Devon took a deep breath as she stared at the door to Jessica's house. The jealousy inside her was raging. Why was she asking help from her enemy?

But, the logical side of her was saying, "It's not like she likes him back. She's in love with Kyle. Besides, she's the only opening you've got. And, believe it or not, she's your friend."

Raising a shaky hand, Devon knocked three times on the door. She waited and waited, biting her lip in anxiety. She desperately wished that she had a book to soothe her nerves. Something calming like Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll or The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster would be ideal in a situation like this. When the door finally swung open, Devon swallowed hard.

"H-Hi," she stammered. "C-Can I come in?"

"Oh…Hi, Devon." Jessica seemed puzzled at Devon's nervous chatter. "Sure. I was just brewing some hot tea. Do you want any?"

"N-No thanks."

Devon walked into the living room and seated herself on the couch. She cleared her throat as Jessica re-entered the room with a mug of hot chamomile tea in her hand and sat down in a chair opposite her.

"So what's up?"

"I…I have a…Well…"

Spit it out! Devon's brain told her. Don't just sit there like an idiot.

"I have a favor to ask of you, Jessica." There. It was said.

Jessica sipped her tea. Her calmness and inquisitive stare were driving Devon crazy.

"What kind of favor?" she asked.

Devon took a deep breath. It wasn't like Jessica didn't know about her crush on Sigmund. After all, Jessica had kind of initiated it. Devon figured that Jessica would be more shocked if she didn't like Sigmund.

"I need you to get Sigmund to go on a date…"

"WHAT? Gross! No way!" Jessica scoffed. "You're crazy. I would never do that. Sigmund's such a jerk. Besides, I'm dating Kyle and you know that!"

"I don't mean with you," Devon said softly. "I mean with me." She lowered her head and looked at her lap. There was a long pause.

"Oh," Jessica practically whispered. There was an awkward silence. "So…then…My plan worked? You like Sigmund?"

"A lot," Devon whimpered. For the first time in months, Devon felt tears slide down her face. She buried her head in her hands and started to cry. She didn't look up for a long time. Finally, she heard Jessica stir and felt an arm around her shoulder.

"I didn't know," Jessica said softly. "I didn't know you were hurting like this. Geez…It must've been really painful watching him pay so much attention to me. I didn't think about that."

Devon didn't say anything. She could hardly catch her breath between fresh sets of tears.

"Y'know what I'll do?" Jessica finally announced. "I'll call Kyle and ask him to come over. We'll put our heads together and come up with something. I wanna get rid of Sigmund and I can't think of a better way than to dump him off on someone else." She gave Devon a quick hug before running off to get the phone.

One phone call later, Kyle had come over as well. He was a bit edgier about Devon after the whole Sigmund fiasco. Honestly, Devon couldn't really blame him. She was dishonest, sneaky, and not a very good friend.

"Jessica, love," Kyle groaned when his girlfriend informed him of what was to be done, "why on Earth should we help her? She tried to break us up, remember?"

"I know, but I feel like it's my fault that she's in so much pain right now. Besides, if we help her, then Sigmund will be out of our hair. At least for a while. Maybe even forever if it ends up that he likes Devon back."

Kyle thought for a while. He looked at Devon suspiciously.

"I'm really sorry," Devon sighed. "I could say that I didn't mean to, but that would be a lie. I could say that I didn't know what I was doing, but that would be a lie too. All I can say is that I'm sorry and I really hope that you can forgive me."

There was another long silence as Kyle just looked at the girl who had almost ruined his relationship on multiple occasions. She looked sincere enough.

"Oh all right," he gave in. "So what's the plan?"

"Well, this is what I've got," Jessica smiled. "I call up Sigmund and tell him that I want to go on a date with him…"

"WAIT!" Kyle pouted. "There's no way I'm letting you go out with that charlatan!"

"That's the plan, Kyle," Jessica continued. "Then, I'll take Devon along and tell Sigmund that she wanted to come along and talk like old times."

"He'll be furious," Kyle grumbled. "This will never work!"

"Then, about five minutes into the date, I'll excuse myself to go to the bathroom, sneak out the window, and leave Devon and Sigmund together."

"But won't Sigmund be more interested in where you have gone than in me?" Devon sniffed. "I mean, he does like you more."

"Don't remind me," Kyle moaned. "The last thing I need is for this blasted plan to go wrong and end up girlfriendless because of that show-off."

"It won't go wrong," Jessica promised. "Devon, you're a really interesting person. You're pretty, you're funny, and you're insanely smart. Just…get his mind off me. He'll forget all about his date with me and just be focused on you."

"That seems highly unlikely," Devon snorted. "I'm not that interesting. All I know is books."

Kyle suddenly seemed to get an idea. He snapped his fingers and his face lit up.

"Do you know the Necronomicon? The ancient book of the dead? It's the wizard book I always carry around."

"I can't recite it forwards and backwards like some of my favorites," Devon shrugged. "But, yes, I read a little bit during the period of my life when I preferred you over Sigmund."

"Do you think you could impress him with tidbits of the text?" Kyle asked, producing the leather-bound book from his cape. "My beloved Jessica won't give him the time of day, but if you chat with him, especially about something he knows well, he might get sucked into the conversation."

"Not a bad idea, my boy," the book said.

"I dunno," Devon bit her lip. "It seems pretty flimsy. I'll need a backup plan."

"Be yourself!" Jessica shouted. "That's your backup plan! Trust me, you'll be fine. Now, I'm going to make that phone call. You study up on the Necronomicon. I'll be right back."