I stumbled to Chemistry class in a dream. Intense sleep deprivation brought many of the same feelings as drunkenness, but with a lot less of the fun. No new messages greeted me when I retrieved my phone from the floor. I had half a mind to send Caleb another diatribe, but I restrained myself. I would not obsessively stare at our conversation. I would not obsess. I would not obsess. I would not let this go. I couldn’t. 

Only the smoldering coals of my residual anger kept my tired legs plodding along the hallway. Even the cheap campus coffee didn't seem to help my exhaustion, but anger? Anger would keep me moving. How dare he run a hypnosis video page without telling me? All this time, he’d been hypnotizing strangers on the internet behind my back. All those sweet lies that no one had compromised for him like I did. He probably had “compromised” women all over the world. That jerk. 

I plopped into the lecture hall seat with a dull thud. I took out my notes, but their contents couldn’t make the long trip from my eyeballs up to my brain. The roads were too clogged with things I wanted to say to Caleb, if he would ever respond! I reached for my phone, about to break my obsessing rule and text again, when a voice caught me off guard. 

“This seat taken?” 

I looked up to see Roger standing above me with an entirely-too-cheery-for-eight-in-the-goddamn-morning smile. “Um, no. It’s not,” I said, moving my bag aside. 

He sat down next to me with the same obnoxiously chipper energy. “You doing alright, Annie? You look pale.” 

“Why does everyone keep asking me that?” I snapped.

“Hey, sorry, sorry,” he said, holding his hands up defensively. “I didn’t mean anything by it. I just thought you maybe had another crazy night last night. I don’t have to sit here if you don’t want me to. I just figured after the other night that we were . . . I dunno . . . friends?” He started packing up his things. 

Great. I was the asshole. Again. Then the reality of the situation set in. Roger had just come to sit next to me. He wasn’t ogling me or hitting on me or anything. He wanted to be friends. Honest to goodness friends. A tiny spark of happiness flickered to life amid the churning smoke of rage behind my eyes. “No, stay. I’m sorry. I just had a rough night.” 

He looked unsure, but finally spoke. “Wanna talk about it?” 

I laughed. Imagine me pouring my heart out to Roger of all people. Then again . . . I had never had many male friends. We had a few minutes before class started. Maybe he could help. “Roger, what would you do if you were dating someone and you found out they were keeping a secret from you? Like a big secret?”

“What would I do if Olivia were keeping a secret from me?” 

I laughed despite myself. “So you and Olivia are dating now?” 

“Yeah, things are getting pretty serious,” he said, stretching in his seat with an air of exaggerated nonchalance. 

“Roger, it has been one singular day.” 

“More like a day and a half if you count Tuesday night, which I very much do. We didn’t exactly sleep much.”

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. I had been like that once, although it felt like another life now. “Please spare me the details, and just answer my question.” 

“Right, right. I guess I’d want to know why she was keeping a secret. Someone as sweet as Olivia would have to have her reasons.”

Dammit, why did Roger have to be so reasonable? Where was Caitlyn when you needed her? “What if it was really bad though, something hurtful?”  

He paused, turning the question over. “You mean like cheating?”

“Kind of. Not exactly cheating, but not not-cheating either. It’s complicated. Honestly, I don’t know.” 

“Are we gonna keep talking in hypotheticals or do you wanna say what Caleb did?” he asked flatly. 

The frankness of the question took me by surprise. I almost spilled the whole thing to him, the hypnosis, the videos, the betrayal, everything, but I stopped myself. Roger did have a point. I didn’t know Caleb’s reasons, and I shouldn’t just go blasting his secrets around. “It’s not mine to share.”

He just nodded, wheels turning behind his eyes. “Well it’s clearly affecting you, but you don’t have to tell me. So I’ll just answer your abstract question.” 

He sat there quietly for what felt like forever with that same pensive look. “Honestly, I’m probably not the best person to ask, but you came to me, so I’ll tell you what I would do. Olivia’s my first real girlfriend, you know. Even if she cheated on me or did some other terrible thing, I probably wouldn’t storm out on her. I know that’s what you’re supposed to do, but I wouldn’t want to lose her. Maybe that’s pathetic, but it’s what I’d do. I’d want to know why. If there was anything I did. Or anything I could do to make things better. I just feel so lucky to have her,” he said, holding back a crack in his voice. “I’d fight for the relationship, but that’s just me. You have to do whatever feels right for you.” 

