Jon now had new genes from a different parent, because he had lost his mother who had been like an aunt to Karyn and therefore a target for the Omission Stone.
But before Karyn could reveal that to Jon, he yelled, "Karyn! Now you've changed too!"
"How?" She saw herself in her mirror. Her hair and bust were still the same, but she now resembled her old self the way Jon resembled his old self. She had become her own half-sister just as Jon had become his own half-brother.
Karyn threw the stone down. "It's the stone's fault!" It must've erased one of my parents, she thought. But which one?
Jon glanced at his watch. "Karyn, we gotta go to school now!"
Karyn stared at the hands of a stranger. "Looking like this!?"
"We're the only ones who heard the wishes, so everyone else thinks we've always been like this. They won't notice, and if they're ... changed, they might unintentionally give us clues about what's going on."
I could give you more than clues, thought Karyn. But I don't know if you could handle knowing that I erased your mother and transferred her who knows where. I can't tell you anything right now. I'm freaking out too much. Maybe I'll find a way when I'm calmer. Going to school might force me to settle down ... a little, at least, so I can avoid standing out. "Yeah, you're right. Let's go." Karyn picked up her notebook and paused. "Jon, look at this. I've got a new name, and it's in my handwriting."
Jon read it. "Karyn ..."
