Jon's mother had just hung up the phone, and told Jon that schools were still open, despite the mysterious fate of Hammond Elementary School. Apparently, the school authorities had decided it was probably an isolated incident.
Jon had a terrible feeling he knew just where that dinosaur came from and why it ate the elementary school. I wished that everyone in the area would have their wishes granted if they wished upon a star, he remembered. Some kid must have been really mad at his school. Jon recalled having similiar crazy fantasies of dinosaurs, aliens, and other strange creatures eating or otherwise demolishing his school when he was a little kid. But he had outgrown them years ago. School could be frustrating and even maddening, but it was necessary.
Jon decided to play it safe. He left the wishing stone at home. Considering what had gone before, he wasn't going to take any chances on accidentally making another careless wish at school.
When he arrived at school, he saw Karyn in a heated discussion with Sarah McMillan. "Don't lie to me, bitch!" Sarah was saying, in an angry tone. "I saw what happened, even though everyone else didn't. I know you didn't have blonde hair and big breasts before!"
"Sarah, can we talk about this later? School's about to..." Karyn looked relieved when she saw Jon. She ran over to him. Sarah just shook her head, gave a look as if to say this wasn't over, and walked into the school.
"What was that about?" Jon asked Karyn.
"Sarah says she was watching us when I made my wish." Karyn told him. "She overheard me wishing I had blonde hair and big boobs. Since she heard the wish, she remembers what I used to look like. Everyone's telling her she's wrong, and that I've always looked like this. She's really mad about it, too. She wants to know why we're messing with her head, or everyone else's. And how we're doing it."
"Does she know about the stone?" asked Jon.
"I'm not sure. She wasn't too specific on just what she might have seen." asked Karyn. "No one wants to talk to her about it. Everyone's talking about that dinosaur thing."
"Uh, yeah..." said Jon. "I think we'd better talk about it later..."
The first few classes went along normally, with only brief passing mentions of the mysterious incident at Hammond Elementary School. But it was clear that it was on everyone's minds.
At lunch, it was all anyone was talking about. The whole lunchroom was buzzing with theories about just what had happened. Over at Sarah McMillan's table, Sarah was discussing it with Biff Meadows, Steve "The Stud" Farber, and her cheerleader friend Nicole. "Oh, come on!" said Biff. "You don't really believe it was eaten by a dinosaur?"
"Why not?" Sarah replied, in a resigned tone. "The world gets more screwed up every day." She turned toward Jon and Karyn, who were sitting at another table.
Jon and Karyn caught that. "She's still upset about my wish." Karyn noted. A thought came to Karyn. "Jon, that dinosaur. You didn't...?"
"No, I didn't wish for it." Jon said truthfully. "I don't know where it came from."
At the next table, Rebecca 'Becky' Fadil was discussing the situation loudly with Amy Madigan and Lucy Peterson. "Are you saying your little brother wished it to happen?" Becky asked Lucy.
"That's what he told me." Lucy said. "Billy said he wished upon a star last night, and his wish came true. I don't know whether to believe him or not."
Jon and Karyn could not help overhearing this discussion. Karyn just laughed and said "Of course that can't be the reason. Lucy's little brother couldn't have caused this. Wishes on stars don't come true..."
She then turned to Jon, whose face now had an expression of guilt. "Karyn..." Jon said. "We need to talk..."
At that moment, there was a loud sound, like thunder, accompanied by a slight vibration. Then, another sound of thunder, louder and closer. The lunch room conversations grew quieter and more hushed.
A thought occured to Jon. That dinosaur...is it still on the loose?. No, Jon tried to tell himself. It was just thunder. Maybe the weather forecasters had been completely wrong about their predictions that this would be a sunny day with no rain. Or maybe..., Jon thought as another, louder, sound of thunder shook the school. Or maybe the dinosaur's looking for more schools to eat...and it's coming here.
Several students were now leaping up from their lunch benches, and rushing to the nearest windows to see what was causing the noise...
