Jon went up to his room with Samantha. The stairs he climbed were the same, but so much else wasn't. The pictures on the walls were of a family he didn't remember:
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His new sister Susan Mc - no, she wasn't a McMillan anymore. Susan Madison. So weird to put her name and his last name together. So normal - for her and everyone else. At least for the next twenty-one hours or so. It seemed like a waste to sleep through some of them, but he couldn't study this temporary reality without sufficient rest.
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His new mother Julie, the chubby redheaded woman with a bob cut.
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His brother Mikey who was now a redhead like his new mother. Seeing a freckled ginger enter the car when Julie stopped at the elementary school was unnerving for Jon, yet still less creepy than some of the other changes he'd seen today.
Jon felt guilty for ruining the lives of Karyn and Zoe. Poor Zoe had become obese for two days in a row! He had a much better deal. He had Samantha.
He also had red hair now. An older version of Mikey looked back at him from family photos around the house. Jon had been so shocked by the changes in "the girls at my high school" than he hadn't noticed the changes to his own body until he had come home. Like his milky, spotted skin.
Samantha held his fair hand as they entered his room. Which was a relative anchor of stability in an alien world. Having Julie as his mother didn't necessitate any changes in his furniture, decor, or belongings. But maybe his next mother might change him more than physically.
"Jon, what's wrong?" asked Samantha.
How could he begin to explain what he had done? He didn't even know who Samantha used to be. She wasn't even whoever she had been yesterday!
"You don't seem to be yourself today," said Samantha.
No kidding, thought Jon. And you're certainly not yourself. Nor are half the girls ... the people at school! Jon wondered what he could say that was true without confessing the whole truth? His mind raced through his recent memories. "Susan," he blurted.
"You're afraid of what she's becoming," suggested Samantha.
"Yeah. Another Sarah."
"Who's Sarah?"
"I meant Mo - Linda."
"Melinda? Who's that?"
Jon was embarrassed. She had heard him half-say "Mom." "Linda."
"Yeah. Wait ... isn't Sarah Coach Barry's first name?"
"Yeah."
"You didn't like her for PE last year."
"I guess not." Jon didn't want to contradict Samantha. Whatever she remembered was real to her. He had liked Coach Felicia Barry who was surprisingly tolerant of his attempts at gymnastics. Presumably Sarah Barry wasn't.
"That's a mild way to put it." Samantha sat on Jon's bed. He recognized her pose. Karyn had been in that same position. But not Melissa yesterday. Different girls in the Karyn role would be like Karyn in different ways. Melissa had Karyn's red hair but not her body language. Samantha was the opposite. Who knew what tomorrow Karyn stand-in would be like?
"She almost flunked you," continued Samantha.
Jon had to suppress his surprise. Coach Barry - Felicia, the one he remembered - was happy if not impressed by his efforts. And this new Coach Barry - Sarah - had been civil to him this afternoon. Maybe Sarah Barry understood that she couldn't treat students like dirt out of the gym just because they didn't excel in the gym. Jon was starting to have some respect for Sarah. Maybe Sarah might be decent after she grew up. Aging might have revealed a side of her he otherwise would never have known. Or was that civility the Barry-ness in Sarah?
Jon had never given any thought to philosophy before, but tonight he was beginning to ponder some fundamental questions. "Have you ever wondered ... what makes us who we are?"
"No, not really."
"Like ... Susan. She's so different from me. And Mikey."
"Yeah, and not just because she's a blonde."
"The only one in our family." Jon felt weird saying that even though it was true ... for the time being. But he had to play along with the current reality.
"It's like she's some kind of mutant." Samantha laughed.
"A X-Man." Jon wondered if Samantha would get the reference.
"Yeah. And I guess Coach Barry's gonna be her Professor X. Why do you look surprised, Jon?"
Because I tested you and you passed with flying colors, thought Jon. "I ... never imagined Coach Barry that way before. She and a bald guy in a wheelchair kinda seem like opposites ..."
"Sorry, bad analogy."
"No, actually it was observant. I just hadn't seen the parallel before."
"The cheerleaders ... a Sisterhood of Evil Mutants!"
"Yeah!" Jon was impressed. Samantha knew comic book lore. Maybe even more than Karyn had. He doubted Melissa Black knew any of this stuff or would ever want to learn. Tomorrow's girl might outright hate geeky stuff. But tonight's ...
Jon wasn't in love. He couldn't be. He barely knew Samantha. But at the same time she seemed so right. Maybe even more than ... Karyn. And in twenty-one hours Samantha would be out of his life, possibly for good. Even if he did find her again, what if she was an adult? Married? With children? Was it right for him to withhold her from her true husband and kids for a week by swapping her around?
Doesn't matter, thought Jon. The wish is done and can't be undone. All I can do is explore the consequences. And that book will be full of them. "Samantha, could you pass me my yearbook?"
"Sure."
"Thanks." Jon recognized the cover. That hadn't changed. But surely the inside would be quite different. Jon hesitated to open it.
"Can I look at it with you?"
"Yeah." Jon let Samantha open it.
"Look, here's what I wrote to you last year." Samantha pointed to a message she had written on the inside front cover.
"I ... love your handwriting."
"Thanks, Jon."
"So little cursive these days." Jon wondered if Samantha's cursive was a remnant of an earlier life as an adult woman old enough to have been educated when cursive was more common.
"I'm gonna keep it alive," said Samantha. "Guess that makes me a mutant."
"A good one, unlike Susan." Jon was getting used to calling his ex-mother - his X-Mom? - by her first name now. A habit that might be useful for the next few days ... until Linda became a Madison again. An adult one. For all he knew, she could be his sister within the next five days. Even Samantha could be his sister for a day. Or his mother.
But he couldn't worry about the future. Just trying to get a hold on the present was hard enough.
Jon looked at the signed messages from oher students on the inside cover. He recognized all the boys' names. Like ... Biff Meadows!? Biff signed his yearbook? Why?
"What are you looking at, Jon?" asked Samantha.
"Um ..." His finger pointed before he could utter an answer.
"Oh yeah, Biff. Your buddy in gymnastics class."
"My wh-" Jon shut himself up. If he and Mikey could have red hair and freckles because of a different mother, then Biff could have taken a different path with ... a different mother. No wonder he hadn't seen that many familiar boys at school today. He'd changed all the boys with mothers on campus in the afternoon! Jon lay down. "What have I done?"
"Huh?" Samantha couldn't understand why a thank-you note from Biff would trigger this response from Jon. And she knew Jon better than anyone. At least until today. This Jon had the same red hair, the same look, but inside, something was off.
I can't just lie down like this, thought Jon. This isn't going to make anything better. Gotta get up. Can't waste time. Every moment counts. Have to explore this new world while I can. Jon imagined an hourglass in his head. Sand falling ...
Jon forced himself up and made himself turn the pages of the yearbook. He didn't get very far. He froze at the sight of Principal Morse. She had been replaced by ...
