Jon paused, thinking of how he was going to do this. "Listen, I need your help."
"Yeah, I know. I'll be there a few hours before the party starts."
"What are you talking about?"
"Your party? You know, the one you're having tomorrow?" Chad said.
"That's not what I was talking about." Jon leaned in a little closer to him and said in a lower voice "I'm not really Goth. I changed this way by use of magic."
Chad laughed. "Jon, I've known you for years. You've always been Goth."
"No, I haven't. I've got this magic stone and ..."
Suddenly, the humor left Chad's face and he became serious, but also curious. "Did you say a magic stone?"
"Yeah. Have you heard of it before?" Jon asked.
"I wouldn't be the owner of this place if I didn't. The magic stones are rare but very powerful."
"Stones? You mean there's more than one?" Jon had no idea.
"Yeah, but they all do different things. One can manipulate time, another can detect the use of magic, and another can make the possessor immortal. I don't know exactly how many there are, but I know of at least two dozen."
Jon was having a hard time wrapping his brain around this. The existence of just one magic stone already blew his mind and now he was being told that there were others? His viewpoint on life and the universe suddenly widened.
"What does yours do?" Chad asked, breaking Jon out of his thoughts.
"I can make wishes with it."
Chad's eyes went wide. "I thought it was lost."
"My grandfather found it on one of his digs in South America. Have you heard of it?"
"Who hasn't heard of the legendary Jewel of Cusco?"
No one I know, Jon thought.
"Do you have it with you?" Chad asked.
"No."
"Oh." He seemed disappointed.
"Listen, I need to reverse what's happened to me."
"Why don't you just reverse the wish?"
"It won't let me. I thought you knew about the stone."
"I didn't know that."
Jon sighed. "Is there another magic item I can use to turn back to normal?"
Chad paused momentarily. "Nothing I have here. But I can ask around."
Jon smiled. What a relief. "Thanks. The sooner you help me out, the sooner this nightmare can be over."
"Being Goth isn't a nightmare," Chad said. Apparently Jon offended him.
"Maybe it isn't to you, but it is to me. I'm not used to this."
"Well, maybe if you tried it, you might like it."
Yeah, I don't think so, Jon thought.
"Just find something to fix this." Jon turned around and left the store.
Chad leaned across the counter, thinking about all the things he could wish for if he got his hands on that wishing stone. But then he thought about how bad Jon felt. Even though Jon told him that this reality wasn't real and he and Jon weren't really friends, Chad couldn't help but want to help him. And even if he did get Jon back to normal some way, he could still use the wishing stone.
