My Best Friend's Exorcism

Christian takes a break to eat. Abby is worried about how long the exorcism is taking, but he says they need to keep their faith intact. He forces Andras to drink blessed water, beginning to drown him. Christian sends Abby to find ammonia, but she pretends she can’t find any because she doesn’t want Gretchen to swallow any. The real Gretchen pleads with Abby to do what’s necessary to expel Andras, but Abby is worried about hurting her. Christian brings a kettle of hot water to use on Andras, but Abby interferes. He can no longer see Andras, who is hiding. He says he needs help from his father and leaves. Abby assumes he won’t come back and stays with Gretchen.

The real Gretchen tells Abby that should she be found here, she’ll be sent to a mental health facility. Time passes, and Abby suspects Christian is not coming back. She offers to forget the attempted exorcism ever happened, but both the real Gretchen and Andras refuse. Christian left his Bible behind, along with notes on how to perform exorcism. Abby starts reading prayers, and Andras ridicules her, saying praying to a God she doesn’t believe in is useless. She continues this for an hour, with no success. She starts to feel hands touching her, but then changes her approach. Abby calls upon things she and Gretchen care about, such as Tommy Cox, Madonna, and their friendship. Gretchen screams but eventually calms and falls asleep, smiling like she used to. Police arrive and take Abby away.

A week later, Abby has a trial, but is taken out of the room while the Langs speak. The authorities want to know where Abby got the drugs to “dose” Gretchen, how she got to the beach house, and who helped her, but she doesn’t answer these questions. The Langs’ lawyer wants to send Abby to a treatment center for teenagers in Delaware. However, Christian appears and confesses, claiming he forced Abby to participate in his exorcism. Abby is no longer allowed to contact the Langs but doesn’t have to go to a facility. However, people vandalize her family’s house and her parents decide to move to New Jersey.

Abby completes assignments at home, preparing to start a new school in the summer and fall. One day, Gretchen arrives at her house, driving her mother’s car. A neighbor comes outside to tell Abby that she’s not allowed to leave her house, but Abby gets in the car. Gretchen says she loves and misses her, and that she was feeling suicidal but, because Abby keeps saving her life, she realized her life must have meaning. Police see Gretchen’s mother’s car and take the girls to the local station until Abby’s mother picks them up. Their parents agree to let the girls talk again, and they do so for years.

Christian goes to jail for eight months, but no one testifies against him, so he gets out. Abby and Gretchen attend different colleges but keep in touch. Gretchen is the maid of honor at Abby’s wedding, but they don’t speak as often as they used to because they’re busy with jobs and families. Years later, Abby lives in New York but returns to Charleston for her mother’s funeral. She visits Christian, thanking him for taking the blame for the exorcism. He says it was the right thing to do, and apologizes for her trauma. He thinks God brought them together, and that the situation worked out for the best.

Abby births a daughter, then gets divorced. Gretchen comes to stay with her for a while. They finally share the Coke from Tommy Cox. Gretchen shares that she’s still haunted by the fact that she killed her dog. Abby doesn’t return to Charleston because people remember her as a fetus stealer. Once again, they discuss whether or not they’ll still be friends by the next Halley’s Comet. Abby’s uncertain, but when she dies at 84, Gretchen is by her side.