There was still a Jon, in a manner of speaking...still a Karyn, and still a Sarah... but things were not quite the same.
Jon sat on the wall after class, nervously fingering the box and swinging her legs. It was the first day of school after spring break and had been one of the most stressful she'd ever had to endure. The box had stayed in her locker all day, she'd been too nervous to keep it on her person in case it was lost... or found, for that matter. Still, keeping it locked away had been bad enough. At the end of the day her nerves hadn't faired any better despite the combination lock protecting her newly-acquired property from unwanted attention.
Jon pulled the hem of her pleated skirt to cover her exposed knee. The small wooden box sat in her lap, its contents an inheritance (of sorts) from her grandpa. Jon still felt weird about it, she couldn't believe her grandfather "“ a lovable old gent, so full of life and a traveller of the world "“ could die so suddenly. It may just be wishful thinking, but Jon couldn't help but feel he was still out there somewhere. The note from her grandfather that accompanied the box only raised more questions. Not to mention the small artefact inside it! To think, this kind of magic existed in the world at all, let alone that Jon should have a piece of it. If she were honest with herself, Jon would admit it scared her.
Sharing her secret with Karyn would help. Karyn was her best friend in the whole world... and the only person who called her Jon.
Even her own family called her Germaine, which was her middle name. In the Gibson family the first child was always christened Jon (or John). It was the family tradition and had been that way for generations. What's more, the women affected by this stupid tradition had developed a tradition of their own... listing their first name on all official documents simply as, "J."
She herself had been born Jon Germaine Gibson, and she counted herself lucky to have at least one normal name to fall back on. The only person who called her Jon was Karyn, who found the naming convention too hilarious to resist.
Finally, Jon spotted her best friend Karyn strolling towards her across the yard.
