Sarah gave Jen a very confused look. “Was I not supposed to hear that? Jen, you texted me and Karyn to be here! You said you had something to show us from the break.”
I did? “Well, yeah, but, uh, I just, I don’t wanna repeat myself too much, y’know?” Jen lied weakly.
Sarah didn’t look like she bought it, but she didn’t press the issue. “All I heard was some strange line about free will and being friends with me. What on earth could that be about?”
Jen and Karyn exchanged a look. Do we tell her? How do we tell her? How do we lie if we don’t tell her? What do we do here!? They didn’t say a word for all that time, but it all flew back and forth in just the glance. Finally, Jen solemnly turned back to Sarah, and just went for it.
“Okay, I confess. Over the break, I happened to receive a nearly all-powerful magical artifact and with it, we’ve made a horrible mistake that’s unwritten history as we know it and altered the very fabric of the universe.”
A pause. Sarah and Jen exchanged long, hard, meaningful looks, until at last, Sarah finally broke down in a fit of laughter.
“Ohmigawd, Jen, this is how I know you’ve spent way too much of the break with your weirdo little sister! Of all the lame pranks you could’ve tried to pull!” She cackled, not believing a word of what Jen had just told her.
Jen laughed too, more in relief than because anything here was actually all that funny. “Yeah, that’s it, you got me! It’s just a silly little prank. Nothing else to it.”
Sarah recomposed herself and returned attention to Jen. “Now really, did you actually get anything interesting over the break or are you just yanking my chain there, too?”
“Well, I got a plain old rock as an inheritance from my grandfather,” Jen began, removing the stone from her purse to show Sarah (while deliberately not showing her the note). “He does say the Inca thought it had magic properties or something. I dunno about that; it looks like just a plain old stone to me.”
Sarah gave it an inspection, and came fairly quickly to the conclusion Jen had indicated. “Yeah, that’s just a rock. Eh, sorry gal… One last try at being ‘cool’ before he finally moved on, I guess.”
“Yeah. Still, I can’t help but miss the old fool, y’know? He was my grandpa, after all,” Jen said, putting the rock away.
“I know, I know, but hey, look on the bright side, right? The three of us are all back together, for one! And I gots me some ideas to cheer you right up!” Sarah said with a pep Jen hadn’t ever heard directed at her before.
“Heh. Can’t wait,” Jen said with plainly forced enthusiasm, not having the slightest clue what Sarah might’ve had in mind.
