Jon quickly walked down the stairs. He was all ready for school and was about to leave, but his mom stopped him.
"Jon?"
"Yeah? What is it, Mom? I'm in a hurry to meet up with Karyn."
"Jon, are you feeling okay?"
"What do you mean?"
His mom looked at him. Dark gray T-shirt, black jeans (the only pair he had), messy uncombed hair. "Didn't you even have enough time to comb your hair? Sometimes I think ..."
"Listen, Mom. I wish you wouldn't worry so much about me. I can take care of myself, you know." In his hand, he felt the stone growing warm. Oops. I have to be more careful, he thought, putting the stone in his pocket, where it should have been in the first place. But he was in such a hurry to leave ...
"Yeah, I know," his mom said. Then she smiled. "Have a nice day at school."
"Okay, bye," he said, leaving the house.
On his way to school, he started thinking about what he wanted to do after school. Of course, usually he and Karyn just hung out in the mall food court, but occasionally Jon made a stop off at the book store. And he really wanted to get his hands on this new romance novel that had just been released. There was nothing better than sipping hot chocolate next to a warm fire, while reading a steamy romance novel. He couldn't wait to pick up his copy.
