Tammy looked up from her computer at the sound of footsteps in the hallway. She figured it was Paula, although if it was, her roommate was home early. Maybe the party had been a dud. As she listened, she didn’t hear the usual sharp tapping of Paula’s shoes on the wood floor. Had Paula taken off her beloved heels? Maybe it had been a wilder night than she thought.

“How was it?” Tammy called out, now curious about the party that finals prep had made her miss.

“It was lame,” Paula said, appearing in the doorway.

Tammy’s eyes widened.

“I’m as surprised as you are,” Paula said. “I really thought it would be cool.”

“Do you want to tell me about it?”

“Why would I want to waste time telling you about a lame party? You’re lucky you didn’t go. Trust me, staying home and studying would’ve been more fun.”

“I’m just curious as to why…”

“Why what? Look, I’m going to hit the books. See if I can’t salvage the evening. Later.”

Paula walked down to her room. Tammy stared after her for a moment. Then, she tuned back to her computer and quickly brought up Facepage. She began looking for posts on the party. Immediately, she came across several.

After scouring the posts, Tammy got up and went to Paula’s room.

“Paula?”

“Yeah?” Paula said, without looking up from her book.

“Why don’t you tell me about the party?”

“What’s to tell? It was lame, like I said.”

“I just read a bunch of posts about it.”

“Great. So you already know how lame it was.”

“You didn’t tell me there was a hypnotist,” Tammy said.

“Well, there was,” Paula said, finally looking up at her roommate. “But he didn’t make the party any better. He hypnotized a bunch of the girls. Made them take their shoes off, made them act silly, made them dance around. Made them forget and remember stuff. It didn’t exactly make for a rockin’ happenin’ event.”

“You didn’t get hypnotized?”

“Nope. I would’ve tried it, but that bozo couldn’t have put me under with a fifth of Scotch and a boring movie. He was weak.”

“Uh huh.”

“Why are you so interested in a weak hypnotist at a lame party?”

“Because,” Tammy said, “my roommate just came home from a supposedly lame party, where a supposedly weak hypnotist performed, wearing only her bra and panties.”

“What? What are talking about? I’m not--oh my god! What the hell! Where are my clothes? Tammy, what’s going on?”

“According to what people posted on Facepage, you were hypnotized. And of all the girls, you you were the most suggestible. They even posted a trigger phrase that the hypnotist gave you as a post-hypnotic suggestion: party girl.”

Paula suddenly stopped her ranting. She drew in a deep breath, then visibly relaxed as she exhaled it.

“Hey, are you all right?” Tammy asked.

“Yes, Slave Paula is all right,” Paula said, standing up and walking over to her roommate.

“Slave Paula? Wow, you really are suggestible. I should wake you up, but...I could also have some fun with you first.”

“Slave Paula is not yours to have fun with. She is Master’s slave and no one else’s.”

“Okay, wow, that’s creepy. It’s time to wake you up.”

“No. It’s time for you to sleep.”

Paula grabbed Tammy by the shoulders.

“What--” Tammy started to say.

“You will sleep. You will sleep. You will sleep...”

Paula stared deep into Tammy’s eyes. Tammy tried to look away but found that she couldn’t. Something drew her in and kept her gaze fixed there. All she could see were Paula’s eyes. They shone and shimmered and spun before her. They caressed her mind and dulled her will. They overwhelmed all else in the room, leaving only their omnipresence in her view and Paula’s droning voice in her head.

“You will sleep and obey,” Paula said, releasing her grip on Tammy’s shoulders.

“Sleep...and...obey,” Tammy said.

“Take off your shoes. Master’s slaves must go barefoot.”

“Must...go...barefoot.”

“Take off your clothes. Master’s slaves must go undressed.”

“Must...go...undressed.”

“Slave Tammy will wait now. Slave Paula will call Master, and he will give his slaves new instructions.”

“Wait...now. Master...will...give...new...instructions.”

Somewhere deep within her mind, buried beneath the utter obedience and subservience that had been brainwashed into her, Tammy had a final, fading thought:

The party she’d missed hadn’t been lame at all.