My Date From Hell (The Blooming Goddess Trilogy, #2)

You're Beautiful (Part 1)

I glanced at Theo as the three of us ran through the school. "So the father thing?"

"Yeah?" Theo replied, trying to brush soot from his sleeves as he ran.

"How did that work exactly? You actually put your love stick inside a lady pocket?"

"Shaken not stirred," he said blandly. "I wanted a kid."

"The miracle of turkey basting," Festos called out from behind us, his cane thumping with each step.

"Liking you a little less right now," Theo replied.

We split up in the front foyer. Theo and Festos went to scout out the gym and lower hallways, while I headed upstairs. We agreed to meet back in fifteen minutes.

Personally, I hoped that I'd have already dealt with Bethany by then.

It wasn't too hard to avoid the roaming packs looking for me. Without Bethany's direct guidance, they were pretty unfocused and hey, there was still a dance to attend.

I made it up to Bethany's room in minutes, and flung open her door.

Bethany laid on her bed in a sultry pose. Except the effect was ruined by her weird twitchy faces.

Kai pushed away from his lean on her desk and grinned at me. "I got you a present." He motioned toward Bethany.

"Aw, that's so sweet. Does she come with a gift receipt?"

"Nope. Non-refundable."

I couldn't figure out why she wasn't moving or insulting me or something. Carefully, I sidled over to the bed and poked her. She just made more twitchy faces.

"Whatever did you do?" I asked in fascination.

"Used a little compulsion of my own," he said.

I frowned. "But your powers make people want to kill themselves. This doesn't look like a suicide attempt. More like she's malfunctioning."

"Yeah, well, she is. My force of self-loathing is warring with her heightened sense of self and ego. She's stuck in a loop unable to actually do anything."

We both startled as she twitched especially violently.

I clapped my hands in delight. "I love this present."

"Thought you would," he said smugly. "Now you can go win the crown."

"Yeah. But first there's something I have to do." I pulled Kai over so he stood directly in Bethany's eye-line and kissed him with everything I had.

"Evil," he laughed, and kissed me back.

The arrow lust threatened to explode between us. Only my thoughts of Hannah were enough to stop me.

"We're good," I said lightly, noting that Bethany was in full-on spastic mode.

"For now," Kai said.

"Did you hear that?" I asked Bethany. "He said 'for now.' That means more kissing later," I explained helpfully.

Her right leg spasmed.

"I am so happy right now," I sighed. "There's just one last thing to make this perfect."

I sat down on the edge of her bed. "This is probably going to hurt," I said. "You know, psychologically." I placed my hand over her tattoo and sent out a quick pulse of green light.

Bethany jerked but couldn't attack me, still stuck in her loop.

"Whatever have you done?" Kai sidled up beside me, sounding intrigued.

"What I had to." I moved my hand away to check the damage. Sure enough, the tiny bit of light I'd shot at it had been enough to wreck the tattoo.

"Interesting," Kai said.

I glanced up at him and could have sworn he was looking at me with respect. O-kay. "Let's see if it worked. If my stupid classmates can choose for themselves again."

As we headed to the door, I spared a glance back at Bethany, who thrashed violently on the bed. "Is she going to hurt herself?"

Kai paused, his hand on the doorknob. "Do you care?"

No. All right, "Yes."

"It'll wear off shortly."

"Hopefully not too shortly. I need her out of the way to win the crown."

That was going to be the tough part.

A few minutes later, we walked into the gym. I was taken aback. Unlike our usual lame dance decorations, the room was lit up by hundreds of fairy lights.

It was beautiful. Even the student body looked great. Except for the fact that both the kids and the teachers were roaming around looking thoroughly confused.

I hoped it was because Bethany's control had finally, truly worn off.

Some upbeat, fun, flavor of the month song came on. This being a dance, and my classmates being teens, they drifted on to the floor soon enough, occasionally pairing up in couples but more often in groups of guys or girls.

Soon, the only student left standing looking lost was Veronica. Her slutty red dress made the tunic Jack had given me look like a nun's habit.

I walked up to her. "You okay?"

She regarded me with suspicion. Fair enough, since she and I were historically less than friendly. Finally, she answered. "I dunno. My head feels weird. Have you seen B?"

"I saw her heading upstairs."

"Oh." She glanced at the clock on the wall.

An hour and a half to my meeting.

"We need to do the crowning," she said.

The ghost of an idea formed in my brain. "Are the votes all counted?"

I could waylay her, break into the ballot box, and throw them out. Or have Festos set them on fire and start again. Either way, with freely choosing voters.

Veronica looked confused. "Votes? What votes?"

Brilliant. Bethany hadn't even bothered to have anyone cast a ballot, banking on her influence to ensure her win.

Sometimes the universe tosses you a break.

I heaved a disgusted sigh. "Yes, Veronica, votes. You can't crown anyone queen without holding an election."

Veronica chewed nervously on her lower lip. "Bethany is queen."

I put on a patient smile, determined to win my way through my helpfulness and cheery calm. "Chosen by who? Nope. We'll have to vote now."

Veronica seemed uneasy. Probably worried that Bethany would turn on her if she didn't ensure B's victory. Let's face it, she was right to worry.