I slowly opened the creaky door to my dorm room, hoping that she either wasn’t there or wouldn’t be disturbed by my presence. Unfortunately for me, neither were true as I poked my head in and heard rustling from the top bunk. As I silently cursed at myself and made my way over to the dresser, Julie turned over to face me, her red hair scraggly and unkempt. I couldn’t see her eyes beneath the veil of hair, but I could feel her gaze boring into me.

“S-Sorry, I… need some… clothes…” I squeaked out. It was entirely true, I’d already spent the last day at Jas’ dorm and needed something new to wear. Especially after everything yesterday and how sweaty I got from using my magic, I desperately needed a change of clothes. That unfortunately meant I had to run the risk of seeing Julie again, before either of us were ready.

Julie let out a grunt, then pulled her sheets up and turned away. I didn’t procrastinate at all, grabbing some new clothes out of the dresser and shoving them into my backpack as quickly as possible. I walked over to the desk, zipped up my bag, and then unzipped the frontmost pocket and pulled out a phone. Julie’s phone, the one she gave to Sumi yesterday.

I’m so sorry, Julie.

“U-Um,” I stuttered out, “I… I’m going to leave your phone here, o-on the desk. It’s, it’s fully charged for you.” I really wanted to apologize to her, to ask if she needed anything, to see if she was ready to talk. But I bit my tongue, I knew it was too early and she just needed space. My words would only make things worse at this stage. I set the phone down carefully, then zipped up my bag and threw it over my shoulders. 

I opened the door again, and just before stepping outside, I turned back. “Julie, w-when you’re ready… l-let me know. I…” I looked up to the bed. No response. I hung my head, backed out into the hallway, and let the door creak shut before locking with a loud kathunk.

I sat there, staring at my burrito. It’s been sitting there for a while now. Exactly how long, I’m not sure. I wasn’t really paying attention. The only thing holding my attention was yesterday. The way her knuckles were white from how tightly her fist was curled. Her arms shaking as she stood up. Those eyes, barely containing all that fury and pain. And those words that have been repeating over and over, filling my entire headspace and occupying every waking thought.

I really am sorry, Julie. I just… I… whuh…?

I gasped as my awareness suddenly came back to me. I blinked a couple times as a pale hand stopped pinching my nose and moved away. I trailed the hand and found it connected to Alex, an old friend from high school, who was staring at me with deep concern.

“Jeez, Vi, you said it was serious but I wasn’t expecting that serious! Waving my hand and poking your face didn't even do anything! What’s going on?” He sat down at the opposite end of the table, setting his backpack under the table. I’ve known him since our English class in high school, and we ended up hitting it off as friends given our shared interest in video games and anime. He’s slightly overweight, but has a heart of gold and is typically very laid-back. Actually, this is the first time I’ve seen him in-person since high school, and he’s lost quite a bit of weight since then. Good for him! 

I’ve vented to him a few times in the past when things were getting tough, and he’s always lent me an ear. 

And now more than ever, I’ve called upon him to hear me out.

“Hey, Alex!” I greeted, trying my best to put on a happy veneer. “Uh, i-it’s great to see you again, and… sorry, this whole situation has me all kinds of fucked up, and I just r-really need someone outside of the know to talk to about it. T-Thank you for coming over here, I really appreciate it.”

He waved his hand dismissively. “You’re good, it’s the least I could do! You know I’m always here to lend a hand when you need it!” He leaned back in his chair casually. “So, what’s all this about now? From your completely catatonic state of depression a moment ago, I gather you’re either flunking out - which honestly I find hard to believe - or you’ve had the worst breakup in the universe. Am I wrong?”

I blushed and turned my head. “Well… kinda? I mean, it wasn’t a break-up per se, more of a… falling out? A-And the circumstances around it are kind of… how do I say it… really hard to explain? It’s far from anything normal, and I’ll need you to hear me out on it.”

He laughed heartily. “Vi, I’ve heard a lot of things in my short 20-odd years on this planet. Whatever kind of crazy love-icosahedron you’ve gotten yourself jammed into, I’ll do my best to help out!” He gave a very warm smile and rocked back in his chair.

