The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

Unfortunately, that was when I had another seizure. The last time I’d had one while standing, I’d gotten enough warning that I could duck into the men’s room and sit it out. Before that, I was barely able to keep stable as my legs grew numb and felt weak. This time, almost without warning, my hips started moving, the erection grew as pain stabbed my pelvis, and after groaning out some kind of “oh fuck” comment, I fell to my knees.

The captain turned to Richelle, asking, “What is this?” Of course, she was in no position to reply.

“It’s okay, Clarence,” I said, gasping for breath. “It’s just a seizure.” I sighed—it was frustrating how quickly they were becoming commonplace. Just a seizure? “I get them from time to time.” And time, and time, and time. I wasn’t going to unload my bizarre burden on the nice guy that just decided to let me go without charges (and Italy has some draconian public indecency laws, or so I hear). “I’ll be fine in a few minutes.”

He put an avuncular hand on my shoulder, and looked at me with concern. “Perhaps I should call the authorities after all? An ambulance at least.”

“No, I don’t think so.” They were coming more and more unpredictably, but I wanted to tough through them. Call it a bit of misplaced machismo, or a lot of pride. But really, despite a little pain, they didn’t seem all that bad. And the other side effects, I thought, with a glance at Richelle, are intriguing.

Then she shook herself out of it. “Oh, Master. It happened again? Come here, let me help you up.” If the captain thought any of that was strange, he didn’t do anything more about it. Soon I was out of there on wobbly legs. I think the looks on our faces, and the weakness in my legs, made the other passengers convinced that something was going to happen to us, that we had been punished.

Richelle offered to “help me” with the erection, but I said no. I wasn’t in the mood. (It sure as hell was, but I wasn’t.) I also offered to change her back, remove the limit-testing, but she thought about it and said no. It was a great feeling, and it didn’t seem at all harmful. I hoped she was right.

After that I was pretty much left alone for the few hours before the boat docked. A lot of people kept looking at me, though, then dropping their eyes and whispering. It was unsettling, how many eyes followed me across the room. Mostly female eyes. At least one girl asked Marissa “...weren’t you two an item?...” I didn’t hear how she answered. I was happy to just wall off the world and forget it for a few hours.

Soon, the boat pulled up to the docks. Not quite soon enough for my tastes. I wanted to get home, or at least the place I’d been calling “home” for the last week. I guess, in my head, I was somewhat blaming the whole thing on the trip to Africa. I mean, that’s when the seizures started, right? So I considered ‘home’ safe from that madness. That didn’t turn out to be the case.

Zoners

Chapter 6: Academic

Naples: Sunday Afternoon

We were all weary from our trip—me more than most, I’m sure—so we tossed our bags under the bus and headed inside. I took a seat by the window. Immediately, Diana, Richelle, and Marissa all tried to sit there, almost comically bumping into each other. They looked about to fight for the seat, then glanced at each other and laughed. “Fine,” Marissa said. Then she turned to me, “Eric, which of us do you want sitting next to you?”

To be honest I was getting tired of all their attention. It was flattering, but a guy can only take so much. Anyway, I suspected I knew where this would go—whoever I picked would think they were my favorite, and lord it over the other girls. And I hate playing favorites. At the moment, Bobbie was walking by. So I spoke up, waving my hand to her. “Hey Bobbie! Want to sit by me?” The three girls looked confused, and maybe a little befuddled I hadn’t chosen one of them. I figured if I’d hurt any of them, the damage wasn’t permanent. It was just a bus ride.

Bobbie looked at the three girls, sized up the situation, and then shrugged. “Sure!” She stepped up and slipped into the seat. “You owe me,” she leaned in and whispered.

“Thanks,” I whispered back.

The other girls took the hint and decided to sit far away from me. Diana and Richelle sat in the back, and spent most of the trip whispering back and forth and glancing at me. I tried to ignore that. Marissa just took a seat at the front of the bus, where she’d sat on the way in.

Bobbie turned to me and said, “Soo, you and Richelle? Or you and Marissa? Or you and Diana? Which is it?” Then she shook her head. “Doesn’t Dee have a boyfriend?”

I lay my head against the window with a thud. “Yeah. She does. And as for the rest—I don’t know.” I sighed. “It’s complicated. You know.”

She giggled, blushing, looking at my crotch. “Oh yeah. The magic penis.”

