Michelle knew Karyn was still after her. She didn't want Karyn to catch her and possibly take away what the stone had given her. She knew wishes couldn't be reversed: The Random Stone had made her one of the prettiest and most popular girls in school, and so therefore it couldn't be used to make her the most popular boy in school, or the least popular girl in school, or the least popular boy in school, or anything like that.
Wishes could, however, be re-interpreted. The wish, as Zelda had phrased it, didn't state which school, so that could be changed. And Michelle didn't want Karyn or anyone else wishing she attended some other school. She liked Lake Point High School, she liked Sarah McMillan and the cheerleaders, and she wanted to stay there till she graduated four years from now.
She needed to buy some more time before Karyn caught up with her. Quickly, she came up with a wish. "I wish this strip mall was a huge indoor shopping mall with all the best stores."
She knew that the wish would work. Even if the Random Stone acted as if someone else within 50 feet of the wisher made the wish instead of the wisher, she knew it'd still be granted the way she wanted. It was the sort of wish that anyone in the immediate vicinity could have made.
And indeed, the strip mall began changing. Stores moved around as the mall expanded and grew into a large indoor shopping mall. Stores from elsewhere in Lake Point vanished from their previous locations and were now located in the mall, with their employees believing that they'd been located at the mall for some time. A parking garage was now attached to the mall, to accommodate all the extra parking the larger mall required.
"Yes!" Michelle exclaimed, with a smile. She turned toward the entrance of the pizza place, and instead of windows and a glass door looking out over a parking lot, she saw the inside of a shopping mall and some other stores nearby.
"I wish I had a bag and enough money to buy things here." she said.
A moment passed, and no bag and no money appeared. "Oh, yeah." she said. "I wish Michelle Gibson - the girl sitting by herself at the table holding a stone - had a bag and enough money to buy things at this mall."
The wish was granted this time, to one of the people behind the counter. But it worked the way Michelle thought it would, and soon she had a bag. It was a handbag, or purse, and inside it was a great deal of money. It was also a good place to keep the stone until she made another wish.
Meanwhile, Karyn was wandering the mall, looking for Michelle. She grumbled. How had she lost track of Michelle this fast? The mall was a big place, and full of the sort of stores that would appeal to a popular girl like Michelle.
She could have sworn she was getting close a minute ago. Maybe if this were a smaller place, like a mini-mall, she'd have found Michelle by now.
As it was, at least Karyn had a bag and enough money to spend here. But she wasn't here for shopping. She needed to find Michelle.
