"Do you trust Kendra enough to keep a secret that big from other people for the rest of her life?" Savannah asked as she took a bite of Hermione's cake.
Nancy had to think about it.
"I think so. I mean, when Kendra was Kevin, I kept the secret that he was gay from everyone for six years. So I think she owes me one."
"Up until Mom figured out your email password and blabbed about it to Kendra's parents."
"I knoooow. Kendra never really forgave her for that. I don't think that I did either."
"Understand now why I keep secrets from Mom?" Savannah said with a mouth full of cake, winking at her daughter.
"Yes" Nancy said.
Savannah did the math in her head as she swallowed.
"We'll play things by ear for now and see what happens. I think I'll have to have a talk with her first. Have a little girl time together."
"Daddy, can I ask you something?"
"I don't know, can you?"
"Why me? This is just...I'm not a..."
Savannah rolled her pretty eyes playfully.
"Nancy, remember when you were a kid and how you loved Harry Potter? How you cried when you realized that you were never going to get an acceptance letter to Hogwarts? Well, congratulations sweetheart, you get to do magic for real now!"
"Is your job scary?" Nancy asked, her voice squeaking a little. She was clearly trying to contain her curiosity and excitement.
"At times, it can be very scary" Savannah said. "But that's the fun of it. Every day is an adventure."
"I guess this might make up for all of the Take Your Daughter To Work Days that I missed out on" Nancy laughed.
**
Logan and Allison were in Logan's childhood bedroom. Neither had told anyone downstairs about Logan's infection.
Logan traced a long, thin cut with a pocket knife across her forearm. Once again, her injury healed almost instantly.
Allison cupped her mouth.
"I think I know where you got this. Remember that boy from the alternate reality we met last month? The one from the portal your mom showed us at the park? He said something about a virus that was turning everyone in his world into lesbians..."
"Well it's a little too late to worry about that" Logan interjected.
"Yeah, but he also said that the virus was turning everyone into lesbians *and* making them immortal!"
Logan suddenly lost the color in her face.
"Are you saying that I'm immortal?"
"Maybe!"
"That boy...sneezed on me."
Allison shook her head, her blonde ponytail bobbing up and down with her.
"Now you're catching on."
"So that means it must be easily transmissible. And... we've kissed and had sex like a hundred million times since then. Holy fuck, maybe you have the virus too!" Logan shouted.
"Only one way to find out" Allison replied.
She borrowed Logan's knife and cut her own forearm.
Just like Logan, the flesh wound healed instantly.
"Wicked" Logan said quietly.
**
"This is what's called Netflix and chill" Tom said as he kissed Aziza and stroked her long silky hair. They were sitting on his couch in his living room, watching TV.
"You are the first man I've ever had sex with" Aziza said as she stared deeply into his eyes.
Tom nodded.
"I'm flattered. How was it?"
"Different. Very different from sex with women. But I think that I liked it."
"Well, now that my curse is gone, I'll have you know that my...my..."
"Your dick."
"Yes. Sorry. My dick is a little bigger than average."
"Oh, I already know all about penis sizes, dear. You have nothing to worry about. I was impressed."
As they cuddled, Aziza asked "What is this show? I've never seen it."
"It's called The Mole. I used to love it as a kid. Basically it's about these people. They travel around the world competing in these crazy games. Each game they win adds money to a group pot, but one of the players is The Mole, who is secretly working for production to sabotage everyone's efforts."
"So it's about someone keeping a big secret from everyone else" Aziza said.
"Basically."
"Would you be OK if you discovered someone was keeping a secret from you?"
"It depends on what the secret was.".
Aziza paused.
"I have a secret, Tom, but I'm not sure if I'm comfortable telling you about it right now."
"I think I know what it is" Tom said, his blue eyes staring into Aziza's brown, which suddenly widened.
"If I were a betting man, I'd say that you're Kylie Perkins's girlfriend."
"Yes. I was her girlfriend" Aziza spat out impulsively, relieved to not have to shoulder it anymore.
"Ah" Tom said sagely.
"How did you know?"
"Because someone like you who goes around helping people the way that you do often has a guilty conscience."
"Am I that obvious?" Aziza asked, suddenly disappointed in herself. Maybe she wasn't as slick or as stealthy as she thought she was.
"Not necessarily. I just recognized the behavior. Jennifer is the exact same way as you."
"So I've heard."
"Do you want to hear a sob story? You've probably heard a million of them by now."
Aziza nodded her head looking upside down at Tom, her curvy body cradled in Tom's muscular arms.
"Jennifer had a friend named Gwen Jones. She was a cheerleader on Jennifer's team. Real pretty Italian girl. Kind of fake, to be honest, but she was nice to your face.
At the party, Kylie turned Gwen into a bird girl. Must have been a predatory bird, a bird of prey, because Gwen found that she liked to drink people's blood now.
One day a few days after the party, the way I heard it, Gwen woke up in the middle of the street and found that she had sucked some poor teenage girl dry of blood, ripped her throat out. Cops had surrounded Gwen, guns drawn, this was before Glendale had fallen completely into anarchy by the way, and probably in a mixture of panic and disgust at what she had done, Gwen flew her pretty new feather covered wings into a power line and electrocuted herself."
Aziza gasped and cupped her face.
"When Jennifer found out about it, she paid for both of their funerals. Gwen and the little girl. She was the only person at Gwen's funeral besides her parents. She still sends money to the parents of the little girl to this day. They live in Colorado now, I think. Jennifer cried in my arms about it. She felt like both of their deaths were on her head. Because she had invited Kylie to the party."
For a long time, Aziza didn't speak.
"Do you hate me, for loving Kylie?"
"The heart wants what it wants" Tom said, stroking her hair. "I forgive you."