Karyn dialed John's number. It rang several times until someone picked up.
She heard John's voice "Hello?"
"Hey John," she said in a panicked tone. "We've got to do something!"
"Karyn?" he asked. "That's weird - your number isn't programmed into my phone anymore. And hey - I can't find any of my old pictures of us. Strange, huh?"
"John," she interrupted. "That's what I need to talk to you about. The whole world has changed just from my wish. My friends, my mom, my classes. I don't know what's going on..."
"Oh," he said. "I can fix that at least. Hang on a minute." Karyn heard him set the phone down and yells "No, John, wait!".
She heard him say something in the background but couldn't make it out. Then suddenly she felt something wash over her. "Oh God," she thought, "how long do I have to deal with this loser. I can't wait to finish this prank."
"Karyn? Did that help?" John asked, returning to the phone. Karyn tried to cover her feelings of contempt and disgust, answering in a syrupy voice "What do you mean John?"
"You know, I tried to help you cover things from your wish today" he said.
At that Karyn felt a wave of confusion. It's like she had two complete sets of memories competing with each other, and two very different personalities.
"John," she said in a tense tone, "What did you do?"
He answered "I made a wish that you would know stuff for your current life, you know, as if you'd lived it"
"You idiot," Karyn shouted. "I couldn't hear your wish so I can't tell what's 'real' and what's not!"
"Sorry Karyn," he sputtered. "I was only trying to help."
She took a deep breath and gritted her teeth. Calmly, she told him "Don't you dare make anymore wishes about me! I've got to think about how to deal with this. We'll talk tomorrow." And she hung up.
She sat down on the bed and put her head in her hands, trying to sort through her memories and emotions. Her two lives blurred together - she had to think carefully to twease the details apart.
"Damn that jerk!" she thought. "Screw it - I don't want to deal with this right now."
She went over to put on some music. Looking at her music collection was confusing. On the one hand, she liked country and despised bubble-gum pop. On the other hand, all her music seemed to be top 40 now. She felt drawn to a Katie Perry disc and put it on to play. Listening to it relaxed her and she started to sing along, although she felt in the back of her mind that something wasn't right about this.
Her phone rang. The contact on the phone said "Luverboy" - it was Chris! She answered in a sexy voice- "hey lover!"
"Hey baby, how are you doing? I was worried about you the way you walked out on us this afternoon" he said with concern in his voice.
"Sorry Chris," she answered. "I was just playing around with your guys, getting into the role, ya know? "
"Sure, honey," he said, relieved. "How about I let you make it up to me? Let's go out tonight!"
"Great!" she answered excitedly. "Pick me up in an hour?" "Yeah babe, I'll see you then," he said and hung up.
Karyn happily pulled her top, miniskirt and heels out of the bag and got dressed. She sat down at her vanity and expertly applied her makeup. "Looking good!" she thought to herself.
Then she jerked back, saying aloud "What the hell am I doing?" She realized that if she's not careful, it's easy to just lose herself in this new life. While she still has all her memories of her old life, it feels a little distant while she's surrounded by all the trappings of her new one. She needs to get out, maybe go see John. If she can be around him, maybe she can focus more clearly on her "real" self and figure out how to fix this mess.
The doorbell rang. "Karyn!" her mom called out. "Chris is here."
