"Awww, thanks, Jon," said Susan.
Jon laughed. He couldn't imagine Susan McMillan ever thanking him.
"What's so funny?" asked Susan. "You're not laughing at me, are you?"
"Not at all."
Susan could tell Jon was sincere. So he must be amused by some dumb boy thing, then, she thought. Whatever.
"I do believe in you," said Jon. "I'm certain Mikey does too."
"Huh?" Mikey looked up from his iPad. He had been watching a cartoon while eating breakfast.
"Time to go," announced Julie.
There's one constant, thought Jon. Changing the girls - women - at the school won't change that. It's not like I'll wake up tomorrow and find out I have to go to night school instead. Or no school at all. To a factory or something. Child labor. Jon looked at his redheaded younger brother. The thought of Mikey in a factory was horrifying.
The stone could make that happen. Make pretty much anything happen. Jon realized what enormous power his grandfather had given him. He felt like Spider-Man. With great power comes great responsibility and all that. Except that Spider-Man didn't exist. Unless Jon used the stone to make him exist. Make himself into Spider-Man? Maybe next week. One wish at a time. He patted his pocket to make sure he had his phone. With the app. Make that two wishes.
The four Madisons got into Julie's car. They took the same seats as Linda, Jon, Zoe, and brunet Mikey had taken yesterday.
Jon was up front with Julie. Half of him wanted to squeeze between Susan and MIkey in the back so he could see how they interacted. Or rather, how they didn't. Mikey had brought his iPad into the car, and Susan was ignoring him.
The other half was glad he could be sitting up front with Julie. He would probably never see her again as his mother after 3:47. He looked at the app on his phone. It conveniently had a timer showing the hours and minutes left until 3:47. About nine hours. Most of them probably without Julie unless she had to come to school for an emergency.
Was there one last thing Jon wanted to say to that redheaded stranger with a bob cut? She was at ease with him - her memories told her he had always been her son from birth - but the reverse wasn't true. Jon had more exposure to Mr. Salem in English class than Julie, whoever she used to be. And look at who Mr. Salem turned out to be out of class! He would be a new, better man once the wish was done with him.
Would this woman - Julie - be okay come 3:47? Jon didn't know her. Yet it was clear she loved him as much as Linda had before becoming a McMillan. Jon couldn't quite reciprocate, but the least he could do was have some concern for Julie while she was still a member of his family.
Was being a Madison a step up for Julie? Jon pulled his phone out of his pocket and typed "julie." Several search results appeared. Julie this and Julie that with tiny thumbnail portraits. Jon tapped on "Julie Madison." Her entry indicated that she used to be ...
