When they got to school, Jon and Karyn were pulled off to one side by one of the hall monitors. "Your parents called, you two," she said. "Come on down to the nurse's office; there's a little paperwork we need to take care of."
They followed her. The school nurse was very polite and accomodating, setting a tiny cushion on her desk for Jon to sit on and trying to complete things as quickly as possible. She first took a blood sample from both of them, then put the samples in a small machine in the back of the room. "While that's testing," she said, "let's get the paperwork taken care of."
Karyn's was quite simple: just a notation of her new hair color, a check mark in the "Anthropomorph - Domestic Feline" box, and a notation of the degree of the change; somewhere around 25%. Jon's was a little more complicated, with a check in the "Sex Change" box, a check in the F box for "New Sex," a check in the "Myth - Pixie" box, a brief note on her slight body glow in the "Misc." area, a notation of her new hair color, and measurements and notations of her new height and weight, using the ruler and postal scale kept on her desk. By the time the paperwork was finished, there was a ding from the machine, and the nurse went to check the results.
She turned around with a tell-tale grim expression. "Jon, Karyn," she said, "I'm afraid I have some very important news. Your changes are permanent. You're not going to be changing back."
Jon was a little surprised, but felt secure in the knowledge that she had the stone at home. All she had to do was get through the school day, and things could go back to normal. "Um," she said, "could we change back if we caught it again?"
The nurse shook her head. "No," she said. "Your immune system prevents you from getting it a second time. I'm afraid you two are going to be this way the rest of your lives. Karyn, I don't think you should have many difficulties in adjusting. It's Jon I'm concerned about."
Jon cringed a bit as the nurse continued. "Jon," she said, "I just want you to know that what's happened to you is not uncommon. Lots of people have made a successful transition after undergoing a sex change, and it's nothing to be ashamed of. It probably seems pretty awful now, but you'll adjust, given a little time. In the meantime, if you're ever having trouble coping, I want you to come see the school psychologist or talk to your parents, all right?"
Jon nodded, and the nurse smiled. "There's a girl," she said. "Now, when you're ready for a name change, just come see me, and we'll get the paperwork taken care of." She handed Jon a micro-sized pamphlet. "You'll want to read this," she said. "It's a brief rundown of your new girl parts. And here's a note for you to take to the office so you can get some micro-sized textbooks. Have a good day, you two."
Jon and Karyn exited the office. Karyn sighed. "Well," she said, "that was a stupid wish. You're just lucky we have the stone to fix it with."
Jon nodded. "Yeah," she said, "we're definitely going to have to be more careful what we wish for. But for now, we've just gotta make it through the day, and then we can change back."