Right. I still hadn’t taken care of it. Probably another reason I was getting stared at on the boat. Call me stubborn, but I’m not going to masturbate in a bathroom, and the erections from the seizures were irritatingly persistent until they were ‘taken care of.’ Too bad I didn’t have the seizure before the public sex with Richelle. Of course, they haven’t ever had good timing. “Yeah, that.”

“Jeez, you’re so mopey. Give any other guy the power to mind control girls, he’d cream his pants.” She giggled and blushed again. “But I mean, I guess you’ve already done that.”

Okay, I laughed. “But there’s the seizures too.”

She frowned. “Oh yeah. Those.”

“Besides, the mind control kind of sucks. I don’t like forcing myself on anyone, you know?”

“Yeah, I know. But you’re a good guy, Eric. I mean, that’s why we girls like you so much. Besides,” She shuddered a little. “being forced kinda sucks.”

I gave her a look. She hadn’t opened up like this to me before. She just nodded assent, and sniffled.

I had no idea what to say. “...how? when?...”

She wiped her eyes. “It was a while ago. My 16th birthday party. I lost my virginity to him. They wanted to try him as an adult, but the bastard hung himself in his cell.” Her fists clenched. “So, like, yeah. It’s good that you’re watching yourself. But what you’re doing now is fine—you’re no Christian.”

“Was that...?”

“His name, yeah.” Her face twisted. “Christian fucking Swindler.” Her head bobbed emphatically at each syllable of his name. “Like, sorry to dump this on you.” Her expression softened. “It’s just, Eric... I mean, you’re not that guy, and I don’t think you’ll ever be. So you can stop worrying about it.”

I was touched. “Yeah, um... thanks? But I think what keeps me from being that guy is my worry.”

She furrowed her brow in thought, and sighed. “Maybe you’re right. Like, just don’t beat yourself up about it, okay? I mean, you carry this dark cloud around you. Even before the Magic Penis Incident,” she said, giggling again, and you could hear the capital letters, “you were brooding.”

“Yeah, maybe,” I said. She was right, of course. But it’s not that easy to just up and change your nature. I was just a pensive person. “The brooding artist with the magic penis.”

She laughed. “Well, yeah, it sounds silly when you put it like that. Truth is stranger than fiction,” she blushed, “and sillier too.”

Diana and Richelle burst out into loud giggles behind us. We looked toward the back of the bus. I looked at Bobbie, and sighed. “I don’t want to have to pick.”

“Well,” she said, “they kinda seem willing to share. There aren’t any cat fights, and they know what’s been going on. Right?”

I laughed. “Well, nothing’s actually happened between Diana and me. The Marissa stuff is common knowledge, and the thing with Richelle is, um,” now I was blushing, “public knowledge, I guess.”

She shrugged. “Maybe you won’t have to pick.”

“Huh.” I’d known polyamorous people, and figured I could maybe even be comfortable in such a relationship. But every girl I dated expected to be part of a duet and freaked out at the very idea (although when I left Arizona, my last ex had become part of an ‘open trio’). Thanks to this aversion therapy, the idea never even occurred to me. “I guess so...” It’d be complicated. “I’d want to talk to everyone first.”

“Yeah,” she said. “Like, get all your ducks in a row. I mean, poly isn’t exactly easy.”

“Really? You?”

She giggled again. “Like, yeah. Why is it so unbelievable?”

“I don’t know.” I considered it for a second. “You have this whole ‘girl next door’ vibe, and the whole Midwestern drawl just adds to the impression of wholesomeness.” I shook my head. “Really?!”

“Yeah!” She punched me in the shoulder. “I mean, they talked about sharing in kindergarten, and like, I never really understood why we couldn’t do it with love or sexuality.”

I nodded my assent. “Yeah. To me it’s always looked like a maturity thing. People defending their right to be jealous.”

She looked back at Diana and Richelle. “On the bright side, you do kinda have the pick of the litter. Might be fun to be part of that harem.” She winked. “I could go for those.”

Just then, the bus pulled up to the housing complex. Marissa called out from the front of the bus, “We’re home, everyone!” Everyone started milling about like ants, excited about getting back to their rooms. I was antsy to get home, too. I let out a long sigh of relief. Outside, everyone was gathering around the bus to welcome us back. Since I was tired and not really feeling the crowd, I waited until the bus was almost empty before I decided to head out.

