I lit a real cigarette, "So you think she is?" I asked indignantly. I couldn't believe he was siding with her.
"Who are you talking about?" he asked, turning to face me.
"First of all, don't turn so fast," I told him, "the blur is really hard on the eyes. Second, aren't you listening?" When he didn't answer, I gave him a hint. "Violet," I told him quietly. "She is such a " I tilted my head to look at her, "Bitch," I finally finished. I looked over at him. Apparently he was stupid too. "I... feel sorry for..." I paused. Why were names so hard to remember. "Rob," I finally said. "He could do so much... bed... better," I started, stammering over my words, "She's such a... such a..." What was I saying? "Slut," I finally finished, "and he's so hot."
I didn't even notice I'd picked up the rock, didn't notice I was holding it in my hand when I looked at Rick and said, "For God's sake Rick, I wish you'd just nod and agree with me."
***
I opened my eyes slowly. My head was throbbing and my stomach felt like it was doing cartwheels, and I desperately felt like I was going to die. To be fair though, as my eyes widened and the sunlight from the window made its way in I groaned and tightened my eyelids shut. What the hell happened? I wondered. As the rest of my body started to come alive, I noticed a couple of other things that concerned me a little. I was lying on somebody's couch, and I wasn't the only one here. The arm wrapped around me under the blanket was kind of a giveaway. What did I do last night?
Without opening my eyes, I reached back and felt along the arm, up over the shoulders, and down around the flat, rather muscular chest that was pressed against my naked back. It was definitely a guy. I felt him shift a little, and in the finest conventions of the male anatomy in the morning, I felt something else shift against my butt. Okay, okay, I thought, There's no need to panic. You slept with some guy last night so what? John would have done it before the wish Besides, you wanted this, right? I thought about this for a moment. Kind of wanted to remember it though, I thought, carefully dislodging his arm and freeing myself.
A little more slowly, I opened my eyes. It still hurt like hell, and I could feel the headache coming on, but it was a little more manageable this time. Before me, I saw the living room of Jill's trailer and I started to remember parts of last night. There'd been alcohol. A lot of alcohol, I realized, staring at the seven or eight empty bottles on the table and wondering how many of them had been mine. A ridiculous amount of alcohol! There'd been people too. *Jill's friends had been here and then * There'd been others too, but for the life of me I couldn't remember much about them. There'd been weed too, I remembered that now. I shook my head. Natalie, Natalie, Natalie What the hell were you thinking? I didn't have an answer. Obviously I hadn't been.
I pulled the covers away from my naked body, and slid them up behind me, keeping my male friend covered up. So, who the hell did I fuck last night? I wondered. Part of me wanted to know, and part of me was terrified. I remembered Rick, and the fact that he'd turned out to be gay, except Oh my god! He hadn't been gay! I was too stoned and drunk to realize it, but he'd just been responding to my wish! I shook my head, wondering what other damage I'd done, and simultaneously realizing that I was probably less than a minute away from violently throwing up. I reached down, quickly grabbing my purse, and made a run for the bathroom. When I opened the door and stepped inside, images from the other night began to play through my mind.
I remembered coming in here at some point "“ I'd learned quickly that alcohol had a way of finding the quickest possible route to my bladder "“ and as I'd been finishing up, somebody had come in. But who? I got down on my knees and leaned over the bowl. For the next few moments well, I won't gross you out with the details, but you get the idea. When I was finished, I poured a Dixie cup of water and rinsed all of the stale tastes out of my mouth. I reached into my purse. Yeah, I'd been an idiot the other night, but I wasn't going to deal with this throbbing headache and wishy-washy stomach all day long.
"I wish I wasn't hung over," I said softly. One the flash of light passed, I felt a lot better. Physically, at any rate. Emotionally, I was still more than a little concerned. I was a little worried about heading back out there, for fear of learning who it was out there.
"Rob," I whispered, finally remembering who had come in last night. He'd been a little stoned too, but he hadn't been as far gone as I was. He'd apologized at first, but I told him it was okay. I didn't waste any time either. I remembered reaching up and kissing him. I'd thought he was going to back off, thought he'd go back out to Violet yeah, that was her name. He didn't though. He gave right into the kiss. He'd locked the bathroom door Memories of the other night began to play across my mind, but there was a lot missing. I remembered that we hadn't said anything else though. He'd slowly turned me around so I was leaning on the sink, looking in the bathroom mirror as he lifted my skirt, pulled my thong aside and I couldn't remember moment for moment, but I knew what we'd done in here. It had been over rather quickly, but neither one of us had cared "“ We'd both gotten what we wanted
"Have a little too much fun last night Jon?" I turned to see Malcolm standing in front of the door. He was wearing the same dark suit, and the same smug expression that he seemed to be wearing every time I saw him. He smirked.
"That's not my name," I told him. "That's not who I am anymore." I leaned back against the counter and ran a hand through my hair. Definitely gonna have to wash that today, I thought. It felt kind of stringy and ratty. "Anyway, what the hell are you doing here? It seems like you show up, talk until you're on the verge of saying something useful, and then vanish again."
"I'm just checking in," he told me. "After all, you made a lot of wishes last night "
"What are you talking about?" I asked, my attention suddenly his. *I'd wished to remember Jill's friends then I'd wished that some other people would show up, then there had been that stupid wish about Rick * Then there hadn't been anything Had there? I suddenly realized that I couldn't remember much of anything, aside from the quick encounter with Rob, that had happened after that wish. "What did I do?" I asked him. I knew my track record with wishes so far.
"I told you the rock would rob you of your inhibitions," he told me somberly.
"Yeah, yeah," I told him rather crossly, "I get the whole I told you so spiel. Just what the hell did I do?" My mind was racing now as I tried to remember what had happened, what I might have done. Still, I was coming up blank. I stood up, taking my weight off of the counter.