My jaw hung open in amazement. I don’t know what I expected, but it certainly wasn’t that. Was I about to storm out on Caleb? Or should I try to fight for the relationship? My head spun, but I at least knew where to start. I needed to know why. The smoke of anger dissipated a little, and I could finally think. “Thanks, Roger. You know, you’re actually a decent guy.” 

“Hey don’t say that like you’re surprised.” 

At that moment, my phone lit up, a message from Caleb. My heart stopped as I read it on the lock screen. 

Caleb: Good morning, beautiful. Thank you again for yesterday. Easily the best carriage ride of my life. You’re very special and I love you.

I scoffed. He completely ignored my message. I flashed the phone to Roger. “Guys make no sense. I sent him a big long message about how mad I was, and he just sent this.” 

He just shrugged. “Olivia sent me a good morning message, see.” He offered his phone, unlocked, where I could see his conversation with Olivia. 

Olivia: Good morning. I miss you already. ;)

Above that message I could see the voluptuous outline of Olivia’s bare thighs as she stood in what I presumed to be her bathroom. Above that the conversation’s scroll had cut off the picture. “Roger!”

“Oh crap. Sorry.” He snatched the phone back. “Please don’t tell her you saw that, okay?”

Apparently, the “show more skin” suggestion had reached its natural conclusion. At least she was just sending nudes to Roger and not stripping for a whole bar, so things could have been worse. I resolved to do something about that, but not today. 

“Anyway, are you sure he got your message? We all make mistakes sending things,” Roger said sheepishly, as he saved the photo, then deleted it from the conversation.

“Yes, I’m sure,” I said, as I finally worked up the courage to unlock my phone and look back at my conversation with Caleb. My heart froze. It wasn’t there. My message wasn’t there. No failed to send or anything. I scrolled up, and the last exchanges were about meeting in the park. “No, that can’t be.” 

Roger still seemed undisturbed. “Eh, happens all the time. You can’t trust these things.”

I was still scrolling up and down, no sign of the message. Granted I wasn’t the best with technology and I’d sort of been crying, but I knew I wrote it. Finally, I backed out of my conversation with Caleb and my heart stopped again. Right below the “C” for Caleb, was a “C” for Caitlyn, and next to that, the preview of my diatribe. 

“Oh, no, no, no.” I fumbled for the conversation, just as another text came in, this one from Caitlyn.

Caitlyn: That sucks, Annie. I always thought he seemed too good to be true. Don’t worry, he won’t be a problem anymore. Creep. 

I’ll be back next week, and then we can go out and get you a nice guy who won’t try to mind control you. 

At that moment, Roger’s phone buzzed. So did half the phones in our row. Then half the phones in the whole lecture hall. 

The shocked look on Roger’s face filled me with dread. I could already see the logo for Snikr, that blasted gossip app, reflected in his glasses, and I knew, I just knew. 

“Oh my,” Roger said, shocked. 

I grabbed his phone and read an essay of a post from an anonymous account that had to be Caitlyn. ‘Caleb Jacobsen - Professional Pervert.’

It linked to the Echo Mind Page, included snips from my own message, and even quotes from Mimi and a couple of his other exes about how he’d tried to hypnotize them. The whole thing cast me as some helpless victim and Caleb as perpetrating a degenerate plan to hypnotize women on campus and have his way with them. 

Already the formerly quiet lecture hall had erupted into chattering gossip. Melissa startled me by gasping and jumped up from her seat right behind me. Then she turned and started rambling to one of her cronies about how this would overshadow her new make-up tutorial or something. I did my best to ignore them and started typing back to Caitlyn.

Annie: Take it down. 

Annie: Take it down. 

Annie: Take it down. 

Annie: Now!!!!

Caitlyn: I can’t! Once something’s on Snikr it’s up there. I thought you’d be happy I got payback for you. 

Annie: That message was for Caleb. Yes, I was mad at him, but I didn’t want to ruin his life. 

Caitlyn: Oh my God. Annie, I’m so sorry. I thought you were telling me to go get him. I’ll see if there’s anything I can do.

Annie: You’ve done enough!

I slammed the phone down, and growled in frustration. This couldn’t be happening. This was a nightmare. 

“I see why you said it was complicated,” Roger said quietly. 

