Grace’s idea.

I wish I could say I had put what happened on Monday behind me, but I couldn’t. It wasn’t eating me up per se, but it made me keep on wondering what it was that changed me four months ago.

Did I do something special? Did I pick up some weird item? Did I talk to a suspicious stranger? Did I receive a message on my phone? I spent all of Tuesday trying to remember, but none of those rang a bell. I didn’t remember having any strange dreams, either. Or did I? I sometimes got the feeling like I had dreamt of something but I forgot all about it the moment I woke up. It was kind of annoying, actually. Like there was a hole in my memory.

I wanted to get to the bottom of this, more for the girls’ sake than my own. I needed to be sure I wasn’t a danger to them. That nothing bad had happened so far didn’t mean it never would, right? If I could lose control of myself due to a high libido like that, then what assured me I wouldn’t lose control in other ways? Though, to be honest… I thought it was unlikely.

It was entirely possible I was exaggerating. I’m sure there are other people out there who have felt as horny as I have and haven’t been able to hold it in as well as me, if I may be allowed to say that. Maybe I was being overly cautious. I had lived four months with these powers at that point and nothing bad had happened. The girls weren’t making a huge fuss over it, either… but then Wednesday happened.

It began that morning in the club room. We were drinking tea prepared by Alice and eating the cookies Noelle brought. Mila was sitting on my lap as she and Alice talked to me about traffic laws, you know, as a form of studying for when I had to take the test. Sarah had approached Noelle and the two were looking at something on the blonde’s phone. I was paying attention to what Alice was saying, but I could swear I heard the familiar sound effects of a fighting game. Grace had yet to arrive, but when she did, we immediately noticed something was… off.

She was looking overly serious with a mix between a grimace and a frown. Her steps were slow, like she was dragging her feet, and it almost looked like the bag on her shoulders weighed her down more than it should.

“Grace?” Mila stood up from my lap and went to check on her. “Is everything alright?”

Grace wiped that expression off her face in favor of a bright, casual smile when Mila addressed her. She stood up straight and let out a soft chuckle. “Yeah, everything’s well. Sorry, I was thinking.”

“I don’t like when you think,” Sarah told her with her own grimace. “What is it?”

“Nothing, really. I’m being stupid.” Grace walked up to me and stole Mila’s spot, sitting on my lap, facing me and pecking my lips many times as she played with my hair. “It’s nothing that matters.”

I focused on her face, and I didn’t like the smile I was seeing. Before I started talking to her, I would hear people talk about how Grace had a knack for hiding what she was thinking behind kind, polite smiles. Mila, Sarah and Alice had more experience with her fake smiles than I did since Grace had never shown me one of those. I was sure of that much, at least. This was the first time I was seeing it, but… I still felt some sort of kindness in it.

“Is it so hard to let us decide if it matters or not?” Alice asked her. She got behind Grace and hugged her with her arms over her shoulders. Grace blinked and her cheeks took on a pink tinge. “I can finally hang out with you again. I’m not letting you carry burdens by yourself anymore. It would kill me.”

“Pfff!” Grace began to laugh softly. “Was I really looking so serious?”

“Yeah, you were,” Alice said, rubbing her cheeks against Grace’s as she grinned teasingly and poked her ribs. “You’re getting sloppy.”

“I suppose I am.” Grace sighed contently. She didn’t seem to mind Alice’s touching in the slightest. “I’m too busy having a boyfriend to focus on my criminal activities.”

“Good. Now let me make you a cup of tea and you’ll tell us what’s on your mind.”

“You'll all laugh at me.”

“Maybe.”

“And she doesn’t even deny it…”

I was both amazed and amused by that little interaction. I thought it would take more to get Grace to tell us what she had in mind. And I wasn’t the only one.

Mila ran to Alice and gave her a hug. “It’s so GOOD to have you back with us!” she said, laughing brightly.

“Yeah,” Sarah agreed. “You and Oliver are the only ones who can get Grace to spill the beans.”

“Huh? Me?” I asked her.

Sarah sighed. “Grace is one of the world’s best liars. Not that you would know. She has never lied to you.”

Grace smiled and proudly took a hand to her chest. “The trick is to mix in some easy to verify truths so that people won’t bother to check the finer details. Another trick is good misdirection. Another is the tone of your voice and looking people in the eyes.”

I scowled. “You’re a terrible person. Get off my lap.”

“Huh? W-Wait…!”

“I’m never kissing you again,” I told her.

“No, Oliver, love, it’s for the greater good, I promise!”

The others all laughed while Grace tried to hug and kiss me and I kept pushing her away. I couldn’t keep the act for long, though, and I ended up making out with her until Alice got her tea ready.

Grace went to sit on her own chair and we all waited expectantly. The brunette took a sip of her tea, took a deep breath and set the cup down. “Let me preface this by saying I’m 100% serious here. You’ll laugh at me, but I’m serious.”

She was wrong. We didn’t laugh. We couldn’t laugh. When we saw what Grace brought out of her backpack, we all understood what she meant.

Grace had brought a Ouija board.

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