Jon was growing increasingly worried as the stone failed to turn up anywhere she looked. Not in the nightstand, not in the dresser, not on the computer desk, not in the pockets of yesterday's pants; where could it have gone? She didn't think she'd left it with Karyn, but it certainly didn't seem to be in any other place it made sense for her to have left it. She was busy digging through her closet when she heard a low whistle.
"Wow," she heard Zoe say. Jon turned to see her younger sister, who was regarding her enormous tail with something like bemused fascination. "Mom said you'd had a pretty major change, but hoooleee shit. You're going to have to do a bit of planning before you sit down, now."
"Z-Zoe?" Jon sputtered. "What are you doing here?"
Zoe shrugged. "Mom asked me to get you dressed for school; she's busy calming Mikey down. God, Jon, you ought to see her. She's a friggin' demon."
"Mom!?"
"No, Mikey. She turned into a little devil-girl last night; that's why she's so worked up." Zoe walked over to the closet, browsed through the shirts, and pulled one off the hanger. "This'll work. I guess I'd be pretty freaked if I got gender-switched, too, but man, she is going to look wicked awesome when she gets older. Okay, strip."
Jon blinked. "Uh, what?"
"Take off the shirt," Zoe clarified. "You know, so we can get you dressed."
Jon just sat there for a moment, realizing for the first time what that implied. Zoe noticed this and rolled her eyes. "Puh-leeze, Jon, it's not like I don't see this kind of thing in the mirror every day. Come on, take it off."
Reluctantly, the new girl complied, staring at herself in the mirror, her new breasts hanging free. Zoe cast an appraising eye at her new sister. "Well, that's just great," she said. "Mom's is definitely too big, but mine is too small, as well. Well, I guess it'd be better if we didn't impair your breathing. 'Specially with as much body as you've got."
She left the room briefly, leaving Jon to contemplate her new reflection, then returned with a bra in one hand. "All right," she said, "let's get this over with. I'll put in on because we're on a time frame, but you're going to have to figure it out after this." She started to put it on Jon. "Seriously," she said, "you're lucky I'm not Athena, or you'd be cutting into the hour I'd need to get ready every morning, and then you'd really be in trouble. There."
She stepped back to survey her handiwork. She had been right; the bra was rather too loose on Jon, but it was probably a better choice than one that was too tight. "That'll work for today," she said. "But if you can't figure out how to put on a damn shirt, that's your problem."
Jon smiled in spite of herself, then slipped the shirt on over her head. It was a little snug around the chest, but nothing too uncomfortable; however, it took her a minute to realize that the tickly feeling in the back of her shirt was her hair, which she lifted out of the collar and let hang down her back.
Zoe surveyed her critically. "That'll work for today," she said. "But Mom's going to want to buy you some clothes that are designed to not look stupid hanging open around the waist. Now come on, we're barely going to have time for breakfast as it is."
She stood by the door, waiting for Jon. Jon really felt more like continuing to search for the stone, but it didn't seem to be in her room, and she couldn't make a wish in front of Zoe, anyway. Maybe it was at school, or maybe Karyn would know where it was. After a morning of pulling herself around by hand, Jon made her first attempt at snake-style locomotion. It was tricky at first, but she figured out the basics pretty quickly, and she and Zoe headed downstairs to find something to eat.
Mikey was there, wearing a shirt and one of Zoe's old skirts and looking profoundly unhappy. "I don't want to war this sissy thing!" she complained. Mrs. Madison, standing nearby, sighed. "I told you dear," she said, "it's just for today, just until I get some pants with tail-holes in them. Now come on, you need to eat something before the bus gets here!"
