Jen groaned as she woke up, taking a few long moments to realize she was still her. Part of her had hoped that the last couple of days had just been weird dreams. They weren't, she knew, but in her barely awake state? She could hope. She lay in bed for a few moments, staring at the ceiling and letting herself wake up. Grabbing her phone off her nightstand, she checked the time. 9:13. She rolled her eyes. "Guess I'm just an early riser now..." she said, even as she realized she remembered that. She almost never slept past 9:30 even without an alarm. "Dammit, I like sleeping in on weekends."
Or... she had. As Jon. As Jen, the idea of sleeping until noon felt like a waste.
Shaking her head, she got up and left her room. She looked around the hall as she made her way to the bathroom. Zoe's door was shut, likely because her sister was still sleeping after a late night for her concert. No sign of Mikey, and her parents weren't in their room. She could hear talking from downstairs. Her parents.
She walked into the bathroom and relieved herself. As she washed her hands, she looked into the mirror. Her hair was a mess. She ran her fingers through it and tried to fix it for a moment before giving up. She'd deal with it after a shower. Leaving the bathroom, she headed down to the kitchen where her parents were sitting at the table.
"Morning," she said, moving to the coffee machine and pouring herself a mug.
"Morning," her dad said. "Sleep well?"
"Yeah," she said.
"Any plans for the day?" her mom asked.
"Meeting up with the others at Sarah's later," Jen said, sipping her coffee. "Not sure when, but that'll happen at some point."
"That'll be fun, but don't stay there too late. You have school tomorrow," her mom said.
"I know."
"And tell her and her parents we say hi when you see them," her dad added.
"Sure." With that, Jen excused herself and started back up the stairs. It was only when she was halfway up the stairs that she looked down at her mug. I don't drink coffee... she thought. Or, I guess... Jon didn't. Thinking about it, she could remember morning trips to the coffee shop with various members of her new friend group before school. Starting with cocoa and other drinks and eventually getting curious enough to try coffee. Shaking her head, Jen returned to her room and finished her coffee, then went to shower.
After finishing her shower, she left the bathroom wrapped in a towel. As she did, Zoe cracked her door open, eyes bleary, and started toward the bathroom.
"How was the show?" Jen asked, stepping out of her sister's way.
"Fun, loud..." Zoe said. "I'm still tired and can't hear quite as well as normal."
"It'll pass, but maybe use ear plugs next time?"
Zoe rolled her eyes. "What are you, 60?"
Jen rolled her eyes back. "At least I'll be able to hear when I'm 60."
"Whatever," Zoe said. She took another step toward the bathroom, then stopped. "Trinity seemed a little off last night. Down. And a little weird. Like... she was talking about going into the mosh pit, which she'd never normally do."
Trevor would, though... Jen thought. She could remember seeing him coming to school looking like he had been in a fight a fair number of times. To be fair, he might have actually been in some of those fights. "She's had some stuff going on."
"That she won't talk to us about?" Zoe asked. She looked hurt at the idea.
Jen sighed. "She's just... stressed about the cheer team stuff. It should level off soon."
"I freaking hope so," Zoe said, finally moving into the bathroom. Jen took the opportunity to retreat to her room and get dressed. Like with the coffee, it wasn't until she was dressed that she realized how little mind she paid to putting on a bra and panties or that she had chosen to wear a white sundress. It had just seemed... normal. All of it.
Her eyes moved to the box that held the stone. She had spent some time last night making some wishes to protect it and keep others from taking it from her. She had to hope that would apply to Ms. Holloway as well. Not that the woman had shown any awareness of or interest in the stone, but better safe than sorry. She grabbed a brush that was next to the box and went about fixing her hair. Once done she grabbed her phone and checked it. It was Almost 10, now. She saw a message from Karyn.
Wanna meet up before this thing at Sarah's?
Probably a good idea she responded. Want me to head your way?
Karyn sent back a thumbs up, assuring that she'd be ready by the time Jen got there. She grabbed her purse, tossing a bathing suit into it like Sarah had recommended, and headed downstairs. She pulled on her flip flops, yelled a goodbye to her parents, and headed out.
