"I came as soon as I could Jon, what's up?" Karyn stood at the door, looking Jon in the eye.
"You mean you can't tell?!" Jon blinked. He could still feel the stickiness of the mascara on his eyelashes. He was amazed at how natural it felt applying every layer of makeup - the foundation, the blush, the eyeshadow, the lipstick. He'd texted Karyn to come over just as he was finishing up, and now she was standing at the front door, not even realizing anything had changed.
"Can't tell what? Did you make another wish?"
"Uh, no," he lied, "But something is happening." He proceeded to tell her the story - though leaving out the part about the wish, and the part about the other choice he was given.
"Someone wants to turn you into Steve's ideal girl? Ugh. He only dates shallow, spoiled sluts. Why?"
"I have no idea!" Jon felt a tinge of guilt at Karyn's mention of shallow and spoiled. She didn't mean him, right?
"So you're telling me that you've never worn makeup before today?"
"Never! But I knew everything about it. And the thing is, now I want to make sure I look pretty."
"Well, yeah. You always have, as far as I can remember. Your makeup is immaculate, as usual!"
"Thanks!" Jon felt a rush of flattery. "You believe me though, right?"
"I mean, I can't see any differences. But I've seen some pretty strange stuff already this week. And I trust you."
Jon took Karyn upstairs to show him the changes in his room.
"Yeah, I mean it looks normal to me." she looked over at the vanity and makeup table. "So if you didn't have all that stuff, what was it before?"
"A bookshelf! I can't remember many details, but I think there were a lot of books."
Karyn stifled a laugh. "You? A reader? Ha!" Jon shot her a hurt look. "Sorry, I've just never heard you express an interest."
"Just 'cause I don't read doesn't mean I'm not smart!"
"I know. You're still way ahead of me in math."
For now, Jon thought to himself, wondering how far the mysterious stranger would go.
"You can borrow some of my books if you want. I just started a new Neil Gaiman book and it's -"
"That's OK," Jon interrupted. He felt his eyes glazing over at the thought. He just wasn't interested anymore. "What are we going to do about this."
"I don't know Jon," Karyn said as she walked towards the bed to sit down, "Are you sure it's not WOAH!" Karyn tripped and stumbled forward, luckily the bed was right in front of her. She landed on it.
"Oof! What the hell!" They both looked at the floor to see what she'd tripped on.
"Jeeze Jon, somebody could get killed if you leave your shoes lying around!"
"Karyn! Don't you see? Those weren't there before!"
"What, are they new?"
"No, I mean it's a new change! I've never had shoes like that."
"Weird. Are you sure? You wear heels to school everyday. I don't know how you do it, frankly. It looks so uncomfortable!"
"They're not that bad, " Jon said, suddenly feeling defensive. "They make your legs look sexier. And when people see the red soles on the Louboutins they know you paid for the real thing. It's like belonging to a super exclusive club!"
"Right," Karyn scoffed,"A rich snobs' club."
"Hey! I didn't invite you over to mock me!"
"I'm sorry, Jon. But do you really think that's really important?"
"It is to me!" Jon said, suddenly really caring about the kind of shoes he wore. "And if you can't understand that, maybe you should go."
"Fine. Let me know when you've got your priorities straight." She turned and left, and Jon listened to the front door slam. Had he and Karyn really just gotten into a fight about his shoes? A thought occurred to him - how much different was a girl that Steve loved from a girl that Karyn hated? Had he been tricked? No way. He wasn't going to let that happen. He couldn't. Even if Karyn was being a major bitch right now.
He picked up his Loubies from the floor, inspecting them carefully to make sure they weren't scuffed. He carried them over to his closet, and paused. Before he even opened the door, he suddenly knew what he was about to see on the other side.