“Yeah, but…” I shuffled around in my seat. “You’re probably not ready for this one.” I looked him square in the eyes past his thin glasses. “This is something that I need you to keep secret from everyone. You can’t tell another soul about it. Can you do this for me?”

He took his hand and zipped his mouth shut. “Your little secret can go to the grave with me, and I’m a man of my word.”

I looked around cautiously, and satisfied nobody was looking, I pointed at my arm. I channeled my magic for a few seconds, sending purple wisps of coiling energy from my elbow to my hands. I stopped channeling, and looked straight into his wide eyes. “There is no trickery here. That wasn’t a complicated light show, and I’m not pranking you. That was real, and it’s the entire reason I am in this mess. I need you to keep your word and hear me out. Are you able to do that?”

Alex stopped rocking in his chair and leaned forward. The once jovial man now sat before me with wide eyes and an impossibly serious look on his face. His eyes darted multiple times between my hand and my face, and I could tell that he was trying to rationalize what he just saw. Finally, he spoke in a much more hushed tone than a moment ago.

“Grab your burrito, and let’s walk to the engineering building. There’s a quiet corner with some shade where we can talk about this without being overheard.”

“Do you… know anything about this?” I asked.

“Nope. But I’m willing to bet you don’t want to put a target on either of our backs given how you asked, and especially how you were acting when I found you. I do want you, in turn, to do one thing for me Violet.” His eyes narrowed as he reached down to grab his bag. “I want you to be completely honest with me. You know me, I will not hold anything against you and what you say will remain firmly behind closed doors. But for something this serious, and something so completely outside my area of expertise, I need to know everything.”

I firmly nodded. I grabbed my cold burrito and my bag, and we walked out of the food court silently.

A bird flew past where we were seated, and began chirping away happily as it landed on a nearby tree. A few people walked through the center courtyard of the building, but none seemed to notice or care about the two people seated at the metal table in one of the corners. I shifted uncomfortably in the warm chair as Alex stared into me behind his thin, illuminated spectacles.

The silence was deafening.

“So allow me to get the basic facts straight,” He finally spoke. “You have, for the past two weeks, been using these newfound magic powers to mind control your friends and classmates in order to build up your little gay harem. You don’t know how you got these powers, but since then you’ve had this irresistible urge to use them for this one purpose. Someone escaped your grasp yesterday, and you forced your roommate to re-enslave them to avoid getting caught. Is that all correct?”

I could only nod in response, sniffling a little bit and wiping away more tears.

“Jesus Christ, Violet.” He closed his eyes and began rubbing his temples as he began to organize his own thoughts on what I just told him. Pure frustration seeped from him, as his eyebrows furrowed and he mumbled something under his breath. Eventually, he opened his eyes again and addressed me.

“Well, Violet, I’m a man of my word. Not a peep of this will leave my lips. And I will help you the best I can. Just, y’know, not with the whole mind control magic stuff. Please, if you respect me as a human being, then I would ask you to honor that request.”

I nodded my head. “Alex, I promise on my life that I will not break this trust. I’m coming to you in my time of need. I don’t know why this is happening, and I… I’m scared. Of the monster I’ve become, and the monster I will become if I let myself go unchecked. And without Julie to be my, my anchor, I… I worry that I won’t be able to stop myself.”

Alex stared at me, his eyes boring into my soul. I could tell that fundamentally, he hated what I was doing and what I now stood for. But I could see the conflict in his mind as I talked about everything. He knows what I was like in high school, and while three years is a long time… I think he knows there’s something more at work here. He sighed, took a swig of his water bottle, and then looked at me again.

“Alright. I’ll help you.” He picked up my hands and held them gently. “I would not be who I am today if I turned my nose at someone asking for help. A person who committed a sin is not inherently a bad person, only those who commit them without seeking absolution. I’m no pastor, but I wouldn’t be a Christian if I didn’t at least try to help you absolve your sins.” He squeezed my hands gently. “Please, Violet, do not make me regret this.”

