Zoe thought a moment. How much did she want to torture her brother? Wasn't locking him out of his own room bad enough? Not entirely sure of herself, Zoe took the offered stone from Sarah, and said "I wish you'd act nicely towards Jon."
"What?" Sarah hadn't even considered that Zoe might not listen to her.
"Look, Sarah," Zoe paced herself, searching for words, "I don't know why it is that I changed my mind about you this afternoon, and don't get me wrong, I'm glad I did because I've found out that you're a really cool person, but Jon's my brother. There's only so far I can go before I start to feel guilty, and I don't want to have to choose between you two."
Sarah wanted to give a snappy reply, to demand her stone back, but she was suddenly hit by a wave of nostalgia. Playing in the park as kids. Walking to school together. Offering support when the other was down. Everything from baking to batting cages suddenly hit her like a cannonball to the gut.
Karyns memories, the very weapons she was using to manipulate Jon, were reasserting their dominance, were forcing their way from the back of Sarah's consciousness into the forefront of her being, were manipulating Sarah herself. She was still mean-and-bitchy cheerleader Sarah, but now she had a soft spot for Jon Gibson.
The nostalgia was followed by guilt. Sarah knew that it was just because of Zoe's wish, but she suddenly couldn't shake the feeling that she needed to make things up with Jon. And it started by opening the bedroom door, and letting him in.
