"Okay, Jon, let's go, there's several things we need to do right away, just to really make sure you know who's in charge," Sarah chirped, rising to her feet.
Jon slowly felt himself turning to get out of his seat, but slowly, snail's pace, his inner Jon trying to resist his latest compulsion from Sarah's maid. There's got to be some limitation there, just give me a minute, and I'll figure it out!
He heard Karyn inside. You can make your own choices, Jon, fight it! He also heard Mollie's relatively frightened voice. No, no, Monsieur Jon, we must listen to Miss Sarah. Where was his own voice under all these others?
Sarah sighed. "I said, let's go, Jon. You need to go powder your nose, as they say." She smirked. "Here, copy off me."
Sarah brought her hand to the side of her head, pulled out a glowing, wispy strand, and slightly slapped Jon on the side of the head. And a new voice from Sarah entered the fray. There's important discussion that needs to happen between women, Jon, and you have obligations to make sure you contribute. And you can also double check your make-up so you never look less than perfect.
And under the weight of the new compulsion, Jon swung Jennifer's long hair around him and stood up, grabbing his purse. Oh, very well done, that's how we present ourselves, Mrs. Kline's voice piped in. You're not helping! Jon shouted back at her.
Sarah marched to the front of the room, Jon strutting along just behind her. "We need hall passes to go to the bathroom," she informed Mr. Williams.
Mr. Williams had his feet up on his desk and had just been hoping the bell would ring. He opened one eye. "Both of you?" he questioned.
"Yes," Sarah stared him down, confidently poised, a perfectly innocent look on her face.
Mr. Williams closed his one open eye. "Whatever. Just don't take too long."
Sarah took Jon's arm and led him out the door. Jon's heels clacked loudly down the empty hallway as Sarah set a fast pace.
"I'm guessing you never really looked at yourself through these glasses, did you Jon?" she asked. He could hear the smug tone in her voice.
"I did, when I was fixing my lipstick before class," he snapped. "Look, Sarah-"
"But did you really look at yourself, Jon? Or maybe because you already knew what happened to you today, you didn't look hard enough. I'm guessing these glasses are supposed to help you see through magic?" By then, they were passing the bathrooms, and Sarah kept pulling him forward.
"Yes, but wait, Sarah, stop-"
She interrupted him again. "But they also let me see the magic that was there, too, so that I could see through it. And you were dumb enough to give me a glimpse to see how all that magic was layered on top of you." She smiled that evil grin. "I've never been stupid, Jon. And you let me see what was going on? You absolutely screwed yourself."
"Sarah-"
"Keep up, Jon, we have things to do," she cut him off. She glanced at him. "You know, the whole Elle Woods look really is stunning on you, but Jennifer's hair is the wrong color. You need your hair to more blonde to perfect it. Here, copy off me."
She formed a ball of color drawn from the top of her head. She glanced at it briefly with a slight amused chuckle, then lightly slapped Jon on the top of the head again. He could feel a wave rush down his back, and swinging his head to get a better look, he could see the perfectly blonde coloring now attached to Jennifer's hair.
Sarah smiled. "Much better." She pulled at his arm. "Now, in here."
Sarah led Jon into the library, and into one of the back corners, where two cheerleaders he didn't recognize were sitting with each other. Jon's mind was racing. Think, Jon, think! Mollie is making me do what Sarah says... but Mollie is just Sarah's maid, right? So Mollie doesn't have to do EVERYTHING that Sarah says, it's only because she works for the McMillans, right?
"Sarah!" one of the cheerleaders, a younger brown-haired girl, perked up, extremely excited. "Hi!"
"Jon, do you know Abby and Addy?" Sarah asked him. She was pleasantly smiling for the other two girls, but Jon could see in her eyes that she had more at play here.
"Um, no," he responded. Don't let her distract you! Put it together! Mollie only works for the McMillans, so she can live the rest of her life free of their instruction, right?
"Abby and Addy are freshmen, but they are just excellent new additions to the cheerleading squad," Sarah gestured.
"Oh, thank you!" the same brown-haired girl was overjoyed. Jon could see there was a bit of hero worship in her eyes.
So if I don't work for Sarah, I can limit my need to follow her orders-
"Jon was telling me that he wanted to get more flexible and limber, and I was trying to tell him that he should listen to the same instructions that I gave the both of you when you joined the squad, remember?" Sarah told the girls.
"Oh, she's definitely right," the red-haired girl offered.
"Yeah, you should see the splits I can do now!" the brown-haired girl gushed. "You need to do exactly what she says and it'll all work out!"
No! I just figured it out! Jon screamed internally.
"Here!" the girl chirped. "Copy off me!" And several glowing strands later, Jon felt more weight bearing down on him. He looked at Sarah - she didn't just feel bigger than him and more in authority, but now... now he also wanted to do what she said.
"Well, I'll see you girls later, and who knows, maybe we'll convince Jon to join us, too!" Sarah gave them a simple smile and taking Jon's arm, turned him back to the entrance of the library. She leaned over and whispered in his ear. "Those girls worship me, especially Abby. I knew they'd be in here. I know where everyone on my team is. And- oh, actually, here's a bonus."
Sarah pulled Jon to a stop at a table by the exit. Sitting there with several books and papers around her was Kyla Leeson. Sarah tapped a knuckle on the desk. Kyla looked up, saw Sarah, and shrunk back in her seat.
"Kyla, I have an offer for you. If you tell Jon that he has to do whatever I say, I will delete those photos off my phone," Sarah said matter-of-factly.
Kyla was nerdy and awkward, and right now seemed a little overwhelmed, but her eyes narrowed, even as a little bit of hope shone out. "You're lying."
"No, I am completely sincere. Tell him, and I'll delete the photos."
"Are you sure?" Kyla's eyes flicked to Jon. He felt himself just standing there, not knowing what to do. Not knowing what he could do.
Sarah crossed her arms. "This deal only lasts for the next ten seconds. Ten, nine..."
Kyla's face twisted, but desperation won out. She turned to Jon. "You have to do whatever Sarah says."
Sarah rolled her eyes. "Use the word 'need'. Eight, seven, six..."
Kyla blurted it out immediately. "You need to do whatever Sarah says!" Her hand was shaking. "Here, copy off me!" She took several gnarled wisps from her head and threw them across the table, hitting Jon in the face. He stumbled and had to catch himself.
"Excellent," Sarah mused. She pulled out her phone and began typing away. "And... deleted, as promised."
"That's it? They're gone? You promise?" Kyla seemed on the verge of tears.
"They're gone. You can forget the whole thing ever happened. Nice doing business with you. Come along, Jon." Sarah turned and walked out the door. Jon felt himself turn and follow, his Mrs. Kline stride as much a strut as ever, but now in sync with Sarah's steps.
"I'm sorry, Jon!" he heard Kyla yell behind him.
Sarah began walking back towards class. She was no longer holding onto Jon's arm, but... she told me to come along, and that's that, he thought.
"So now you're going to do whatever I say because I own you, because you worship me, and because I terrify you, isn't that right?" Sarah leaned in with a grin. "Isn't that right, Jon?"
Jon didn't know what emotion his eyes were showing. He simply couldn't find any loophole remaining. "Yes, Sarah," he murmured.
Sarah tossed her hair and faced back down the hall. "Smile, Jon. We're going to have so much more fun together today."
And Jon felt the Mrs. Kline half-smile form back on his face. A confident gaze in his eyes set in. And he walked along, cool as can be on the outside, right in step with Sarah. Utterly trapped on the inside.
