“Oh my God!” Jon said excitedly as they watched the Times Square ball drop on TV. “I can’t believe that we’re actually going to do this,” he added, referring to the resolution that he had come up with.
Karyn shook her head. “I can’t believe that your whole family is doing this.”
Jon, or Jonchelle as he insisted on being called, rolled his eyes. “God, Karyn, I can’t believe that you’re still going on about this. It’s only for a year, it’s not as if anything drastic is going to happen, and besides, we still have the stone as a backup.”
Karyn nodded slowly. She still wasn’t sure if the stone had anything to do with this or not and, if it indeed was the stone, why she wasn’t being affected like the others. She watched as they all joined in on the countdown and then cheered when the clock struck midnight. The parents drank the champagne while the kids drank their non-alcoholic version, setting off party poppers as they did so.
After watching the fireworks, Jonchelle then declared that he was tired and started to head upstairs. He paused by the door, turned around and announced, “Zoe, I’m taking your room for the night.”
Before Zoe could argue, he had retreated upstairs. As Jonchelle headed for his sibling’s room, he heard a scream from downstairs.
“It’s Zachary!”
