, who was now practically snuggled up to her, seemed to be having the same difficulties, and eventually gave up with a huff. For several seconds, neither of them was willing to breach the silence.

“So,” Alexa said. “I mean, uh, after that, we…”

“Fucked like rabbits?”

“…Yeah, there’s really no other way to put it, is there? You’re good,” she added.

Carmine chuckled bashfully. “Yeah, well, same to you. Um… so… what are we now, then?”

“I… I don’t think we can reasonably be anything other than girlfriends, can we? Unless you don’t want to-” Carmine cut her off with a deep kiss, Alexa practically crumpling beneath her. “Wait,” she eventually managed to reluctantly gasp out. “I- I’d love to, but I’m not sure my body could hold up…”

“Fair enough… God, can you even remember why we hated each other?”

“I… I know I was annoyed at you because I thought you were hot and we had this rivalry… but as for how that rivalry started?” Alexa shrugged helplessly. “I guess it’ll just be one of those mysteries lost to time. A very, very stupid mystery.”

Carmine giggled, which soon set Alexa off too. “Ahh…” the jock eventually gasped. “I… guess we should try and get out now?”

“Oh, yeah. Um… do you have any more ideas?”

“Well, I suppose we could-”

There was a knock at the door, followed by a timid voice coming through from the other side. “Hello? It’s Frankie; can I come in? I’ve got your stuff, and from the sounds of it, you’ve sorted yourselves out…”

Alexa and Carmine exchanged a nod. “Come in,” Alexa called.

Frankie opened the door just a crack, slipping in with their clothes in a bag held in one hand. “Hi. Uh… we should debrief properly. How are you both feeling?”

Carmine spoke up first. “Yeah? Good, I think… madly in love with Alexa… about you, on the other hand…”

Alexa nodded vigorously. “I don’t know whether to thank you for getting us together, or yell at you for how weird and underhanded it was.”

Frankie blushed. “W-well, I’d hope you would be inclined towards thanking me… and in my defense, I wasn’t even trying to hypnotise you; you invited yourself into the show!”

Alexa ducked her head in embarrassment. “Yeah… I suppose I’m leaning towards thanking you… somehow.” Carmine nodded in agreement. “Only I, uh, don’t really have any ideas as to-”

Frankie held up a hand. “I might. In fact… I think that you should both give Mistress her reward.”

Alexa blinked, stunned, as the trigger slammed into her mind, her head lolling backwards. Then it snapped back up, face and mind now completely blank. “Yes, Mistress,” she and Carmine said in unison, approaching Frankie and simultaneously pulling her into a kiss and beginning to work at her clothes. The nerd shrieked and giggled in delight as her two biggest crushes began to pull her over to the bed. Was this a self-indulgent trigger that she’d implanted? Yes, she conceded. But, as she was left just as naked as the other two, and began to feel lips moving across her chest and up her thighs, she reasoned that she deserved it. After all, she’d practically worked a miracle.