The three opened their eyes with trepidation. A wish had been made, and Jon and Karen knew it. Immediately their eyes fell to Zoe, and immediately they knew the target, if not the content, of the wish.
Zoe returned their gaze, a bewildered look on her face. The girl that was before them was no longer a severe young goth with a sharp tongue and stern countenance, rather a golden blonde glimmer of her former self. Her hair was curly, and bobbed its way half way down her back. Her face, while structured the same as before, was rounder, softer, and dolled up in matte ruby lipstick and rosy pink cheeks. Where previously her skin was pale, she now glowed with a tan nearly as dark as her hair. The changes didn't end with her face. She was shorter, by nearly half a foot, and her fashion had turned chic, trendy, and revealing. She could be a teen model for an Urban Outfitter. The girl met their gaze with piercing grey eyes, and confusion on her face.
"Zoe..." Jon muttered sorrowfully as he examined his younger sister. "I'm so sorry."
Karyn stopped her with a gentle hand on her shoulder before whispering. "She won't remember. The wish changed reality."
Silence hung in the air. Zoe stared at them, mouth agape. Finally she erupted shout. "Like HELL I won't remember." Karen and Jon exchanged startled glances as Zoe continued. "Duh! That was, like, my first wish! What type of airhead do you take me for?" Her mannerisms matched her speech as she placed a hand on her hips and gesticulated dramatically.
"So wait, you remember?" Jon voiced timidly.
"That's what I just said." She states with exacerbation. she grimaces, as if composing herself, then hangs one hand lazily as she explains matter of factly. "I wished I'd remember the true me, no matter what, and I wished I couldn't make accidental wishes. I had to address the stone directly."
Jon glances to Karen who merely clenches her jaw. "That's, uhh, pretty smart."
"Yeah-Uh! It's me, what'd you expect?"
"Then how did Ryder make an accidental wish?"
Zoe throws up her hands. "I don't know!" She bobs her head cheekily as she speaks. "Maybe because he's not me. Maybe because he wished ON the stone!" She growls again, turns her head down and grits her teeth. Looking back up she flicks her bangs from her face and states flatly. "I, like, remember me, but I'm acting like this..." She grumbles again. "It just happens naturally."
"It looks like the house has changed a bit too..." Karen interjects.
The sisters take in their new surroundings for the first time, finding Karen to be right. The smattering of novels around the house have been replaced with fashion mags, and trendy accessories, and the once tidy surroundings are now messy with laundry and dishes.
"Oh no, my room..." mutters Zoe. She sprints up the stairs, nearly stumbling in her new strappy heels, leaving Karen and Jon alone.
The pare gaze at one another for a moment before Karen breaks the silence. "We have to get the stone before he makes any other wishes."
Jon gulps nervously, "Yeah, but how."
Karen shifts nervously. "Well... You could ask to meet him." Jon balks, but Karen persists. "All you have to do is get the stone, or distract him long enough for Zoe or I to snatch it."
Jon tenses up. "About that... He may have already made a wish before you got here..."
"What!" Karen hisses. "What did he wish?"
"Well, he wished something I said was true..."
"And what did you say?"
"I uhh... Well, I told him we'd go back to normal, and we'd do whatever he wants tomorrow."
Karen sighs and turns her gaze up. "Jon..." She mutters with exasperation. "Then we just have to get the stone back before tomorrow."
"What about the computer?" Jon says hopefully.
"We can try... But I wasn't hopeful to begin with, and this wish may have just put an end to any chance we had."
Just as Karen finishes Zoe reappears. "It's as bad as the rest of me. I've got, like, a completely different aesthetic." She grumbles. "dolls, no novels, more shoes than I could wear in a lifetime, and this..." She holds up a crinkled piece of paper, then throws it. "I'm in junior high again. After all my work in chemistry."
"We'll get the stone back!" Jon insists. "We just need a plan..."
