That night, I stayed at Liz’ house to further investigate the box.

“I think that dream you had might have been some sort of initiation. Maybe it’s the necklace. Do you think—“ the sound of Liz’ head hitting her pillow stopped me.

I decided to take the rest of the investigation into my own hands. I set up my phone in one corner of the room, and hit record. My clock read 11:58pm.

“Time to catch some Z’s I guess.”

The next morning, I woke up with a sore body.

“Liz wake up!” I threw a pillow at the sleeping beauty.

“Whoa, what time is it?” she mumbled.

“Around 9, now look.” I crawled towards the phone that sat on Liz’ counter and picked it up.

“Remember that dream you had the other night?”

“The one with Gary from history class?” Liz looked flushed and giggled.

I made a mental note to search for a Gary in the yearbook.

“No, the one about the box.”

“Oh. What about it?”

“It wasn’t a dream! You were sleep walking, just like I did last night. I video taped the entire thing.”

Liz bent down to put her head right next to mine. I scrolled the video back to where I first woke up.

Liz watched with deep concentration. The tip of her tongue touched her upper lip, like she used to when she would be deep in thought.

I turned my attention back to the screen and watched as I sat at her dresser and opened the mysterious box. I took out the powder, screwed off the cap, and then sat it next to the box. The scariest of events were yet to come, as I watched myself stare blankly at the mirror and cut the top of my hand. Blood poured from the fresh cut, and I thoughtlessly sprinkled a pinch of the mysterious powder into the open wound, and went back to sleep.

“Dude… that’s some effed up stuff,” I mumbled.

“Look at yourself, Reag! You’re gorgeous…” Liz exclaimed.

I turned to look at myself in her full-length mirror. My exposed legs were shaped, and I had an actual butt. My boobs were bigger, my lips were fuller, and my hair lost its frizz and became a waterfall of black curls.

“So what you’re saying to me is that we’ve uncovered some sort of ‘popular potion’ that has somehow made the two of us the most adored socialites in school?” Liz questioned.

“I guess so. Relating to the box directly, legend says it was first rediscovered by a group of girls who were in their teens during the 1920’s. They were all smart and independent, but wanted to break away from societies wishes for them to get married and be housewives; they wanted to be like the flapper girls. One day, one of them came across a picture in a book that led her to the box. All but one of the girls was in for experimenting with it, but they pressured her into doing so. She tried to back out, but it was too late. There was a fire, and NONE of the girls were ever seen again. The box was discovered exactly 10 years after the fire.”

“You do understand we have to use this to our advantage, right?” Liz suggested.

“Absolutely not! I was already pulled in by accident. Every bedtime story, ghost story, everything we dismissed as folklore has become real. We CANNOT mess with this kind of power!” I warned, growing increasingly impatient with Liz’ newfound naivety. Must have been a symptom of being pretty.

As we continued to walk to our usual lunch table together, I noticed the stares from other people. There were whispers and wide eyes that passed like bullets in our direction. The space around us grew quiet as we passed, then filled with chatter as we left.

“He-hey Reagan, Liz,” stuttered out a voice from beside us.

I switched my focus to the boy next to me.

The boy was Nathaniel Wilson, the hipster-dork I’ve been in love with since the beginning of high school.

“Hey, Nate. Sit with us, we must discuss our plans,” Liz smiled comfortably.

A brief and quiet growl escaped under my breath.

“I told Nate about the box. We went to grade school together, and endured some of the same stuff. I thought I’d let him in after we caught up over the phone yesterday. I told him about how you and I found a way to fix everything. Right, Nate?”

Nate nodded quickly.

“Liz, I told you this was a bad idea!”

“But I’d already told Nate, it was too late to go back.”

“Have you told anyone else?” I pondered.

“No, promise,” she assured, “Nate wants it just was bad as we do.”

“And what is ‘it’ exactly?”

“To destroy what’s left of The Poplars’ empire.”

It was Friday and the day that Liz’ plan would be put into action. I can’t even explain what had convinced me to do such a terrible thing to them, but then again I can’t explain why a magic bottle of cocaine made me wake up pretty.

I stood in front of the full-length mirror in Liz’ bedroom and examined myself. I looked more like myself than I ever did. Or maybe I just looked more like who I’ve wanted to be.

“No one can get hurt tonight. Or else you KNOW what I’m going to do,” I nagged.

“Yeah, I promise. The worse there could be is some mild collateral damage.”

“I hope you’re fully dressed because I’m coming in,” Nathaniel announced as he barged in.

Nathaniel had changed the least out of all of us. The Imperium had given him the 20/20 vision he needed, and his scrawny shape filled out to straighten his hunched neck.

I had always thought Nathaniel was perfect. His thick-rimmed glasses, 6”4 stature, scruffy hair… he was poetry. Nathaniel was intelligent when it came to people. He had a great eye for how the social ladder worked; he had made an entire journal with years worth of charts and observations about The Populars. He mastered everything about The Populars, except how to get in. I always felt he was good enough to be one of them, though.

“Tonight’s the night it all changes, baby. No second thoughts, right?” Liz tested.

“I’m in. You, Reag?”

I looked over to Nathaniel. His confidence was reassuring. “I’m ready.”

“Lets set up. Nate, pass the box,” Liz ordered.

