Jon watched in horror, as he began to change. He knew what was coming and he knew that he'd be fine with it after it was over. At least, that's what he thought, anyway. Why else would Chris and Steve not object to being emos?
His dark gray T-shirt shrank a little, becoming tighter over his already thin body, then a white stenciled image of a cactus was printed on the front. His jeans became tight and a studded belt appeared around his waist. His new sneakers that he had just bought a few weeks ago became old and worn. Black gloss appeared on his fingernails, as (unbeknownst to him) black eyeliner appeared around his eyes. Then the changes to his hair began. He could feel it getting longer, tickling his forehead. Then he lost vision in his left eye, as all he could see was hair. The long strands of hair stopped growing at about chin-level.
Then the grief hit him, like a bus. Even after the days following his grandfather's funeral, Jon managed to deal with his loss, to keep going. But now, it was like all his emotional control had evaporated. He couldn't take this grief, it was too much. Sure, he and his grandfather weren't that close, but they were close enough to form a bond. Why else would he send Jon the wishing stone? This wasn't like being dumped by your girlfriend, this was a death in the family. A death of someone who was like a friend to Jon.
Jon dropped his head and began to cry.
Derek crouched down to the ground. "All our lives are miserable, Jon. We're all in agony. You just finally found out the truth."
Jon sniffled and looked up at Derek. He was his best friend. But what about Karyn? Jon figured that he couldn't be friends with someone that couldn't understand what he was going through. Karyn just wouldn't comprehend the pain and suffering of Jon's life. No one could, except for Derek and the other emos.
Derek held out his hand. "Can we share your misery, Jon?"
Jon looked at Derek, then at Chris and Steve. He nodded.
"Good." Derek helped Jon to his feet. "From now on, you'll call me Darklyte, you'll call Chris Crisis, and you'll call Steve Slash. You need a new name too. How about ..." He paused, thinking up a name. "How about Agony?"
That works, Jon thought and nodded.
"Alright, then. Let's go," Derek said, and the four emo boys left the confines of the forest and headed towards the school.
Meanwhile, Karyn was still at home. She checked her clock and saw that she was taking a little longer than she wanted. She figured that as far as Jon knew, she was already at school. So, she grabbed her school stuff and dashed out her house. She needed to meet up with Jon. Maybe he found something out about the stone.
