Jonchelle had seen Vanessa enter her room, so she knew which one to choose. Knocking on the door gently, she pushed open and found Vanessa sobbing into a pillow.
“It’s not fair!” she sobbed as Jonchelle sat down next to her. “I hate him! I thought that he might change his mind when he saw you but… It just made things worse.”
Jonchelle stroked Vanessa’s hair.
“He didn’t make it worse, it’s my fault, I shouldn’t have come over.” Vanessa stopped, sobbing briefly to turn over and sit up. She looked at Jonchelle.
“Chelle, it’s not your fault... I should never have invited you over. I knew what he would be like and I exposed you to this lifestyle.”
Jonchelle pulled Vanessa into a hug. “I’m glad that you did invite me. I like you and I want to get to know you, so I’m glad that I came. Even if the reaction that I got wasn’t what I expected, I still got to see the real you, and it’s all thanks to the stone.”
Vanessa released herself from the hug, thinking.
“What is it?”
Vanessa glanced at Jonchelle before reaching into her purse and taking the stone out.
“I can make things better.”
“How?”
“I could make a wish that made it so that my dad and brother were a part of this resolution.”
“Brother? I didn’t see him around…”
“He’s probably hanging out at the mall with his friends. Anyway, if they were joining in, then maybe dad would come to his senses a bit and finally accept me.”
Jonchelle frowned, unsure.
“I don’t know, Vanessa. I want to make things better for you. Believe me, I do. But at the same time, we don’t want to do anything too drastic. Look at what happened to Karyn and her hair and boobs.”
“I know,” Vanessa replied, exasperated. “We’ll put a timer on it, make it the same as everyone else. If they want to stay at the end of the year, they can, but if not, they’ll return to how they were, just a little more accepting.”
“Alright then, I trust you.”
“Thanks, Chelle.” Vanessa smiled and got ready to make her wish.
“I wish that, at the beginning of the year, Dad and Michael had decided to take part in the resolution like everyone else. Even if they were reluctant, they saw everyone else doing it and wanted to join in. I also wish that they were doing it to get a better understanding of me.”
They got the now familiar feeling (for both girls) of getting something in their eye as the stone granted the wish. When the stone had finished, Vanessa smiled at Jonchelle.
“Let’s go and see what my dad looks like now.”