Nate followed the order, and she pushed in the side like she did the first time I saw her open the box. She fished around until she pulled out the thick black card with Imperium written on it. She pursed her lips and fiddled with it, before taking a seat at her dresser and searching through another drawer. Finally her eyes landed on an envelope opener in the corner of her desk.

She began to try and slice into the paper from the edges, as if she was trying to reach for something that was inside the paper. Finally, the opener slid between the thick card, and she moved it around to make the card into two.

“What is that?” Nathaniel puzzled.

“Instructions.”

“How the heck did you know that the card was really two cards? What are the instructions for?” I pressed.

“’She’ told me.”

“You keep going on about ‘she’ or ‘her’. Who the heck is ‘she’?”

The doorbell rang, interrupting me.

“Don’t worry about it, just greet our special guests.”

I rolled my eyes as I turned from Liz.

I need to find out who ‘she’ is before I go through with any plan of ‘hers’.

“Hey, come on in. Party’s downstairs,” I greeted.

The Populars eagerly walked into the house, but not before waving an excited hello to me.

It felt nice to be acknowledged, but I missed my more humble and private life.

Nate tapped on my shoulder. “Want to go down together?” he asked, expectantly.

I nodded, giving him a small smile.

We descended the creaky stairs to Liz’ roomy basement with synchronized steps.

“Liz spiked the drinks, want me to grab you a coke from the back?” Nathaniel whispered.

I was about to say yes when I realized his prior statement. “She did what?”

  “Spiked with Imperium, it’s a part of the plan or something. She said it would just cloud their judgment, kind of like alcohol.”

“Yeah, sure. Thanks, Nathaniel,” I said.

He beamed at me at the mention of his name, then left to get fresh drinks.

Katy P. blared from the speakers, and The Populars chatted and danced, spread throughout the room. There were about 30 people, a mixture of preps, jocks, cheerleaders and valedictorians from the junior and senior class.

They seemed like a diverse bunch on the surface, but when you looked at the big picture, they were all the same. They way the girls laughed, the shoes they wore, their straightened hair and fading blonde highlights. The guys had the same height, same build, and all bathed in Axe.

I felt like when someone was a Popular, you could smell it coming off of them. They would get it, even if they didn’t ask for it. And there is no way to change it, whether you wanted in or out.

Unless you had a magic box.

I played with the clunky charm that lay between my chest and belly button. The once Imperial Topaz gem inside had become an Onyx Diamond. Maybe it was a mood necklace and black meant nervous.

Or dying.

“Welcome to my coming out party!” a voice rang out from the top of the staircase.

Nathaniel returned with two cokes and handed me one.

The music softened before she continued her speech. “Coming out as a new, well polished individual. I’m so glad you could all come. I hope you’re posting lots of photos, because this is a night you’ll never want to forget. Now, the dancing will continue, but first I have a little game I want to play. Ever heard of Never Have I Ever?”

The room filled with cheers.

“Everyone grab a drink, ‘cause we’re about to play! I’ll go first.”

People gathered into after refilling their cups with lemonade and vodka.

“Never have I ever kissed anyone that’s in this room right now,” she stated.

Most of the circle took drinks, some laughing and gasping in fake shock.

“Looks like I go again! Never have I ever wanted to hook up with someone who’s here right now.”

Some people looked around, a handful of guys looking at Liz, before taking a swig of their drinks. Even I had a sip, thinking about my infamous crush on Nathaniel.

Suddenly, the room got really quiet, then some groaning started, and people started acting irritated.

Liz smiled smugly, then stood up, and walked over to us.

“What did you do, Liz,” I pressed.

“Wait for it,” she said expectantly.

A single scream erupted among the crowd, and people looked toward a girl with a handful of her hair in her hand.

Everyone started screaming and groaning, pulling out their own hair, holding their mouths and their faces. One guy fell to the ground; his left thighbone completely crushed. There was chaos, screaming, running, glass shattering, and the sound of things cracking and breaking. It was a warless bloodbath.

“WHAT DID YOU DO TO THEM?” I screamed at Liz.

“Without their beauty, they’re nothing! It’s our turn to rule the school. No more of their airheaded comments and perfect hair.”

“You’re a psychopath!”

This party was turning into the Carrie movie fast.

“Nathaniel, you have to get them all out of here. There’s a back door that leads outside. Hurry!”

He nodded at me, and rushed to the boy with the broken leg. “Everyone, back door, now!” he commanded.

People continued to scream as they ran. Some stumbled, some limped, all but one girl who was helping people escape the madness. She must not have drunk anything during the game. Liz was nowhere to be found. At this point, I knew what I had to do.

I pushed through the rampage of teenagers to  the middle of the floor. I ripped the necklace from my neck and put it on the ground. I took the microphone from the DJ table. I smashed and shattered every last bit of the necklace until it turned to metallic dust. When I was satisfied, I stopped, dropped the microphone, and backed away from it. The rubble suddenly burst with flames. The fire spread as if the air had been exchanged with gasoline. I searched for Liz, but only found the box. So I took it and ran.

And that’s what started the fire. It was the most surreal experience of my life. And I know it sounds like a dream, or just my imagination going wild, but I wish that were true. Then I would have a better explanation as for why no one ever saw Liz again after that night, or why I’ve suddenly acquired a skinny frame and good grades. It’s the Imperium. I may have buried the box under the river and destroyed one of the four necklaces, but its power has not worn off.

Imperium: Latin; (em-peer-ee-um); power to command. 
And wow, did ‘she’ have that power.

Sincerely,
Reagan