Sarah McMillan stood in front of a mirror brushing her long blonde hair. That and her breasts certainly made her popular with the guys.
It also earned her the undying hatred and jealousy of about two thirds of the girls in the school. Girls could be even nastier than boys to those they hated. Not to mention that some of the guys would take one look at her hair and breasts and decide that she had to be a bimbo or a conniving bitch. And not only that, she was a cheerleader. In the eyes of those who hated her, you couldn't be a cheerleader and a human being at the same time; oh no, all cheerleaders had nothing between their ears and would put anything between their legs.
And when Sarah did have "friends", either girls who chose her as a role model or guys who thought of her only a sex object, few were really friends except for Nicole, a long-legged brunette who was also on the cheerleading team, and who had known Sarah since before she breasts.
Right now, Sarah was occupied with thinking of a subject for the research paper that she had to do. Deep in her thoughts, she barely noticed that once again, she was being followed by guys drooling over her.
But she wasn't so deep in her thoughts that she didn't see Jon and Kevin or hear Kevin say "Hmm... Sarah." Kevin was one of those guys who had decided that since Sarah was too attractive, she had to be worthless as a person. It was almost as if he was taking lessons from all the girls who hated her. Or that he was jealous of her--but why would a guy be like that?
Sarah heard some whispering, and then Kevin walked over to her. He had a grin on his face that was the fakest expression Sarah had ever seen in her lifetime, he was swaggering like someone from a bad Western movie, and when he spoke to her he said "Hello, Sarah, you're looking great today!"
"I'm glad you noticed," replied Sarah. She smiled back and said "You hardly ever do."
"Oh, come on," said Kevin. "I'm not gay. How could anyone not notice the great Sarah McMillan?"
That does it, thought Sarah. Something was up. Kevin must think she's a complete idiot, who would believe any little bit of flattery because, after all, she's boy-crazy Sarah, and nobody would expect Sarah to have an ounce of sense. But what could she do other than play along? "I'm just surprised it's you. I mean, we've never dated, or anything. You hardly even speak to me! Have you been playing hard to get all this time?"
"I guess I just never realized how desirable you are," said Kevin.
"Does that mean you're asking me out?" said Sarah.
Kevin looked to the two boys trailing Sarah. Perhaps he was trying to guess whether he could handle them in a fight. "Sure. Nothing fancy, why don't we just get some pizza. I'll meet you at Dino's at, oh, 8 Friday?"
"Sure, Kevin!" She hugged Kevin and then walked away, pretending to be happily skipping while Jon giggled. Stupid boy, she thought, he thought she didn't notice that?
"You what?" asked Nicole.
"I think Kevin's going to dump me. Some kind of prank with Jon. If anyone shows up at 8 for pizza on Friday, I'll be really surprised."
"Oh, come on, who ever does that to you?" asked Nicole. "Maybe he was just nervous."
"Lots of people would want to. Besides, it was so amateurish. I know nervous, that isn't nervous. You'd think that Kevin had never been a boy until today, he was so fake. I think I'm going to do a little spying. We have a lot of homework due tomorrow. Kevin and Jon will probably be studying at Jon's house like they always do."
"That's not like you," said Nicole. "Spying on someone? If I didn't know better, I'd say you were getting to be as bitchy as everyone thinks you are."
"You're right. It's not..." said Sarah. "But something's going on. Call it intuition or whatever, but Jon and Kevin were acting strangely enough that I think dumping me may be the least of our worries."
"There," whispered Sarah. "See? Bushes behind Jon's house, right where I said. Once it gets a little dark, hiding there will be a cinch."
As they approached, Nicole noticed something. "Hmm, what's that? Someone was cooking?"
"It looks like someone was throwing flour around and it blew out the window," said Sarah. She touched a finger to the dust covering the top of the bush and looked at it. "No, this isn't flour. There's a little red in it. Maybe some kind of spice."
"That room isn't even a kitchen," said Nicole. "Probably Jon's room. Let's just hope he really does come here with Kevin."
"I know," said Sarah. "I didn't hear them say anything. But it's a chance. I just wish I knew whether waiting here for them would work. I... agh!"
"What's wrong, Sarah?" asked Nicole.
"It's like I had something in my eye. I had to look away. But we know they'll be here."
"You're sure? How did you find that out?"
"I... I don't know! Nicole, I really wish I knew how, but I just suddenly realized they'd be here. Oh, damn!
"Sarah?" said Nicole.
"Brace yourselves," said Sarah. "Jon got a magic stone from his grandfather, that lets him wish for anything. He then wished for ultimate power and turned the stone into dust. I touched the dust, and I got my wish. Jon's bad news. He's some kind of god. How can we fight a god?!"
"Sarah, get a grip on yourself!" said Nicole. "You're talking nonsense!"
"I wish you'd believe me, Nicole!"
"Oh my god," said Nicole. "You're right. You're telling me the truth. That must be why Kevin wasn't afraid of those two guys. He could get Jon to turn them into mushrooms."
"What if he already did?" wondered Sarah. What if, oh, I had four stalkers and then Jon used his magic to make two of them disappear? And to make me forget what he did?"
"Why don't you use the magic to find out?" asked Nicole.
"Maybe that's a good idea," said Sarah. "I wish that all this dust was collected into one stone, which I'm holding, and I wish that Nicole and I know what Jon did with magic since getting the stone."
Sarah was now holding a smooth rock. Which she nearly dropped at the realization. "Kevin is a girl! He's really named Karyn! No wonder he seemed so amateurish. We're okay--for now. But he can do more things than Superman. More things than an evil Superman with no qualms about turning his best friend into a boy against her will, and reshaping the whole world in his image."
"We've got to stop him before he destroys everything!" exclaimed Nicole. "We have a magic stone, but he could use his super-speed and take it away in the blink of an eye...."
"You're right," said Sarah. "But we at least have a chance. If we...."