I nodded fervently. “I absolutely promise. T-Thank you, I… I really didn’t know who else to turn to. This situation is so fucked on so many levels, and I’m responsible for all of it, and…” I started choking up on my words again, and I felt him squeeze my hands in response. I pulled away to wipe my face for the thousandth time this meeting, and blew into a tissue.

“So,” he started, leaning back in his chair and stroking his stubbled chin in thought, “the big thing that sticks out to me is the fact that these powers awakened just recently. I think it’s pretty odd that these powers only just surfaced: you’d think if you had this potential your whole life, you’d see signs as a child or during puberty, right? Not when you’re 20 and have already finished growing.”

“Y-Yeah, I thought about that too,” I responded. “Like, I’ve uh, had that little… quirk with my sexuality since I was in high school and went onto a site or two I probably shouldn’t have. But nothing ever came of it, it really was an innocent little fetish, and I don’t remember any circumstance where I might’ve used my powers without knowing. I mean, Amber was the first person I ever hypnotized, y’know?”

“Maybe you used it to convince someone subtly without knowing?”

“I don’t know, maybe? But let’s be real: you know exactly how I was in high school, you know I had negative charisma back then. No amount of magic bullshit could’ve saved me.”

He chuckled softly. “Yeah, that’s definitely true. I love you Vi, but you were completely hopeless back then.” I saw his eyes flicker as he remembered something. “So then… I wonder if that’s connected…”

“What’s connected?” I asked.

“Oh, uh, something another friend was telling me about,” He explained. “I’ve been talking with an engineer for one of the big companies trying to get an internship, and it turns out we both went to the same high school as his daughter, Jane. She’s actually super talented and has a real knack for electrical engineering like her father, but she decided to become a detective instead. I talk with her every now and again, and she said something happened a few weeks ago that’s been causing all sorts of problems. I tried probing her for answers, but she was super tight-lipped about it; which is a little strange, considering how she’s brutally honest with me about most other things.”

“Huh. I want to say it's a coincidence, but that’s something Jas speculated about too,” I elaborated. “Given how my sleep schedule has been uncharacteristically rocky the entire time this has gone on, and my powers appearing shortly thereafter… we figured maybe something happened and this awakening is occurring in tons of people? That definitely adds fuel to the fire,” I leaned back and let out a big sigh, staring at the sky, “but it’s still just a guess at this point. We’ve got no proof. And it doesn’t sound like your friend is gonna spill the beans.” I sat back up and faced him again. “Well, I can have Jas keep looking into it. Maybe she’ll turn something up.”

“Best of luck, honestly.” His expression turned dour. “Whatever it is, if she’s acting all hush-hush about it, then there’s probably something much larger at play that somebody really wants hidden from the public. She told me a little about her experiences with the FBI, and when I asked about it she said this one’s different, but that she couldn’t say anything more.”

Oh God, if the CIA or the Illuminati or some shit’s looking into this… 

“But regardless, this is all just speculation,” I sighed. “Unless she or someone in the know confirms it, I might never know the answer. I know a part of me desperately wants to pin the blame on something else making me like this, but in the end it’s still my actions that led to this point. And even if it turns out to be true… I would still have to figure out a way to fix all this. It’s a complete and utter mess I’ve gotten myself into, and I just don’t know how to escape.” I sank my head into my hands, defeated.

“Well, let’s at least focus on what you can do in the short-term. Namely, your roommate who…” I saw his eyebrow raise as he thought for a moment. “Actually, Julie might be going through the exact same thing you’re going through right now.”

I looked up at him in surprise, and he continued. “I mean, think about it: the main issue you have is this compulsion to do something highly unethical, you immediately regret it, but then you get this conflicting positive reinforcement, right? Is that not exactly what happened with Julie the other day? She had to follow your orders, she immediately regretted what she did, but your suggestions meant that she is supposed to feel good about it. The only difference here is that she can pin the blame squarely on another person, while you can only blame yourself.”

