Jon awoke feeling refreshed. He felt good. Sure, he had made a pretty stupid wish the day before, but he had gotten out of it. He'd solved a problem using his own critical thinking. His teachers would have been proud, if he'd been able to tell them.
Before he left his room, he made sure to hide the stone. He stashed it in the small safe under his bed, and locked it with the key he always kept with him.
On his way to grab breakfast, Jon passed his dad who was on his way out the door for work. As they passed, Jon did a double take. He looked normal enough with his suit and tie, but that's where it ended. On his head was a red satin headband, with a large bow on one side.
"Morning Jon," his dad greeted him. Jon just stared. "What's wrong?"
"What is that?" Jon said, gesturing to his dad's head.
"What's what? My headband?" Roger Madison reached up and adjusted it slightly. It seemed to serve no functional purpose, especially nested in the middle aged man's fairly short hair. "What's wrong with it?"
"Well, why are you wearing it?" Jon asked, his incredulity growing.
"What kind of a question is that?" he seemed genuinely confused. "Sorry Jon, but I'm running late. I'll see you later." And he quickly headed out the door. Jon went into the kitchen, where his mother was drinking coffee and reading the paper.
"Mom, did anything seem... odd about dad?" he asked.
"What do you mean honey?"
"The headband?"
"What about it? You know he has quite the collection. I've always been jealous of his ability to accessorize."
Great. His mom seemed just as oblivious. And Jon was beginning to put the pieces together. He remembered the character that his dad had briefly filled in for the night before. She was something of a fashion icon among the girls at his school. And he'd heard enough from them to know that one of Blair Waldorf's signature fashions was her vast array of headbands; she almost always wore one, and it always coordinated perfectly with her outfit.
Now, it seemed, Jon's dad was doing the same. The red satin headband had matched his tie perfectly, though Jon wasn't really paying attention to that detail. Clearly, though, there were still some residual effects of his wish from the day before. Was his dad going to become more and more like Blair Waldorf, or was the headband the only change? He figured he'd have to wait until the end of the day to find out. Of course, he could try yet another wish. But now he wasn't sure if that was such a good idea...
