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"So if she doesn't show up, we can just leave, right?"

Brian scoffed. "This isn't high school, Jenn. Prof. Matuszewich doesn't even grade for attendance. You can leave whenever you want."

A few snickers broke out from the nearby students not already engaged in their own unproductive conversations. Jenn made to say something but thought better of it, slumping into her seat with a huff. "Yeah, well . . . She should give us extra credit for making us wait. We paid for the course, after all."

"Lord knows you need it," Trish said, drawing a glare that caused her to laugh again. A moment later, her tone became more somber. "Though it is concerning. She's never been late before. And to not notify us . . ."

"Whatever," Jenn said. "She's an adult, she can take care of herself. The important thing is, I'm b-o-r-e-d

bored

. What are we going to do about

that

." She flicked the ball of paper that she had been playing with at Brian, who threw it back in retaliation.

Trish rummaged through her bag to pull out her notebook and favorite green pen. "Seems like a perfect opportunity to study. We do have that test coming up next week, after all."

The answer drew a noise out of Jenn, causing Brian to say, "I'm with Jenn on this one, even though she could benefit the most from studying. Oh! Did you guys hear about what happened at Zero Grav last weekend? Michelle was there, and she said-"

"Wait, shut up. First of all, you're too old for that place, but also I have an idea," Jenn said, as Brian complained about being interrupted. "Hey Alecia. Alecia!"

Across the room, a girl with flowing black hair placed a bookmark right against the spine of her textbook. She closed the book and folded her hands on top of it before turning her head, her back perfectly straight. "Yes, Jenn?"

With a grin, Jenn nodded her head upwards once as she said, "Do your thing."

Alecia cocked an eyebrow. "My . . .

thing

?"

"Come on, you know what I'm talking about. Entertain us while we wait."

"You know how the professor feels about that, Jenn. You should listen to your friends and try to study."

Trish perked up at the idea of Alecia's performance. "If that's on the table, studying can wait. If Prof. Mattie comes back, we can just tell her we pressured you into it. Please?" She gave Alecia her best hopeful expression.

By now the din of the room had died down. Everyone watched to see her response. Alecia floated out of her seat, her poised steps carrying her to the front of the room. She fixed her blue eyes on Jenn and said, "Very well."

Excited whisperings broke out as people cleared their desks and gave Alecia their full attention. She leaned against the teacher's desk as she waited for them to settle down. "And who shall be the subject?"

Hands shot up into the air. Some people shouted out the names of others, while those people argued against the nomination, offering different names in return. Alecia silenced them all with the palm of her hand. She looked towards the back corner of the room. "Nicole, why don't you give it a try?"

Nicole kept her eyes on the pages of her textbook, her hands clenched around the edges. She lowered her head even farther and shrank down into her chair. "N-no thanks," she whispered. Her cheeks flushed at the knowledge that every eye in the room was on her at that moment.

"Come on, Niccy, you can do it. It'll be fun!" Trish said. Others in the room voiced their approval, doing their best to encourage her.

Nicole's stomach was in knots. She chanced to look up at the door, hoping beyond anything that Prof. Matuszewich would walk through at that very moment. Then they could go about the day learning, and Nicole wouldn't be the focus of attention.

Luck was not on her side. The door remained closed, and now she could see everyone turned in their seats towards her. "I'd rather not."

"Niccy, you know I wouldn't let anything bad happen to you," Trish said. "If I get so much as a hint that you're about to do something embarrassing, I'll wake you up myself." She gave her best reassuring smile, but Nicole was quick to return her gaze to her desk.

Nicole jumped when she felt a hand touch her shoulder. She looked over to see Alecia looming over her with her calm smile. Nicole never saw her leave the front of the room, never noticed her approach.

"It's okay, Nicole," Alecia said. "Your friend will be watching over you the entire time. Nothing embarrassing. I promise."

Her voice was soft and soothing. Nicole found that just listening to it allowed her to tune out the excited murmuring of the classroom, her entire focus now on Alecia. Nicole couldn't help but notice how alluring her eyes were.

"That's it, Nicole. We're all friends here. You can trust me. Here, take my hand."

Nicole looked down to see Alecia's palm, held right in front of her. Her skin looked soft, and Nicole wanted to feel it against her own. She reached hers, slowly, only a few nervous trembles before she let it fall into Alecia's warm embrace.