So of course, when descending the steps of the bus, I had another seizure. In full view of pretty much everyone, I started shaking, then I crashed down the steps, smashing face-first against the ground, doubling up almost instantly. I’d barely healed from the beating I’d gotten and now my body was broken again. At least I’d found a way of getting rid of the erection without masturbation—try snapping it in half. I wasn’t all that inclined to give that another go.

I was embarrassed. Having one of the seizures in full public view was horrible; I was used to being in control of my body. Not to mention the fact that I’d literally fallen on my face in front of my peers. At least that time, nobody in the crowd zoned out. So the only one I hurt that time was myself.

Naples: Sunday Evening

“Fuck.” I flopped on my bed and groaned in pain. “Damn it.”

“Are you sure you want to do this? Are you up for this?” Valerie sounded concerned.

“Of course,” I said, rolling over to look at her. “I can do it, Val. I told you I would, and I want it too.” I sighed. “I shouldn’t have gone to Africa.”

“Oh, pooh,” she said, waving her hand dismissively. “You’d been looking forward to that trip for months, and besides, you hadn’t even met me yet.” She winked and stuck her tongue out.

I grunted and pulled myself up. I was exhausted. We’d been going at it for hours, ever since I’d gotten off the bus. We had a test on Monday, so we’d figured we needed another study session. “Do you mind if we take a quick break?”

“Yeah, sure. I can only take so much studying at once.” She stretched, yawning. I admired her curves. “I’ve been crouching over textbooks for too long. My back hurts.”

“You want a backrub?” I was good with my hands. I’d given her, and a lot of friends, backrubs over the years.

“Oh God, yes,” she said. “You give the best backrubs. But you don’t have to do that. I mean, you’re hurt.”

I shook my head. “No, no, it’s okay. We’re taking a break anyway, right?” I gestured to the bed. “Go ahead, lie down.”

She sprawled out on the bed. I climbed on top of her and started kneading her spine. “Mmmm, Eric. You’ve got the touch.”

I chuckled. “You say that every time, Val.”

“Well, it’s true. Mmmmm.” After a little more moaning and happy noises, she said, “You know, I had a dream about you over the weekend.”

“Oh, um, really?” I blushed. “I... I actually had a dream about you, too.”

She giggled. “Yeah, right.”

“So, what was it about?”

She rolled herself over until she was on her back. She looked up at me, her eyes twinkling, an impish smile on her face. “Well, I don’t know if I should even tell you, now. Did you really have a dream about me?”

I blushed again. “Well, yeah.”

She cocked her head. “What kind of dream?”

“Um, well, it was in Africa. I’d bought some jewelry, an amulet or something. Then I ran into you on the street in the marketplace.” I wasn’t really going to tell her what happened in the dream after that.

“That’s it?” She sounded disappointed. “Not much of a dream.” She stuck her lower lip out in a pout.

“Well, what was your dream about?”

She giggled, squirming under me. “It was kind of like this. You giving me one of your wonderful massages and then it turned into something more.” I started stirring. “But, I mean, ew. It was so weird. You’re like my brother!” She shook her head, blonde locks tossed everywhere.

Well, that killed the mood. “Yeah, your brother,” I said. I wanted to get out of there before she noticed my erection, so I blurted, “I gotta use the bathroom,” and shot away like a bat out of hell.

That one time, I wished for a seizure. I wanted her to want me like Marissa and Richelle and Diana all wanted me. But one didn’t come, so I waited in the bathroom for my erection to go away, and then we went back to studying.

Naples: Sunday Night

I woke up, screaming. This was one of the most painful seizures. Domingo (my assigned roommate in Italy) hopped up from the other bed, and called Dr. San Angelo (the professor that arranged the trip, and was administering it). Soon enough, he’d shown up at our room, and I was led to an ambulance. “You don’t have to do this, Alex,” I said to him. “I’m okay.”

“No, you are not. You can barely walk, you are in pain.” He spoke in a heavy accent. “You fall down the stairs of the bus earlier, I let you talk me out of calling the doctors then. But now we go to the hospital.”

I sighed. He made a lot of sense. I just didn’t want this to be the end—and the seizures felt like a death sentence. They felt like they would be the end of my time in Italy. I was happy there. A more timely seizure hit me in the emergency room while a doctor was examining me. Thankfully, Dr. Angelo and the doctor didn’t notice the nurses zone out in the back of the room, but after that the nurses paid more attention to me. A quick prescription written, followed by a sad shake of the head and the blurting of more Italian than my rudimentary understanding was able to comprehend, and we were out the door.

