Jon felt the magic wash over him, felt the changes in his body as the power passed, and knew what he could expect when he opened his eyes after the flash from the stone. At least as far as his changes went, not that he could see all of them. Strands of brown hair hung down into his line of sight and everything around seemed bigger, but those were the most immediate changes to himself he saw. Zoe, still sitting on the bed, was staring up at Jon with wide eyes, and she had changed too.
The black dye was missing from her hair, as were the extreme make-up and... most of the extra piercings she had picked up. Two in each ear, a stud in her right nostril. She was wearing a grey top and leggings, which was a far cry from the intricate layers of black she usually wore. She did have make-up on, but it was more 'normal'. "What the hell?" she asked, looking at Jon. "Who are-"
"Zoe, listen," Jon said, wincing as he heard his new voice. He looked down at Zoe and caught sight of his new body. Brown hair hung to his shoulders, and he was wearing a white button-up top that showed a bit of his new cleavage. Moderate breasts on his chest. Not as big as Karyn's new ones, but bigger than her old ones, he was pretty sure. A black skirt below that and some high heels on his feet.
Her feet, she guessed. For now.
Zoe was still staring at Jon, then looked to the stone. "I... did I do this?" she asked, looking at it. Her eyes moved quickly as she processed everything, and she closed them. "I wish I knew what was going on..." The stone flashed and she gasped, then stood up. "Holy shit!"
"Zoe, please..." Jon said. "Give me the stone, and-"
"Grandpa gave you a magical stone that can grant wishes? That's insane!" she said.
"It is, not gonna argue that," Jon said. "But I need you to hand me the stone so I can try to fix this."
Zoe looked like she was considering, then a noise came from downstairs. Her eyes went wide and she muttered something under her breath. "Jon, you don't know everything here. The stone told me-"
"It doesn't matter, hand it to me," Jon said, holding her hand out and turning slightly as she heard steps approaching the stairs. Someone else was here? God, was she Mikey's mom now too?
Looking panicked, Zoe backed away a step. "I wish we had all the memories we need to fit into our new lives."
"Zoe, what the hell?"
"I wish the stone would disappear for... one month, everyone but me and my new mom forgetting about it, and then reappear in my new mom's hand when it comes back." The stone flashed and when the light cleared, it was gone. Zoe hurried out of the room she was standing in, but Jon grabbed her shoulder before she could go too far.
"Zoe, what the hell was-" she stopped as the footsteps that had been coming up the stairs stopped. Jon turned and saw a guy, about 17, with short brown hair and a bit of a beard. He had a fair amount of muscle, looking like some of the jocks at her school. Memories flooded her brain and she hissed out a breath. "Hey Mike. Back from practice?"
"Yeah, aunt Jen. What's up?"
"Just having a chat with Zoe."
"Does it need to happen in front of my room?" Mike asked, approaching a few more steps.
Jon, or Jen, smiled and shook her head. "Nope, just where I caught up to her. We'll get out of your way." Jen, hand still on Zoe's shoulder, pushed them toward her room. Mike shook his head and entered his own, which had once been Jon's.
Zoe's room had changed, Jen noted as they entered and closed the door. It had been all black and dark purples, lots of macabre decorations. Now it looked more like an average teen girls room. White walls, pastel bedding, a desk and a vanity, dresser full of clothes in a variety of colors. Jen looked at Zoe, releasing her shoulder. "What the hell, Zoe?"
Rubbing her shoulder, Zoe shook her head. "Like I was saying, you didn't know everything. The stone told me about what it was and how you got it. It also told me that in this reality, that's not how things went. You didn't get the stone, he did."
"Mike?" Jen asked, looking back toward the door. "That's... not great. I don't think I'd trust him with the stone. He reminds me a bit too much of..."
"Steve Farber? Biff Meadows? Two of his best buddies? Yeah, no kidding," Zoe said. "And do you think you were in a position to keep him from getting the stone back from us? With how caught up with this you were?"
Jen bit her lip and shook her head. "I don't know. But a month, Zoe?" You could have made it an hour. We could have gone somewhere far enough away that we could make wishes."
"Hasty wishes," Zoe said, crossing her arms. "This way, we have some time to think and come up with a plan, you know? A month to jot things down and make sure we really have it right. And I'll make a notification in my phone to remind us when the stone will be coming back."
"A week still could have worked... You shouldn't have been messing with the stone in the first place," Jen said. "It's dangerous, and... why did you have it?"
"I found it when I was in there trying to keep away from aunt Linda," Zoe said. Her eyes widened a bit, then she shook her head. "Mom, then, I guess."
Jen nodded. When she got the stone back, she'd need to secure it better. "Well, we better get to thinking, I guess. This turned into a huge mess, Zoe, and we need to-"
"Jen! Are you ready?" a voice called. Jen recognized it as Linda, her former mom and now sister. Flashes of memories entered her mind, how Linda had allowed a younger Jen to stay with her some years back, when she was struggling as a young mother. The tension that would pop up with some regularity from it, even if she did love her sister... "We need to get to the school for parent teacher conferences."
"Yeah, be right down," Jen said. She turned to look at Zoe and frowned. "We'll talk about this later. Apparently the plan is to leave you and Mike some money to order pizza or something ,so... do that, be good. Don't rock the boat or anything."
Zoe looked like she wanted to say something but settled for nodding instead. Jen pulled her into a hug and kissed the top of her head, then left the room. It was only when she was halfway down the stairs that she realized what she had done. That had been a pure Jen move, not a Jon move. Something to look out for.
Linda was standing by the door, digging into her purse. "Go halvsies on the pizza?" she asked.
"Of course," Jen said. She pulled out a 20 and handed it to her sister, who then left it on the table by the door.
"We'll be back in a little while, kids." There were murmurs of acknowledgement, and then the pair left the house and climbed into Linda's car. Linda leaned her head back against the headrest for a moment. "God, I just want to relax with a glass of wine..."
"We could skip this," Jen suggested. "I doubt we'll be told anything surprising. How much would have changed between the fall and now?"
Linda looked toward Jen and gave her best unimpressed expression. "You know I can't do that. Not with Mike on the football team and after that party the rest of them had last semester."
Jen smiled and shrugged. "Well, I'm pretty sure I won't hear anything off about Zoe, so..."
"You're so blessed," Linda said, her voice flat. "But don't you dare abandon me. If you tag along I'll buy dinner after."
"Well, I guess I can come then."
Linda rolled her eyes then started the car, and the two took off.
