Jon slung his backpack over his shoulder and hurried from the library. The library being situated the far side of the school from the main gate gave Jon all the more reason to make haste, not wanting to be caught in the growing sea of students.
The school gate stood not more than a hundred metres in front of him, "sweet freedom" he grinned, shifting to a light jog. The increased pace bringing the sensations of his new anatomy back to the front of his mind.
How do girls deal with this all the time he sighed internally
"Hey Jon!" a girl's voice called out. Quickly finding the origin, it was Sarah, standing by the bike shed with Stacy & Amber, waving her hand.
What does that bitch want? Jon wondered to himself, contintuing on toward the gate, and the group of girls.
"We're heading to the mall, wanna come with?" smiled Sarah.
WHAT?! Jon's mind raced, trying to process what he'd just been asked, suddenly remembering his exchange in the hallway earlier. He slowed down to a walk approacing the group.
"I- uh-" he stumbled over his words, trying to think of a reply that wasn't 'fuck no'.
"Oh, uh, no thanks, promised Karyn we'd hang together". phew Jon sighed internally, quick thinking there, me
"S'cool, if you change your mind you both know where to find us" she smiled, the girls returning to their conversation.
That went way better than expected he thought, crossing the gate and heading toward home.
It was only a ten minute walk from the school, but to Jon it felt like thirty. Though he tried his best to focus on other things like getting the stone, he couldn't escape the reality.
The tug of the tights and jiggle from his rear with every step, the sway of his skirt against his legs and the sound of the pumps on the sidewalk.
Arriving at his house he thought he was at the wrong address, the walls were painted green instead of the usual blue, the lawn was cut into those professional looking stripes, and wasn't littered with his little brother's toys.
Inserting his key into the front door and turning it, he heared the lock click open. guess this is the right house then he started making his way inside.
The inside was still very much as he remembered, though looking up the stairs, his brother's bedroom door no longer had terrible stickers all over it.
Jon started his way up the stairs, but catching a family photo out the corner of his eye he stopped dead.
what the hell...?
It was from their weekend away at grandpa's cabin. His parents looked like they always had, he was stood to the left, in his favourite Legend of Zelda tee, but also a pair of jeggings and pink converse trainers.
Looking at his sister, stood to the right, there was something off about her, she still had her trademark goth look going on, but something wasn't right, but Jon couldn't put his finger on what.
His little brother was also totally absent from the photo, which was even more unusual.
Continuing his way up the stairs, Jon threw his backpack into his bedroom, it landing in the usual place beside his desk, and he turned to check out the bedrooms.
He knew he'd have at least twenty minutes until his sister Zoe, or his brother Mikey got home from school, and mom and dad wouldn't be back from work for four more hours.
Pushing open his brother's bedroom door his eyes went wide. It was no longer a bedroom, it looked more like a study, his brother's things were nowhere to be seen, in their place were some bookshelves, a few stacks of storage boxes, a desk, and a TV mounted to the wall.
"So I guess Mikey is Ashley's brother now?" he thought out loud, leaving the study and heading toward his sister Zoe's room.
Her bedroom door was still painted black, and had the overly ornate doorhandle she'd wasted her allowance on.
Pushing down the handle, Jon noticed the sign on her door had changed, 'Zoler Laures Gibler | Keep the F$%@ out!'
Not knowing what to think of the gibberish he'd just read, he continued his way in.
Everything looked as he remembered it, though the journal on his sister's nightstand also had the same jumbled up name.
Deciding this was just a waste of time anyway, Jon returned to his bedroom. Though he was expecting the differences, he was still surprised momentarily.
It was mostly subtle changes, like his walls being a different shade of blue, his bedsheets with a more girly pattern, and a pile of cusions on the bed too.
There were sure to be other things changed, but Jon didn't bother looking for them, instead he went straight to the place he hid things so his family wouldn't find them.
Sliding his closet door open and pushing aside the boxes of junk was a loose floorboard only he knew about. Lifting it open he reached inside and fished out the small wooden box.
Thank god he sighed in relief, clutching the small container to his chest.
Heading to his desk, he placed the box down, flipped open the catch and started to open it...