“Alex, what did he say?”

“It might be anything. Epilepsy. An infection. Lesions on the brain. He does not have the resources to figure it out, and the international student health insurance will not even cover that kind of diagnosis.” He sighed, shaking the prescription paper in his hand. “We fill this, and you take it. If it does not work, we will have to send you home. Come, there is a pharmacy across the street.”

We took a cab back home. Dr. San Angelo made me take the pills as soon as we left the pharmacy. I had yet another seizure in the back of the taxicab, but he agreed to wait until the next day before he sent me home. I didn’t sleep very well after that, what with the sword hanging over my head and all. But at least I didn’t start shaking again.

Naples: Monday Morning

Like always, Edward, Marissa, Valerie and I had breakfast before heading off to class. Classes other than Italian 201 started later, so everyone else just kept sleeping. Usually that wasn’t an issue, but I was so tired. I told them what had happened the previous night, how Dr. San Angelo was on the edge of sending me home. Meanwhile, Valerie and I tried to cajole Marissa and Edward into giving us an “in” on the test, but they were evasive, just saying it covered what we went over in class the last few days.

My head was swimming by the time the test was handed out. Still, I did the best I could. Always loving the spotlight, Edward taught the class while Marissa scored the tests in the back of the room. When the graded tests came back to us, I was crushed—I’d gotten a 69, far below the 80s and 90s I’d been showing the first week. It was devastating.

Marissa and Valerie headed off to dish (probably about Africa, and I wondered what Valerie would have to say about that), so I decided to hang out with Edward. He let me tag along with him to the pool. Of course, Ingrid was there, too. She and Eddie decided to hop in the pool, but as tired as I was, I figured I’d just lay on one of the pool chairs and let myself doze off to visions of girls in revealing bikinis and skin-tight bathing suits. Life was good.

Not unsurprisingly, I started trembling again. Lucky me, this time I was lying down, and it wasn’t even all that painful. Almost all the women in the pool area zoned out, of course. And it wasn’t just our group that I’d hit—students were staying there from other study abroad groups, there were people back-packing their way across the continent, and just vacationers from around the continent wanting a longer term stay (I think I also hit some staff inside). I was tempted to just yell out some stuff, some commands, see what they’d do. But all the guys didn’t zone out, and I didn’t want to call attention to myself. I acted as confused as everyone else.

Of course, Edward figured out it was me almost immediately. He and Ingrid walked up to me after the pool area started calming down. “It happened again, didn’t it?”

I sighed. “Yeah.”

“If you don’t tell Alex, I will.”

“Oh, please, don’t. I don’t want to be sent home.”

“You need to go home, Eric. They won’t even treat you here.”

“I can do this, Ward. I can push through.”

He shook his head. “Dude, you haven’t been sleeping. You got a D on this last test, when before you were our highest performer. I don’t think you can. The whole mind control stuff was fun for the weekend, but who knows what lasting damage it’s doing to you—or anyone else?” He looked at Ingrid, then Marissa, around the pool.

Ingrid just giggled. “Yeah!”

“I know, I know.” I got up, then fell back. My legs were still weak. I grumbled. “Help me up?”

And so, hanging on the shoulders of Edward and Ingrid so I could walk, I made my way to Dr. San Angelo’s room and told him it was time to send me home. Turned out he’d already made the arrangements. That was it, my fate was sealed. Edward was to accompany me back home; Marissa was covering his work in classes.

Naples: Monday Afternoon

“So who am I going to study with?” Valerie stuck out her lower lip in a pout. I was hanging out with her and Marissa in their room. I was on one twin bed, they were on the other.

Valerie Kindle was my age—29 going on 30. I stopped in my tracks for a second as I saw her—long almost platinum-blonde hair with just a hint of a curl, dark eyes somehow both blue and green, skin like porcelain. She could almost be a pin-up model. And she didn’t seem to be aware of how attractive she was. I’d had a crush on her since I’d first laid eyes on her.

I sighed. “I don’t know. Ingrid seems like a nice girl? She gets good marks, she says.” Marissa made a little confirmation noise. “See? I’m sure they’re better than mine, these days.”

