Object of Obsession

After a pair of classes that felt like they took an entire year to end, I was at long last on my way to book club. After the morning's events I was as excited as I was afraid. I desperately missed Luna, and the carefree 'book club meetings' we'd shared before I became aware of The Compulsion came flooding back to me with a sense of great nostalgia. On the other hand, I knew I had to tell her about my fling with Mae. Even so, I didn't want to see the pain on her face knowing my own indiscretions would put it there. Still grappling with how to approach this, I opened the door to room 2A once more.

Luna sat at a desk in the middle of the classroom. Her eyes widened as she saw me, but her signature smile looked forced, and unlike our previous meetings she didn't get up to guide me to my seat.

"Hello, Norma. Did you bring your book today?"

"As a matter of fact, I did..."

I pulled out the issue, placing it on the desk in front of me. Luna made no attempt to guide our session like she usually did, which left me at a bit of a loss as a long, awkward silence stretched on between us. Shuddering from her strange, faraway gaze, I figured it would be best to pull off the metaphorical band-aid sooner rather than later.

"Luna, I have something I need to tell you."

At my words her tears flowed freely, as if the dam she had so desperately been holding together had finally burst.

"I know, damn it, I was there! I know already, so please, please don't say it out loud..."

I grit my teeth, beyond embarrassed that that was how she'd found out. At least Raine hadn't had to make good on her threat after all. It certainly wasn't how I'd wanted this to go down, but then again none of it was.

As she sobbed quietly, I couldn't resist the urge to put my hand on her shoulder, offering what little comfort I could as the one who'd hurt her in the first place. To my surprise she didn't shake me away, instead leaning into me. Before long her cerulean eyes were looking up at mine.

"Do you love her?" she asked breathlessly.

"...huh? I..."

I closed my eyes, surprised by how thrown off I was by this simple question.

"I... don't know."

Luna let out a sound that might have been a giggle, sigh, or sob before standing up, half smiling and half frowning.

"At least there's that," she laughed to herself. She wiped her tears away matter-of-factly before gesturing to the manga.

"Shall we?" she asked.

"Wait, that's it? Luna, I pushed you away just to cozy up to the next person to show some interest in me, aren't you pissed!?"

She huffed, clearly annoyed.

"Of course I am. But you said it yourself - you need time to process things. And I wasn't helping with that, you made that quite clear. I just hope she was able to."

I sighed, angry with myself. In a way, Mae had helped me, serving as Devil's advocate, saying aloud the dark thoughts I'd been afraid to admit I'd been having. By offering herself to me, whether knowingly or not, she confirmed something for me - that taking advantage of the compulsion had left me disgusted with myself. That confirmation was what I'd needed, something to cling to, the desperate hope that deep down I was still a half-decent person and that I wouldn't simply give up on morality just because my newfound powers would make it easy to do so. I might never redeem myself, but at least I could try to atone.

"I won't ask for your forgiveness. There was almost certainly a better way for me to find out what I needed to know, but I took the easy way out and hurt everyone. I understand completely if you never want to see my face agai-"

"No! N-no, please. I like to think there's more to us than just a chemical attraction. We can still be friends, can't we?"

Friends? God, I'd like to think so.

"I'd really like that, Luna. Whether I deserve it or not, I'd be lucky to consider myself your friend."

She smiled, then, and it took my breath away. It wasn't forced, it wasn't wrong. It was just a genuine smile born of simple joy, and it was beautiful.

With that Luna opened the book and started reading, her usual flirtatious narration replaced with a more comedic take on the character. I couldn't help but giggle along as she hammed it up, following suit with my own lines. We laughed together until it hurt, and somehow I felt happier in that moment than I had managed to feel all month.

---

Myst stood bathed in the sunlight of her office window, her phone pressed tight to her ear as she focused on calming her erratic breathing.

Ring... Ring...

The click signified that the line had opened, but just like last time there was only silence. Myst called upon her rapidly fading resolve and spoke, mustering as much confidence as she could.

"Somebody wants to see you... Tonight. Desperately. You'll be there, won't you?"

Myst couldn't hear anything at all, not even the muttering from last time. Regardless she pressed on, giving Quin the address of her office before hanging up. She let out a long breath, body tingling with anticipation.

For all the investigating the feds had done, in the end it was always the simplest trap that caught the mouse. You just had to use the right bait. A bit shameless, perhaps, but effective. Or so she hoped as she waited impatiently for dusk to fall...

---

Norma's family sat around the dinner table incredulously. All eyes were on Norma who hadn't quite lost her smile from earlier, dancing with happy little movements to some song audible only to her. Norman had to laugh.

"I take it you had a good day at school, Norma?"

Norma's smile turned sheepish. "Yes and no..." Despite her response - despite everything - she was clearly quite pleased with herself.

"See, Faye? I knew letting her go was best."

Faye nodded, but didn't seem entirely sold. "I suppose so. I certainly can't deny it's nice to see such a big smile on her face again."

Ves nodded, staring at Norma's lips as if entranced.

"Hey Norma, did something good happen today?" Fes asked. Norma went quiet as she thought about how to answer him.

"I guess you could say I made an old friend."

---

Raine sat on the tailgate of her truck, eyes stuck on a particular house near the horizon that would have been entirely invisible if not for the dirty light of the 4UrConvenience sign. Snake and Killer looked on helplessly.

"You want we should put the hurt on her, boss?" Killer asked quietly.

Raine didn't dignify his question with a response. Snake smacked his fellow gang member in the back of the head.

"Shut up, you tactless moron. But anyway boss, that chick's more trouble than she's worth, ain't she?"

Raine lifted her arm slowly and gently smacked Snake in the back of the head, robotically returning her hand to her side without ever removing her gaze from the horizon. Sighing, the pair stepped away from Raine.

"What the hell are we gonna do, man? We ain't had a job in weeks. The boss is completely focused on that plain lookin' girl," Killer complained. One of the other gang members piped up.

"Plain? I dunno, there's something about her, isn't there? This... je nais se quois, I guess?"

A whole host of fellow gang members - mostly the females, muttered their agreement.

"Oh please. She can do better than you losers."

The delinquents turned to the brazen speaker in unison.

"It's Thot Topic!" the jumpy gang member from the cafeteria incident cried.

"In the flesh," Mae sneered. "What's the matter Raine, don't have enough muzzles for all your strays? Their howling's giving me a headache."

Mae's barbed words seemed to finally wake Raine from her stupor. The taller woman swung down from her tailgate and crossed her arms.

"The hell're you doin' here?"

"Buying milk at market prices, as the good lord intended. I'd ask the same of you but I have eyes. Loitering in a dirty parking lot all night can't be good for your health, and the vast majority of you desperately need your beauty sleep."

Killer looked from the interloper to Raine. "Surely we can put the hurt on her, right boss? Right?" Much to his dismay she ignored him, instead offering Mae a retort.

"If I know this store, and I do, the milk's basically highway robbery. So why're you really here?"

Mae shot her a wicked grin.

"Let's talk about life, the universe, and everything. Let's talk about Norma."