Karyn pushed herself up and sat next to Jon. Taking a deep breath, she said, "Jon... we need to talk."
"Yeah," Jon said. "Yeah, I think we..."
Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, Karyn saw a flash of light. Jon must have seen it too, because he'd halted in mid-sentence. Karyn looked to the light, have expecting it to be the light that heralded her jumps... but instead, she saw, much to her surprise, that her hands, and Jon's as well, were glowing. They shone for a moment with a pale yellow light... then the light went away.
"What on earth was that?" Jon asked.
"I don't know," Karyn said. "I don't have a clue. I... jeeze, I don't know anything anymore. She rubbed her eyes and sighed long and loud. "Jon, I... I have something to tell you."
Jon looked at Karyn, her gorgeous, feminine eyes wide open. God, this prostitute body had looked so trashy a few minutes ago, but now, with Jon inside, it looked so beautiful. It broke Karyn's heart to look at Jon... and so she looked away.
Pulling her knees to her chest and resting her chin on them, Karyn took a deep breath and said, "Jon, I'm..." She stopped. "Jon, I'm..." She stopped again, and closed her eyes. Lord, this was hard. This was so hard. This was the hardest thing she'd ever done in her life. At last, biting her lip and fighting back tears, she said, "Jon, I think I'm a lesbian."
Silence. Karyn opened her eyes and looked at Jon. Jon was staring at her hands, her eyes wide, but she wasn't moving, wasn't saying anything. Karyn waited a moment for Jon to speak, but she didn't say anything, so Karyn went on. "I don't... I'm not... I think I've always known, on some level, but I never wanted to admit it. It's hard, you know? Especially in a town like ours, a culture like this... gay people have to put up with such garbage, and you go to church and watch TV and people tell you it's evil, it's a sin to feel this way. And I remember looking at girls as a kid, and being curious, and then the last few years I'd find myself looking at other girls and being attracted to them, but that's supposed to be normal, right? Janelle always told me that all girls do that, that some of the things she hears in the locker room before cheerleading practice, and in the showers, and... and I thought it was normal, even though I was never really interested in guys. But my mom always said I was a late bloomer, right?"
The words, so difficult to find a couple of moment ago, had turned into a torrent, a rush of words as Karyn tried to give voice to a lifetime of confused thoughts. But now the torrent had stopped, and she found the words absent again. She looked at Jon, but Jon was still in that same motionless position, staring at her hands. So Karyn started again. "But Jon... Jon. This morning, when I saw you as Meagan... Jon, you don't have any idea. It set off all of these... you looked so beautiful in Meagan's body, and everything just fit for a minute. And I realized I loved you right then, body and soul. Jon, I love you, I always have, but your body... it always got in the way, and I never wanted to be with a guy, but as Meagan, I wanted you, wanted your body, I... and all these feelings just came out, and... and it was like..."
Jon was still motionless, still looking at her hands. She had barely even blinked. For a second she worried something had happened to Jon, but Jon was still breathing, her chest moving in and out slowly, disturbing the sheet she'd wrapped around her chest. "Jon," Karyn said. "Jon, say something. Please."
Jon blinked. "Karyn... I'm sorry, Karyn, I..." She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, I don't know what to say." At last she moved. She lifted her hands to her eyes and rubbed them slowly. "Karyn, you can't just drop something like this on me and expect me to have an answer ready, just like that. Give me a minute to think. I..." She ran her hands over her face and then pulled her arms tight over her chest. "Just give me a minute to think."
Karyn felt sick. She wished she had the wishing stone in her hand right now. She would make a wish. She would wish to turn back time. She would wish to take it all back. She would wish for Jon to be okay with this. She would wish herself straight. She would wish whatever she had to wish to make things right again. But looking at Jon, looking at the expression on her face, looking at her posture, at the way she wrapped herself in her blanket and folded her arms over her body and leaned ever so slightly away from Karyn... at the way she hadn't even looked at Karyn for what felt like an eternity now... looking at Jon, Karyn didn't think anything would ever be right between them again.
Before she had any more time to worry about it, though, the light came and the world vanished. Karyn hoped it would never came back.
Karyn winced as the world took shape around her. She really didn't want to face the world. Not now. At least, though, she could face it from behind someone else's face. And at least she'd been taken away from Jon. The way things were going, maybe she would never find Jon again.
Good.
She hated the thought of losing Jon, but right now, that sounded easier than having to face him again. She'd screwed up. She'd screwed up badly. It looked like she'd lost her best friend in the process. And right now, she didn't know if there was any way to set things right.
She just couldn't believe Jon had taken it so badly...
Looking around her, Karyn saw that she was sitting on a couch in a small, cluttered living room, facing a television. There was a video game on the TV screen, and looking down, she saw a controller in her hand. She was dressed in what looked like boys' clothes: a large t-shirt and long shorts that hung low on her waist, showing off a pair of boxer shorts. Lifting a hand to her head, she found that her long blonde hair was covered by a baseball cap.