“Not helping,” I shot back. I picked the phone up and dashed off another text, this time actually to Caleb:

Annie: I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. Where are you? I’m coming to you.

Caleb: Why are you sorry? I’m at home.

Annie: I’ll explain when I get there. 

I stood up and swept my notes back into my bag. 

“Annie, where are you going? Class is about to start,” Roger asked. 

“Fuck class. I’m going to Caleb,” I said, still frantically packing. The cold tide of pure terror extinguished the coals of last night’s rage. I realized in that moment that even if I was mad at Caleb, I still cared deeply for him. I never wanted to hurt him. I turned to leave. 

“Annie?” Roger said as I turned to leave. 

“What?” 

“Good luck. I’m here for you, and I know Olivia is too.” 

“Thanks, Roger.” I booked it out of the room, doing my best to avoid the countless eyes fixed on me. Of course, Olivia might think differently once she realized that I hypnotized her and where I learned it, but that was a problem for future me. Present me already had all the problems she could handle. 

I ran out of the classroom, passing professor Douglas, who shot me a disapproving glare. Join the club. Within a few minutes, I made it outside and onto the quad. I sprinted straight across the grass, which I never did, and made it to the road at the edge of campus. Luckily I could get a rideshare easily so early in the morning. Soon I was inside a car and headed to Caleb’s place. 

Every time I saw the quaint brick of his home, it had brought me a sense of comfort, every time except today. Today, only cold, relentless dread welled in the pit of my stomach. 

Even from the front yard, I could hear the faint sound of piano music. I knocked on the door, only to have it swing in. Caleb had left it open. 

I followed the sound of the music to the second bedroom, the one Caleb hadn’t wanted me to go in. There he sat at a keyboard, fingers sliding effortlessly along the bands of black and white. He glanced up as I entered, even then I could see the hurt in his eyes. He must have seen the post. I was too late.

 He didn’t say anything, but just tucked his head back down and continued to play. Usually Caleb’s music was so upbeat and energetic, but this piece rolled slowly out from the speakers with a mournful, somber air. We stayed like that for a while, him playing and me standing awkwardly in the doorway.

The notes hung heavy in the air, filling the chasm of silence between us. All the while, I pondered what I would even say. On one level, I was still angry, still wanted answers. On another, I felt awful for texting Caitlyn, for not realizing sooner. By the time the song finally wound to a close, my head was still spinning. When the melody died at last, all I could manage was, “Hi.” 

Caleb looked back up at me with that same bottomless sadness behind his dark eyes. “Hi.”

Then the silence crept back in. I had rushed so frantically to get here, but now I didn’t even know where to start. Caleb spoke just as I was about to force something out. 

“You know, I use this room as my recording studio. I know it’s not weird for a musician to have a recording room, but I still didn’t want you in here because I thought I may have left a script or something around.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I said, voice soft and hesitant. 

His shoulders rose in a heavy breath. “I thought I might scare you away. I was already terrified of doing that, just with the hypnosis in general.”

“You wouldn’t have.” I reached a hand towards him, but he shrank away from me. Just that little flinch made me want to die. 

“You say that now. If I had told you on our first date, ‘Hey, by the way, I make hypnosis files for strangers on the internet to get off to, and I actually make more money from that than my music.’ would you have stuck around or ran for the door?”

I wanted to say, ‘no, of course I would have stayed,’ but I couldn’t bring myself to lie. If he had told that to the old me, I would probably have fainted. I just stood there, unable to talk. 

“That’s what I thought.”

“But later . . .”

“When? On our second date, when I wanted everything to be romantic and perfect for you? Or how about the time I pushed you too far, and hurt you? Should I have told you then? You had just asked me to slow down with the hypnosis and I certainly wasn’t about to drop a bomb after that.”

I had to admit he had a point. I hadn’t thought of it from his side. Still, it couldn’t quiet the question that had been playing on repeat since last night. “Is there someone else?”

Caleb’s eyes went wide in shock. “Annie . . .”

“Do you do . . . what we do . . . with other women online?” Every breath curled into an icy hand on my throat, choking the life from me, but I kept pushing the words out. I had to know. Every second of waiting had been like a death row inmate, marching towards a short, sharp pain followed by an eternity of oblivion.

A sudden warmth bloomed in my hand, as Caleb took it. “No. There was no one else. I used to do those things with my subscribers or other subs online, but it never felt quite right. I had hoped for that when I started out, but in reality I was always a character to them, this man of mystery. Everyone wanted Echo Mind, the powerful hypnotist, no one wanted Caleb, the fucked up, ordinary guy with his own issues and flaws. No one until you.” 