“Yeah, sure, but I’m sure she doesn’t give good backrubs. I like your hands.”

Marissa giggled. She cupped her chest. “He DOES have nice hands.” They’d finally fixed her hair, it was now a tasteful pixie cut. I liked it better than her old style.

“Oh shut up,” Valerie said, laughing, throwing a pillow at her. “Don’t be gross.”

“Oh, it’s not gross.” Marissa made a ‘yummy’ noise. “Hey, Val, want to see something hot?” She turned to me and winked. I was alarmed, I had no idea what she was planning.

Valerie looked wary, and looked between us. “Um?”

I just shrugged, “What are you talking about, Missy?”

“Shelly told Dee, Bobbie and me about this last night.” I blushed—the story of my public sex debacle with Richelle had made its rounds, and Valerie still hadn’t stopped giving me a hard time about it. She came to my bed and sat herself down, facing me. “C’mon, pull a Svengali on me.”

“Ohhhhhhhhhhhh,” I said. That mystery was solved. I looked at Valerie. “Um, really? Now?”

Valerie just looked at us. “What’s a ‘Svengali’? Is it dirty?” Obviously she was thinking about the Richelle debacle too.

“Not really,” I said, as Marissa said, “It doesn’t have to be!” I just rolled my eyes at her.

She was still skeptical. “So, what is it?”

“It’s like hypnosis,” I said.

“Shelly said it’s really relaxing, and omigod, like a rush!” Marissa just arced her back in happiness, making another happy noise. I shook my head in disbelief.

“I don’t know if I want to do this.”

“Oh c’mon, Eric,” Marissa said. She bent down and forward to tug my shirt. “Please? I wanna try it, and I want Val to see.”

Apparently, my reticence combined with Marissa’s excitement had piqued Valerie’s interest. “Yeah.” She flopped face-down on her bed and propped her head up to look at us. “Now I’m curious. Do it.” She waved her hands, permissively. Marissa just bounced up and down in glee, making affirmative noises.

“Um, okay.” I looked over to Marissa, and did a dramatic, silly voice. “Now look into my eyes.”

Giggles all around the room, but she did look in my eyes. “Anything you want to do with this?”

She shook her head. “No, I just want to show off. No limits, okay?”

Valerie piped up. “Uh, yeah. Limits!”

Marissa giggled. “Okay, don’t do anything that might make Valerie uncomfortable. But I have no limits.”

“Fine,” Valerie and I said, together. I took a deep breath.

“Okay, Missy, look into my eyes.” We locked eyes again. “Now remember how it felt to be zoned out like before, entranced, in that suggestible state.”

“...yes...” Her eyes were already starting to get glassy.

I tried to remember what I’d told Richelle. “Like with Shelly, I’m going to count down from three to one. When I reach one you’ll be in a complete trance, no limits, totally open to me.”

“...trance, no limits, open...” She started breathing, heavily. Okay, she was right, this was hot.

I counted down. When I reached one, she collapsed, falling forward into my lap. Valerie jumped back, startled. “Whoa! What happened?”

“I told you, it’s like hypnosis. She’s in a trance. She’ll do whatever I say. She’ll become whatever I want.”

Valerie just stared, fascinated. “Far out.”

“I have no idea what she was hoping to do now, though.” I scratched my head. “I mean, now she’s in a trance. What, do I make her bark like a dog when I say her name?”

Valerie was still staring. “Can you do it to me?” She hugged her pillow closer, looking worried.

“I don’t think so?” I wasn’t sure what Marissa had dished already, and I didn’t want to share the whole mind control seizure theory just yet.

“So she’ll turn into whatever you want?”

“Uh, yeah?”

“Can you make her super-smart? Or taller?”

“I can make her believe she’s super smart. I don’t think I can make her actually super-smart unless I sit there and read the encyclopedia to her.”

“Too bad. I’d have asked you to do me if you could just make me know Italian, so I could pass all those silly tests.” We laughed at that. “Oh, what the hell. She patted the bed. Come over here. Do me.”

Uneasy, I got off the bed, gently letting Marissa lay there, looking as though she was snoozing. Valerie whispered, “She looks so relaxed.”

“That’s what they tell me. It’s relaxing.”

“Can she hear me?”

“I’m not sure. They only respond to me.” I looked over at Marissa. “Missy, do you hear Valerie?”

“...yeah...”

