“Billy! Are you even paying attention?”
    “Sure,” Billy mumbled, still lost in sweet memories of his date with Diana. And the amazing sex they’d had right after. How the hell was Diana that flexible anyway? She must have done gymnastics or cheerleading. Billy made a mental note to ask her later. And maybe put her in trance and see what kind of wonderful poses she could pull off. Modeling just for him, without a thought in her head. The thought was turning him on so much that he-
    A cheese puff flew through the air and hit Billy in the face. He yelped and flailed an arm out, knocking over his textbook. When he looked up he saw Sophie sitting in her chair with a cross look and more cheese puff ammunition in hand, ready to be launched.
    “Can you at least try to pay attention?”
    “Sorry.” Billy went to stand up to retrieve his book, only to feel the tug of his pants on his erection, which was clearly visible. Sophie was pissed enough at him for daydreaming, and he didn’t wanted to know how she’d react to seeing him with a hard on when they were supposed to be studying. Instead he adjusted himself in his chair and tried to drag his textbook closer with his foot. “What question are we on again?”
    “God, you’re hopeless,” she chided, tossing another cheese puff at the back of his head. “Seriously, I’m wasting a perfectly good night where I could be going out and having fun. Instead I’m here trying to help you pass this class. The least you could do is pay attention.”
    “I know, you’re right. And I really appreciate it, Sophie. I always do.” Billy gave her his most earnest, grateful smile he could muster.
    Sophie let out a suffering sigh, but she ate the handful of cheese puffs, so at least there weren’t going to be any more lobbed at his head. Not that he didn’t deserve it. He really did need her help, and he was being hopeless by daydreaming about his girlfriend. His awesome, sexy, amazing girlfriend.
    Billy shook his head. No, he had to focus. Surely he could manage at least thirty minutes without having depraved and distracting thoughts about Diana. He scooped up his textbook and flipped it open to the chapter they were reviewing, determined to give it his best shot.
    Only for his focus to get completely shattered when Sophie casually asked, “So how’d your big date go?”
    Billy sputtered. How had she heard about that? Had someone seen them at the mall? Was there a rumor about them hooking up in the dressing room? He was gripped with fear, but when Sophie glanced over there wasn’t any knowing accusation there. Instead it was almost bored contempt.
    “Your catfish date off the internet last week? Remember?”
    “Oh, right.”
    That was the excuse he’d given Sophie, back when he and Diana had first discovered the trigger. He’d been nervous about telling Sophie that he was dating Diana now, expecting a series of jokes about him having a girlfriend at all, much less a knockout like her. Still, she was going to find out eventually.
    “Clearly you didn’t get stabbed or anything, so I bet that was a good date by your standards,” Sophie laughed with her usual mean humor.
    “Yeah, it was pretty good,” he muttered, remembering that magical night. “About that. I’m, uh, actually dating her now.”
    Sophie shot up from her chair. “Seriously?” she asked, face twisting up in disbelief. “You’re dating a girl off the internet?” 
    When Sophie gave him a pitying look, Billy felt a fire spring up inside him. He sat up straighter, his face setting with determination. Normally he didn’t care about Sophie teasing him, but when it came to being a boyfriend he had more pride than he expected.
    Sophie shook her head as she sat down, leaning back in her chair with her arms crossed. “I’m sure you could have found someone at our college to date you. I bet if you cleaned up a bit even I would-”
    “She actually goes to our school,” Billy said, cutting her off. For a second he faltered, thinking that Sophie had been about to say she’d be interested in him, but surely he’d misheard her. And he couldn’t afford to lose steam now.
    “She does?” Sophie asked, a dark look brewing in her eyes. “Who is it?”
    “Diana.”
    She blinked at him, as if she hadn’t heard right.
    “I’m dating Diana.”
    “You’re dating Diana?”
    “Yes. She’s my girlfriend now.”
    Billy had been expecting disbelief. A small part of him was maybe hoping for Sophie to be impressed, or even a little jealous that a nerdy guy like him had managed to score such a hot girlfriend.
    What he didn’t expect was for Sophie to throw back her head and start cackling.
    “I mean it! I’m dating Diana!”
    “I’m sure you are,” she said, still laughing hard enough to bring tears. “Oh Billy, you are so screwed.”
