"You know these things are all fake, right? I hope you didn't pay for it."
"It was just a few dollars so it's fine. And this is the real deal, there are tons of reviews of people saying it worked for them."
"Kiana..."
"It's my money so I can use it however I want, okay?"
"Fine, fine."
"And so, let's try it on you, Ben!"
"Why me? You can just try it between yourselves."
"Nah, it's not fun to hypnotize a girl. It has to be you."
"Sigh, well, whatever. Go ahead then."
Even though he complained, he was a little bit curious about it too, not that he thought it would work. It would be fun to see how far she would take this. Also, since she was so insistent on it, it would be perfect to play a small trick on her. Looking at the side, Chloe seemed to be eager too while Olivia was half-interested, half-reluctant.
"That's how it should be! Alright, just focus on the screen and the app will do the rest."
She started the hypnosis program and shoved the phone to his face.
"Too close."
She put it slightly further away and Benjamin could now see the screen. It showed a purple rotating spiral in the middle and a bigger pink one around the first, taking the entirety of the screen. The background was pure white, probably to contrast against the spirals. After some time of watching them going round and round like this, it was more psychedelic or dizzying than anything and he couldn't really feel something else happening. Still, he focused on them, waiting for the kids to do something. After a minute more, Kiana asked in a toned-down voice.
"Ben?"
He stayed perfectly still and didn't answer.
"Ben? Can you hear me?"
He still didn't do anything for a couple of seconds, before slowly nodding his head. Seeing this, the three girls gasped and started whispering.
"No way, did it work?"
"That fast?"
"It's amazing, I told you."
"No, he might be just playing a trick on us."
"Let's test it then."
Kiana turned toward him again.
"Ben, from now on, you have to listen to me, okay? If you agree, nod two times."
Same as before, he waited a little and slowly nodded two times."
"Lift your left hand."
He did as she said and she gave him a new order.
"Put your hands together in a heart."
"What sort of order is that?"
"Don't you want to see it too? Ben doing a heart, just like those singers, that would be so cute."
"Well, yeah."
He slowly moved his hands and made a sloppy heart with his fingers.
"Gosh, look at this. Hey, take a pic, take a pic."
Chloe took her phone out and took a picture of him in that position.
"Doesn't it look like it's really working? He'd never have let us order him around like this, right? He didn't even care that we took a picture of him."
"No, we've got to be careful. He became very playful since he changed attitude."
"That's right! He's teasing me all the time!"
"Really? That's... nice."
"What do you mean? It's not nice at all."
"Well, Ray never teases me. He's just annoyed at me all the time."
"You two are twins so it's probably different?"
"Hmm. Anyway, if he's making fun of us, we can just make him do stuff he'd never do and he'll have no choice but to stop his acting."
Chloe nodded but Olivia didn't.
"Don't go too far, okay? If Halle learns about this, we're in trouble."
"Don't worry, it'll be fine."
"What should we make him do?"
"Let's make him answer some sensitive questions for now. Ben? From now on, you have to answer us when we ask you questions. Okay?"
He nodded again.
"What's your name?"
"...Benjamin"
"How tall are you?"
"...179 cm."
"How much do you weigh?"
"...68 kg."
"He answered that. Guys never want to tell their weight, usually."
"That's not good enough. I'm telling you, this is nothing to him."
"Alright. Ben, are you dating someone?"
"...No."
"Oh... Nice. Ahem, ahem. Is there anyone you're interested in?"
"...No."
"It seems a bit too easy? Hmm, can't be helped, no more holding back. Ben, are you a virgin?"
"Hey, Kiana!"
"Olivia, it's like Chloe said, we need to go that far, or else we'll never know. Ben, are you a virgin?"
"...No."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"No way..."
"..."
"Ugh."
Kiana looked like she was in shock, Olivia blushed, and Chloe flinched hard. They were all suspicious but were so focused on themselves that they didn't notice how the other two reacted. After a few more moments, Kiana continued.
"That can't be... Who the hell did you do it with?"
"...A younger girl."
"Darn it! You like younger girls? If I had known, it could have been me!"
"Hey, what are you saying, Kiana!"
"Ugh. Damn it."
"Kiana, you like Ben?"
"A-a little bit? So what, I know you two like him too!"
"N-nonsense."
"Huh."
"Look at you, you're so obvious."
"What about you, then?"
"I'm his cousin, it's still fine. But you two are his sisters!"
"S-so what!"
"I'm still better than you!"
"You're not!"
"I am!"
"No!"
"Wait, wait, stop it. we're not going anywhere right now. And Ben, I know you're faking it, stop acting now."
Olivia tried to calm the situation down but of course, he wouldn't let them go so easily. He still didn't give any reaction back, keeping himself expressionless. She called out for him and even stirred him a few times. He let her do it all without resisting.
"It can't be it's for real?"
"They say it's very powerful?"
"How do you break it, then?"
"Should I snap my fingers?"
She snapped her fingers but nothing happened. After trying a few other things, like telling him to wake up or clapping their hands, with nothing working, she suddenly had another idea.
"Wait. Isn't this a good opportunity? It looks like he's going to do anything we ask, right?"