What would you trade your soul for?
The answer is simple for Jessa: nothing. Life isn't perfect, but it's pretty good with her best friend Taylor at her side.
But everything changes when the Devil--disguised as an attractive high school girl--comes...
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When we walked back up the driveway to my house, I was initially distracted by the music blasting from behind the closed front door. It was so loud that it took me a moment to realize there was a familiar car in the driveway, one I hadn't seen in a few months.
As I opened the front door, the music intensified: dramatic string instruments, brassy horns, and a strong bass line. Some musical theatre song a la Mallory.
As if on cue, Mallory poked her head into the hallway from the kitchen. "Hey sis!" she said. She was already in her Halloween costume: a stuffy colonial-style suit with a fake beard drawn on her chin in eyeliner—Alexander Hamilton. I had to admire her for her commitment to the look.
Her eyes fell to James. "Who's that?" she asked, with absolutely no tact.
"This is James," I introduced. "He's... a new classmate."
Mallory's eyes twinkled, and I immediately knew she had the wrong impression. Her eyes skirted downwards to the item James held in his hands. "What's the teddy bear for? Is it a gift?"
"No—"
"Yes," James interrupted with a smile, pressing the bear into my hands. "It's a gift for your sister."
Mallory's grin widened, and then she called out, even louder than the swell of music, "Mom! Dad! Jessa has a new friend with her!"
"Mallory!" I hissed, feeling my face warm.
Thankfully, I heard my mom call out, "Mallory! Turn down that music!" which gave me some relief as Mallory had to slink off to find her phone.
I rolled my eyes, about to step into the kitchen, when my eyes were drawn up to the top of the stairs, where a familiar figure stood in a navy blue sweater.
"Hey Jessa," Evan said, climbing down the stairs.
"Evan!" I said, giving my brother a hug as soon as he reached ground level. "I thought I saw your car in the driveway. What are you doing here?"
My brother slid his hand into his pockets. "Nothing was really going on at school this weekend, so I figured I'd come home for a few days. See how everyone was doing."
Evan was typically a pretty good liar—it was how he got away with so much crap when he was in high school—but even I knew that this was a lie. Of course something was going on this week in college; it was Halloween weekend.
My parents must have told him what had happened at the dance. I had a feeling he had come home for me, to see how his little sis was coping after witnessing her classmate collapse into a coma at her silly high school dance.
Part of me wanted to snap at my parents for telling him about it and guilting him to come home for the weekend. Another part of me was really grateful to see him.
"It's nice to see you," I said.
"You too," he said, and then his green eyes flickered over to James and he held out his hand. "Hey man. I'm Evan, Jessa's brother."
