A rattlesnake rattles before he strikes. A hurricane has a storm surge before the worst of the winds. You can usually tell a movie's going to be bad if it starts out with something like "directed by Michael Bay." And earth-shattering revelations tend to come to you after someone says, "I need your help."
A wishing stone. And of all the people in the world who could have gotten it, it had to land in the lap of Jon Gibson.
I ask him what he's done with it so far. He tells me. Mostly, he's changed the colors of objects. The only two wishes that have any substantive consequences are Karyn's wish to be blond and busty, and Jon's wish not to be Karyn's friend. I'm surprised, but I don't show it. Not in front of someone else. I remember Karyn as always looking how she does. But then again, I also remember Karyn as always being Jon's friend, and she certainly didn't act like that just now.
My mind whirls at the possibilities, but my instincts tell me to ignore the temptation. Nothing good can come of playing with a fire you don't understand. Unfortunately I'm already in the middle of a game of propane chess, and I don't even know the difference between a king and a castle. Jon wants me to be his eyes and ears. This world's probably different from the world we woke up in, but because we're the only two people who heard the wish, we're the only two people who know.
We're going to go to school, and we're going to pretend nothing's out of the ordinary, but when we get home, we're comparing notes.
