My Best Friend's Exorcism

The following morning, Abby expresses concern about Gretchen to Principal Major. Mrs. Lang already called to warn him not to listen to Abby, whom she claims is a narcotics dealer. Principal Major reminds her that she’s on scholarship, and that she shouldn’t cause problems; he then sends her to class. At lunch, Wallace brags about the band he just quit, Dukes of Neon. After school, Abby drives to Margaret’s lake house and finds the old outbuilding. Some of the graffiti mentions Dukes of Neon, and there’s empty bottles of Bartles and Jaymes (“rape juice”). Abby suspects Wallace is the one who attacked Gretchen. Margaret’s brother, Riley, appears and warns Abby not to enter the outbuilding because of its bloody past. He asks for her age and she asks if anyone else was present on Labor Day, but he doesn’t know.

Abby drives home, then calls Glee, sharing her suspicion that Wallace raped Gretchen. Glee says she’ll call back, and when she does, she asks Abby to repeat what she said. She secretly sets up a three-way call with Margaret, and Margaret tells Abby to stay away from them.

It’s October Spirit Week, and Gretchen is absent on Monday (twin day) and Tuesday (casual-dress day). Wallace harasses and hits Abby when no one is watching. Abby calls Gretchen, but Mr. Lang threatens to call the police if she calls again. She drives to Gretchen’s house and throws rocks at her window, but is scared away by an owl. Gretchen is absent on Wednesday (nerd day). Thursday is “slave day,” and the narrator notes that by 1993, this was deemed offensive, and everyone pretends they never celebrated it. In 1988, Spirit Week-related funds go to an alumni fund, so no one complains. The secretary makes a list of “slaves” and “owners.” During a lunch parade, “masters” can command “slaves” to do embarrassing things. The secretary designates Abby as Gretchen’s “slave,” but Mrs. Lang had Gretchen’s schedule rearranged so she no longer has classes with Abby.

Gretchen finds Abby and brings her to the bathroom, where she demands Abby remove her makeup. Abby ignores this request and tells Gretchen that they need to report Wallace. Gretchen keeps pressing her about makeup and tries to take it off for her; Abby shoves Gretchen and later tells her that their friendship is over. That night, Gretchen calls Abby and begs for help, saying she can’t fight her enemy alone. “He” wants Gretchen to be isolated, and Abby hangs up. On Monday, Gretchen appears in school with a new haircut, different clothes, makeup, and her nails done; she no longer looks sick. Abby checks on her, and Gretchen claims ignorance.

Chapter 15 is interspersed with excerpts from a magazine quiz called “Are you driving away your best friend?” At lunch, Gretchen, Margaret, and Glee talk as normal and ignore Abby. Gretchen gives Margaret a milkshake diet supplement that her mother ordered but stopped drinking, as Margaret wants to lose weight. Everyone continues to treat Gretchen normally and ignore Abby. Abby expresses concern about Gretchen to Father Morgan. He thinks demonic possession is a metaphor for adolescence, a scapegoat. He believes Abby “needs” Gretchen to be “possessed,” so she can blame an external factor for their suffering friendship. Gretchen interrupts, asking Father Morgan to become the faculty advisor for vestry (which Glee, who has a crush on him, will be joining). Abby leaves.

At a school assembly, the Lemon brothers, four Christian bodybuilders, put on a show, lifting heavy objects and shouting about how the Christian God gives them the strength to do so. The students find the show ridiculous, but the brothers read this as encouragement. The principal and teachers look uncomfortable. The brothers invite some football players, including Wallace, onstage to lift a beam, which they do—but when the brothers add another beam, the football players can’t lift both. Then the youngest brother, Christian Lemon (Brother Lemon), lifts both beams by arranging them into a cross. He says the cross makes all things possible, even overcoming demons. He crushes some CDs with explicit lyrics, then stops, staring at Gretchen—claiming to see her demon and challenge it. Abby takes notice.

After the assembly, Abby rushes to ask Christian what he saw. He says he saw an owl-shaped demon haunting Gretchen because he has a gift of sight. His brothers say they have to leave, and give Abby a flier with their phone number. Abby feels hope because someone besides her believes something is wrong with Gretchen.

Margaret keeps a food journal: She eats diet-supplement milkshakes, fruits, and vegetables. She’s lost weight and looks forward to wearing a specific dress at the upcoming winter semiformal dance. Abby goes to Gretchen’s locker and tries the old combination, her own birthday, but Gretchen changed it to her own birthday. Abby finds a notebook and takes it. Margaret starts decreasing the amount of food she eats, and increasing the amount of milkshakes. Meanwhile, Gretchen delivers sealed notes, allegedly from Father Morgan, to Glee.

Abby goes home and reads Gretchen’s notebook, its later entries filled with ramblings, rants about killing, drawings of sad faces and insects, and pleas for “it” to stop. She speaks to Gretchen, who claims she’s fine, but her hand is writing “help” on paper. When Gretchen sees Abby notice the paper, she snatches it away. Wallace appears, and Abby leaves. At school, Glee no longer eats lunch with the other girls, instead going to the chapel for communion. An anonymous person sends Wallace flowers, and he gives them to random girls. He and Margaret fight and break up.

At home that night, Abby finds a phone number marked “Andy” in Gretchen’s notebook, and dials it. However, Gretchen picks up, claiming she’s been tricked and “he” switched places with her. Now, she’s lost and possibly dead. Gretchen warns Abby about the “Gretchen” walking around in her body, who aims to hurt everyone on Halloween. The line goes dead, and when Abby calls back, no one answers. Meanwhile, Margaret starts consuming five milkshakes per day.