I Hate Minor Inconveniences

The walk to school with Sarah the next day was almost the same as usual. The same route, the same small talk, the same arguing over Jujutsu Kaisen power-scaling. But I say almost because of the golden jar in my jacket pocket. And the lingering fact that I had maybe kind of fucked Sarah's pussy until she squirted all over me. She was still Sarah, but a version of Sarah that my body was kind of hyper-aware of.

But as much as I was enjoying the view of Sarah in her school fit, I had goals. Specifically, ****-fueled ones. Today was the day I could finally get **** on Raine. To give her a taste of her own medicine. To get even after years of torment. I was shooting my shot straight at Raine McClane today, and there was no way on Earth I was going to miss.

"Nah, man, you missed her by like an hour," Sai Venkajay said, leaning against the lockers and checking his phone. Sai was a good guy, usually the first to know the school gossip before it even hit the group chats. "Raine and the rest of the softball team headed out this morning. Some big regional tournament. They’re gone for at least a week."

I felt a surge of something just below crashing out but high above annoyance. I’d spent half the night imagining Raine’s face going blank as I finally turned the tables on her, maybe fucked her a few times or humiliated her in front of the school. Now that I thought about it a little more, maybe I didn't really have a concrete plan.

"A week? Seriously?"

"Don't sound so heartbroken, Ward," Sai chuckled, giving me a weird look. "Usually you're throwing a party when she's not around to mess with you. Why the sudden interest in the Dragon Lady?"

"Just wanted to... settle a debt," I muttered, looking past him. Then, a familiar voice rang in my head.

Well. This is...unideal.

No shit, Sherlock.

To be fair, it's just a week.

You spent a few decades in a jar watching the Simpsons. Our perceptions of time are not the same.

Well, you could always fuck another girl while you wait.

Not a bad idea. It's not as if Raine was the only girl in my school, which would have been a horrifying prospect. My eyes scanned the hallway, looking for a consolation prize.

That’s when I saw her. She was standing by the water fountain, surrounded by her usual clique. Even in a sea of generic high school fashion, Ricole Laurens stood out like a neon sign. Her hair was a vibrant, bubblegum pink that shouldn't have worked with the school's dress code, but when you're a hot Asian-American girl, the rules tend to bend around you. She was laughing at something one of the jocks said, her posture effortless and radiating "untouchable" energy, in a different yet slightly similar to Sarah's.

Watching the way her pink hair shimmered under the fluorescent lights, I started to scheme. Max said the ability needs physical contact. Getting close to someone like Ricole, who spends 90% of her time surrounded by fanboys and fangirls, is a mission in itself.

Thankfully, my scheming didn't have to stretch too far. During second-period English, the universe decided to hand me an opening. Mrs. Gable was droning on about The Great Gatsby, but my eyes were locked on the back of Ricole’s head, three rows down and two seats over. It had been difficult to isolate her from her clique, but during class today she was sitting alone. Probably because all the jocks skipped English to go eat pizza or work out or whatever it is jocks did in their free time.

Finally, the virtual Wish-Interface flickered into existence in my peripheral vision.

Please select command word for Ricole Laurens.

I smirked. My mind raced through options. "Okay" worked for Sarah because we talked all the time. But I barely spoke to Ricole. I needed something that sounded like a natural start to a sentence—something I could say while "accidentally" bumping into her in the crowded aisles.

I keyed in: "Hey."

It was perfect. It demanded attention and sounded like the start of a question.

As the bell rang, signaling the end of class, the usual chaos of chairs scraping and teenagers rushing for the door ensued. Ricole was slow to pack up, laughing with a friend. This was it. I slung my bag over my shoulder and timed my exit perfectly.

The aisle was a bottleneck. I stepped out just as she turned to leave. We were on a collision course. Closer... closer...

"Oh, watch out—" I said, making it look like I’d lost my footing slightly in the crowd. My hand reached out, ostensibly to steady myself, and my palm pressed firmly against her bare forearm. Her skin was cool and soft, a sharp contrast to the heat blooming in my chest.

"Hey."

The transformation was like watching a video freeze-frame. The bubbly, energetic girl who had been mid-sentence simply... stopped. Her mouth stayed slightly parted, her eyes losing their spark and turning into two deep, glassy pools of nothingness. Her friend, already a few steps ahead in the crowd, didn't even notice.

I held the contact for a second longer than necessary, a thrill of pure power racing through me. The "untouchable" Ricole Laurens was currently a blank slate, waiting for my input.

I leaned in, whispering close to her ear so no one else in the noisy classroom could hear.

"Ricole, you're going to find me after school behind the gym. You'll feel a sudden, irresistible need to talk to me—just me."

I let go of her arm.

"Now, go to your next class and forget I was ever here."

Her eyes blinked, the light returning to her eyes instantly. She shook her head slightly, as if shaking off a stray thought, and continued walking out the door without a backward glance.

I stood there for a moment, adjusted my bag, and felt a grin spreading across my face. Raine might have escaped my vengeance for a week, but I had a feeling the next seven days were going to be good enough to make up for it.