Jon looked over at Biff, Sarah McMillan, and their friends. They were usually too busy with their own business to cause Jon many hassles, but a pregnancy empathy belly was a rather unusual situation and they couldn't resist taunting him about it.
There was no reason to put up with it, though. "I wish that anyone who teases me about this belly today will get a similar one without any magical properties, without changing any memories or history."
The group started paying more attention to Jon after Biff pointed him out. All of a sudden, Sarah muttered something. It must have been something said against Jon, because all of a sudden her stomach bulged. Jon couldn't see much difference in breast size, but then this was Sarah.
"What the fuck?" yelled Mike "Moose" Matthews. "Has everyone got one?"
"I don't have one!" exclaimed Sarah. "This just... appeared! I wish I knew what was going on." Jon tensed instinctively at the phrase, but nothing happened.
"Some kind of trick," said Biff. "Something on your shirt... making it grow..."
"It's not my shirt," said Sarah. "Let me go get this off. It's just plastic and stuff. Rubber and fabric, maybe." She reached under her blouse and felt around. "Yeah, I think I can get it off."
"I don't know how Jon did that," said Biff, "but it's got to be him. Just to look a little less dorky in..." And on him appeared realistic looking breasts and a pregnant belly. "Holy shit!"
"Something on your shirt, huh?" said Moose.
"It's not the shirt," said Sarah. "I'm getting some idea what it was. We're not the first to be transformed. Jon was with his girlfriend the other day and he rubbed his belly. And something strange happened. If you...." She lowered her voice to a whisper, finished her explanation, and after some replies of "Really?" she began to walk towards Jon.
"Don't trip, Sarah," said Jon. "It makes you lose your balance."
"Quiet. We need to talk to you."
Perhaps Jon was showing some signs of fear and they realized they had to make their move. Moose and Biff ran at him. Biff tripped, the belly indeed making him lose his balance. Moose tackled Jon.
"I hope this works, Sarah," said Moose. "I don't want to be kicked off the football team for assaulting a student."
"Trust me," said Sarah. She reached for Jon's stomach and said "I wish I'm wearing this belly."
Nothing seemed to have changed. Jon was glad... until he tried to make a wish. He touched his stomach--probably unnecessary since the belly was touching his flesh anyway--and said "I wish that everyone around me would fall asleep." Nothing happened. The belly wasn't the wishing belly--it was just an artificial lump making him look like a pregnant man. He and Sarah had swapped. He had expected that Sarah couldn't reverse the wish that she have a non-magical belly, but apparently he never said that the person who gets one has to keep it...
"Ah, that's better," said Sarah. "First, I wish that nobody except us noticed this. There you go, Moose, your position on the team is safe."
"It won't do any good," said Jon, "but let me warn you. It advances if you put it on, and while you have it on. If it gets all the way you become really pregnant. It probably advanced a week or so just because you put it on. Now give it back to me!"
"Don't be silly," replied Sarah, grinning. "I wish... that I know if that's true." She shook her head. "It is. Well, crap. And it looks like it's almost done."
Jon struggled and managed to step on Moose's foot. Moose didn't let him go but he managed to fall over onto Sarah. He shoved his hand down her blouse, hoping the belly went far enough upwards on the chest, and said "I wish everyone around me would fall asleep."
Moose's hold abruptly loosened and he slumped over, away from Jon. Sarah and Biff fell on the grass, unconscious, along with the other students who had only watched. "I wish they'd stay asleep and nobody would bother me while I get this belly off of Sarah."
The difficult process was made easier by the fact that somehow, or rather magically, nobody noticed Jon doing anything unusual. After all, trying to strip Sarah by enough to take off the belly could get him accused of assaulting a student too. And it was fun to get a good glimpse of Sarah's real breasts in the process, while stripping off the fakes (which on her hardly added much volume).
Which left Jon with a wishing belly in his hands, where it wouldn't do anything. If he wanted to make any more wishes--like, say, to erase their memories--he'd have to put it on again, but it would advance the pregnancy. He should have made the wishes while Sarah was still wearing it. There was no choice.
Fortunately, everyone around Jon was still asleep because of the earlier wish. He put on the belly as fast as he could, hoping that nobody would stumble on the sleeping people and notice he wasn't one of them. When the falsies were on his chest, they still felt like lifeless attachments. Whew, thought Jon. The belly had been worn three times since the morning. The amount of time it advances, his grandfather's note said, was unknown, but on the order of several days. So it had advanced by around a week. Considering it probably had at most a month left, that was a lot. And what if it only had a week and five minutes left? He may not have much time to make wishes at all. Of course, that would have been a problem even if he had only worn it once today.
The classroom bell suddenly rang. Sarah and the boys were waking up and Jon ran away. He had to decide what to do before he got to class....