“Huh, that-” I took in what he said, and the puzzle pieces started falling into place. “Oh. Oh no. I’m literally turning her into another me without realizing it, aren’t I?” He nodded solemnly. “Shit. I… I can’t let that happen to her. I need to make sure to avoid that at all costs. It’s bad enough that I’m running around doing the things I’m doing and destroying my own life, but… I can’t let Julie suffer the same fate.” I curled up again as my mind started racing. Calm down me, get it together! We have Alex here specifically to talk through these things and help us get out of this! 

Take a deep breath.

Calm down. 

Think it through.

…

Hold on…

“...Wait, that can’t be a coincidence either, can it? I don’t want to derail the conversation away for too long, but… do you think that’s what happened to me? Was I potentially subverted by someone and made to be this way?”

He shrugged and shook his head. “Can’t say for certain. It certainly fits the narrative, but we really just don’t know. Regardless, let’s talk about what to do for Julie.” He sat back up and put his elbows on the table again. “I think you made the right call giving her a little bit of space. I can only imagine what she’s been like the past couple days, trying to sort out these feelings. But now, I think you need to accept responsibility and properly hash it out with her. Have her explain exactly what she feels, and then work out a solution.”

“What, uh… what suggestions would you recommend?” 

“Well, that kind of depends on what she’s feeling and what she wants to do. I think that if she’s okay with it, you could simply have her forget that day. It might cause complications and you might have to deal with those on the fly, but it’s a very easy way to fix it.”

I stirred uncomfortably in my seat. “I’ve… never liked that idea to be honest. If you don’t fill that gap with a lie, people will get suspicious. And the longer you have to carry a lie like that, the more it will crack under scrutiny. It just… doesn’t seem feasible long-term.”

He sighed. “That’s… honestly true, hadn’t fully considered that. But still, it is an option. The other idea I had was to simply change her suggestions: if you carefully remove your influence in certain places, she might be able to work through this naturally. It’s the slowest method, and will probably end with her still hating you, but… it’ll let her work through it on her own terms. And given what you’ve told me, that sounds more than invaluable to both of you.”

I carefully considered what he said. He’s… he’s right. I really want to help her through this without compromising her in any way. But the more I loosen my control over her, the more unpredictable the outcome. She could turn me in, or she could run away, or maybe it would be too much for her to handle and she might… yikes. I would have to be very careful with how I do it, if I don’t want this to end badly. But doesn’t that just mean I’m influencing her for my own twisted desires again?

My brain’s starting to hurt from trying to figure out the best way to do this. I probably need to just sleep on it before I commit. Hopefully whatever’s causing my shitty sleep schedule can take a break for, like, one day to just let me do that.

I let out an exasperated sigh. “I probably will do that, but… after all this, I’m starting to feel drained.” I looked up at him one last time, reached across, and put a hand on one of his arms. “Thank you, Alex, I truly appreciate you being willing to hear me out despite all the things I’ve done. I really don’t know who else I could’ve gone to, and I needed someone to help me sort everything out.”

He placed his hand on mine, and smiled warmly. “Vi, you’re a good friend. You’ve done some terrible things, and I definitely feel… conflicted to say the least, but you made the effort to seek help. That alone cannot be understated. You’re still you under there, and I do want to help you in the best way I can. I sincerely hope you figure out why all this is happening, and are able to work through it. If you need to talk to me again, please just ask. I’ll be happy to help reel you back in if you stray too far.” He said earnestly.

“Thank you so much, Alex. I’ll… I’ll try my best. And, thank you for keeping this a secret.” I was barely holding back another wave of tears.

“Well, not exactly like I can tell people about your magic powers without being called crazy, y’know?” His joke got a small little chuckle out of both of us. “Anyways, you should probably head to class or back home - er, back to your friend’s form - and give it some thought. Just… I hope you make the right choice in the end, okay?”

I nodded resolutely. “I will try my best.” I stated with newly found conviction.

I grabbed my bag, slung it over my shoulder, and began walking away. I turned back and waved to my friend, and he waved back with a smile as I rounded the corner to leave.

