(Author's note: This is the original piece by Cork. I've just split it into two parts and extended the second part.)
Meanwhile back at the high school, Jon was just packing up his books as the final bell rang at the end of math. He was trying to keep track of Biff and Melissa as he did this, and found himself experiencing a slight sensory overload. They had both packed their things away slightly faster than he had, so Jon had to rush to catch up without looking like he was rushing to catch up, in hopes that he could hear another snippet about the boy who was once his little brother. So he wasn't quite paying attention as he rushed into the hallway and crashed headfirst into the body of another student.
Identical blonde ponytails bounced in opposite directions as the two students hit the floor.
"Oh, I'm sorry Jon," Sarah McMillan said as she picked herself up.
"I'm sorry?" thought Jon, "Did Sarah McMillan just apologize to me?" It didn't seem right.
But he brushed himself off and apologized right back. As Sarah extended a hand to help him up, however, he paused.
"Did you do something to your hair, Sarah?" Something didn't seem right about her dark brown bowl cut.
She just smiled in response, "I never do anything to my hair. Just shampoo."
Jon wasn't so sure. He took Sarah's outstretched hand and stood up, looking at the girl in front of him eye-to-eye. He could see the bottom edges of his own blonde fringe bangs in his periphery. Hadn't he wished for Sarah's blonde hair and boobs?
No. That was Karyn's wish, not his. The wish he was now carrying. But that was the wish. How could Karyn have wished for Sarah's long blonde hair, if Sarah's hair was short and dark?
Jon looked at their reflections in a class window. If he had to guess which of the two was the head cheerleader, he'd have to guess himself. His stomach wrenched. He looked more like Sarah McMillan than Sarah McMillan did.
And he had boys fighting over him, too!
"Are you okay?" Sarah's question brought him back to the present.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Jon took a moment to catch his bearings, then added with a bit of incredulity, "I'm just thinking about my date tonight with Tim."
"Tim?" Sarah pouted, "But I thought you were Karyn's girlfriend."
"It's... complicated." Why did Sarah suddenly care about his love life? She sounded disappointed.
"Okay," she cracked a smile beneath a brown tangle that looked more appropriate on a 10 year-old boy than a cheerleader, "well I'll see you tomorrow".
