When Karyn crossed the street on her way to Jon's house, she nearly got ran over by a guy in a pick-up truck who was going way over the speed limit. She glared at him as he passed by. "Jerk!" she yelled. But his attention wasn't on her. She didn't think that the guy even saw her.
She shook her head, then went on her way.
"How is that gonna make you rich?" Kevin asked.
"I don't know. But a stone that heals you has got to be worth something," Doug replied. He looked around at the campsite. The sun was low in the sky, but it was still technically daytime. Plenty of light.
"What are you looking for?"
"I want to test this thing out some more." He stood up and grabbed a knife.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What are you gonna do with that?"
"What do you think?" Doug slid the blade of the knife across his arm, but it didn't cut. "Are you seeing this? I'm like Superman."
Kevin stared. He still couldn't believe it.
"Hey, girls," Rachel said, walking into the mall food court.
Her friends were Meagan, Ashley, and Jenny. Some people called them preps, but they weren't nearly as preppy as Sarah McMillan and her friends. And they were never accepted to be part of the cheerleader squad. But, despite the fact that Sarah pretty much ignored them, they looked up to her. They consistently wanted to be just like her. And why not? Sarah was the embodiment of everything little girls wanted to be when they grew up.
"You wouldn't believe how my mom is acting," Rachel said.
"Like a bitch?" Ashley said. It was the same old story.
"No. That's just it. She was actually nice. It was kind of scary." Rachel thought on that and suddenly Ashley retracted in her chair. She started trembling. "Ashley? Are you okay?"
"I'm scared," she said, in a small helpless voice.
"Of what?" Jenny asked. Her sudden change in mood was perplexing.
Ashley looked at Jenny, then back at Rachel. "I ... I don't know." She stopped trembling and looked confused, but was still clearly scared.
Rachel worried about her. She had the same change in attitude as her mom did. Why was this happening all of a sudden? She looked down at the purple stone in her hand. She had forgotten that she was holding it. She looked at Ashley again and saw that she was calming down a little, but felt like she needed to cheer her up. Suddenly, a flash of light caught her eye. It came from the stone that was resting in the palm of her hand.
She looked back at Ashley and saw that she was smiling.
"Are you feeling better?" she asked her.
"Better? I feel great." Then she giggled.
Rachel didn't know how it was possible, but it seemed that this stone was able to change other people's moods. Rachel caused her mom to be nice, and caused her friend to be scared, then cheerful.
Rachel smiled, as possibilities flowed through her mind.