I approached the door to my dorm room, hands shaking as I reached for the handle. I hesitated, really not wanting to face the consequences of my actions. But, Julie finally summoned me. I don’t have a choice in the matter. 

I forced my hand onto the handle, let out a long sigh, and turned the knob open. I walked through the doorway, and was greeted with my familiar room, with a very composed Julie sitting on my bed. Or, rather, a very messy Julie trying her best to look composed. Having lived with her for the past few months, I can tell she’s been going through it and is only superficially holding it together long enough to try and talk to me.

As I walked in, she silently ushered me to the office chair sitting in front of the bed. I closed the door, walked over, and sat down facing her. She stared at me with a look that’s hard to describe: I could tell she was furious, exhausted, scared, and anxious in equal parts. She’s not doing well, and all I could do was stare back in horror at the turmoil I’d caused within her.

I’m so sorry, Julie. I promise I’ll help sort this all out with you.

We sat there gazing at each other for an uncomfortably long time, before I finally built up the courage to take a deep breath in and break the silence.

“I’m sorry, Julie. I truly am. Everything is my fault. You shouldn’t blame yourself for any of it. I was the one who unwittingly brought you into this. I was the one who gave you the suggestions I did. I was the one who fucked with your mind. And I, I was the one who made you do that. I, I knew it would probably lead to something like this, but I, I-I never imagined… all of this. I-I’m so sorry for causing everything you’ve been experiencing. I wish I could just make those feelings go away and I could just have my friend Julie back. Not my brainwashed slave Julie, but… my roommate. My lab partner. My close friend. Throughout all of this you’ve been such a good friend to me, despite all the heinous things I’ve been doing, and trying to steer me right as much as possible. I took it for granted, and I…I want to return the favor. Right now, in your time of need, I want to be your friend. I want to help you with whatever you need. I want to be the friend I n-never was back then. I… I-I… I’m so sorry…”

I remained composed for so long, but eventually my emotions overpowered me and my ability to speak crumbled beneath a typhoon of tears spilling from my eyes. No amount of preparing could’ve stopped this. I continued to sob uncontrollably until I felt a hand on my knee; I looked up, and saw Julie staring at me with deep concern.

“You… you really regret what you’ve done, haven’t you?”

I nodded as I wiped away the tears. “I-In some ways, more t-than with A-Amber. But I-I regret all of it. Everyone! Everything! I just, I…”

I felt her pull me into a hug, and I just leaned into her embrace. She sat there, staring into the wall past me and petting my head, as I cried into her arms. I could tell her attitude was different: she wasn’t angry any more, she… pitied me. The same way she did when I was explaining what happened with Amber. But this time, I could tell there was an additional layer of emotion mixed in there.

She finally sighed. “I was going to go off on you. I was going to do everything in my power to make you regret doing this to me. But… it’s pointless. You know as well as I do what you’ve done wrong. And you really are feeling remorse. You’re not some egomaniacal psychopath who’s out to rule the world; you’re a normal person who’s trying to grapple with these… absurd circumstances that have been thrust upon you. It sounds insane that I’m empathizing with you given literally everything, but… well, I guess I know what it’s like now.”

I slowly pulled away from her embrace, and looked her straight in the eyes. “More than you could ever know, a-and that’s what scares me! I, I don’t want you to experience what I’ve been going through! Nobody should! But, but, but I forced you to anyway! I’m, I-I’m turning you into another version of me without realizing it, and I… I don’t want that to happen. You don’t deserve to be dragged down to my level. I don’t want you to become a monster like me, and I’m going to do everything I can to prevent that now! I promise… I won’t let you become like me any more than I already have.”

