FIFTEEN: A Hell of a Time - Pt. 1

"This can't be happening..." I muttered, scanning the room for Taylor.

Alex was still squinting over at Billy. "Wait, isn't that the girl Taylor brought to my party?"

I ignored Alex, my gaze sweeping across the darkened room. I need to keep Taylor away from her, I thought. Just until I can fix everything...

But I was too late. I spotted Taylor weaving her way through the dance floor, pushing through the crowd towards Billy and Clarissa.

"Shit," I cursed, stumbling my way through the dancers as I tried to catch up with her.

I heard Alex call after me, but I didn't have time to explain.

By the time I reached Taylor, Clarissa had already dragged Billy into a corner of the dance floor. She threw herself on him as she danced. Billy, meanwhile, was standing there in a state of shock, arms held out at his side, no doubt wondering what was going on.

"Clarissa," Taylor said. Her voice was a mix of shock and confusion.

Clarissa barely spared her a second glance as she shimmied over Billy. "Hey Taylor."

Taylor seemed at a lost for words. "I... I was worried about you. You didn't return my texts or my calls."

Clarissa spun in a circle, stroking Billy's face with her hand. "I was busy," she said.

"I don't understand what's going on. I thought we were going to this together?"

"I changed my mind," Clarissa said. "I decided to go with Billy instead."

"But... I thought you liked me?" Taylor asked, her eyes watering.

For the first time, Clarissa actually gave Taylor the courtesy of looking at her. However, her blue eyes were cold. "Well, you thought wrong."

Taylor stumbled back, as if shot. As she grappled for words, Clarissa said, "Now leave us alone," and turned back to face Billy.

Before I could say anything, Taylor had turned away and ran off, disappearing out the double gym doors and into the school.

I wanted to chase after her, but I couldn't bear to see Clarissa throwing herself all over Billy like this. Couldn't bear to see what I had done to her. I could feel the thread woven between Clarissa and me pulsing, like some toxic artery. I closed my eyes and yanked—and just like that, I felt our connection shatter. Clarissa was free from my spell.

I watched her blue eyes widen in surprise as the cord snapped, and suddenly she stumbled, and then started to collapse into a heap. It was only her close proximity to Billy that prevented her from hitting her head on the ground; he caught her awkwardly as she fell, slowing her descent to the gymnasium floor.

"Oh my God," I gasped, terrified by her collapse. I had not been expecting her to faint.

Billy looked scared too, but he had his wits about him more than me. He slid her to the ground, felt her pulse quickly. "She's fine," he said. "I think she just passed out."

Her eyes were fluttering, and she was murmuring words under her breath. Suddenly, she moved her legs, attempting to stand.

"Should we grab a chaperone?" I asked.

Billy shook his head. "Just help me get her to her feet. I think she's all right. I..." He lowered his voice. "I think she took something earlier today."

My stomach flopped. But I did as Billy asked and helped lift Clarissa. She was coming to a little bit and was able to support her weight on her own, but we both had to help her as we escorted her out of school and into the night air.

We sat her on a bench outside. She was slumped over, rubbing her face and mumbling incoherently.

Billy was rubbing his face as well, in shock.

"Jessa," he said, looking panicked, "I swear to you, I didn't do this to her. She volunteers with me at the hospital and this afternoon she just showed up at my house before my shift and demanded I'd go to the dance with her. It was like she was possessed. She was so insistent. I think she took something—maybe some pills or some new drug or something—because I've never seen her act like this before. But when I suggested that we go to the hospital, she wouldn't budge. I figured I'd just go along with her plan and keep an eye on her here until everything wore off." He shook his head.

"Uhh... that's so weird," I said. My voice felt like it was coming from outside of my body. "Were you guys... dating or something?"

"No!" he said. "Never! And she's dating Taylor now. I mean, I know she's bi, so maybe she had some secret crush on me? But she's never shown interest in me before. Not until this afternoon." He shook his head. "I have no clue what she took that made her act this way..." He looked at her, slumped over. "Maybe you're right and I should grab a chaperone."

"Let's give her a few minutes before we grab anyone. It looks like she's coming to," I said, standing up from the bench. I felt so dirty; it was hard to sit and pretend all of this was just some strange accident. I needed to get away. "Why don't you stay with her and I'll... go grab her a water bottle?"

Clarissa groaned, which seemed to give Billy the slightest bit of reassurance. "Okay," he said with a nod.

I jogged back into the school, trying to slow my pounding heart with deep breaths. It wasn't working; I could feel the thump of my blood in my ears, pulsing along with the bass in the music. I stumbled my way towards the drink table, but I was stopped just a foot away by a girl wearing a red dress and a pair of Devil horns.

"Hey!" Lana said, grabbing me by the wrist. The red glitter on her eyes glistened in the strobe lights. "I've been looking for you everywhere! I thought I saw Billy come in, and I saw you run over to him but then you guys vanished in the crowd—"

I yanked her hand off my wrist and held out my hands. "Take it back."

Lana furrowed her eyebrows. "What are you talking about?"

"Your magic, power, stuff—I don't want it. Take it."

"But you need to keep it so I don't interfere with Billy—"

"That doesn't matter anymore. We messed up," I said. "The mystery girl that we thought Billy was in to is Clarissa. And neither of them are into each other so we completely screwed up, and now Taylor is off crying in the bathroom, and Clarissa is passed out outside with Billy—"

"She passed out?" For a moment I thought Lana was concerned, and then a knowing look crossed her face. "You must have severed her cord incorrectly."

