Dear Jessie

It was hard for Maisie to put her mind to her impending first day back at school in nearly two decades with so much else to ruminate on that morning. At least her grades didn't actually matter this time. The more important issue was what was going on between Jessie and her master.

The good news was that, as it appeared at least, he wasn't actually erasing or altering Jessie's memories beyond her either not noticing or instantly forgetting commands she had been given. If that was the case, it didn't seem Craig was abusing the curse too terribly, at least compared to a lot of masters. He had clearly made her fall in love with him (which, thanks to the curse, she still felt despite everything. It must have been horribly confusing for the poor girl). According to Jessie they had quite a wild and frequent sex life and she was usually naked when it was just the two of them together (the high speed stripping seemed to have been a largely useless superpower he had given her), but beyond that everything was apparently pretty normal. However, attempting to escalate things to include Emily the previous evening, alongside Craig's obvious lack of self control when he was horny, gave cause for concern.

In that moment though, Maisie's train of thought was delightfully interrupted by the opening bars of her favourite ever song emanating from the shower room. It was a cute but cheesy pop tune that wasn't to her usual taste, but had come to mean everything to her over the years. She walked over to the en suite door as the lyrics she knew off by heart came through it.

Baby face don't grow so fast, make a special wish that will always last

"Hey, what's this song?" Maisie called out in feigned ignorance.

"Dear Jessie. It's an ancient pop song my Mom used to play and sing to me all the time when I was a kid" her daughter shouted back "Not really my usual genre, but I kind of love it. I think I'm just missing her, which is crazy since it's been about three days and I'm a grown ass adult"

"What's your Mother like?" Maisie couldn't help but ask.

"It's such a shame you haven't had the chance to meet her. She's basically my favourite person in the world and I love her to ****. I can't begin to tell you how much she's done for me and my sister throughout our entire lives. I often feel guilty that I've never told her just how grateful I am for everything. But it would just be so cringe"

"I'm sure she knows" Maisie bit her lip. trying to hold back the tears that were forming.

"Em, are you okay?" Jessie asked as she emerged from the bathroom to see her friend looking a bit of an emotional wreck.

"I'm fine, I'm just being silly" Maisie answered "I suppose I miss being home too"

"You are home" Jessie placed a hand warmly on Emily's shoulder "Your second home at least. Never forget that"

"Thanks Jess, that means the world to me" Emily smiled as she wiped her eyes.

"So, are you all set for class?"

"God, as much as I'll ever be" Emily puffed out her cheeks unenthusiatically.

"Unfortunately you aren't in my class, but you are with Haley at least. Hales will look after you"

--

Maisie had always adored Haley. She had been the sweetest child and seemed to have grown into the kind of young woman any parent would be proud to have raised. Of the cousins, she was the one who behaved least differently around Maisie as a teenage friend as opposed to an Aunt. Except her language was a bit less clean.

"I feel like I'm going to be your unofficial body guard while you're here" Haley told Emily as the two of them walked to class together "The guys are going to lose their shit when they see you. But don't worry, I'm tougher than I look"

"Are you genuinely not looking to hook up while you're over here then?"

"I don't think so" Emily shook her head "It would make things a little complicated. You know, I'm not here for that long. What about you though Haley, you're so beautiful. You can't be short of offers"

"I've dated around a bit but there isn't really anyone for me. Not at college anyway. I think I would prefer someone a little older and more mature"

"What about this party on Saturday though? Was Kelly being serious about us all hooking up? I'm still kind of figuring out when she's joking and when she isn't"

"Oh, she's deadly serious" Haley confirmed "That doesn't mean we have to, of course. There will be a lot of horny guys there if you change your mind though. Oh fuck, speaking of horny guys, look at the walking hard on's heading our way. They've noticed you, evidently. These two are pretty harmless but they do kind of suck"

Maisie sighed to herself. She and Jessie had agreed that she should tell Haley about the reality of the curse, and that they had both been claimed, as soon as possible. Jessie felt it would be better coming from Emily since she herself felt so guilty about the danger she had inadvertently exposed her cousins to. Technically it was Kelly's fault even more than hers, but she had the excuse of thinking the curse was a fantasy.

Haley was the obvious choice to be the first cousin to confide in. Tammy might freak out and Kelly, well, who knew, but she would probably be the last to be informed. Maisie had been trying to find a smooth way to weave it into the conversation before class, but it looked like she and her niece would now have to deal with the unwanted advances of two horny teenage jocks instead.