“I… appreciate that.” I could see the gears turning behind her eyes, but she shook her head to focus back on the current conversation. “Also, while I do appreciate that you did at least ask me first before having me deal with Sue, I do want to get one thing straight with you: the moment you asked me, the answer was always going to be yes. Partly because I knew I was implicated and needed to save my own hide, but partly… because your suggestions wouldn’t let me say no. Anytime you talk to me, ask me to help, just want me to do something, my resistance vanishes in an instant. No matter how much willpower I muster, I cannot go against you. My singular purpose now is to help you, even if you don’t say the magic words. And that’s… that’s what frustrates me the most. That’s why I was so pissed at you when you made me mindless to test out your powers. And that’s why I was pissed at you for making me re-enslave Sue.”

She grabbed my hands gently. “Look, I’m in this as deep as you are now. I’m pretty sure even if you hadn’t asked, I would’ve at least hypnotized Sue for you to make sure she wouldn’t escape. I’m not exactly guilt free in this scenario. But from now on, is… is it too much to ask that I can veto your suggestions and requests? I’m frustrated that I’ve been put on this path, but… what’s done is done. Going forward, I just want at least some control over my destiny. Would you be willing to give me this little bit of freedom?”

Oh, that’s… way more elegant a solution than what Alex came up with, considering. I looked her straight in those emerald eyes, and replied without hesitation. “Absolutely. It’s the least I can do, and… honestly, I think being able to turn off or ignore my suggestions for a little bit will do a lot of good for helping you through this. And, uh, in the future, too. U-Um, would you prefer I used the magic words to do it, or should I put you in a state of hypnosis?”

“Oh, uh, right, forgot you even had that option.” After pondering for a moment, she looked back resolutely. “Hypnosis. I think I need to relax for a little bit after all this, I’ve been a little more… wound up than usual?”

I chuckled. “Yeah, you and me both. Any other requests or things you want to talk about first? Or do you want to get this out of the way now?”

“Hypnosis first. Clearing my mind will probably do a lot of good right now,” she replied. She then slapped her legs with her hands, straightened up, and looked at me with determination. “Alright, whenever you’re ready!”

I took a deep breath, and smiled back at her.

「どうもありがとう、ジュリ。眠る。」

A look of surprise and understanding crossed her face, before her head dropped down to her chest.

“I love being hypnotized… I love to obey… I love being hypnotized… I love to obey… I love being hypnotized… I love to obey…”

Oh right, that’s the mantra I gave her. It’s been so long, I honestly forgot! I chuckled to myself, listening to her monotone those words over and over. I forgot how mesmerizing it is listening to her drone away like that… but no! Stop it, me! Focus! This is no time to get hot and bothered! I have a mission, and I will NOT let the libido win this time! No matter how utterly turned on I am right now!!!

“Julie, listen to me carefully.” I could feel my heart racing, and I fought to keep my voice from wavering too much. “From now on, you have my permission to veto my suggestions. Any suggestions I have given you, even the ones I gave you way back then like your compulsion to help me, can be turned off and you will no longer find your mind compelled to follow them. They’re still there, and you can turn them back on if you so wish, but now it’s no longer something you’re always subconsciously forced to do. If you do follow my commands, you can still feel that pleasant sensation while you’re doing it, or you can choose not to.”

I took a deep breath in, centering myself. “When I snap my fingers, you’ll wake up from trance. Uh, and just in case, you’ll remember everything that happened while you were in trance when you wake up.” 

I brought my fingers together, and snapped. Julie’s voice trailed off, and her eyes fluttered open as she slowly lifted her head. She shook herself awake, then let out a big yawn and stretched her arms. “Ahhhh~, so that’s what I say when I’m under? Never knew, I was always out cold when you put me under before.” She said, grinning with amusement.

“Well, if you go deep enough it’s common for people to not remember their trances,” I explained, matching her energy. “Considering my powers make everyone go into a super deep trance, it makes sense that y’all wouldn’t remember much. But that’s besides the point - Julie, how do you feel now?”

She looked up at the corner of the room behind me with her hand resting on her chin, then glanced back at me. “It’s odd, I don’t really… feel different. I mean, I feel nice, that dip into hypnosis did wonders honestly, but… use the magic words on me real quick.”

“It’d help if you took your shirt off.” I said teasingly.