She said it so matter-of-factly that I couldn't help but stare at her in shock. "Lana, don't you care? Taylor is absolutely devastated. Clarissa is basically unconscious. I just... I can't believe we did this. Controlling Clarissa and thinking it'd just be okay."

"We didn't know she was the mystery girl," Lana said.

"Are you sure about that?" I asked as a terrifying thought crossed my mind. Perhaps Lana had known the whole time...

The Devil stared at me in shock. "You know I've been trying to be a better person. You know that. I wouldn't have suggested this plan if I'd known it was Clarissa."

I wasn't sure if I believed her, but I didn't say that out loud. Instead, I held out my palms once more. "Please," I said softly, "take it back."

Lana stared down at my hands, then mutely interlaced her fingers with mine. With a rush, I felt her magic drain out of me, back to where it belonged.

"Feel better now?" she asked me.

I didn't respond. I just grabbed a bottle of water off the punch table and pushed it into her hands. "Bring that to Clarissa. She's outside."

"But isn't she with Billy right now? Won't that be awkward?"

"This isn't about Billy anymore," I snapped. "We lost the right to make this all about Billy when we hurt Clarissa."

Lana frowned. "You were okay with this plan back when it was some random girl. Why is it so different now? Why do you care if it's Clarissa? You don't even like her!"

Because I care about Taylor. The words were on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn't say them. Instead, I turned and walked away.

"Where are you going?" Lana called after me.

"To find my real friend," I muttered.

It didn't take me long to find Taylor. My first thought was that she was in the art studio, but most of the hallways in the school were locked for the dance and the path to the art studio was barred. Luckily, all the locked doors majorly narrowed my search radius and I quickly found her in a bathroom right outside the gym. She was sitting on a radiator, her hands covering her face. When she heard my footsteps, she turned away, embarrassed.

"It's me," I said.

She hazarded a look my way. The whiskers she had drawn on her cheeks in black eyeliner were running down her face. "Hi," she choked out, and then her body started shaking with sobs.

I rushed over and wrapped her into a hug, stroking her hair as she sobbed into my chest. "It's going to be okay," I murmured. "It's going to be okay."

She rubbed her face. "You shouldn't be in here with me. You should be out there having fun with Alex."

"No," I said. "Not when you're in here feeling like shit."

She shook her head sadly. "You're too good to me."

"Am not," I said, giving her a squeeze. "I'm just trying to be a good best friend."

She ran a hand over her thigh, looking down at the cracked tile floor. "You know, sometimes I wish I could just date you, Jessa."

Her words caught me off guard. "What do you mean?"

"You just... get me. You know how to make me feel better. And you're sacrificing your good time with a guy who likes you to hang out with me. Which is more than can be said for Clarissa." She pressed her hands to her face suddenly and shook her head. "I just don't understand how this all happened. It's like, a 180-degree flip. It's just so out of character."

My heart clenched at her words, because I knew that everything that had happened was my fault. Clarissa was acting out of character—because of me. And yet, there was a dark voice in the back of my head that told me to stay quiet. Don't say anything, it said. Let her think the worst about Clarissa. Because with Clarissa out of the picture, you get your best friend back...

If I had still had Lana's powers, I would have thought those dark voices were hers. But now, magic-free, I had to face the reality that these thoughts were my own.

I still didn't like Clarissa. I still thought Taylor could do so much better. I still wanted my friend back. But I had already hurt her so much in the past hour; I couldn't bring myself to hurt her anymore.

"Billy thinks she may have taken something," I said slowly. "Like a drug or something because she showed up at his house acting really weird."

She shook her head. "She had a step brother who died from an overdose. She said she'd never touch drugs..."

"Maybe she was roofied?"

Taylor shrugged, reached for a paper towel, and blew her nose.

I rubbed my arm. "I'm just saying... I think you're right. This seems really out of character for her. So maybe there's some explanation."

Taylor sighed. "Maybe that's true. Maybe she did take something that made her act like this. But I... I don't think if I'm ready to go out there and find out the truth. I feel like shit."

"That's allowed," I said, sitting down next to her and rubbing her back.

We just sat like that, in silence, for the next few minutes. Every so often, Taylor got up to grab a few pieces of toilet paper to dab at her eyes, but for the most part, it was quiet.

And then, out of the blue, Taylor asked, "How is Lana doing?"

I blinked. "Lana? What do you mean?"

"Clarissa came in with Billy... I figured if she saw what I saw, she would be upset."

"Lana will be fine," I said, my voice coming out a little harsher than I intended.

Taylor looked at me quizzically. "Is everything okay with you two? I thought you patched things up?"

"I don't know," I admitted. "I never know what to think about her. She's always doing... questionable things."

"Like what?"

I shook my head. "It doesn't matter. She's leaving tomorrow so we won't see her again."

"Right," Taylor said. "I forgot you said she was moving..." She looked at me. "And you're okay with her leaving when you guys are on bad terms?"

"I don't know... I don't even know if she deserves to leave on good terms."

"Are you sure you're not just upset that she's leaving?"

"No," I said, feeling a bit indignant. "I want her to leave. I'm ready for things to go back to normal."

"What do you mean by normal?"

I was silent, because even I didn't know what I meant. I just rubbed my arm and was quiet, unable to say anything.

Taylor slid off the radiator and rubbed at her eye. "Why don't you find Alex? He's probably wondering where you ran off to."

"I don't want to leave you."

She shook her head. "I'm already feeling a bit better. And I want to clean myself up a little bit." She smiled softly. "I don't want all this crap with Clarissa to ruin my night with my best friend." She gestured. "Go have some fun with Alex. I'll join you in a few,"

I gave her a small smile back as I stood up. "Okay," I said. "I'll see you out there." And I left.