45 pages 1 hour read

Grady Hendrix

My Best Friend's Exorcism

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2016

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Chapters 12-17Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 12 Summary: “King of Pain”

Before opening up to Abby, Gretchen wants her to promise that everything will go back to normal: Gretchen has had her period for two weeks, and is going through more tampons and pads than usual. She caught a “disease” at Margaret’s the night the girls did acid. She says she’s no longer a virgin, having been attacked by someone larger than a human. Now, every night, the same being hurts Gretchen. She can’t shower or change clothes, otherwise the being will tear her skin. She knows how to get him to stop, but doesn’t want to risk a worse outcome. Abby wants to go to the police, but Gretchen thinks they won’t believe her.

Abby drives to Gretchen’s cold house to confront her parents, but they’re gone. She takes Gretchen to her bedroom, and it smells. Gretchen asks Abby not to leave her. Abby calls Mr. Lang, and he says he’ll come home. Gretchen sleeps, and her parents come home and assure Abby that their doctors have everything under control. Abby believes Gretchen was raped and relives the trauma each night. The Langs are furious and claim she wasn’t. Abby reveals that their friend group took acid, and that Gretchen was attacked and raped.