"Well," he said, and I swear it looked like part of him was enjoying this, "There was the point in the evening when the officer showed up "
"Police?" I asked, cutting him off. *I know we were loud, but *
Malcolm smiled and tilted his head. As he continued speaking, I reached into my purse and retrieved my cigarettes. I lit one as he continued on, and walked over to open the bathroom window. "Nobody got in trouble, thanks to you " he paused as though turning something over in his mind, "Well, thanks to you, and the clever way you had Violet persuade him to look the other way if you turned down the music."
"I made her " I didn't like where this was going. "You mean, I wished for her to "
He nodded. "Of course, that opened Rob up for you." He chuckled. "Boy was he pissed at her."
I shook my head. This was not what I wanted! "What about everybody else? Did I screw anything else up?" He made a dramatic show of trying to recall things that I knew full well the bastard had already prepared to say.
"Well, when Rob and Violet's friend Maggie found out about the rock "
"What!" I couldn't even begin to hide my shock and terror. I vaguely recalled the mousy looking red head. "How did she find out?" I pause for a moment, a thought occurring to me. "No don't tell me." I picked up the rock, the cause of so much trouble, and held it tightly in my hand. "I wish I could remember last night with perfect clarity."
It took a moment for the memories to populate my mind, but when they did, my mouth dropped open. Malcolm was smiling at me, a rather twisted look crossing his face. It wasn't that anything incredibly terrible had happened. Rick was bisexual now, oh, and thanks to Maggie and me, so was Jenny, and Rob and Violet had broken up... I wasn't going to pretend that this was all okay, but considering the damage I could have done
Violet!
"I turned Violet into a dog, didn't I?" I asked, my eyes locked on the shape in the bathtub. From the corner of my eye, I saw Malcolm nod as I looked down at the Siberian Husky that was sleeping fitfully in the bathtub. "Shit," I whispered. "Shit, shit, shit." I leaned back on the counter again. "This just gets better and better." I could remember thinking, in my father well, let's face it, fucked up state of mind, I'd thought it would be nice for my niece to have a pet. Given my animosity toward Violet
"I fucked Rick too, didn't I?" Thanks to my wish enhanced memory, I knew that it was him lying on the couch. Malcolm nodded. "Well," I thought out loud, "at least I feel a little less tense in that regard. No more drugs, and no more alcohol," I vowed. I couldn't take my eyes off of Violet. "I know what the note said, but there has to be a way to reverse this," I said, half pleading. "I mean, come on she was a major Bitch," I said, trying not to wince at the horrible pun, "but she doesn't deserve this."
He shook his head. "Wishes can't be undone Jon. It's not that it's a rule, it's simply a fact."
"Well, fuck your stupid facts!" I shouted at him, taking another drag. "I want to reverse this! And stop calling me that! It's not my fucking name you bastard!"
His eyes shifted for a moment, as though he were deep in thought. Finally, he went on. "It can't be done," he finally told me, "because of how the rock grants your wishes."
"What the hell does that mean?" I was really starting to hate this guy. I realized, as I stood there naked in the bathroom talking to him, that at least my libido had quieted down some. Thank God for small favors.
"Are you familiar with the idea of parallel realities or dimensions?" He asked.
Jon had been quite the nerd, so this wasn't completely unfamiliar territory. "It's a common plot device in science fiction," I told him. "The idea that there are an infinite number of universes out there that are just like ours, but slightly different." I nodded, "Yeah, I have an idea of what you're talking about."
"Good," he said. "Now, this is more than theory, it is a fact. There are an infinite number of realities out there, each one created when choices are made, or even when other phenomena in reality happen just a little different. Everything can happen, every possible outcome for every situation, does in fact happen." He paused for a moment, "Still with me?" When I nodded, he continued. I could see Violet scratching in her sleep in the tub. "Now, the rock works by merging realities. It takes your current reality, and merges it with one that matches your wish. This creates a hybrid reality."
"And I can't just wish to pull them apart?" I asked.
He appeared lost in thought for a moment again. "When you make a cake," he began, "You start out with the individual ingredients. Eggs, milk, flour, and so forth. You take these ingredients, mix them together, and bake them. When you're done, you have a cake. Once you have said cake, you can never get those eggs back again, or that milk, or that flour. It's part of a new whole." He looked at me for a moment. "Do you follow what I'm saying?"
I nodded. "I think so." I thought about it for a moment, "But I can augment wishes, right? Make changes that don't contradict current wishes?" I waited. "That was accurate, right?"
He nodded.
"Wait a minute? What the hell kind of reality exists out there where people can turn into dogs?"
"Magic exists J Natalie," he told me with a smile. "Your grandfather knew that " there was a pause, "but I'm not supposed to talk about him."
"But I could wish " I set the rock back down on the counter, "that she was some kind of I don't know, werewolf or dog rather, or something like that, right?"
He nodded again. What the hell did I do last night? How did I let myself get so overcome?
Malcolm looked out the window. "We have a lot more to talk about, but that will come later," he told me, "Right now, you're about seven hours late for school, if I'm right. You really wanted to go there today, didn't you?"
"Shit!" Of course! I needed to see Karyn! When I looked back, he was gone. I picked up the rock. "I wish I were dressed, had all of my school supplies and were standing just outside the building right now." There was a flash of light, and before I knew it, I was standing outside the school. I'd have words with Malcolm later, and I'd try to figure out a way to undo the damage I'd done. I knew I felt bad about it an all, but I also knew that Jon would have felt a hell of a lot worse, and that bothered me a little.
Not as much though, as the fact that I almost didn't recognize the outside of our school when I appeared there