"Good, Nicole. There you go."

Alecia guided Nicole out of her seat and began walking her towards the front of the room. All the while she was giving Nicole words of encouragement. As they rounded the last desk, Nicole realized where she was. Panic crept back in, and she stumbled a bit before they reached the front.

When Alecia let go of Nicole, the class erupted in applause. Nicole tensed up, wrapping her arms around her stomach. She gave a furtive glance towards her now empty seat, wondering why she let everyone pressure her into this.

With a stern look and a gesture, Alecia silenced the room once more before returning to Nicole. "Don't worry, Nicole. I'm here with you. Don't worry about anyone else. In fact . . ."

Alecia walked off, leaving Nicole alone for the class to stare at. She hated this feeling, and longed for the days where she wasn't so skittish. They seemed so long ago, and now the only thought on her mind was if she should just make a break for it. She could run out the door and wait outside for Prof. Matuszewich to arrive. Her classmates would mock her for it, but she was sure they did already.

Just as Nicole was about to make up her mind, Alecia returned, rolling the teacher's chair over to her. She grabbed Nicole by the shoulders and turned her to face away from the class, dashing any hopes Nicole had of escape.

"Here you go. Could you please have a seat for me?"

Alecia put some pressure on her shoulders, and Nicole let herself be guided into the leather chair. All anyone else in the room could see was the back of her head and her feet that dangled towards the floor.

Alecia leaned forward, using the chair's armrests for support and bringing her to Nicole's eye level, their faces inches apart. "I want you to ignore them for me, Nicole. You can't see them. You can't hear them. Just keep your focus on me. Can you do that?"

Nicole gave the subtlest nod. She tried her best to ignore the anxiety of being in front of everyone. With Alecia there to guide her, it didn't feel so bad.

Alecia reached up to caress Nicole's cheek with one curled finger. "That's it, Nicole. It's just me and you up here right now. Nothing else matters. Now, there's something I want you to do for me. Take a deep breath, in through your nose, and hold it." Alecia led by example, raising her hand, palm up, from her stomach to her chest for emphasis.

Nicole followed along. Her chest rose until she could suck in no more air. Alecia smiled in response, and Nicole could see it reflected in her deep eyes. "Out through your mouth," Alecia said, her hand now pushing down towards the ground. Nicole sank into the chair as the air escaped her lungs, her legs and arms a bit more loose.

Alecia led Nicole through the motions a few more times. "Just like that. Now, every time you exhale, I want you to count down by one number, starting at ten. You don't have to say it loudly, you may whisper if you want, but I do want you to say it."

Nicole could do that. Breathe in, hold the breath, breathe out. "Ten." In, hold, out. "Nine."

"And with every breath, with every number, you are feeling more and more relaxed."

"Eight. Seven. Six."

"And pretty soon, you'll notice you just don't have the strength to keep your eyes open, or your head up."

Try as she might, Nicole found that Alecia was right. She wanted to keep staring into Alecia's beautiful eyes, but her own kept fluttering. Her head was dipped down, forcing her to struggle to keep eye contact, her eyes straining in the process. "Five. Four. Three."

"Until you find it just isn't worth the hassle, and you finally let yourself drift down and . . ."

"Two."

"

Sleep

."

"One." The snap of Alecia's finger was the last thing Nicole's conscious mind heard.

Alecia took a moment to regard her subject before straightening back up. She was met with a crowd of faces, all still waiting in anticipation. She spun the chair around, allowing them all to glimpse Nicole's sleeping form.

Nicole's hands had fallen off the armrests and were now limp beside her thighs. Her head had lolled to the side, her puffy lips open and beginning to glisten with drool.

A voice from the back broke the silence. "Have her show us her tits!" A mix of glares and hushed cheers followed.

Alecia smirked. "Have some class, I'm not doing that to her."

Jenn laughed. "I have no issues stooping to such lows, let us see them!" Her eyes bulged when, in a sudden motion, Alecia lifted up her own shirt to expose herself to the rest of the class. Jenn's mouth hung open, speechless.

"Satisfied?" Alecia asked as she lowered her shirt, fussing over it until it looked neat once more.

Jenn could only nod in response, a devilish grin forming on her face.

