That evening, droves of eager high-school students were already arriving at Brett's home. Many of the freshmen stopped to gawk at the sprawling mansion that dominated the edge of town. The term "spoiled rich" may have occupied some minds until they actually met the host. Brett, as friendly and charismatic as ever, made sure to greet every single guest. Personally. By name. Oftentimes, his peers wondered how he did it, but they merely chalked it up to his unparalleled love for people. And they were right.
Meanwhile, Jon and Karyn strode up the long driveway, having been dropped off by Jon's dad back at the sidewalk. Jon had dressed up in a half-hearted attempt at a pirate costume, with a slightly undersized captain's hat borrowed from his younger brother, a loose buttoned shirt, black pants, and boots. It had been kind of a last-minute decision, prompted only by pressure from Karyn. To be honest, he considered adult costumes to be more of a girl's thing, but he grudgingly relented anyway.
In contrast, Karyn had clearly taken great pains to resemble a Raggedy Anne style doll, with full makeup, hand-drawn stitches, a detailed patterned dress, stockings, and Mary-Janes. It was quite a feat, considering she had only had little more than an hour to get dressed after the two of them had met at her house to fix her problem.
Sighing happily, she ran a few strands of her hair through her fingers, glad to see their natural red color. "It's so good to have my hair back, not to mention my cup-size."
Jon smiled. "And as a bonus, you now have a blonde wig and a set of falsies at home, just in case you want to impersonate Sarah."
"Yeah," Karyn snorted. "Those are going straight to the curb, thank you very much. For real, though, thanks for figuring out the right wishes. You're a lifesaver." At this point, she glanced back at Zoe trailing a good twenty feet behind. "By the way, is your sister okay? She seems a bit more down than usual."
"I'm not sure. She won't say anything to me."
"You could always wish to know what's bothering her. You did bring the stone, right?"
"Yeah, but only as a precaution in case we find any unintended side-effects of your fix.. Unless that happens, it's staying right here in my pocket, wrapped in a tube sock inside a zip-lock bag to prevent any accidental wishes."
"Smart move. Oh hey, there's Brett. Hey, Brett!" Karyn waved, picking up the pace to go greet the teen. Jon followed close behind.
"Zoe!"
Jon's sister looked up to find her friends Athena and Zelda running over. Like herself, they hadn't bothered to dress up, at least not more than usual. Athena still wore her usual Neo-Victorian garb with a black satin bodice, frilly knee-length skirt, and heeled knee high boots. Zelda was s bit more subtle in her black tank top and cargo pants, her ever present cell phone in her hand.
"Good thing we saw you," Athena said, catching her breath.
"Hi," Zoe greeted morosely.
Sensing her mood, Athena put her arm around her shoulders. "Are you still worrying about that pendant? Don't worry. I'll get you a new one soon enough. Maybe one that isn't so clunky"
"It's not about the pendant. Well, not completely," Zoe admitted. "I'm just sick of everyone picking on us all the time."
"I thought we were used to that," Zelda remarked. "Just part of the price we pay for not being one of the mindless herd."
Zoe shrugged. "I guess it's just bothering me more than before because of my family stuff going on."
"Your grandfather?"
"Yeah, a bit." Zoe looked up ahead and saw her brother talking with Brett. Coming up a bit closer, she eyed the teen socialite regretfully. At least, there was one person who never put Goths down. It was just too bad he would be graduating soon, leaving them down one ally. "In any case, it's not fair that we get bullied so much, and we can't even do anything to stop it. I just wish "
