She watched as the spider frantically tried to escape its jail. It was such a beautiful animal and so very powerful. Just the way it captured its prey, spinning a web around and around suffocating it in its own casket. Her focus broke as muffled voices could be heard outside the door. She glanced back at the spider, sympathy tugged at her, she felt sorry for the spider. Just as the door opened the spider disappeared into a teacup that sat on the shelf.

“Simone!”
“Oh god, it’s you. What do you want?” She said with obvious annoyance in her voice.
“Nothing I just wanted to see how my best buddy was doing, and of course to annoy you a little bit.”
“Oh great, there goes my day.”
“Awe come on Simone you know you love me.”
“Hah! That’s funny, Jay I don’t love you.”

Jay looked away and then back at Simone with tears shining in his eyes.

“That hurts, that really hurts.” He said as a single tear slid down his face.

She put her head down and tried not to laugh. She knew he was just messing with her. She glanced back up quickly to see him crying. She couldn’t take it anymore she busted out laughing.

“What’s so funny?”
“You, you’re funny. Thinking I’d fall for that bull that you call crying.” She said trying to catch her breath. “We go through this all the time. Somehow you still manage to think that I’d fall for it. When are you going to realize I don’t fall for your jokes?”
“You know Simone, you’re one smart cookie. I can never fool you.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.”
“Ok. Well last night I…”
“I didn’t mean seriously and I don’t want to know what you did last night.”
“Are you sure? It’s a really good story, I swear. I think you’ll enjoy it. It involves oranges and some ice.”
“Umm, no thanks, I’m good.”
“Ok, it’s your loss.”
“I’m sure it is.” She said.

The room was silent except for the clacking of the computer keyboard. Every now and then Simone would look towards the door waiting for someone else to show up that she could talk to. A few minutes had passed by when the door opened and I walked in. I hadn’t even had a foot in the door when I heard “Oh my god! I smell food!”

“Damn!” I tried to turn around but it was too late.
“Margaret I know you’re there and that you have food.”

I walked in and placed an apple pie on the table and then turned around looking for something in my bag.

“Don’t even think about touching it. I will break your fingers.” I said without even turning around.
“How…”
“I can hear you drooling.”
“Oh, yeah I still have to get that fixed.”

Once I found what I was looking for in my bag I turned around to see Jay with a fork in his hand ready to pounce.

“Jay!”

He jumped back and looked up giving me puppy eyes as if to say he wasn’t doing anything.

“Jay, I told you not to touch it.”
“I wasn’t touching it. This is touching it.”
“No, don’t you dare. Jay I said no. Damn it! Thanks a lot. It took me all night last night to make that. Jocelyn is going to be so mad when she sees this.”
“Why would she be mad? You can still give it to her.”
“Not with a teeth marks in it and giant hole in the side. That pie was for the chess club. Jocelyn asked me to make something for them for some little party they’re having to celebrate the win they just had.”

I sat down in the chair and put my face in my hands and groaned. I couldn’t believe he would do that to me. After I told him not to, I wanted to kill him but I couldn’t. I can’t afford going to jail for murder, it wouldn’t look good on my applications. So instead of killing him I threw something at him.

“Ow! That hurt.” He said rubbing his head.
“Oh well, not my problem. You should have listened to me.”
“Because I didn’t listen to you, you throw a…what is this thing? It really hurt.”
“It’s a chalice.”
“A chalice, you threw a chalice at my head. Why?”
“I don’t know, it’s all I had to use as a weapon. And I’m glad it hurt. Now give it back.”
“No.”
“What do you mean no?”
“No.”
“Ja…”
“No. No. No. No. No.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

I shook my head and groaned again. Today was not my day. First the apple pie and now this, he was really starting to get on my last nerve. I thought of Jamie and did a few woo-sa’s.

“Hey, look at this.”
“I’m not falling for face Jay. You and Jovan have got to learn that face is old and really annoying.”
“No seriously look. I’m not even kidding.

I couldn’t decide if I wanted to look or not. Well if he does face then I can just always throw something else at him. He’d get a bump to match the other one. I looked up.

“Ha-ha, gotcha.”
“Ugh! I’m going to hurt you.”
“Awe come on it was just a joke. But seriously look at the chalice. There’s writing in it. Read what it says.”

I took the chalice back and read what it said. Once what it said registered in my mind I started laughing. Simone looked over at me and just gave me one of her signature looks.

“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing, it’s just what this chalice says.”
“You brought it? Great, now I can do my report for my college class. What does it say?”
“It’s here and it says Dark Master.”
“Dark master, what the hell is Dark Master?”

It took me a second to breathe. I read it again to make sure that’s what it said and sure enough that’s what it said. I couldn’t believe it, Dark Master.

“Will somebody answer me?”

Jay looked at me and then back at Simone.

“Well Simone if you must know dark master is well…me.”
“You? You’re Dark Master? What the hell kind of name is Dark Master? That’s the stupidest name in the world. No wonder why Margaret was laughing, I’d be laughing to if I knew someone with a name like that.”
“Simone, Simone, Simone, tisk, tisk. Do not mock Dark Master for Dark Master was once a powerful person. He ruled…”
“Jay, don’t go any further. You know that’s the not the truth.” I looked over at Simone. “Dark Master wasn’t a powerful person and he didn’t rule anything. Dark Master is Jay but it was a nick name given to him in the 8th grade by himself and friends.”

She smirked and covered her mouth trying not laugh.

“Wasn’t he a los…”

Jay cut her off.

“Don’t go any further Simone or I shall be forced to flash you.”
“Oh god, not the butt. You know you really need to get some sun on those cheeks. I don’t think anything that pale could be healthy.”
“Yeah, Jay spare us from the butt. I can’t take having to rinse out my eyes again. And yeah you really do need some sun on those cheeks.”

He turned around and looked at his butt.

“Hmm… I guess I do. I’ll take care of that today. Anyways, don’t finish the sentence you started Simone.”
“What sentence? The one where I said wasn’t he a loser in the 8th grade?”
“That one, you had to say it, didn’t you?”
“Yes I did. But it’s true though, isn’t it? You were a loser in the 8th grade.”

Jay looked away tightly gripping the chalice in his hand as a far off look appeared in his eyes. I reached out and snatched the chalice away from Jay.

“Simone here’s your chalice.”
“Thanks, this is going to be such a good visual. How’d you find it?”
“Ebay, you wouldn’t believe the things that you find on there.”

I looked back at Jay who was now sitting down typing away at the computer. I went over and read what he was writing. In big letters at the top were the words “The Betrayal of Dark Master: How I gave up my powers to a spider.”

“That title makes no sense.” I uttered to myself.
“Oh yes it does.” I heard someone say.

I looked around, Simone had on her headphones and was busy typing her report, I was right next to Jay and I know it didn’t come from him. It sounded like it came from over where the book shelf was. I got up and looked around. There was no one else in the room.

“I’m just hearing things.”

I turned to go and throw away the apple pie that Jay mutilated when I heard a little crash. On the floor in pieces was the tea cup that sat on the shelf. I glanced around and shook my head. I must have hit the shelf I thought to myself. I quickly cleaned up the broken glass and threw it away. I went to get the rest of the pie to throw away only to find a spider sitting on it nibbling away. Spiders like apple pie? This is weird, really weird. I didn’t want to kill it so I just put it on the ledge by the window. It would crawl away when it was done. I left to go explain the pie catastrophe to Jocelyn. As the door closed Jay looked over at the spider and winked and the spider winked back.