The grip of terror loosened from my throat, and I took my first full breath in twelve hours. But as soon as relief came, another stab of anxiety followed. “Why did you say ‘was’? You said there was no one else.”

Caleb dropped my hand, and pressed a long, sad note on the piano. “Well obviously, you’re done with me too. I understand why you’d be upset, but you didn’t have to ruin my life.”

“No!” I gasped. “That wasn’t me! I texted Caitlyn by mistake. She posted it. But we’ll get it taken down. We can fix it. I don’t want to be done.” When I came, I didn't know what I would do, but now there was no doubt. I may have been angry, hurt even, but I still wanted to be together. Surely, we could get through this like we had everything else.  

He flashed the saddest smile I’d ever seen. “It’s too late. Everyone’s seen it or copied it. You can’t un-read something. Annie, no one will ever look at me the same way.”

“Surely, we can explain it’s all a big misunderstanding.” 

“Nobody will care. People will just think I coerced you. Besides, this news travels much faster than ‘whoops it was an honest mistake’. My career is shot in the head now. My band mates have stuck by me for now. They’re good guys, and some of them already knew, but they’ll still have to kick me out of the band. It’s barely been a half hour and already two venues have called to cancel shows.”

“Caleb, I’m so sorry,” was all I could manage. I leaned down to hug him. 

“Please don’t.”

“I want to help.” 

“You’ve done enough,” he said with bitter sadness. “It’s nice to know you didn’t mean to out me, but I don’t know if I have it in me to forgive you right now. It’s honestly hard for me to look at you.”

A dagger through the heart. “Caleb. . .”

“If there’s nothing else, I’d appreciate it if you left. I have a lot to figure out and I’d like to be alone.” 

The grip of despair on my throat had grown so tight, I could barely breathe. “Yeah . . . okay.”

I turned to leave and the melancholy melody started drifting up again. I froze in the door, listening to his song. “Caleb?”

“Yes?” he asked, letting the music fade. 

“Does this mean we’re over?”

He paused, probably just for a second, but to me it yawned into oblivion, mountains rose and crumbled, oceans flooded and evaporated, cities turned to dust, all while I waited. “I don’t know, Annie. I just need some space.” 

I tried to speak, but I knew if I opened my mouth, I would start bawling. I could feel the tempest of sadness raging in my chest, thrashing against the walls of my lungs, desperate for escape. So I just nodded, only a tiny whimper leaving my lips. Then I walked away.

“Goodbye, Annie,” he said, his own normally smooth voice trembling. 

I couldn’t even bring myself to say goodbye back. I just ran for the door. At least I escaped the house before the sobs escaped my chest. I preserved that one little scrap of dignity, at least until I got outside. Then I collapsed on his front step, weeping into my hands. 

I sat there, tears blurring the bright morning sun, and the chords of a sad song drifting from inside. I didn’t care about the videos anymore. I just didn’t want to lose him. When I first asked Caleb out, I thought ‘what’s the worst thing that could happen?’ He could say no, and then I’d be no worse off for trying, but once again I was naive. The worst thing wasn’t getting rejected, it was hurting someone you love. 

***

I sleepwalked my way through the rest of the semester. Every morning I’d check my phone for a message from Caleb, and every morning find the screen empty. My phone, empty. My bed, empty. My life felt empty without him. I never took the pendant off, but it never mattered. Even in the last few psych classes, Caleb avoided me, he avoided everyone really. Or maybe they avoided him. 

The rumors had spread like wildfire, just as Caleb expected. He’d always seemed so popular and well liked before. Now no one would so much as look at him in the halls. It was all I could do not to run to him, but I knew he didn’t want me. Why would anyone want me? Caleb had trusted me with his deepest self and I’d exposed it to the whole world. 

Caitlyn wouldn’t stop apologizing, first over text, and then phone calls, and then in person. I always told her it was alright, but she never believed me. She could feel the void behind my eyes and my words. She did manage to get the post taken down. She had to report her account as hacked, and get all her posts removed, but she did it. So at least there was that. 

