The person who possessed the gem would always change to become more understanding of the person they thought about. Jon had told Rick this. But what Rick failed to understand was that since he now possessed the gem himself (until he gave it to his mother as a gift), he would begin to become more understanding of the person he was thinking of.
And as he walked home, Rick was thinking of his mother, obviously. He was wondering if she'd like the gift he picked out for her. To her, it would just be a pinkish stone, a trinket. But maybe she'd like it anyway.
But, of course, the real reason he wanted to give her the gem was to make her more understanding of him. He looked forward to going out late with his friends anywhere he wanted and have his mother be completely okay with it.
Though, as he thought about that, he wondered if going out with his friends so late at night was such a good idea anyway. He had school the next day, on most days, and he really did need to focus more on his homework and get plenty of sleep. He could go have fun with his friends on the weekend.
He paused for a moment, stopping in his tracks. Where were these sudden thoughts coming from? He shook his head, dismissing the question. He just needed some sleep. That was it. He'd finish his homework and get some sleep.
About an hour later, one of his friends called. He picked up the cellphone. "Larry? What's up?"
"Man, where are you? I thought we agreed to meet," Larry said.
"Oh, yeah. Well, I kind of changed my mind. I'm not gonna go out tonight. In fact, I'm thinking of not going out any night."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"Sorry, Larry. I have to cut this conversation short. I still have some more homework to finish. See you tomorrow at school."
"Wait, Rick ..." Larry started, but Rick hung up.
Larry called two more times before Rick turned off his cellphone. He sighed, then muttered "Now, without anymore interruptions, I can finally finish this up and get some sleep."
He glanced at the pinkish gem sitting on his nightstand, then returned to his math homework.
