"Excuse me, Zoe?" said Julie.
"I said I would notice your talk that I'm not supposed to notice," replied Zoe. "You got a magic stone when Grandpa died. I got something else, Jon. An amulet that protects me--better than that lame thing on the family--and an offer. Let's just say that a few years from now, I know where I'm going to college."
Karyn groaned. Meanwhile, Julie replied "I'm not Jon, I'm Julie."
"Fine, have it your way," said Zoe.
"I mean it," said Julie. "It's stupid to go around acting like Jon in front of people who will hear it. I suppose now is okay, but it's a bad habit to get into. And please stop making me make up stuff about shopping trips."
"It's for your own benefit, Jon."
"No it's not, Zoe" said Jon, "and she's Julie."
"I was just messing with you. And think of it this way. I need to practice pretending you're Julie too. Maybe we should have regular meetings to decide Julie's life...."
"No!" yelled both Jon and Julie, followed by Karyn a moment later. "Zoe," said Julie, "would you please stop trying to be a bitch about it? We never wanted you to get drawn into this, but it seems like you are. This isn't something for pranks, it's something that we have to do so we don't have to keep wiping people's minds with the stone right and left just to not get sent to the nuthouse."
"Sure, give me a million dollars. Seriously."
"That's blackmail," replied Jon, who guessed that "Julie" was thinking the same thing.
"It's not like you need to go bankrupt to get the million dollars, Jon. You have a magic stone."
"I wish Zoe inherited a million dollars of collectible items from Grandpa. And don't blame me if that changes history so that Grandpa was now a jewel thief and you have a new sister who was his accomplice."
"Glad to do business with you!" replied Zoe as the bus arrived at school. "And welcome back, Julie."