    An uncomfortable heat flushed through him and his skin prickled. “What are you talking about?”
    “Poor, naive Billy,” mused Sophie. “Do you really think a girl like Diana would be genuinely interested in you?”
    “Yes!”
    “Then tell me. Are you two in any of the same classes?”
    “Yeah, we have a film class together.”
    “And are you working on an assignment together?”
    “Yeah,” Billy said, his anger fading.
    “And I bet you’re happy to do all the work for your new ‘girlfriend,’” Sophie said, actually using finger quotes.
    Billy sighed. He could trust Sophie to be mean as ever, but like usual, she was still looking out for him. It’s not that she doubted Billy dating Diana. Well, she probably did. He’d have a hard time believing it too. What Sophie was really insinuating was that a hot popular girl was leading him on just so he’d do her homework. While laughing in his face was a bit much, it was Sophie’s way of showing her concern that he was getting taken advantage of.
    So Billy took a deep breath to let his anger wash away completely. Then he smiled and shook his head. “Nope, we’re actually splitting the work evenly on this. She’s as excited to work on it as I am. And our dating has nothing to do with class, so you don’t have to worry.”
    Sophie’s face darkened again. “But I am worried. Diana is clearly manipulating you, even if you’re too dumb and horny to see it.”
    It was impossible for Billy not to laugh at that. He imagined Diana, hypnotized as she rode his cock and called him Master, being the secret mastermind Sophie was making her out to be.
    “She’s not taking advantage of me. If anything its the other way around.”
    Sophie raised a dramatic eyebrow. “Are you blackmailing her or something?”
    “What! No!” Billy felt a lump in his throat. “Forget it, I just know she’s being genuine about dating me. Even if you don’t trust her, I do.”
    Sophie looked ready to argue more, but then she got up from her chair and dumped herself down onto her bed. “Fine, whatever. Don’t come crying to me when she breaks your heart.”
    “I won’t,” Billy declared. Then quickly amended it to, “She won’t.” He sat there staring expectantly at Sophie, who was munching on snacks without giving him another glance. “Are we gonna keep studying?”
    “Get your girlfriend to help you study,” she said, shooting him a dirty look.
    He didn’t know if he deserved that, but Billy suspected he probably could have gone about all of this a better way. Obviously people would be suspicious of them dating, with Diana seeming so far out of his league. And it wasn’t like he could explain that what they had in common was the same kinky fetishes and fantasies, that they were currently indulging in thanks to a mysterious hypnotic trigger.
    Billy perked up.
    “She likes Coocoo-Kachew.”
    Sophie rolled her eyes. “Sure she does.”
    “No really. That’s how we got to talking in the first place. She saw my toys and posters and started telling me about how much she loves the show too.”
    “If all you need to ask a girl out is for them to love your favorite cartoon, then why didn’t you ever ask me out?”
    The question shocked Billy. Him asking Sophie out? Where had that come from? Sure, some of his friends had asked if they were a couple since they hung out a lot, but there was no way she’d ever be interested in him. Except this was Sophie asking now. It felt like a trick.
    Although, he supposed that she had a point. Billy glanced up at Sophie’s shelves, where a plush cartoon toucan sat waiting next to some old action figures of Donna and the rest of the crew. The Donna figure had actually been his, which he’d given to Sophie on her birthday a few months ago. It seemed the least he could do, considering how lucky he was that she was his friend at all, and always helped him out.
    He remembered her holding the Donna figure with a warm smile, so rare to see instead of her usual resting scowl face. In that moment he actually had wanted to ask her out. But the question had caught in his throat, even when she seemed to look up at him expectantly.
    “I don’t know,” Billy finally said. “It just seemed impossible. Like you’re cool and hot, and I was lucky enough to just be your friend. I figured you’d say no anyway. And I might have even pissed you off asking.”
    “Probably,” Sophie said, not looking at him. She was turned away, digging through her blanket for the remote control. When she found it she flicked on the TV. “But if you wanted to ask you should have. Its not good to let feelings like that stay bottled up.”
    There was something to the way Sophie said that. How her face blushed and her shoulders hunched up. Before he could say anything she turned and flicked a cheese puff at him.