I saw a moment of conflict in her face, then her arms fell down and remained glued to her lap. “Wow, I can just… not do it. There was a compulsion for the briefest of moments, but the moment I thought ‘no’ it just… faded. I didn’t want to, so I didn’t have to. Wow, this is… so surreal now. I’ve been following what you say for so long, it kinda just… turned into my new norm.”

“Well,” I replied, “if you ever want to experience it again, then just let the feeling take over. Here, try it now: it’d help if you took your shirt off.”

“Alright, you horny-” she froze as her hands started grabbing her shirt. “Woah, there it is. But… I can stop it now! I don’t have to continue if I don’t want to!”

“Aww, I was kinda hoping you would continue…” I playfully whimpered with faux sadness.

“Pffft, we just had a serious discussion and you’re already trying to get into my pants? Vi you’re incorrigible, I swear!” She joked back, giving me a playful shove on the shoulder.

“Hey, you’re the one who made me wet with your mindless droning!”

“Oh, so we’re victim blaming now? I take it all back, you’re a true villain!”

I couldn’t maintain a straight face any longer, and we both started cracking up. As we laughed, I realized just how much I missed having her around to banter with. It really felt like we were back in labs freshman year again for a moment, just two friends playfully jabbing each other. It felt… normal again.

As we both started quieting down, I took the initiative this time and hugged Julie. She flinched in surprise, but welcomed the embrace and hugged me back. “Seriously, I’m so sorry about literally everything. If there’s anything else I can do, please, feel free to ask me.”

“I think you’ve done plenty already,” she mused. “I’ll hold you to that if I think of something else, though. I might need some more time to fully get through this whole ordeal, but… thank you. This freedom is so liberating in a way I can barely put into words.”

I squeezed her tighter in response.

I eventually released her, and sat back on the chair. After all of that, I’m even more beat than usual! Not quite ‘magic overextension into hypoglycemic shock’ beat, but still pretty tired. “Honestly, I’m glad I didn’t have to resort to offering anything drastic like making you forget about hypnotizing Sue or something.”

Julie looked at me quizzically. “That doesn’t sound like you. Did Chase or Jas suggest it?”

“No, I, uh…” I glanced at the floor nervously. “I might’ve gotten that… suggestion from a… a friend…” I whimpered, the realization dawning on me.

I looked up and… Wow, I never knew Julie’s eyes could open that wide.

“You… what?” She said, blinking at me in confusion.

“I might’ve… talked to a friend… for advice about… help with you…”

She rose to her feet. “How much did you tell them?”

“…E-Everything?” I squeaked out.

Julie grabbed my shoulders fiercely and started shaking me. “Violet Hanamori, you Stupid! Fucking!!! IDIOT!!!!! You told someone outside of your control about all of this?! ARE YOU INSANE?!?!?” 

“N-Now, hear me out!” I yelped out as my head was nearly torn off my shoulders. “Alex is literally the most trustworthy guy I know! He will absolutely take what I said with him to the grave! I-I think we’re still safe!”

She threw me back into the chair, took a deep breath, and then slammed her head into the wooden frame of the top bunk. Repeatedly. While groaning in pure frustration. “Just when I think we’re in the clear, you do this shit?!” She finally pulled her face away and stared at me, a nice red spot starting to form on her forehead. “You. Are going to tell me. Every. Single. Thing. You said. To this person. And you will not leave until we are done.” She leaned right up into my face, her nose barely an inch from mine as she spat her commands at me with utmost contempt.

All I could do was gulp in response.

I waved at Vi as she rounded the corner. I then let out a long, exasperated sigh, placing my hand on my forehead as I leaned back into my chair. Jesus, Vi. And here I thought this Capstone project was going to be the death of me… 

You’re a great friend, and I’ll keep my word, but… I have to call in some help.

I pulled out my phone, opened my messaging app, and shot a text to the third person down.

“Jane, I need to talk to you about something important. It might be related to that one incident you mentioned, and I want to make sure I’m not sticking my nose where it shouldn’t be. When can you come meet me on campus?”