She was glad she was a boy this time. Being a girl was so hard... especially right now. Karyn had never wanted to be a boy before... not specifically, anyway, though she had the same gripes about womanhood that every girl had. Now, though, Karyn thought that she could be perfectly happy if she never became a girl again. Life was so much easier for boys than it was for girls anyway... now that she was fully aware of her sexuality, she realized how much easier being a boy would have been for her than it would have been for most girls.
Sitting on the couch with her--all the way over on the other side of the couch; guys didn't sit next to each other unless they had to, after all--Karyn saw a college-aged guy, a little heavy, dressed in clothing that was simliar to her own. He was looking around the room in a little bit of confusion, too; he must have just jumped in as well.
The other boy's gaze roved over to Karyn... then his eyes went wide. "Karyn?"
Karyn's heart skipped.
"Karyn, it's me," the boy said. "It's Jon." He laughed. "Man, what are the chances? There are... what... I don't even know how many people in town, but it's a lot. Sure, it makes sense we'd run into each other every once in a while, but twice in a row? It seems so unlikely." He sighed. "I guess whoever or whatever is out there controlling these swaps, if there is anyone, must have thought we.." Suddenly he stopped. "Karyn?"
Jon touched Karyn's hand gently. She flinched at his touch. Every muscle in Karyn's body was tense, and she was trembling uncontrollably.
"Karyn," Jon said, "what's wrong?"
"You..." Karyn's voice was strained. It was difficult for her to speak. Taking a deep breath, she said, "You hate me."
"What?" Jon said, startled. "Karyn, no, I..."
"I told you I was a lesbian and you hate me now," Karyn said. "Jon, I'm so sorry. I wish I could take it back. I wish I could turn back time. I wish... I just wish..." She shut her eyes and buried her head in her arms. "I wish I could make it stop."
"Karyn," Jon said, quietly. "Oh, Karyn. No no no no no. Please don't think that. Karyn." He took Karyn's hands and pulled from her eyes, and gently he lifted her face. Opening her eyes, she saw Jon looking directly back at her, deep concern in his eyes. "Karyn. You're my best friend. This doesn't change that. Not one bit. I'm going to need some time to process all of this, but Karyn. I love you. Nothing's going to change that."
Karyn broke. All the tears she'd been holding back all day burst through her eyes, and she wept uncontrollably. All the confusion, all the fear, all the anger, all the love, it poured out of her all at once. All the strength went out of her body, and she felt like she was about to crumple; but Jon scooted over to her, wrapped his arms around her, and lifted her up. They sat together on the couch for a long time, Karyn sobbing into Jon's shoulder, while Jon held her tight.
"And I guess this is one more reason to find the stone and get back to our own bodies ASAP," Jon said, taking off Karyn's and stroking her hair reassuringly. "So we can find you a girlfriend."
Karyn laughed through her tears.
Karyn wasn't sure how long they sat like that; all she knew was that, at last, she was pulled from the warmth of Jon's arms in a flash of blinding light.
Karyn found herself staring down at a bowl of unidentifiable soup, a spoon in her hand. Looking up, she saw that she was sitting alone in a restaurant booth; looking down, she saw she was dressed in a sleeveless violet blouse and slacks. And looking around, she saw that she was alone. Or as alone as one could be, at least, in a restaurant.
She put down her spoon with a sigh and rubbed her eyes. The jump had stopped her tears, but it hadn't stopped the storm of emotions that had brought them on. It had been such a long, crazy, difficult day... and whatever happened in the end, she was coming out of the events of teh day a different person than she'd been when she'd woken up in the morning. Everything was different, now that she understood herself. It was probably good for her that she'd gone through all of this. And at least... at least she knew she still had Jon now. She had no doubt about that now. Still... even if she somehow returned to her own body, she knew that her troubles were just beginning. Coming out to her family, to the rest of her friends... actually finding a girlfriend, and dealing with whatever ill treatment that brought her... from where she sat, the road before her looked very, very long.
"Miss Black," came a woman's voice at her side, "do you need anything? A refill perhaps, or a slice of apple pie?"
Karyn turned and saw a woman in her mid-twenties standing over her. Curly red hair spilled around the woman's freckled face, and she wore a neat white blouse and black skirt. There was a small apron around waist, and she had a pen and paper poised in her hands.
"How did you..." Karyn began to ask the waitress, then it dawned on her. "Jon?"
"Yep," the woman smiled. Jon sat down in the seat on the other side of the table. "Hey, Karyn."
"How..." Karyn stammered, "how are we together again?"
"I don't know," Jon said, shrugging her shoulders. "I think we must be, like... tied together now, somehow. Where you jump, I jump. Or vice versa. I don't know how that happend, but"--she leaned forward--"I'm glad. I'm glad to have you with me, Karyn."
"Me too," Karyn said, smiling.
"Look," Jon said, "we're going to have a lot to figure out when all of this is over. Especially... especially if we don't get back to our original bodies, and I end up as a..." She shook her head, her curly hair bouncing wildly. "But we don't need to worry about any of that right now. Our friendship has not changed, and it will not change." Jon placed her hand on Karyn's. "So worry if you need to right now. I can't promise you your family and friends will respond well when you come out to them. But don't worry about us."
"I won't," Karyn said. "Jon, I... I'm glad to have you with me."
Jon smiled. "There's no place I'd rather be."