    “Obviously I’d have said no, cause who’d want to date a loser like you. But it’s not like I could blame you for crushing on me.”
    “I guess I just never let a crush develop cause I knew it would be a bad idea,” he laughed. When he raised his head he found Sophie staring at him, holding his gaze. There was something intense there, though he couldn’t figure out what she was thinking.
    Then Sophie turned away and shrugged. “Well congrats on dating Diana, I guess.”
    “Thanks,” he said, figuring that was the best he’d get out of Sophie.
    “Hang on. You were intimidated to ask me out, but you asked out Diana?”
    “Um, yeah. I guess.”
    A wide grin spread on Sophie’s face. “So you think I’m hotter  and more intimidating than Diana?”
    Billy blinked in surprise. “Yeah, I guess you’re more out of my league than Diana.” He reworded it a bit, but figured a little flattery would help improve Sophie’s mood. And he was sure Diana wouldn’t mine the white lie.
    “At least you’re not totally crazy,” Sophie said, with a new smug aura about her. “Come on, let’s watch an episode and then I’ll help you study.”
    Thank god he’d managed to smooth that over. The truth was he really would need her help studying, considering how much time he was spending fooling around with Diana. Billy knew they should pull back before they both failed all their classes, but it was far too tempting knowing that he could control his girlfriend with just a few words from their favorite cartoon show.
    Their favorite show.
    He saw that Sophie was across her room now, digging out her box set of the Coocoo-Kachew cartoon. She loved the show nearly as much as he and Diana did. But that didn’t mean she’d have the same trigger. Did it? Billy still had no clue how Donna’s trance trigger had ended up in Diana’s head anyway. Maybe whoever put it there was targeting hot girls who watched the cartoon. Or was it their love of the cartoon itself?
    The more Billy thought about it the more unlikely he knew it was. And yet he couldn’t stop his eyes from roaming over Sophie’s ample curves. The way her tits stretched out her Star Trek t-shirt. And when she bent over to put in the DVD her yoga pants looked nearly painted onto her amazing ass.
    Billy gulped. For their whole friendship Billy had trained himself not to stare at Sophie, to turn away and cut off any fantasies about her. Maybe it was his increased sex drive, or Sophie asking why he’d never asked her out, but the dam had clearly burst. Now Billy couldn’t stop staring at Sophie and imagining what she’d look like naked. Imagining if she’d wear her usual scowl as she got down on her knees and crawled towards Billy. But then that scowl would melt into lust and admiration as she saw his hard cock waiting.
    “Master,” Sophie would moan, before opening her plump lips and taking his cock down her throat.
    “So what will it be?” Sophie asked, and Billy was ripped out of the fantasy. She stood with a hand on her hip before the TV screen, trademark scowl in place. The episode select screen behind her had an animation of Coocoo-kachew dancing, and at this angle it looked like the toucan in the silly hat was dancing right over Sophie’s shoulder. The same way Coocoo-kachew would dance on Donna’s shoulder in the cartoon.
    What if Sophie had the trigger too?
    Billy quickly crossed his legs, hoping to hide his erection. “Whatever you want to watch.”
    Sophie smirked. “Wow, you really are trying to butter me up. Usually you insist on picking the episodes because, ‘we have to watch in a certain order to really appreciate them.’”
    Normally Billy would have snapped back that it was important to go by the episode production order and not the release date order, but all he could picture was Sophie moaning as he shoved his cock between her tits.
    “It’s fine,” he said, voice strained.
    “Whatever.” Sophie hit a button on the remote before dumping herself down onto her bed. From the opening shot of a Mediterranean coast Billy knew it was the episode with the submarine smugglers pretending to be a Kraken, using robotic tentacles to raid ships. It was one of his favorites, since there were plenty of fun shots of Donna in a purple bikini, though obviously that couldn’t compare to the episode where Donna got hypnotized.
    Billy kept stealing glances over at Sophie. Her eyes were glazed over as she watched the cartoon, and Billy felt his heart racing. Sophie’s vacant stare resembled a hypnotic trance, the illusion only ruined when she occasionally brought some cheese puffs up to her mouth.