And Caleb didn’t get expelled or anything. Without anyone bringing formal complaints the school wouldn’t act. They didn’t even replace Echo Street as the band for Senior Night. Apparently the program would rather pretend the whole fiasco hadn’t happened. That meant I would be skipping Senior Night. Caleb probably wouldn’t want me there. 

Olivia and Roger tried to cheer me up too, but seeing how happy they were together just made me feel more alone. They said they understood and would give me my space. Olivia never brought up the fact that I’d hypnotized her, though she must have known. She always checked that stupid app. 

Luckily, I’d been doing well in all of my classes prior to this whole debacle, because studying was the last thing I could concentrate on. I bombed test after test, like a British plane over Dresden. Given my existing grades, I knew it wouldn’t be enough for me to fail, so I didn’t care. 

I had more important things to do, like sulking, wallowing, feeling awful about myself. Really it was quite a packed calendar. A calendar that ended with the psych final. Of course. 

I employed the patented test-taking strategy of staring at the back of my ex’s head and ignoring the test. I almost laughed out loud when I realized the irony. I’d chastised Roger for staring at his crush like a creep, and here I was doing the same thing. At least Caleb was too preoccupied with his own exam to notice, though I kind of wished he would. But finally Caleb finished the test. He walked down the rows of seats, handed his paper to Dr. Santos, said something I couldn’t hear and then walked out of the room and out of my life. I wondered if that would be the last time I would ever see him. At least if it was, I couldn’t hurt him anymore. That was at least something. 

I finally started my test once Caleb had left. That made me one of the last people to finish, but I still got through it, barely. At least I got the questions about the stupid polar bear right. Stupid bear. Stupid Dostoevsky. Stupid hypno-fetish. Ding. Dammit. 

Dr. Santos gave me another of her disapproving glares when I turned it in so late. I was becoming far too accustomed to those. She looked like she wanted to say something, but before she could, Melissa sidled up to the lectern and turned in her own test. Wow, I had fallen far if I was finishing alongside the social media queen herself. 

She turned to me with a perfectly prim smile and said, “That was a blood bath, huh?” 

“Perhaps if you had studied, it wouldn’t be so bad,” Dr. Santos said, ostensibly to Melissa, though she was looking at me. 

She shrugged. “Whatever. Laters, Prof.” Then she just took my hand and started toward the exit. 

“Excuse me?” I gulped. 

“I’ve been meaning to talk to you,” she said, a bit too loudly for an exam. “Let’s have a little chat.” 

She kept towing me all the way into an alcove in the hallway where her usual cronies were waiting. I actually didn’t know their names. I had always just called them Lackey One, Two, and Three.

Melissa may not have studied psychology much, but you’d never have known that from the way she was sizing me up.

A Renaissance sculptor couldn’t have crafted finer curves than those of Melissa’s face and body.  Her straight, dark hair fell perfectly down her back, never a single hair out of place. Her calm, dark eyes swept over me from behind an unreadable mask of flawless skin.The deep olive tone of her complexion defied categorization. I never knew her background, only that she appeared to have walked out of a fashion magazine. Finally, she parted her full lips and spoke, “I heard what happened to you. It’s just tragic.”

“Tragic,” lackey Number One agreed.

I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes. My newfound internet fame had come with several conversations like this one, people who were curious about what Caleb did to my mind or just pitied me, always eager to help with nothing helpful to do. “It really wasn’t so bad.”

Melissa nodded with stately grace. “Yes, of course you’d say that. It’s a coping mechanism, like we learned about in class. You don’t have to pretend with us. We’re your friends.” 

“Yeah, she’s, like, totally coping,“ lackey Number Two added. The hype man act was already getting old if you asked me.

How come Melissa suddenly knew psychology when it came to prying into my business? “Funny, I didn’t realize we were friends, since you’ve never spoken to me before,” I snapped.

“That’s because you’ve never needed my help before.” 

“Oh, but I need it now?” 

“Yeah, Duh,” Melissa said calmly. “There’s no need to be a bitch. You’re so tense. Just relax.” 

Suddenly Lackey Three was rubbing my shoulders. I hated to admit it felt nice. I started to slump forward.

“Girl, you’ve got such a knot,” Number Three said, as she kneaded away. 

“Now, as I was saying, I think I can help you. Everyone’s talking about you, you know. They just feel terrible for you, what he must have put you through.” 

“You have no idea,” I said, fantasizing about some of the things Caleb ‘put me through’ and leaning into Three’s touch. “But I don’t need your sympathy. I’m tired of people telling me how sorry they feel for me.” 

