"Will he?" was what a voice in my head, maybe my rationale, asked once I started doing what I did, along with "Won't this be a little too silly, even for me?" That rationale is usually, basically me in the same sense, until I start doing something silly, then it becomes like an angel on my shoulder, inside my head, always questioning if it's right to do this.
I mean, there I stood, waving my gold necklace with a jade crystal at the end. I waved it in front of the Prom King, my friend and companion as I was the Prom Queen that year. As friends, we joked about who should command more power between us. He asked what would make a queen more powerful than the king; I'm surprised the first thing that didn't come to mind was telling him to be a gentleman. No, the first thing is actually me telling him I will usurp his power. Somehow.
It's a silly conversation, so it comes as no surprise as I theatrically suggest hypnosis to him, using that cheesy "look into my eyes" line the same way a person would say "ghosts," like they're trying to scare really young children. I even waved my fingers at him as I said it. When he said "try me," I don't know why I didn't say I was just kidding. I just decided to take the joke further, taking my necklace off and swinging it in front of his eyes. He just sat there and followed me swinging it, a smile on his face that slipped into him trying not to giggle.
"Should I keep this up?" I thought, thinking the further this would go, the more embarrassed I'd be by the end of it. Sadly, most of the people I knew were going to part ways to different schools, in different parts of the country. So my thoughts became "Why shouldn't I? One last bit of embarrassing fun with a friend before graduation."
"Look here; don't look away," I told him, this time in way more of a sexy voice, like I'm trying to entice him. He just stares forward at my eyes and the crystal as it swings between them. I don't tell him which to stare at, just where, totally curious as to which he follows if he still goes along with the joke.
I just stand there, trying to think of what to say to him next, trying to remember what all those fake hypnotists say in the TV shows and movies, not allowing my performance to slip. I'm putting up a hell of a deception, acting like I know what I'm doing, masking the pensive, indecisive feelings in me. I even ask myself why I mentioned fake as when I thought of those examples in media. "How would I know the difference between fake and real?" something in me asked, which branched into thoughts of "How would he know?" and "Am I faking it?" I got so caught up in my own thoughts, I barely noticed the changes in him.
"He can really keep a joke going, can't he?" the voiced asked.
"Follow the movement," I finally spoke, overstating the obvious, but I was glad I remembered I could still speak. He still played along, his acting got better as there was barely a smile on his face. I mean, there sort of was, but not the arrogant one he had at the start.
"It's easy to do," I continued, mimicking the softness of fictional trancers. "It's the easiest thing in the world to do. I'm not sure I even need to tell you to do it anymore. If I stop speaking, your eyes will know the correct thing to do is to keep following."
Before, his eyes stopped following my crystal and just stared forward into mine. Maybe he liked the juxtaposition of green and amber. Something in my words just made him keep going though, keeping the game going with just focusing on the swinging jewelry. After a while I was the only one staring forward; he started reminding me of those creepy Felix-the-Cat wall clocks where the tail would swing one way and the eyes would lean the other. My aunt liked collecting retro stuff like that, and that clock was the reason I rarely ever wanted to visit her. But now I think maybe it was the smile plastered across it, because my 'King's' eyes are doing the same thing, but it bordered the opposite of creepy because his smile, if you could count it as one, was just placid, as dull as American industrial revolution history.
"Do you like it?" I whispered.
"Yes," was the reply I got back automatically, hearing a softness resembling a really sleepy kindergarten kid about to collapse. I swore he was going for "best actor in a joke" award, and was becoming a shoe-in for winning. It was like he prepped himself for a long time for this, like we had to in theatre class, or he was just a natural with this kind of material.
It was a little weird how into this he was getting; not a bad weird, just weird where I thought I would be the one taking this too far. "Maybe he's daring me to go further," I thought. Wouldn't be the first time he's encouraged someone to keep something good going, and I guess this was good to him. I sometimes push the envelope when dared though, and since we were alone, I could get away with more in the presence of just one person.
"Would he still try to go further than me with this? Either way, this is pretty fun, and it'd be a shame to cut of this prematurely, wouldn't it?" the voice reasoned.
My arm was getting tired from leaving it swinging the necklace in just one place, so I let it fall a bit, gathering most of the chain in my hand, watching him keep his eyes laser-focused on wherever the jade crystal moved still. An evil smile came over me as I brought the crystal to my cleavage, specifically the long cleft exposed by the dress I'd chosen. It may have been too racy for some teachers, and too slutty-looking for some of the more conservative-types, but that was the one night I decided not to care about other opinions. And my choice of prom dress worked out great for that moment, as I moved the chain so the small crystal went from the top, all the way down into a crevice in the dress where it could disappear, and back again.
He sweetly followed it still, not just with his eyes, but his head as well. The way surprise came over his face subtly in a crease on his forehead when the crystal slipped into the crevice, just waiting for it to come out again, to have that crease disappear and make him look so happy when he caught sight of it again - cuter than cute cats on youtube. Well, it wasn't just the crease, it was also the nodding he did as I kept it up.
"You like this, don't you?" I asked again.
"Yes," he answered just as quickly as before.
"The jade is so nice. Nice and powerful," I stretched out the word 'powerful' with some kind of European accent to see if that would make him break character.
"Yes, nice," he said still with is eyes on the prize, so to speak.
"And powerful," I said again, same intonation.
"Powerful," he trailed off, like he was trying to mimic me. I was nearly convinced then that the stakes of our game were just going higher and higher. But watching the corners of his mouth all this time, waiting for any microscopic sign of slipping, there was nothing. This was moving into method-acting territory, an entirely different mode of being a character.
"Watching this makes you happy," stating the obvious again, "and willing. Willing to do things. Do things for me. For this crystal."
"Yes," he said, almost interrupting me.
"You get to keep watching this as long as you listen to me, and do things for me. You know that right?"
"Yes."
"You'll repeat things for me just for the privilege of following my crystal, yes?"
"Yes."
"Then repeat after me, Prom King: The jade has the King."
"'The jade has the King.'"
"The Queen owns the jade."
"'The Queen owns the jade.'"
"The Queen has the King."
"'The Queen has the King.'"
"He does know what he's saying now, doesn't he?" my rational side asked, on behalf of both of us.
"The jade is power."
"'The jade is power.'"