    What if Sophie had the trigger too? The insidious thought was wrapping itself around his mind and threatening to pull him under, like the robotic tentacle arms of the fake Kraken sub.
    The odds were impossible, but then it seemed impossible that Diana would have the hypnotic trigger in the first place. What if he recited the trigger and it worked? Sophie’s eyes truly going blank. Her hand falling limp at her side, dropping her cheese puffs. Sophie reciting that she couldn’t resist the mirror. That she had to obey her hypnotist.
    And then Sophie, his hot and mean friend Sophie, would be totally obedient to him. She would do whatever he commanded. Including stripping and fucking him in any way he wanted.
    Then Billy remembered Diana and was racked with guilt. How could he even think of cheating on her?
    The guilt was short lived, though, as his libido quickly supplied a fantasy of Sophie and Diana entranced together. They both could serve as his loving slaves. Sophie and Diana making out for his entertainment. Diana sucking on Sophie’s big tits, while Sophie groped Diana’s ass. Spreading her cheeks wide and inviting their Master to fuck her.
    Of course Diana would accept Sophie as another slave. Diana would accept anything that Billy told her to. He could have them both.
    Billy recoiled against the dark fantasy. It was tempting and delicious, he couldn’t deny it, but he couldn’t bring himself to do that to Diana or to Sophie.
    The reason he’d enslaved Diana was because he knew she truly desired it too. If Sophie didn’t want to be with him then it would be wrong to force her. And with all his resolve to be a good boyfriend, how could he even think of manipulating Diana’s emotions into letting him sleep with another girl.
    No. Billy had to be strong. Even if there was the chance that Sophie had the trigger, he couldn’t let himself get carried away like that.
    He meant it too. For all of ten minutes. Until the slithering tentacles of dark desire found a new weakness to cling to in his mind.
    What if Sophie liked it too? Maybe Sophie was just as kinky as Diana. When she was in trance he could ask, and Sophie would reveal the truth. Obviously if she wasn’t interested then Billy would accept that. He could wake her up with no memory of the trance.
    And if Sophie had the trigger than it was another way to investigate this mystery. Maybe Sophie remembered something about the trigger that Diana didn’t. It could be the clue that led to the truth behind the trance trigger.
    What would it hurt just to check if she had it?
    Billy looked over at Sophie, his mouth dry.
    “Hey Soph.”
    She turned her head his way, but kept staring at the screen. “What?”
    “You remember that episode with the clown lady? Where she had the magic mirror that hypnotized people?”
    “Ugh,” Sophie groaned. “You said I could pick the episode.”
    “It’s not that,” Billy said, rapidly losing confidence. He’d tried to bring it up casually, but how was this casual in any way? “I was just wondering if you remembered the poem she said.”
    Sophie raised an eyebrow. “Poem?”
    “Yeah, you know.” Billy cleared his throat, anxiety mounting as Sophie stared at him. “Stop, my pretty, and listen to me. From your thoughts, I set you free. A beautiful girl with a happy smile, now find yourself completely beguiled.”
    When he finished he waited with his heart hammering in his chest. Sophie’s eyes kept looking at him with a blank, distant quality now. Billy waited for her to recite the response, to prove she was in trance.
    Instead, Sophie blinked and said, “And?”
    “What?”
    “And what about the poem?”
    Oh crap. It hadn’t worked, because obviously it was impossible that Sophie would have the same trigger as Diana. And now she was staring at him wondering why he’d just recited a poem from a cartoon that had hypnotized Donna.
    “Uh, I was just thinking about it. I thought it sounded nice,” he said, lamely.
    “You’re looking for poetry from a Coocoo-Kachew cartoon?”
    To say that Billy was freaking out was an understatement. It felt like a dream where you realize you’re naked in class, only it was so much worse because Sophie was staring at him now like he was a freak. The room was suffocating and he felt totally exposed.
    “I just remembered I have to run!” he suddenly said, lunging from his chair and scooping all his books into his bag.
    “The episodes not over.”
    “I know, but I promised Diana that I, uh, had to see her. We’ll finish it later.” He ran out of the room as fast as he could, feeling like a total and complete idiot. He was certain Sophie must have shared the sentiment too.
    What he couldn’t see was Sophie staring at the door after him, with a suspicious frown forming below her icy stare.