"Good. Because that's not why I agreed to come up here today. If I'm going to entertain you, you may as well learn something from it." Alecia walked behind Nicole and placed both hands on Nicole's shoulders. She leaned forward and began to whisper into Nicole's ears. "So deep already for me, Nicole. It feels so good to be in this state, to be so relaxed, but you can always go deeper. For now, I want you to start counting down from one hundred. With every number, feel yourself falling deeper and deeper into trance. And as you are counting, you don't have to worry about anything you hear. Completely lost in trance until I speak to you again."

Alecia returned her attention to the class. "The mind is a wonderful thing, but it's not without its flaws. Everything that makes us us is all up here," she said, pointing to her own head. "All our memories, everything we have experienced, has shaped us into who we are, and will continue to do so for as long as we live.

"So if those memories were to be changed, what would happen to us? Would we be the same person we were before? Could we be? There's one way to find out."

A few murmurings broke out, with everyone either too stunned or intrigued to say much out loud.

Alecia turned Nicole's chair to the side before kneeling down next to it. "What number have you gotten to, Nicole?"

"Eighty six."

That's very good, Nicole. That means you're so deep, so very deep for me."

"So deep . . ."

"That's right. So very deep. It feels so good to be this deep. So good, and you know it's me that allowed you to feel this way. I'd like you to do something for me, Nicole, and because I made you feel so good, you'd be happy to do what I say, right?"

Alecia was right. Nicole was feeling so comfortable right now. She was no longer stressed by anything, or feeling anxious. And since Alecia was the one to help her feel so wonderful, it was only fair that she do what Alecia wanted. It all made perfect sense. "Anything . . ." she said.

"Tell me, Nicole, do you have a boyfriend?"

"Yes."

"Tell me about him, Nicole."

The faintest smile played at the corners of Nicole's lips as she thought about her boyfriend. "His name is Daniel, and he's so good to me. He's sweet, caring, and romantic. I feel safe when I'm with him, and he's always there for me."

"That'll do for now, Nicole. I'm so proud of you." Nicole let out a soft sigh before Alecia continued on. "Going even deeper now, Nicole. Already so deep, but you know you can always go deeper. In fact, you find it so easy to drop deeper with every word I say. Every word relaxes you even more, letting you feel even better."

Alecia gave Nicole a moment, making sure she was as deep as possible for the next stage. "Now, you said Daniel was romantic. I want you to visualize in your head a time in which you felt he was the most romantic. Hold the memory in your mind, so clear to you. Tell me about that moment, Nicole."

The comforting darkness gave way as the images took hold in Nicole's mind. "The day started off so terribly. They had me stay for a double shift at work. I had called to tell him I wasn't going to be home to see him off. He was going . . . somewhere with his friends for the next few days. Something they had been planning for months. He must have heard the stress in my voice, because when I got home, so very exhausted, he was waiting there for me. He looked so handsome standing in the hallway, lit only by those candles. The smell of sugar blossom was in the air, my favorite fragrance. The dinner he made must have taken hours, but it was ready right on time. He even let me have his portion of the french silk pie, though he didn't tell me there was more in the fridge until the next day. Stuffed with food, he then wrapped me up in blankets and we cuddled on the couch and talked until I fell asleep. He never once left my side."

"That sounds absolutely lovely, Nicole," Alecia said. Nicole purred in response. "Go ahead and let that memory fade from your mind, but just for a moment. Remember, with every word I say you find yourself falling deeper into trance for me. I'm going to ask you to do something that may seem a bit difficult, but I need you to trust me on this Nicole. You're going to do what I ask because I know what's best for you, and you can trust me, right?"

"Trust you . . . Yes."

"Good, Nicole. So good. So trusting of me." Nicole stood up and scanned around the room. Her eyes settled on Trish, and she beckoned her over. "Just play along," she said with a wink when Trish joined up front.

Alecia then returned to Nicole's side. "Now, Nicole, I want you to bring that memory back. Only, there's something wrong with what you were telling us. Picture in your mind the moment that you arrived at home. You were so exhausted then, just like you are now. All you want to do is lie down and sleep. So you open the door, only it's not Daniel that you see in your home. No, that memory was wrong, Nicole. Your friend Trish was the one that was waiting for you when you got home. Sweet, caring, romantic Trish. Every emotion you had that night came from Trish."

