Let’s find out

Once Joe gets to Becky's room, he knocks on the closed door. "Hey Becky? You in there?"

After a brief moment, he hears, "Yeah. You want something?"

"Can I come in? I've got something I want to ask you."

"Sure, go for it."

He opens the door, revealing Becky laying on her bed, textbooks and notesheets spread out before her, head resting on her hands, bare feet up in the air behind her, legs crossed. The way she’s laying pulls her shirt tight against her body, leaving little to the imagination as far as the shape of her cleavage is concerned. He realizes once he manages to pry his gaze off her body that she must have been studying for her organic chemistry test tomorrow.

“Oh, I can come back later if you’re busy... it’s nothing that important...” Joe’s almost hoping that she’s going to send him away. If it didn’t work, and he asks her the question, he’d probably never live down the embarrassment. Unfortunately for his nerves, she waves off his concerns and sits up.

“No, no, it’s fine. I needed a break from this, anyways. What did you want to ask?” She tilts her head a little to the side in curiosity, her blonde curls swinging a bit as they hang free from her face.

With his eyes locked on the movement of her thick, golden hair, Joe takes a deep, shaky breath. His heart’s beating about a mile a minute, and he can practically feel the nervous sweat pouring off of his body. He knows it shouldn’t be as big of a deal as it is, but the fact that he’s about to talk about his fetish, however indirectly, to someone he’s living with is a terrifying thought to him. If the Tome isn't real, then his life is about to turn into a living hell. But if it is...

Bolstered by the possibility, Joe asks, “So you remember how I told you you’d look good with long hair?”

Becky gets a bit of a confused look on her face, her cute nose scrunching up a bit along with her eyebrows. "Yeah... what about it?" She almost subconsciously tucks an errant lock back behind her ear.

"Well... I really meant it. It looks fine as it is, but it'd look stunning long."

"I... you really think so?" Becky seems caught off guard, and she pulls a small lock forward to inspect. “I guess I might have been a bit... reactive when you first brought it up. If you really think it’ll look that good, I guess I can grow it back out.”

“You mean it? You’d do that, go through all that work just because I said to?”

Becky shrugs. “Sure. It’s my hair, Joe. There’s no one I trust with it more than you. Have I never told you that?”

Holy shit, did she just say what I think she said? That means... it works! It actually works! Joe is in complete disbelief, and he just stares in shock at Becky with wide eyes.

After a few long, awkward moments of silence, Becky finally speaks up again. “Ooookayyy... I guess I haven’t... are... are you okay, Joe? You’re a little pale.” She moves to get up from the bed, a look of concern clouding her features.

Joe shakes his head to snap himself out of it, holding up a hand to wave off her concerns. “No, no, I’m fine. Great, actually. I just... never thought you’d say that. You’ve always been a bit protective of your hair.”

She gives him an inquisitive look, but eventually shrugs and settles back down. “I mean... yeah, I guess. But there’s something different about you, Joe. I have this feeling that you care about my hair and how it looks. That you wouldn’t lead me astray with it. I don’t know how to explain it, but I just know it’s true. Does that make sense?”

Joe nods, his mind spinning. “Yeah, yeah, I think so.” He breaks out into a giddy grin as the reality of the situation sinks in. Fuck, the whole thing is already making him hard. The test may not have changed too much, but it worked. It confirmed that the mystery package was not a prank. Who left it there doesn't matter, nor does the why. What matters is that he has it, and it’s powerful. Very, very powerful. Now that he knows the Tome is real, the world is his oyster - and he’s already got a few things in mind.