"Good," she said nodding sharply, "Now that that's settled, let's swap something." She held the stone and then looked at me, "Do you trust me Jon?"
I looked at her, it was as though she'd read my mind. "Yes," I told her, "I trust you."
"Good," she told me. "I have just the idea then." She closed her eyes and started to speak, "I wish that for the next seven days, Jon and I would swap Gender Preferences." She opened her eyes again, and we both squinted against the flash of light.
When it passed, I looked at her, my eyes wide open. "Um..." I managed.
"Relax," she said, crossing her legs on the bed. "It'll be good for us, and it'll be kind of fun, experiencing a different perspective and all." She smiled. "What's the matter Jon?" she asked. "Homophobic or something?"
I shook my head, "That's not it at all, it's just..." I didn't know exactly what to say. Never in my wildest dreams had I even considered the possibility that she would wish for this. "Why?" I asked.
She sighed,"Honestly Jon, you're no fun sometimes. I just thought about it for a minute and decided it might be interesting. It'll only last seven days, and thanks to the wish, it's not like it's going to be unpleasant for either of us."
I shook my head slowly. "Fine," I finally relented. The wishes were irreversible, so it wasn't like I could do anything about it anyway. I decided I was just going to have to go with it.
"So," she said, "Did it work? Do you feel any different?"
"I don't know," I told her. "I mean..."
"Porn!" She exclaimed.
The previous train of thought flew violently off the track. "What?" I asked.
She looked at me in a, You've got to be kidding me, kind of way. "Jon, I know it's probably not something you relish telling me about, but you're a sixteen-year-old guy. I refuse to believe that you don't have a stash of porn; magazines, a DVD or two..."
"Oh," I simply nodded. She was right. It wasn't something I relished talking to her about. Still, it seemed like the best way to see if this had really happened. My mind was far too jumbled to try and think clearly, and I was pretty sure Karyn's was too.
I stood up, and then hunched down and reached underneath my bed.
"Under the bed Jon? Really?" She looked at me, "Because nobody's ever going to look under there?" she asked, sarcasm dripping from her voice. I pulled out a small metal box, the one I'd made in my shop class a couple of years ago, and started fiddling with the combination lock.
Finally, I pulled the lock off and opened the box. We both looked inside and we both failed to contain our shock...
