Bonnie and Susie volunteer

Miss Trickett's sultry eyes swept across the audience of mostly Pinkwhistle High students, with a few randoms and that one super hot guy from the mechanic's shop mixed in, looking for raised hands. "Nobody?" she said, softly. "Very well. Let's try it another way. Everyone put your hands up."

Everyone looked at each other, shrugged, and put their hands up. Miss Trickett smiled. "Now," she said, "this is a little test I like to run, to see who in the audience is most susceptible to hypnotism. You want to put your hands down, ladies and gentlemen. They're ever so heavy. But, and here is the thing, you can't."

Instantly about half the audience put their hands down. Bonnie and Susie were in the other half. Bonnie looked at Susie.

"Hey," she said. "Why can't I lower my hand?"

"Because you're hypnotised, idiot," snapped Susie, who was also struggling to lower hers.

"That can't be right. Hypnotism is fake."

"They're so, so heavy," crooned Miss Trickett. "But you can't lower them, no matter how hard you try. And that's too bad. Because the last people to lower their hands... will have to volunteer."

"Susie," said Bonnie, whose raised hand was beginning to tremble as she struggled to lower it, "can you help me?"

"I can't even help myself! Why did you make us come in here?"

"I'm sorry! I really, really thought hypnosis was fake!"

Hands were going down across the tent now. Anne-Marie, who'd been struggling, finally got hers under control, hastily jerking it down and sitting on it to prevent it going back up again. Miss Trickett looked out at the audience, and a reptilian smile came to her lips.

"Why, it's the skeptic," she said. "And her little friend."

"Okay! Fine! Hypnosis is real! Can we put our hands down now?"

"Of course," said Trickett. "But you still have to volunteer."