At lunch, Jon and Karyn were at a table.
"Karyn," said Jon. "I lost the stone!"
"Really? How?"
"Well, not exactly lost, but it fell out of my skirt and then Joseph accidentally turned it into a regular stone! We've got to get together later and figure something out. Who knows, we could find a magic stone on eBay."
"That's silly," replied Karyn. "It's probably a one of a kind item."
"Maybe we can find Grandpa then," said Jon. "I never believed he was dead. There has to be something. And if not a magic stone, at least something magic. I don't want to start panicking in another six days."
"Panicking?"
"The wish to be comfortable with my body."
"Jon, you know what? You're comfortable if you let yourself be comfortable. You're not going to panic unless you let yourself."
"It feels so strange though. I don't mind being half girl but I can see why I might mind."
"Nobody else minds," said Karyn. "It's all in your head."
"And what would Joseph think then? He doesn't know anything about wishes and with the stone just a normal stone I have no way to demonstrate it, so I can't ever tell him. I don't want to lose him."
"I told you it's all in your head. If you want to keep going out with him after the six days, you can."
"And one other thing... even right now, can I have sex with him? We have been, you know."
"I'm not going to tell you it's in your head a third time," replied Karyn.
"Not that," explained Jon. "This is a different problem. Before my wish, he wasn't in love with me. If I get into bed with someone who only loves me because of a spell, is that rape?"
"Umm... I have to think... no, it can't be. You didn't wish for him to love you, you wished for something else and it just happened to make him love you. If I wear a nice dress and someone sees me like that and falls in love with me, that's not rape."
"But that's different. Joseph didn't choose it."
"How's that different? You don't think that people ever choose who they fall in love with, do you?"
"I guess you're right."
"Good," said Karyn. "By the way, I have something to give to you." She handed Jon a box under the table.
"What is it? It's not a second magic stone, is it?"
"Of course not. Don't call attention to it--it's a pregnancy test, so you can stop worrying about your periods."
Jon grumbled, but thanked Karyn and quickly hid it in his bookbag.
And then....