“Yeah, obviously. No, what you need is a chance.”

“A chance to do what?” 

“To fix your image, girl!” She clapped, flashing a brilliant smile of her impeccably white teeth. 

“My Image?”

“Yes, girl! You said it yourself, you’re tired of people saying they feel sorry for you, and whatever. Well, give them something else to talk about!” 

I blinked slowly. Melissa had never shown any interest in talking to me before today. Still, her idea intrigued me. “Like what?”

“The new you, obvs!” 

“Obvs,” Lackey One echoed. 

“Annie, you don’t need to put up with all this. You’re blowing up. You’ve got big main character energy right now. You’re not even bad looking. A new wardrobe, a little make up, you could even be pretty.”

“Um, thank you? I think.” What was happening? Was Melissa actually trying to be my friend? 

“Don’t thank me yet. Come out with us first. Let me get you a few new fits, do something with your . . . hair,” she said, idly fingering a stray, frizzy curl. “Then we’ll go out every night, until you forget all about Caden or what’s his face. Trust me, if you roll with us, you can have whoever you want. So what do you say?”

All the Lackies nodded in agreement. 

I was speechless. Was Melissa trying to recruit me? Was this how she picked up her other followers? She came to them in some vulnerable moment and gave them a shoulder to lean on. What was the point? The year was almost over. “Why do that for me?” 

“You’re new to all this attention. It can be so withering, if you don’t know how to handle it. I just can’t help but feel for you.”

“She’s, like, so generous,” Number Two affirmed. 

Honestly it didn’t sound bad, kind of like what I had done for Olivia. Maybe it was my turn to have a fresh start. Forgetting what I had done to Caleb did sound tempting. I leaned forward as Three’s persistent finger kept working away at my shoulders. “Um . . . well,” I stammered. 

Lackey Number Four had a nice ring to it. She sounded like someone who didn’t have to think for herself or make so many mistakes. Number Four certainly wouldn’t have destroyed the life of the man she loved. No, sir, Number Four would just meekly follow Melissa and do as she was told. Just obey. I could obey Melissa. Maybe that would take my mind off things. “That sounds kind of nice.”

 Melissa beamed another perfect smile. “I knew you’d make the right choice.” She started pacing around the hall. “Of course, we’ll document the whole thing on my socials. It’ll be like a video diary. You can watch your transformation every day and everyone on campus can follow along.” 

“Oh, I see.” The lightbulb in my head clicked on, illuminating exactly what Melissa wanted. She never cared about me, not even enough to make me one of her lackies. My scandal with Caleb had just sucked all the oxygen out of the internet, and this was her way to recapture some of it. So much for my escape from guilt. “I’m good, actually.” 

Melissa stopped walking.

The steady rhythm of hands on my shoulder stopped too.  Number Three spoke up for the first time. “Annie, don’t be an idiot. We never do this.”

“She’s right, you know. We don’t hang out with just anyone. Really think about it.”

Her tone gave me a moment's pause, but only a moment. Ever since the Snikr debacle, I had been longing for someone to follow. It would’ve been so nice to just turn my brain off and do as I was told. I couldn’t even bring myself to watch Caleb‘s videos. They were just on the Internet for anyone to use, even me. But watching them now just felt wrong. Even so, I knew I didn’t want to obey Melissa. I just wanted Caleb back. “No, you only do things for people you can use.”

“Yeah, duh.” 

“Huh, I wasn’t expecting you to just admit that.”

“Of course, I wouldn’t trouble myself if there was nothing in it for me, but it's still a good deal for you.”

“Excuse me?”

“I thought you were supposed to be smart,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Yes, my page views have been down ever since your little accusation. And yes, having you on my feed would fix that, but that doesn’t change any of what I’m offering. You get a new wardrobe, a new look, new friends, some new dick, a new start.”

My righteous indignation faltered. I had to admit she had a point. More than anything, her confidence shook me. I had expected her to crumble, not own up to everything. It was honestly kind of hot. “That’s… surprisingly reasonable.”

Melissa stepped closer, looming over me. She stood nearly a head taller, and gazed intently down with those unreadable dark eyes of hers. “It’s a good deal, Annie. More than worth being my little content slut for a couple weeks, wouldn’t you say?”

