Zoe's hair was back to its normal brown color and her skin was no longer pale. She wore a tight bare-midriff tank top, cut-off jean shorts, and small cowboy boots. And on her head was a cowboy hat. She walked into the cafeteria and smiled. "How y'all doin'?" she asked, with a strong Southern accent.
"Zoe?" Jon asked, shocked at what he was seeing. Sure, almost anything was better than her being a Goth, but he didn't want his sister to be some country bumpkin either.
"Oh, hey there, big brother," she said, smiling in his direction.
"Zoe, you're different," he said, kind of pointing out the obvious. But he wanted her to know it. Maybe it would make her see that something was wrong.
"Yeah, I know. I ain't got a clue why, though," she said, still with that strong accent. Then she smiled. "But I like it." She started walking towards Jon.
"Zoe, stop!" he yelled.
"What?"
"You can't touch anyone. If you do, you'll make them like you."
"I reckon you must have lost your mind, Jon. People can't just change like that."
"You did."
Zoe cocked her head to the side, as if she were thinking about that.
"Jon," Karyn said, grabbing his attention.
He turned and looked at her. She was nodding towards Nadine. He turned and saw that she had transformed more people. Now there were at least ten more new Goths. "This is getting out of control. I wish I had the stone with me."
"Stone? What stone?" Tina asked. Jon forgot that he was still holding onto her. He let her go, thinking that she had enough sense by now to stay away from the affected people.
"Nothing," Jon answered her. "It's not important."