Nicole began to struggle in her chair. "Wh-what? No . . . Daniel was . . ."

Alecia reached up to stroke Nicole's cheek. "Shh, it's okay, Nicole. Don't worry, you have to trust me on this. Sometimes memories can be wrong, it happens to everyone. I wouldn't lie to you about this, because you trust me more than anything."

"Trust you . . . but, Daniel . . . I . . ."

"That's right, you trust me. Daniel wasn't there that evening. You said yourself, he had been planning a trip with his friends for so long. You knew he wasn't going to be there when you got home. But you were so tired, you needed someone to care for you that day. So you called Trish. That's why Trish was there, not Daniel."

"Daniel was . . . not there . . . Yes." Nicole relaxed back into her chair now that she realized the mistake she had made. Of course Daniel wouldn't have been there, he was out with his friends, just like he had been planning.

"Good, Nicole. So much better now that you realize the truth. You opened the door, and Trish was there waiting for you, ready to pamper you after your exhausting day. Can you see her when you walk through the door, Nicole?"

"I see her . . ."

"So vivid, that memory. You can smell the sweet sugar blossom from the candles, your favorite. Trish looks so elegant in that evening dress of hers, so beautiful in the glow from the candles as she stands there to greet you."

"So beautiful . . ."

"Such a difficult day, but Trish had spent hers cooking, just for you. All so that you could relax. That delicious food that filled you up so well. So caring as she shared her own portion of french silk pie, because you wanted it. Trish would do anything for you, Nicole."

"Anything . . ."

"And now, as you sit in the chair, satisfied from such a perfect meal, you can feel the blankets that Trish wrapped around you. You sit there for just a moment as you relish the warmth and comfort."

Alecia stood up and reached out for Trish's hand. Trish took it, and Alecia guided her towards Nicole, gesturing towards the chair.

"Still so warm and comfortable, Nicole. But now Trish is here to cuddle with you. You'd love to cuddle with her, but you need to make room. Just scooch to the side a bit, there you go. Good girl."

Taking the hint, Trish slid into the chair with Alecia's assistance. As soon as she sat down, Nicole snuggled up next to her, still in trance. Trish took a moment to find a comfortable position, could barely fit both of them. Satisfied, she put her arm around Nicole's shoulder.

"So happy, so content with Trish there to hold you in your memory."

Nicole let her head rest on Trish's chest. She loved listening to Trish's heartbeat, especially after a stressful day. The encouragement she received from Alecia added to her comfort. At that moment, there was no place she would rather be.

"I want you to do something for me now, Nicole. In a moment, you are going to open your eyes. You will remain in this trance, because you do so love being here. You're going to be reliving your memory of your romantic night with Trish from this moment. When you open your eyes, it's just going to be you and her, alone and content in your home, just like your memory. Can you do that for me, Nicole?"

Nicole smiled. "Of course. Anything for you, Alecia . . ."

"Open your eyes now, Nicole, and let your memory play out for you."

Nicole's eyes blinked open. She was a bit dazed, and she glanced around the room to catch her bearings. She saw her normal living room, bathed in candle light. Someone stirred next to her, and Nicole looked up to see Trish's beautiful face. Nicole smiled, and her heart fluttered at the sight. She let her head fall back to Trish's chest and inhaled a bit of her scent. "Sorry, must have dozed off. Probably shouldn't have eaten so much."

Trish cast a furtive glance over at Alecia, who only gestured for her to follow through. "Uh, that's okay, Nicole. You deserve it after working so hard today." She rubbed Nicole's arm. Nicole relaxed further under the delicate touch.

Nicole couldn't bring herself to open her eyes with how comfortable she was while cuddling with Trish. "Thank you so much for everything you did for me today. This whole evening was just . . .

magical

. I don't even know what else to say. I never would have expected you to . . . You've never actually done anything like this before."

Confusion crept in from the corners of Nicole's mind. She had no doubt that Trish had been there that evening, and Nicole was beyond thankful that she was, but there was something off about it that she couldn't put her finger on. She began to push against Trish in an effort to sit up.

Alecia was about to step in when Trish took the initiative. She reached out and guided Nicole's head back to her chest before running her hands through her hair. "Shh, it's okay, Nicole. All that matters is that I'm here now, right? There's no need to ruin this night by thinking of anything else. Just relax and enjoy the moment, okay?"