It was after only a few steps into the school when Jons phone chimed. He’d gotten a message from Abigail. Three, to be exact. He must have been too distracted by his own thoughts and the naked Wendy to notice.
The last one read “Please?”
The one before said “Don’t make me beg.”
The first one said “I’m calling a truce: I won’t mess with you and you and your sister don’t go telling people I can still remember things used to be different. Ok?”
Should he agree?
Jon suddenly found himself standing in two places at once. The sensation of being back in the bus, standing in the throng of students heading for the exit, while also climbing the stairs to the school-entrance only lasted for a single disorienting moment but made Jon stumble into another student. Jon apologized in a daze as the memories of a week without Abigail flooded in:
-An entire day he had spent playing Grandia-Phantasy being the same day he and the family helped set Abigail up her room.
-Putting the finishing touches to a few miniatures while moving the half-finished figurines to flank the Ork-army Abigail had borrowed from Jon at the same time.
-Eating macaroni with cheese and chowder at the same time.
-Showing Karyn the rock at school and trying to find an opportunity to show the artefact to his best friend while Abigail stuck to him for the entire day.
-Karyn wishing for a bigger bust and blonde hair when she saw Sarah prance around, and accidentally wishing for it in Jons room that evening, as she made a joke about Abigails looks.
And Abigail was Steve Farber! Which made no sense because she clearly wasn't. During the week with Abigail Steve had been... Steve had done....well he'd definitely been around! Which he couldn't have because he'd been Abigail! Jon hissed in pain as the wishes for him to know who Abigail was and the one to think Steve was unchanged and still out and about no matter the evidence, tried to instil two contradicting beliefs in him ; giving Jon his first taste of migraine in the process.
Jons brain, overtaxed by two sets of synchronous memories already, decided to resolve the conflict by filing Abigail under "Not the real Steven - just happens to have all his personality and memories. Just stop thinking about it!!!"
Jon hadn't even noticed Zoe had come to his side and put a steadying hand on his shoulder - probably to stop her brother from falling. A few students were giving them concerned looks, but most were busy squeezing past to join their friends and cliques inside.
"Everything ok?" Zoe asked, looking alarmed.
“Yeah. It’s just….” Thinking about Steve brought another stab of pain and he winced “I have two sets of memories rattling around in my head, and it is giving me a headache.”
“Oh.” Zoe said looking suddenly guilty “Sorry.”
“It’s not….” <your fault> was what Jon had been going to say, before he realized something “You wished for this. Or asked your friends to wish for it.” He finished accusingly.
“Sorry.” Zoe mumbled “I was just trying to help. So who was she before?”
“It’s …complicated” Jon said, adding in a fit of annoyance “ I’ll tell you once my head stops feeling like it is about to split. “
“What?” Zoe hissed, looking indignant.
“You could have asked, before cramming that stuff into my head.” Jon shot back “ So go ask your friend to get rid of my headache, or stop whining.”
“Is this about the SMS?” Zoe asked, looking suspicious.
SMS? Oh! Right. “Not ….really.” Jon said slowly ” I hadn’t even thought of it, honestly. How do you know about that?”
“She sent it to me too.” Zoe said, patting her pocket where her cellphone was.
“Ah, right.” That made sense. “She sounds pretty desperate.”
“Yeah.” Zoe agreed with a grim smile “She does.”
“Don’t.”
“Don’t what?” Zoe asked.
“Don’t do whatever you are thinking about.” Jon said, putting a hand on Zoes shoulder to guide her a a bit further away from any prying ears before explaining “I don’t want to turn this into a war. ”
“She choked you. Then threatened to make biff beat seven kinds of shit out of you.” Zoe said flatly “I think the first shot was fucking fired a while ago.”
“And we did the thing with Sarah.” Jon said, “Look. I’ll make you a deal. I’ll tell you what I know, but in return you and whoever you told about this play along with the truce.”
“You can’t be serious.” Zoe said.
“Look. You don’t need to be nice to her. Just put ‘an eye for an eye’ on hold for a bit. I mean being Abigail is probably punishment enough for the Stud.”
“You are shitting me.” Zoe said flatly.
When Jon shook his head she said “He can’t be the Steve the Dud. That asshole is still around! ”
“I said it is complicated.” Jon said, feeling the pounding in his head increase “Abigail is some kind of clone or twin sister or something. ”
“Server him right.” Zoe said snorting with amusement, before getting an excited gleam in her eyes “Maybe there are more of them around. Dud-Clones I mean.”
“Heh. Maybe. You got what you wanted. ” Jon agreed “So do we have a deal? ”
“Ok.” Zoe agreed reluctantly “I’ll tell Athena to keep her hole shut, for now.”
“Just Athena?” Jon asked “Does she have my name?”
“Yeah.” Zoe sighed “You’d have found out anyway. And yeah. Just her. I don’t think she told anybody else.”
“Hmm not sure how I feel, about my sister having that kind of power” Jon mused, pulling out his phone “but I guess it could be worse.”
“Yeah. Like Sarah.” Zoe agreed making a retching sound, while Jon typed a quick ‘Deal.’ Into his phone and sent it to Abigail.
‘Thank you.’ Came the reply seconds later.
One problem solved. But as Jon and Zoe walked back towards the entrance, he couldn’t help but wonder what kind of wish-induced chaos would wait for him in these halls.
