When Jonatha came down the stairs, he quickly surmised that they were not being driven to school.
His siblings were just outside on the porch, bouncing in place, stretching their legs. Their uniforms were shiny and very practical, now that Jonatha had time to properly look at them: snug, tight tops; short pleated skirts, hiding spandex shorts of the same colour, black in Zoey’s case, bright orange in Mikayla’s.
“Something up, Jonatha?” Zoey asked with a scowl.
“Oh, nothing,” Jonatha said, joining them. He walked towards them, decidedly not looking at Mikayla’s top, with its battling dinosaurs and smiley faces.
Without a word, Jonatha started bouncing on his feet, warming up his calves. If they were going to run to school, might as well stretch. At least Jon Gibson had been heckled enough times by their school coach to learn how to warm up for a run. Of all the PE skills, he had always figured running was a good skill to have. Jon even swore he had avoided plenty of attacks by Biff Meadows and his posse by quickly running away.
I wonder how those assholes look in this world, he thought.
“Whoa, Jonatha, your kick is getting so high!” Mikayla said with awe.
Suddenly, Jonatha felt like she was tripping, but her natural balance caught her. on one leg, standing proud, with the other leg stretched straight in the air. Her knee was but a handspan and a half from her own face. Whoa, Jon thought, blinking. He dropped the leg, amazed at the capabilities of his body. Her body. Jonatha’s body, he corrected before facing his little sist–brother.
“Well… yours will be as good as mine if not better in, ehm, no time!” he said in his soothing, girly voice. Something tickled in the back of his head. A memory he couldn’t quite recall. Jonatha saw herself in Mikayla’s place, saying the same thing to their mother.
“Okay, we should start running or we’ll be late for our morning Pledge!” Zoey grumbled, but the way she said the last word betrayed her excitement. She picked up her small runner’s bag and strapped it in place. Jonatha and Mikayla followed suit.
As the three siblings started running, Jonatha felt that tickling headache spread from the back of his head to wrap his whole brain. One second he was running, the next he was reciting words that felt… right on her lips. That filled her heart with elation, joy, purpose. The flash passed, just as the Gibson cheerleaders turned away from the row of houses and into the park.
