I guess I really didn't finally decide to stop at Jon's until I found myself standing at the end of his sidewalk. I thought about turning on my heals and walking away, going home for the night. After all, as far as Jon knew, I had taken the changes rather well, and this is the important thing, without sacrificing anymore of my dignity. I didn't want him to think I was emotionally incapable of handling the consequences of the wishing stone.
Still, after my short little encounter with the Bitch Squad after school, I was starting to worry. Physical changes I could handle. I could just shrug them off for the time being, until we could figure out how to undo them. This was starting to turn into something completely different though. I was starting to feel like I had been pulled into an alternate reality or something. This whole day was turning into one big Twilight Zone episode. After talking to Sarah and the others, and shortly afterward realizing how badly my body wanted a cigarette, I was starting to wonder what other aspects of my life the wish had altered. If I was on the cheerleader squad, and hanging out with the brain dead bimbos, what kind of a person was I?
And what the hell had happened before Spring Break? That was troubling me more than anything else right now.
Finally, I pulled my resolve together and made my way up the sidewalk toward his front door. If nothing else, I was sure he could use the rock to find out what had changed. At least then I'd be better prepared to deal with it in the short term if we couldn't fix it right away.
A little tense, I knocked and waited.
After a moment the door swung open, and I found myself looking at Jon's mom.
"Hi," I said, as politely as I could muster, "Is Jon arou..."
She didn't even let me finish. Jon's mother, a woman I had known for almost ten years, and come to think of as a second mother, stepped outside, shutting the door behind her, and forcing me back a step or two with the sheer force of her will. The look on her face was not promising.
"Look... Karyn," disgust was evident in her voice as she said my name, "I am going to make this as plain and simple as I possibly can. You need to stay away from my son." She paused, glaring at me through steel eyes. I have to admit, her demands caught me off guard, and I found myself at a loss for words. "You and your friends are a terrible influence on Jon, and I would just prefer that you avoided him."
"I.." I honestly didn't know what to say. It was like my mind went into shock. Sure, I'd given myself monster tits, long blond hair, and was apparently on a nickname basis with the popular crowd, but this blew all of that away. "Please Mrs. ..."
Once again she cut me off, "Look you little bitch," her voice lowered. "What you and your friends do, or should I say 'who' you and your friends do on your own time is your own business, but I will not have you playing your little sexual games with my son's mind anymore."
"But..." I know, pretty pathetic, but it was all I could manage.
"No buts you little tramp," she stepped closer, the focus of her anger nearly hot enough to melt me. "You will stay away from Jon. Case closed. Now, if you don't get off my property, I'm going to call the police."
I tried very hard to hold back the tears, to keep my body from trembling at the unexpected assault, but I knew I was only half successful. Quickly as I could, I turned away from the look I couldn't handle anymore, and made my way back down the sidewalk. I turned my head a couple of times, to see that she was still watching me. In fact, she didn't go back in until I was halfway down the street.
As I made my way home, completely at a loss, and wondering what Jon must be going through, and what he was going to do about this. Surely, he could use the stone to make things better.
Right?
On little more than a whim, I opened my trapper, and to my surprise, found a pack of cigarettes hidden underneath the bottom folder, in one of the zipper pockets. Unable to fight my body's cravings anymore, I lit one. As I took the first drag, my body began to relax a little, and the tension started to float away.
I began to wonder what I was going to find when I got home.
