Cursed by Wendy Owens

yourself.” Neru assured him as she reached over and took a comforting hold of Gabe’s hand, wrapping her tiny arm around his.   “Your test was to defeat the three creatures and you did.”
    “Yeah,” Gabe said slowly as he considered her words.   “I suppose you are right.”   He thought, ‘ If you knew it was Michael that did not approve of my methods, I bet you would be saying something else right now.’   He remained silent about that detail, however.
    “That’s all that has been bothering you?   That’s not so bad.” Neru said, trying to lighten the mood.
    “Sort of,” Gabe replied, glancing over at her with a smile again.
    “Oh my. Gabe, how much do you have going on up in that head of yours?”
    “More than you would probably care to know.” Gabe added, looking down into the water, unconsciously picking at his cuticles with his teeth.
    “Alright, spill it.” Neru demanded.
    It was like a flood gate opening for Gabe.   He couldn’t hold back any longer.   “It’s not just one thing.   There are a bunch of little things really.   I start classes and my girlfriend doesn’t even care that she gets pulled out of all the ones we share.   Two of my friends that I consider to be the model couple are bickering.   Let’s not even get started with the fact that Baal and who knows what other demons, are trying to hunt me down and kill me.   I don’t even get…” Looking over at Neru’s expression, Gabe knew he had completely unloaded on her.
    “I’m sorry.   I didn’t mean to…” Gabe began.
    “No, it’s fine.” Neru said, pulling Gabe closer in a reassuring way.   “I didn’t realize you had so much on your mind.   If I were the protector I am not sure what I would be feeling.   Nobody can blame you, not even your girlfriend.”
    “Gabe!” Sophie’s voice shouted behind them.   Quickly they pulled apart, Gabe turning around to look at Sophie.
    “Sophie, where have you been?   I was looking for you.”
    “Yeah, it looks like you were looking real hard, Gabe.”
    “What?” Gabe asked, confused by Sophie’s tone.   He considered telling her that she was full of nonsense, and then thought better of it.
    “Whatever, Gabe,” Sophie said, turning to walk away in a huff.
    Gabe glanced at Sophie, then Neru, and then Sophie again.   Lunging forward, Gabe took hold of Sophie’s arm and spun her to face him.   “What is your deal?   This is Neru. I met her in one of my classes today.   We were just talking.”
    “Yeah, Gabe, I always talk arm in arm with guys I just meet.”   Sophie argued, pulling, trying to break free of his grasp.
    “Are you serious, Sophie?   I’m sorry if I upset you.   I didn’t mean anything by it.” Gabe pleaded.
    Sophie stopped struggling and turned to face Neru.   “Hi, Peru.   I’m Gabe’s girlfriend, maybe he mentioned me.”
    “It’s Neru,” the girl replied, clearly annoyed by Sophie’s attitude towards her.   It was clear Sophie had mispronounced her name on purpose.
    “Oh, so sorry, N-e-r-u.” Sophie added sarcastically.
    “Gabe may have mentioned you.” Neru added with equal spite.   “Hey, Gabe, we’ll talk later.   I should really take off.”
    “Okay, thanks for the talk.   Sorry about this.” Gabe told her.
    At Gabe’s apology, Sophie crossed her arms, giving him a disgusted look.   Neru simply ignored her and walked away in the direction of the dining hall.
    “Sophie!” Gabe yelled.   “What has gotten into you?”
    “Into me?”   Sophie defended herself, giving Gabe a slight push.   “I come here looking for you and find you practically making out with some little twig of a girl.”
    “Whoa?   Making out?   I was upset because of our fight earlier and she was trying to make me feel better.”
    “Yeah, I just bet she was.” Sophie made no effort to hide her anger.
    “Look, this is ridiculous!   I don’t see what this is accomplishing.   There was nothing going on.   I guess you