Jade Duncan's final-period music class was, as he had quickly found out, interesting.
For one, it was full of people he never saw in any of his other classes throughout the day. There were two people he recognized as cheerleaders, along with Sam Gomez, a girl that reminded him of a Goth from before the wish but now had chocolate-colored skin, and a girl named Saber Johnson who seemed to be a total nerd.
Yesterday, he'd stared at the teacher, Mona Clark, for a long while before he recognized the face suddenly. It was a big surprise to see the authoritative principal from the old world, Simon Davison, had become this very laid-back teacher. Perhaps he just couldn't be principal in this world?
As he walked past one of the other cheerleaders, he said hi. The boy stopped Jade and motioned for him to come over.
"W...what is it?" Jade wondered, taking a seat next to him. He was the only Asian on the cheer squad.
"I...don't know if I can tell you..." Jade tilted his head. Is this another wish victim?
"Go on..."
"You're gonna think I'm silly, but...have you ever wondered what it would be like if you suddenly find you're...you're Korean?"
Jade's eyes grew massive. A clue. Here, let me ask him this. "And have you ever thought about what life would be like if we were not cheerleaders?"
"You mean to tell me...?"
"Do you have my phone number? You're not alone, I'm getting the sense that this is growing."
"Growing to what? I mean...it was all cool and exciting for a little while...but I want to wake up now."
"Come with me to the mall after class if you don't have plans. I might be able to explain a few things. But not many." He put an arm around the other boy. "I didn't catch your name... What is it?"
"Here? Nessa Kim."
"I'm Jade Duncan."
"Duncan...you were....I remember you from before..."
"Alright class, time to get moving," Mr. Clark called out. Jade noticed that the other cheerleader in class was also sitting with them.
"Oh hey, Rielle." He knew from the team photo that this was Zacharielle Maynard.
The other boy gave him a strange glance for a moment before looking away. "Hey, Jade," he said rather reluctantly.
"What did I say?" Mr. Clark called out. "This is class, not a social club," he said. Now Jade thought he saw some of the old Mr. Davison in Mona.
The boys were forced to wait until after class to resolve the various issues they'd tried to raise with each other.
