At last, something sprang to mind. Her bullies were big, strong and male. They were all a year or two ahead of her. They made advances on her, and she felt like they did not understand what it was like to be weak.
Not Jason Maas, a beefy offensive lineman who used his sheer size to get in the way of anyone who wanted to take him down.
Not the wrestler Thomas Parks, state champion at the 172 lb weight class last year.
Not Matthew Colby, the star wide receiver who felt that catching 32 touchdowns last season and being well on his way to 20 or 25 Division I offers made the school his personal harem.
As she began to formulate her wish, though, she realized something. Every guy was the same. Jason, Thomas and Matthew were but three members of a club more than three billion strong, a legion of men who wanted women just for their bodies.
So she began to build a wish that would have not just the bullies, but the entire male world, in her shoes as she reached for the stone in her backpack.
"I wish that the entire male gender was weaker than the female gender, so that Jason, Thomas, Matthew and every other guy would find themselves preyed upon. I wish football and wrestling were as looked down by girls upon as cheerleading is by guys. And I wish the only acceptable shoes for these new weak boys were high heels."
The stone flashed for a second in warm heat, then faded to room temperature and receded back into the bag.
Meanwhile, the entire world around and inside Keisha Casey's high school bus was about to change in the most unexpected way...