“Well,” I shrugged. “That answers that. But they don’t remember anything when they wake up.” I turned to Valerie. “Your turn?”

“Yeah, I guess?”

Hopefully, I said, “Second thoughts?” I wasn’t all that eager to try this out on her—I didn’t think it’d work, not without her being ‘primed’ by a seizure first.

She straightened up, and looked at me with resolve. “No. Do it.”

“Fine,” I sighed. “Look into my eyes.”

She did, giggling. “Yes, Master.”

“Shut up! It won’t work if you don’t take it seriously.”

“Fine, fine.” She locked into my gaze, her eyes still laughing, a mouth twitching into a smirk.

I ad-libbed. “Now think of how it must feel to be Marissa right now, relaxed, entranced, focused on me. Keep that idea in your head.”

“Okay.”

“I’m going to count down from three to one. At one, you will be like Marissa, completely entranced.” Okay, I had no formal hypnosis training, I was nervous, and I didn’t believe it would work. So I was rushing through it.

I counted down. When I reached one, Valerie flopped into my lap. I jumped, surprised. Then she flipped over, and looked up at me. “Psych!” She started giggling, obviously proud of herself.

“I hate you,” I said, and hit her with a pillow.

She looked up at me, eyes wide. “I can’t believe you’re actually leaving tomorrow.” She reached up and caressed my face. “I’m going to miss you, Eric.”

I couldn’t help myself. Everything that happened had left me feeling bolder than I’d ever been and besides, I was dead anyway: they were sending me home. I leaned down and kissed her. And then, the most miraculous thing happened—she reached up, twined her fingers in my hair, pulled me down into her and kissed me back. After a few, delicious moments she pulled away.

She looked at me, quizzically. In a surprised voice, she said, “Wow! That was nice.” It sounded like she felt the fireworks I did. Then she rolled off, away from me. “But no, ew. No no no. We can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

She sighed. “Eric, you’re a nice guy and all...” Yep, the kiss of death. “You’re cute, even. But you’re not my type.” Right, that’s why the kiss had fireworks attached.

“Then what is your type?”

“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “What’s every girl’s type? Athletic, chiseled features, muscled chest, six-pack abs. Like Eddie, but not so much of a jerk, you know?” That definitely didn’t sound like me. My heart sunk in my chest. She looked at me with such pity in her eyes. “I’m sorry, Eric. You’re like a brother.”

I grumbled. “That’ll teach me to make a move on anyone again.”

A look of guilt crossed her face. “Oh, Eric. Don’t take it like that.” She shook her head. “Just ‘cause you’re not my type doesn’t mean you’re not a catch for someone. I mean, Marissa and Richelle both seem to like you.” She winked.

“Yeah, but...” I didn’t want to say ‘that’s just the mind control’ since she didn’t know anything about it.

“Yeah, but...” she mocked me. “You know I’m right.”

I stood up. “It’s different with them!”

“How?”

I stared at her. My jaw dropped. I tried to explain, but no words came out. I sighed. “It just is!” I waved at Marissa, still relaxing on the other bed. “Because they do that and you can’t.”

“I don’t get it?”

“Yeah. Neither do I.” I sat down on the other bed, next to Marissa. “It just doesn’t feel real.”

“Why not?”

I looked at Valerie, then at the dazed form of Marissa. “Never mind.” I looked over at Marissa. “Is any of it real, Missy?”

“...it is now...”

Great. A perfect non-answer. “There you go,” Valerie said.

I grumbled. “Missy, what were you thinking?” I buried my head in my hands.

She murmured something that had the words “Val,” “you,” and “fuck” in it. I guess Valerie heard more of it than I did, because she was startled. She blushed. “Omigod! Why would she want that?”

“Why do you want that?”

“...you like her...wanna make you happy...”

Now it was my turn to blush. I looked away. “Okay, that’s it. Wake up now, Missy.” Marissa stirred on the bed. “I’ve got to go.”

Marissa rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. “What? Wait?”

Valerie looked confused and hurt. “Eric, stop. Please?”

I stopped, my hand on the doorknob. I looked over at them. “I’m sorry. This is just too much for me.”

As I walked through the door I heard Marissa turn to Valerie and ask, “What happened?” I felt bad about leaving her confused and uninformed, but I couldn’t be around Valerie any more. Yeah, I should have told her to remember the argument but I wasn’t thinking clearly just then. I closed the door behind me.