Cult of the Illuminating One

October 30th

It was time. Catherine was finally coming back! We texted every now and then, but it's always great to see your friends return. I wonder what stories she'll have to tell. Is she going to have a tan? Did she bring souvenirs of the places she traveled? I hope so.

Ding

A text message from Francesca. She asked me if I had time. "Of course, for what?" I respond. Instead of answering, she asked me to meet 'them' outside the girls' college dorm. Not my favorite place to pick her up, but I'm curious who's tagging along.

A little bit later, Francesca waves at me. Next to her is Rebecca, a girl I've seen before on a party or two, but I've never had an extended conversation with her. She's good friends with Catherine though. Here I go thinking about her again...

"So Zach, you got any money? We wanted to throw a party for Cathy tomorrow" Francesca says. "I'll get paid on the first, as long as we don't go overboard, I'll be fine" I answer honestly. Rebecca butts in "You will have to buy a Halloween costume though. And we'll tell you what it is."

Taken aback, I ask "Do you already have any costume ideas or what?" The two girls begin to giggle. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll like it" Rebecca says; a sentence that does little to calm my worries for my bank account.

We arrive at the clothing store. The girls immediately go to the men's section and look for clothes that, quite frankly, look old. Eventually Rebecca pulls out a white robe and shows it to Francesca. Francesca simply says "That should work, let's look for a scarf."

The two girls keep rummaging and find me a tacky scarf, before promptly shoving me into the dressing room and telling me to wear it. As they clearly seem busy, I decide to take my time. The two also enter the stalls, helping each other into what seems like a dress, judging by the sounds of them helping each other wear it. Eventually, I exit and the two follow soon.

The two wear a single colored, plain white dress. The fabric isn't elegant at all and there is no embroidery. The only notable feature is its bagginess, which combined with the massive cleavage shown off nearly causes a nip slip for Rebecca, who has the bigger breasts out of the two.

Slight awkwardness aside, I ask the two what the meaning of the costume was. Rebecca answers first "We wanted an appropriately spooky costume that also showed how much we, Catherine's friends, have been affected by her absence."

I was, of course, still befuddled "So what are we meant to be, then?" Francesca lowered her voice and looked around the stall section. "A cult. Like in those creepy pasta ones." Francesca pouted "She left for a year, she's gonna see what tight friends we have become because we missed her. Too tight."

"Uhm, I see? So how is this going to work then?" Rebecca answered promptly "We wanted her to freak out a little. So we're kind of going into the naughty variety of cult here. All you have to do is act a little bit too familiar with us. Grab us by the waist maybe. Perhaps a long hug later in the evening. Things that seem like too much for the friends we used to be a year ago but nothing that makes her think it's fake all along."

"Hm" I'm not confident in my lying skills to Catherine, but I'm pretty sure I can do this. I might say it's doable, but in reality, Catherine is the only girl I ever had a crush on in my life. Which makes the fact that she never saw me in that light and only wrote me every now and then for the past year sting even more. Do I want to show her my act as a playboy? I don't think she's the type of person to get jealous over that, and even then, she's my childhood friend, I don't want to manipulate her emotionally. Maybe I need to move on though. When else will I have this opportunity to get this close to a girl? Maybe a sensual hug or two can open my eyes to the beauty of women other than Catherine. There's just one question left on my mind "Are you two sure you're fine with that, though? Any no-goes?"

"No, don't worry." Rebecca responds with a fake smile. Or maybe it isn't forced? She's becoming better at acting, that's for sure. "I mean, think about it. Anything that we would tell you is a no-go would likely tip her off about this being all fake, you know? She could tell." "By the way, we'll keep making stuff up about you guiding us to the light of happiness or whatever. Our main aim is being creepy, and leaning into the sex part is just a small part of it." Francesca adds, with a disapproving look.

"Don't worry, I just wanted to make sure you two were comfortable with all of this. Now, how much does this cost?" I ask. Rebecca simply says "45. You'll buy the drinks too" before going back into the girls' stall. I sigh and undress my creepy robe, and paying for my costume. 'Wouldn't it have been better to rent these?' I ask myself, before the two girls exit the stall and see me talking to the clerk at the cash register about their refund policy. Being a college student is tough on your finances.

Francesca says "Shoo, Zach, let us ladies pay. I'll send you a list of what to get, so get going." As Francesca keeps gesturing me to 'shoo' away, I notice that Rebecca's big bag contains three dresses. I was going to get mad, but I assume their plan was to give Catherine a dress too? Sneaky girls. I'll let it slide for now.

After an uneventful trip buying drinks for tomorrow, my phone buzzes again. Catherine has landed. As announced, she'll spend the first day with her family, coming back to our campus tomorrow. I write back "Glad you got here safely. How does the air taste back home?" An hour later, she replies with a picture of her extended family happily eating around the dinner table. "Greetings from my parents. Glad to be back."