"That was surreal." Buffie was still shocked at what the group had seen.
"I... I might have part of an explanation," Jonatha hastily volunteered. "It's gonna take a while, though. Want to grab a meal at the food court?"
"That doesn't sound half bad," Nessa replied, and the group began to head toward the mall's main attraction. Ridgefield's food court had once been rated the best mall food court in the whole state, back when there were enough successful malls in the region to make a ranking of that variety useful. It was still a popular hangout due to the variety of food options available there.
Nessa looked at Buffie. "Are we...friends?" he asked as he looked around the food court. Most of the gender-neutral food places were the same, but a few were different. He hadn't been much of a mall person, but he didn't remember there being a Thai place there.
"I could go for a good curry," Jade replied. "At least food isn't changing." As she was saying that, Jade spotted a girl sitting alone at a table. A familiar girl. Ash Miller.
"Hey, I'll be right back," he called out to the gang, quickly parting from the group to get Ash's attention. "Ash!" she yelled. The girl turned and got up, walking right for Jade.
"There you are!"
"It's...good to see you," Jade said with a strong feeling of relief. This was the first time the two had seen each other since the game, although they'd been talking and texting all day. "A lot has gone on."
"To say a lot has gone on is an understatement. Even here, people are changing right before my eyes."
"Well, we just had our own moment like that. Come with me, Ash, I'll introduce you to my friends." The two walked back to the line in front of the Thai stall.
They got within earshot in the middle of a sentence by Nessa. "...And we need some kind of...code to talk about this so people don't think we're crazy."
"Well, a couple of you know I've been texting a girl all day. What you don't know is that this girl...has also been going through some stuff. This is Ash Miller, from the Mount Valley basketball team." The other three Lake Point boys were caught by total surprise.
"Well, look at this... I didn't think I'd want to see your face after last night," Nessa chuckled. "I'm Nessa Kim. Or at least that's who people remember."
"I'm Buffie Meadows-Ikechukwu. I'm the confused one," he added.
"And I'm Jonatha Fo—I mean, Gibson, another cheerleader from Lake Point. Well, for the past two days, at least." I almost said Forsyth there!
"Well, it's nice to meet you. I have to fill you in on what the last 24 hours have been like for me," Ash sighed in her voice. Buffie wondered what Ash was like before all this happened. "I think we've all experienced just...how unstable things have become."
"Well, I wasn't Korean until yesterday," Nessa chuckled.
"And I would never have dreamed of being a popular cheerleader," Jade chimed in. "So, tell us... What's been going on in Mount Valley?"
"Well, Mount Valley's changing too. So...Mount Valley's mascot is the Foxes."
"Isn't it the Vixens?" Buffie corrected.
"Well, now it is. It wasn't when we traveled to the game last night. When we got home, though, after that massive brawl, changes were rippling all over town."
"Like... like what?"
"Well, of course, everyone changed. It's so weird hearing rumors about pregnant...boys. I'm not used to it yet."
"So...wait. Girls...once...got...pregnant?" Buffie had yet more information to process. The entire rest of the group nodded.
"Girls in this world are almost the same as what boys used to be. With a couple of exceptions," Jonatha added. "And of course the caveat that boys became boys and girls became girls."
"And that's not all that's going on. I've concluded there has been some sort of family swap after the brawl between two players who got mixed up and went to the wrong places. Well, I do need some confirmation on that."
Jonatha's eyes got big. "We now have a Sym Black where there once was a Karyn Black. And she was my best friend, at least before all this happened," he explained looking at Jade—without a doubt, his new best friend— with a smile.
"Well, we have the exact opposite. We have Karyn Anderson now and I used to be on the team with Sym Anderson."
As it came time for the gang to take turns ordering their meals, the others pondered the current state of affairs.
"We just saw two kids turn into a very sexy couple," Nessa said. "It's like...it's not just a gender change."
Jade looked at him. "Well, if the world has always been this way....then the changes are bigger if they happened generations ago...right? It's like suddenly all the decisions in history were made by different people, but this is still America and the technology is the same...why's that?"
"You'd think," Jonatha added, "but we've entered the realm of things we cannot explain."
"I'd rather know how we can stop it. Anything is better than more changes."
"How do we fix this?" Ash asked.
"I..." Jonatha thought about the rules that governed the stone. It's been a long time since I thought about that rock. "...I don't think we can." Even if I get this thing from Nicole by going on a date.
"How do we stop it then?" Ash asked. "I mean....stop it from spreading further. It could take over the whole world."
"...I...I don't know. We might all have to cope."
"One of my teammates is not coping at all," Ash replied with a look of worry on her face. "It looks like the only people at Mount Valley who know are people who were at that game, including, of course, our team." Once everyone had their meals, they retreated to a table to continue the discussion. "She's...I mean, she just can't take it. I'm worried about her."
"It's like... I'm barely managing my new family life. Korean families...are a big adjustment for me. At least I can speak fluent Korean now, for some reason." Nessa tried desperately to make light of his predicament. "I think I might have been born there... I'm afraid to ask, actually."
"My siblings changed, too," Jonatha added.
"Well, at least yours are the same, Jonatha. I now have an older brother named Crystal who's a cheerleader in college, and a little brother named Diamond who's, like, 9 or 10. I think he might be in the same class with your younger bro Mikelle," Jade explained. "I used to have no siblings whatsoever, so it's been quite an adjustment!"
"But where did they come from?" Nessa asked. "And...where did my family come from? They aren't the same."
"Are you familiar with something called the butterfly effect?" Jade asked, having an idea. "Different decisions made, different people exist or don't exist. Different marriages. Different interests. People have more kids or fewer. Entire companies might exist here that didn't in the world we knew, and vice versa. Though it seems whatever caused this wish tries to avoid making things too complex in places."
"Jade was a real nerd before this wish..." Nessa commented. "I mean, glasses, socially awkward..."
"And if you think that's a big leap, Buffie...wait till I tell you about who you were," Jonatha added.
"Maybe he doesn't want to know," Nessa said. "I mean... I'm still processing my change."
Ash looked at Jade. "Nerd, huh? You turned out beautiful."
"And what were you like before? I mean, I didn't see you."
"Kind of a tomboy. This world suits me well. But I definitely am going to be one of the most well adjusted. It's weird not to have to wear a bra everywhere... I imagine that's been one of the biggest adjustments for you."
"That and all the social changes," Jonatha admitted. "And Jade's not the only one who's dating."
"Who's the lucky lady?" