Karyn dashed off at the sound of the bell, muttering something about not missing a second class. But Jon had just had his -- her? -- world flipped on its head. Which was saying something, considering the events of the previous day.
Jon looked down at herself. Yes, herself was the right word. It felt right. She felt like a her now. But she wasn't sure why. She pulled her knees to her chest, wrapped her arms around them.
"Hey, shoes? Can you... can you tell me what just happened?"
There was a long pause.
"No," they said. "But I think I can make it so that you can."
Another pause.
"I was created by a magical spell," the shoes explained, "and I was based off of a template that I could draw from, in order to make you match that template when the need arose. And I was given a certain amount of leeway when determining what that meant."
"Okay," Jon replied. "That makes sense." In the back of her head, Jon could almost remember a person existing, someone she didn't like, whose life seemed to have been taking over her own. But somehow the name of that person wouldn't present itself. Someone McMillan? That didn't make sense, Jon's last name was McMillan, and this certainly wasn't a relative of hers.
"I wasn't supposed to use all of the template. There were specific parts that were given priority. They weren't exactly off-limits, but they weren't exactly permissible, either. An extremely dire circumstance would have to arise in order to justify tapping into them."
The wind blew coolly over Jon's exposed shins.
"Jon. Part of the template includes an innate ability to control magic. I'm not supposed to give it to you. But whatever just happened, it shouldn't have happened. And if I give you this control over magic, you should be able to learn why it did."
"Is the thing that happened all that bad?" Jon asked. "I mean, I know I'm a girl now, and that feels like a big deal, but that sort of makes sense after everything that happened yesterday."
"But you weren't in a situation that required you to be a girl yet. And I didn't induce it." The shoes were speaking slowly. Deliberately. "And you're a lesbian, which wasn't a part of the original template. If I'd had control, you would have become a girl who was attracted to boys. Something is wrong."
"And by giving me access to magic, I can stop it?"
"By giving you access to magic, you can detect it. And then we'll be able to figure out the next step."
"Okay, then," Jon breathed. "I trust you."
