School went, all things considered, fairly well. For most of her classes Jennifer simply huddled up in her seat and hoped that nobody would notice her, and for the most part nobody did. She felt almost scared; everybody was so big in comparison. She shook the feeling off and forced herself to pay attention until lunchtime.
"So from what I read last night," said Karyn, digging into her fish with gusto, "this condition is something like the chicken pox; you only get it once, and then you can't get it again. And as to what you become, well, it's pretty much completely random. The encyclopedia listed a handful of recorded cases, and they make quite an impressive list. It doesn't even have to be what you and I consider 'real' species, as you've demonstrated. It didn't say if any special abilities carry over though. Hey, I wonder if you have any?"
Jennifer poked at a strawberry she'd been munching. To her it was as big as a turkey, and she didn't think she'd get anywhere near to finishing it. "I dunno," she said. "What would I have?"
"Well," Karyn said, "I'm not sure. I remember the encyclopedia saying that fairies are 'known for casting illusions and altering emotions, particularly so as to make themselves alluring, frightening, or unseen.'"
Jennifer glared into her strawberry. "No -way- am I making myself alluring to anybody."
Karyn took a drink of her milk before answering. "Well, try something else then. Try being invisible, maybe."
Jennifer sighed. "Karyn, I'm really just looking forward to getting home and fixing this, okay?" She noticed Karyn's ears starting to droop and hung her head. "All right," she muttered. "If it's really that important." She focused for a minute. Think invisible, think invisible, think invisible...
"Any luck?" she asked. Karyn shook her head. Great, Jennifer thought, now I feel stupid for trying. Geez, I wish I could just disappear...
Karyn yelped. "Jennifer!" she hissed. "You're doing it!"
Jennifer looked up. "Really?" Suddenly she was visible again. "What'd you do differently?" Karyn queried.
"I don't know," Jennifer said. "I just felt stupid for trying it, and then I wanted to disappear...I guess it must work off of actual desire instead of concentration. Which makes sense, because I didn't really want to do it the first time."
"That's pretty cool," Karyn said. "I wonder if there's anything else?"
"I dunno," Jennifer replied. "Like I said, I have no plans to prolong this beyond today. So if you had your heart set on doing anything involving someone who's already only six inches tall suddenly turning invisible, now's the time."
"C'mon, Jennifer," Karyn said, "aren't you the least bit curious? For all you know this could turn out to be pretty cool."
"Sorry, not interested."
Karyn sighed. She really liked Jennifer this way. But...well, in the end it was Jennifer's choice, not hers.
