Gary Brandt brings his interdimensional tale from The Dimension Of Mind Dot Com into the harsh realities of middle school, where Ella discovers that bringing a telepathic entity to class comes with unexpected revelations.
During a boring history lecture about wars and empires, Helana offers her dimensional perspective on humanity's 'Epoch of Empire'—explaining how civilizations rise through greed, plunder resources, then collapse only to repeat the cycle.
She teaches Ella telepathy (just think and hit 'send'), but the real shock comes at lunch when Helana spots invisible 'bugs'—extra-dimensional parasites feeding on students' emotional energy like spiritual mosquitoes.
These aren't demons with evil intent, just opportunistic creatures that amplify emotions to create more 'food,' pushing kids toward panic, risky behavior, addiction, or dangerous romantic obsessions.
Middle school's social battlefield of cliques suddenly takes on a whole new dimension when you can see the literal energy vampires attached to the popular kids.
What happens next perfectly captures the impossible choices these girls face: Roxana bravely leads a 'debugging' mission through the cafeteria, using prayer and golden-light visualization to starve the parasites with love and forgiveness until they detach and flee.
It works beautifully, but now everyone thinks they're witches instead of just 'stuck-up bitches.' The gothic Sisters of Darkness corner them afterward, speaking in creepy unison: 'We know who you are.
We know what you are.' Ella realizes they've crossed a line they can't uncross—their secret abilities are becoming public, and middle school is about to get much more dangerous.
Brandt perfectly captures that adolescent nightmare of trying to do good while staying invisible, as Ella confides to her diary that she loves having Helana as a friend but worries about jealousy from Eileen and Roxana.
The chapter ends with the ominous sense that their days of flying under the radar are over, and the real supernatural politics of teenage life are about to begin.