Jon heard someone knocking on his door.
"Jon!" The voice was Robert's. "You ready yet?"
Jon glanced at the little black dress in his closet. "No." He put the stone on his bed and put on the dress without hesitation. Although he still remembered the previous reality, he liked what he saw in his mirror. He had wished that "no one" would think it would be strange for him to wear a dress, and "no one" included him. I'm hot, he thought. "You can come in now."
Robert opened the door. He was wearing the same dress as Jon. The bouquet that had been in his hand seconds ago had vanished just like his suit and tie. Boys gave girls flowers on dates, but in this post-wish world, Robert and Jon were equals.
Although Jon felt perfectly comfortable in a dress, he forced himself to withhold his shock at the sight of Robert in a matching outfit. "You look ... nice."
"Yeah," said Robert. "You chose well. This design suits both of us!"
It suits me, thought Jon. You, not so much. "Uh huh." Jon wondered if Robert could detect his lack of enthusiasm.
Robert took Jon by the hand. "Come on, let's go."
Jon looked back at the stone on his bed. Should he take it? But how was he going to carry it? His dress had no pockets.
"Don't forget your purse," said Robert.
"Oh, yeah, right. Um ... where is it?"
Robert pointed at a purse that hadn't existed a moment ago on Jon's bed. "Right there ... by a ... rock? What are you doing with a rock?"
Jon put the stone into his purse. "Er, never mind."
"Jon, tell me," said Robert. "There shouldn't be any secrets between us."
"But this is just our first ... date."
"Are you a rock collector or something?"
"No ... it's something my grandfather gave me. Something to remind me of him."
Robert detected a sad tone in Jon's voice. "Did something happen to him?"
"Yeah ... he passed away."
"I'm sorry."
"Thanks." Jon breathed a sigh of relief. That should keep him from asking any more questions about the stone, he thought. Unless he keeps probing to get to know me better.
The two boys in identical outfits walked down the stairs together.
"I just knew they'd work out," said Jon's mother. She was wearing a shirt and pants instead of the dress she had worn only a few minutes ago.
Jon gasped at the sight of the woman in men's clothes standing next to her. She was ...