The certainty in her voice was absolutely magnetic. A familiar warmth started tingling somewhere deep inside. I found myself vacantly nodding as I stared into the onyx pools of her eyes. It felt like they were hypnotizing me, though I know they couldn’t. Still, I wished they would. “It’s a good deal,” my lips mumbled.

Melissa smiled. She had such a pretty smile. I liked making her smile. “Then say you’ll be my little content slut.”

Maybe obeying Melissa wouldn’t be so bad. Who cared if she only wanted me for my five minutes of fame? I’d still get to turn my brain off and do as I was told. I’d let her dress me up, tell me how to walk and talk. She could film me if she wanted to, getting dressed, making out with guys, whatever. What difference did it make at this point? The more I thought about it, the more it actually seemed hot. “I’ll be . . .”

Your good little hypnoslut, my subconscious finished. I shook my head, breaking eye contact, and whatever spell Melissa had cast along with it. That was right, I was Caleb‘s slut and nobody else’s. He never ended things, not officially anyway. Maybe he hadn’t talked to me in weeks, but I wouldn’t move on. I would wait as long as it took.“I’ll be all right on my own.” 

“Annie, you’re making a mistake,” Three said urgently.

“Enough.” Melissa cut in, silencing the other girl with a raised hand. “She’s made up her mind.”

Again, Melissa surprised me. I had expected her to keep pushing. Strangely her decision to stop made me respect her more. “It’s a good deal, it’s just not for me.“

Melissa shrugged, never showing a single crack in her icy veneer. “Suit yourself. The door stays open through graduation. Come on girls, let’s go.” With that, the Lackies formed up behind their Mistress and strutted off down the hallway. 

I watched the walk away, hip swinging like a hypnotic pendant. I had to admit, it was a sexy way of walking. Maybe I could learn to do that without their help. As I turned to leave myself, I did my best to kink my narrow hips out to one side and roll them back-and-forth. The focus on commanding hitherto unused muscles consumed my attention so completely, that I bumped into someone. I looked up to apologize, and saw the indifferent glare of Dr. Santos staring down at me. “Oh, oh, hi professor. I didn’t see you there. How long were you standing there?”

“Long enough.” 

“You do have a talent for that.” The words left my mouth before I could even think. My eyes went wide as I realized what I just said.

She responded with a snort that sounded somewhere between irritated and amused. “Annie, would you care to join me in my office? I could use some help carrying all these papers.”

I blanched, but knew I couldn’t say no. So I gave a little nod of my head and took the massive stack of exams offered to me. Dr. Santos didn’t speak again for the rest of the walk to her office and neither did I. I just dutifully followed behind her, lugging the paper brick in my arms. By the time she unlocked the door, I was really wishing that I went to the gym more. 

She closed the door behind me and I resisted the urge to yelp. 

“On the desk will be fine. Thank you.”

I expected her to lay into me about my irresponsible choices or poor academic performance the moment the door closed, but she refrained. The Latina professor just sat behind her desk and began rifling through the papers until she extracted one near the top. The flash of my own name caught my attention. She was about to grade my own test in front of me! 

“So, how is the end of your semester going?” 

I gaped at the casual question. Did teachers have access to Snickr? Even if not, she must’ve heard the rumors. Even if she hadn’t heard, she saw them firsthand. And yet that was her question? “Yeah, it’s been good, I guess. Just glad to be done.”

“I would’ve guessed you were done already based on these answers,” she said, without looking up from my test.

I just barely stopped myself from shooting back another snide comment. After all, I had dug my own grave deep enough with her already. So I didn’t say anything.

Quiet fell over the little office with only the gentle scratching of pen on paper and an occasional “hmm,” from Dr. Santos breaking the silence. After a few minutes, she turned to her computer, clacked a few keys and then turned to face me, looking into my eyes for the first time since we arrived. “Well, you were on track to finish at the top of the class with an A+. But after that stellar performance, you’re lucky to have gotten away with a B-”

“Well, glad I didn’t fail, I guess,” I mumbled. “I still don’t see why you had to bring me up here just for that.” Oops, that one slipped past my internal editing department.

She smiled. I had gotten so used to her glaring that the smile was somehow more unnerving. “Because I’ve just entered your final grade.”

“Okay . . .” I said, still totally lost.

“That means, as of this moment, I am officially no longer your professor, so we can finally have an open, honest conversation, without consequences for either of us. Now, tell me what’s actually been going on with you.”