In the corner of an ice cream shop farthest from the entrance, Sarah and Nicole were sitting. Nobody noticed them; through an impossible diversion of light and sound, the table seemed empty, and somehow anyone who considered sitting there decided that the table was too dark, or too dirty, or something else and chose to sit elsewhere.
"God, I'm getting tired of this," said Sarah.
"I can imagine," said Nicole. "Jon thinks he got rid of you, so you can't go home or talk to anyone except me. So, uh, any news?"
"Nothing useful," replied Sarah. "You know, I don't think Jon really has any plans. He just keeps changing things and changing things, and changing things... His ex-friend Pete had a crush on Karyn. Now he has a crush on Kevin. Jon thought the whole thing was hilarious, that he managed to change someone's sexual orientation by accident. He didn't bother trying to fix it. He figured that since Pete was after his girl, who cares what happens to him? And Kevin wasn't even really Jon's girl back when he was a girl."
"Obviously Jon doesn't care," replied Nicole. "Well, here's my news. Chastity almost got killed. We were walking out on the field for practice right after they covered it with weedkiller. It stank and Chastity tried to stop breathing it. When she couldn't hold her breath that long, she tied a plastic bag around her head to keep the smell away. If she hadn't been with the real cheerleaders at the time, she could have choked to death."
"I see..." said Sarah. "Jon's cousin Mike, the one who picked on him and beat him up, is still a talking Barbie doll... Have you been following the news? The news news, I mean? North Korean invaded South Korea. They have a bigger army than the South, but it's poorly equipped... take away the guns from both sides and you give the North the advantage. A million man army with bayonets."
"Sarah," whispered Nicole, "do you think things are ever going to be the same?"
"I don't know," replied Sarah. "If it's ever over, we should be able to fix it... if it's ever over. I've been thinking, trying things. I did a search for other sources of magic, but I couldn't find any. Either the stone was a one in a billion thing or else Jon just destroyed all the other magic. I've decided. I'm going to give Kevin another week, and then..."
"Kevin?" wondered Nicole.
"Right, Nicole. Kevin. Kevin's basically made a deal with the devil--work with Jon and Jon won't hurt him and gives him a glimpse of the good life. At the cost of not being the sex he was born in and watching bad things happen to people while being powerless against them. He tries to justify it to himself, to say that those people deserve it... but I think that deep inside he knows how badly he's compromised himself. If Kevin really realizes how wrong it all is, maybe he'll even get through to Jon too."
"We can't wait forever," said Nicole. "It's been too long already. And what if Kevin tries to talk to Jon and Jon turns him into a pair of panties or something? Or just controls his mind to make him loyal to Jon?"
"You're right" replied Sarah. "I've been hoping, and hoping. Let's give it another week, okay? Then we fight him. I don't want to kill him, I don't really even want to hurt him... but after what I've seen him do, I think I could do it if it comes down to that. Are you sure you still want to help me with this, Nicole?"
"I'm going to see this through to the end, Sarah. Someone's got to stop Jon, and it looks like it has to be us...."
