Study Hall

Luna spent her early afternoons following lunch in the library for a forty-five minute free period called study hall. While Luna had never actually studied during this period, she still appreciated it.

She paced into the empty library and found a quiet corner to sit in where she wouldn’t garner any unwanted attention.

Next, Luna opened her backpack and pulled out the book, laying it on the desk in front of her carefully.

"Okay," Luna said. "There has to be something in here about fighting demons, right?"

She sifted through the pages, feeling ever more hopeless with each new spell she found. Water water everywhere and not a spell to cast, she thought.

One problem was the sheer uncertainty. Luna knew something was off about Lily, but not much beyond that. Was the girl possessed? Was the demon controlling her? And what was that thing between her legs putting out so much darkness?

Luna jumped as she felt something wet and warm crawl onto her ankle. She looked down and sighed with frustration.

"Goddamnit, Frank," she said.

The mutant dick-worm had coiled itself around her leg and was making its way upwards.

"No means no, bucko!"

Luna picked the worm up and looked it in the "eyes". It wiggled at her desperately, seemingly starved for physical contact.

"I really messed you up, didn't I?"

All of a sudden, Luna felt a hand grip her shoulder and squeeze it tightly.

"I fucking knew it," Mary hissed from behind her.

Luna froze, terrified.

"What are you doing here, Mary?"

"It doesn't matter," Mary said. "What matters is that you lied to me about that damn book. And what the hell is that in your hands?"

Luna looked down at Frank and turned back to her best friend.

"It's, um, a little experiment."

"It's a monster. Jesus Christ, Luna. This is getting out of hand. Get rid of that book!"

"I can't!" Luna said, feeling hot and dizzy.

"Why not?"

Because it's fun, a voice from deep within Luna said.

"Because, um, because."

"What, Luna?"

"Because I think we summoned a demon yesterday and it possessed Lily Marsh."

Mary shook her head in disbelief.

"What?"

"I cast an aura spell in class today," Luna began.

"Okay, that's your first problem. Why did you cast a spell in class?"

"I just did, okay!" Luna said, tears filling her eyes. "When I looked at Lily, she had a really freaky aura. It felt demonic."

"You're just saying that because you hate her."

This was the last conversation Luna wanted to be having. She felt as if the world were closing in on her like one of those garbage compactors that turned cars into tiny metal cubes.

"You have to believe me. It was freaky and black. People don't normally have auras like that."

"You literally just discovered magic yesterday, how would you even know?"

"She was acting weird too! She looked all pale and depressed. Also, she was at the closet last night, right after we tried the summoning spell."

"Come on Luna. This has gone too far. You're playing with stuff you can't control.”

“But Lily,” Luna said feebly.

“Nothing in that book is going to help Lily if there is something wrong with her. It’s evil. Jesus, just look at the thing in your hand!”

Luna looked down at the wriggling green monstrosity in her hand.

Frank was going nuts with Mary around. It made sense given the emotions Luna used to mutate him.

With a casual flick, Luna dropped the squirming creature into her backpack and closed the zipper, not trusting it to listen to her if things got out of hand.

“Frank isn’t evil,” Luna said. “He’s just a little jumpy.”

“He’s a disembodied dick, Luna. He looks dangerous.”

“He’s not! I swear.”

“That’s besides the point. The book IS dangerous, okay?”

Luna shook her head, tears flitting from her eyes.

“I can control it!”

“At what cost? It could kill you. It could kill both of us. Or worse!”

Luna looked down at the book and felt a wave of despair. It seemed like such an innocent thing sitting there on the table. Did she really have to give it up?

“Please, Luna. I’m begging you as your best friend. I love you!”

Mary took Luna’s hands in her own. The touch of the girl’s skin was intoxicating for Luna.

“I don’t want this book to hurt you. You have to admit, you sometimes take things too far.”

Luna nodded, the tears flowing freely down her cheeks now.

Mary pulled Luna into a tight embrace and stroked her back. In that moment, Luna came to absolute peace.

Here was the love of her life, a person that she had been with at all these years without realizing the subtle truth right in front of her. Maybe Luna could give the book up for this.

“Fine,” Luna said. “I’ll do it. For you.”

“Thanks,” Mary said.

Luna took the book and dumped it in a trash can near by. As the soft leather left her fingers, a great sadness overcame her. It was like saying goodbye to a close friend.

No, it was worse, she thought. It was betraying a close friend.

Still, she had a closer friend to care for.

“Let’s get rid of that worm too,” Mary said.

"No! Frank stays. Trust me, he really is sweet when you get to know him. He's like a puppy. A penis-shaped, wormy puppy."

"God, why does he have a name? Fine, as long as he isn't dangerous. Look, I have to run, but thank you, Luna. This really put me at ease. You know I'm usually on board for anything wild, but this magic crap was really freaking me out."

"Sure thing, girly!" Luna said, looking deeply into her best friend's eyes.

Luna so desperately wanted her best friend. In a single day, all the power of their friendship had been transmuted into something even more beautiful in the young woman's heart and all she could do was feel giddy. The loss of the book still cast a shadow on her soul, but Mary was a ray of sunshine through it all.

"I'll talk to you later?" Mary asked.

"You can count on it!"

Mary left the room looking like a ball of light, her cute blonde hair bouncing up and down as she walked towards the exit.

That's gonna be mine one day, Luna thought dreamily.

She didn't notice the dark presence watching her closely.