The pair walks in relative silence for most of the way. A few offhand comments are made, some of which are friendly, but they still indicate to Jon how tense things are with Zoe in this reality. Maybe Allison deserves it though? More than once she not-so-subtly hints at how important a degree is, how hard their mom works for them, and how bad Allison's grades are. Each time Jon is more and more inclined to throw up her hands and tell Zoe the truth, but obviously doesn't. Zoe sighs as they near the school.
"See ya Allie. If you need any help with your school work, just- just ask." Zoe offers a curt smile to Jon as she hops up the stairs to the front entrance.
Jon let's out the breath she didn't know she'd been holding. "Damn Zoe You're really pushy in this reality." She rummages through her backpack and finds her phone. It's in a pink case with blue highlights, and is surprisingly nicer than the one Jon had as a boy. It's, fortunately, not locked and to Jon's consternation she finds that it's only 7:45. Zoe drug her out of the house way earlier than they needed. She could almost walk back and get a bra, or even find the stone, but the sight of Karyn stays her.
"Karyn!" Jon shouts over the thin crowd of students. She smiles gleefully and waves with her full arm. It doesn't last as she realizes how much her enthusiastic display makes things wobble. A curter wave follows as her gaze is met with a very perplexed Karen. Jon slips the phone in her pocket and scurries over to her confused friend.
"Hi... can I help you?"
"Karyn it's uh..." Suddenly a wave of embarrassment washes over Jon as she realizes what she's about to admit. She begins to fidget and looks away. "It's me " Karyn's face goes from confusion, to realization, then irritation.
"Y-you? Jon!" Jon nods, and immediately he's whacked with the book in Karyn's hand. "What are you doing you perv?" She hisses. "Did you get yourself stuck like this with a wish? God. One night! One night with the stone!"
Jon holds her hands up in defense. "Hey! Ow! No! Karyn!" she whines "I already had an awkward morning with mom and Zoe. It is sooo not like that" she swipes her hands in a cross as she speaks.
"Well maybe it wasn't awkward enough because you're still a girl! What are you thinking?"
Jon continues to placate Karyn, gesturing for her to calm down. "Zoe rushed me out the door before I had a chance to look for the stone. I think I accidentally turned her into, like, a pushy honor grad sort of girl."
"Well, it's not like it matters! If you wished yourself like this, then you're stuck!"
Jon shakes her head. "Nope. The stone didn't do this, so it's completely undoable."
Karyn raises an eyebrow, but remains silent. "So you didn't turn back earlier, Why?"
Jon proceeds to explain the nights wish and the mornings events Though he obviously refrained from telling her all about the night's events.
"So, all you need to do is find your computer?" Again, Jon nods. "And what if you don't have a computer in this reality?"
"I've thought about that "Jon fidgets nervously as she speaks. "Which is why I really really need to find the stone." She intends to sound serious, but it comes off as childish. Karyn doesn't seem convinced, and whispers more subtly. "And what if you can't find the stone?"
"Of course I'll find the stone!" Jon insists with that utterly unconvincing voice. "I-I mean. It's got to be in my room somewhere, it's just this girl me is so messy. It could be, like, anywhere."
The bell rings, and Karyn let's out an exasperated sigh. "I'll come help you look for it after school. I don't want to be stuck with these awkward things any more than I want you stuck as a bimbo." Karyn chuckles and waves as she walks off.
Jon pauses a second, thinks about what Karyn said, then pouts. "HEY! I'm not a bimbo."
Jon crosses her arms in annoyance at her friend as she hears a final giggle from Karyn as she enters the school. Rolling her eyes, Jon makes her way to homeroom. The class, strangely, is already full. And some dork is sitting in her desk. Mildly annoyed she makes her way to the gangly boy. "Uhh, excuse me, that's my desk." She tries, and fails, at not letting her annoyance slip into her words.
"It's homeroom. This isn't your homeroom. Dumb bitch."
A few voices of disapproval sound out, but the boy isn't phased.
Jon's temper flairs "Uhh, yeah it is. Now get out of my desk!"
Before the conflict has any chance to escalate the bell rings and the teacher walks in. He's tall and plump, as is due a football coach. Mr.Dunning is his name, and despite his somewhat rural accent and jargon, he's a well liked man filled with school spirit and smiles. Immediately his eyes fall on Jon. "Morning Allison..." He rumbles with that bearlike voice. He scrutinizes the situation before speaking, then calmly says "Shouldn't you be on your way to homeroom now? Ms.Teage is not very lenient with being late."
The boy snickers, and Jon sneers, then glances up to Coach Dunning. "Yes sir " She quickly vacates the room in a huff. Everything about that encounter was frustrating, and a little peculiar. Since when does Coach Dunning know his... now her name? Does she even have his classes? He doesn't teach any AP History classes, and that's all Jon's ever taken.
She walks a few more steps, then the ball drops. "My classes!" She shouts, to the confusion of a nearby student. Jon ignores her and begins to rummage around her backpack for her homeroom binder. It's a pale pink, and smattered with sketches of hearts, smilies, and worse... Much to Jon's chagrin. Fortunately, inside she finds her locker number, schedule, and classes. She smacks herself in the head for not realizing it sooner, then flees to Ms.Teage's class as quickly as her feet allow her.
"Allison!" The angry prune of an old lady declares as Jon slips through the door.
"Sorry Ms.Teage, uh, my locker got stuck "
"Sorry doesn't change the fact that you're late. That's another tardy mark."
The teacher makes a show of holding up the list. "You don't have any more until ISS." Jon hunches. There was no need to call her out like that. That's not even her tardy marks, it's Allison's. Teage's stern gaze follows her to an empty desk.
"Now that Allison's taken her seat, I can read the morning announcements."
She begins to drone on about the lunch foods, upcoming events, club activities and the like. None of the other teachers even read that stuff unless it's important. Well they don't read anything besides the lunch food items. Jon takes the time to flip through her binder and assess her new schedule. She has the usual core classes of English and Social Science. Jon sighs. No AP-History or Dual Enrollment English to be found. There's Life Science, which causes Jon to scrunch up her mouth. The class is like an introduction to Biology. It's the sort of catch all for everything from basic Darwinism to agricultural science. It's useful if you want to be a farmer, but is otherwise considered a remedial class, especially considering that yesterday she was in chemistry. The frustration continues as she sees Algebra-B on the list. She didn't even know Algebra could be split up into A and B! Her electives are broken up into PE, Home-Ec, and Study Hall. How wonderful That's about as bland a schedule as can be chosen. She rolls her eyes. At least the day will be easy. One more thing catches her eyes. It's one innocuous word at the top left of the paper found just below her name. "Junior"
"What?!" She hisses.
Someone clears their throat, and she looks up meet the angry eyes of Ms.Teage.
"S-sorry"
The teacher holds the gaze a few moments longer, then proceeds to drone on about increasingly irrelevant announcements. At this point she's practically reading the minutes from the monthly school board meeting.
A junior? An 11th year student? Jon thought that the computer could only randomize her genes, not change her age. Jon finds a small clutch in her backpack and looks for her ID. Her birthday is... well, it's not the same. But it's only 2 days earlier. That's not enough to be held back a year! So why wasn't she senior? Was this girl such a poor student that she was held back? Did good looks really cripple Allison that much? She leans back in her desk and lets her head loll backwards. At least it's just for a day "One day won't kill me " She mutters.
