"And retailers predict that it'll be the highest-selling video game in the past five years, beating out the record held by Knights of Ninjitsu 4, which came out this past September," the newswoman on our TV announced intensely. "If you look behind me, there's already a line of excited fans camped in front of this store."

"Aw, man!" Benny exclaimed. "I should be in that line!" He was sitting on the floor in front of my TV, depressed about not being able to get Immortal Enemies III as soon as it came out. It had been a week and a half since Benny had been possessed, and he was definitely back to normal.

"Well, you shouldn't have tried to do your homework with a finishing spell," I told him as Sarah laughed at the thought. We were in the kitchen cleaning up the mess she and Jane had made while baking cookies.

"I would've succeeded if my paper hadn't caught fire," he grumbled, turning off the TV and joining us. "I mean, that was the whole American Revolution, up in smoke."

"Which Grandma smelled, hence the grounding," Sarah finished, drying off a bowl.

"Exactly," Benny affirmed. "She only lets me come over here in case you need supernatural backup in short notice."

"Or help with the dishes," I said with a smile, handing him my towel and a dish.

He sighed. "Do I have to?" he whined.

"Only if you don't want Grandma to spank you," I said, walking away.

"Hey, not cool, man!" he called. "That never happened!"

Sarah laughed again, knowing that was a lie. "So, have you asked Della to the Homecoming dance yet?" she asked him.

"Not yet," Benny sighed, putting the dish in the cupboard and grabbing another one to dry. "I haven't really gotten a chance to talk to her in a long time. Besides, I think we should hold off on the dances for a bit."

"Why?" Sarah asked in surprise.

"Remember what happened at the last dance?" Benny mumbled, but not too low for me to hear in the living room.

Sarah exhaled loudly. "How could I forget?" she said sadly, and I felt bad all over again. "But you can't let fear of Jesse rule your lives."

"I know," Benny replied, "but I still think Ethan needs some more time to recover." What was he talking about? I felt fine.

"Yeah, maybe you're right," Sarah agreed, cleaning out the sink. "He seems even more nervous than usual around me since the attack."

"Well, that's not because of the attack," Benny blurted. I wanted to kill him.

"It's not?" Sarah asked, confused. "Then why?"

"Umm," Benny started nervously, "it's something personal that has nothing to do with you." It came out more like a question that a statement. I could feel the awkwardness all the way in the living room.

"Uh-huh," Sarah said skeptically.

And all I could do was put my head in my hands. I vowed that would the last time I'd eavesdrop on those two.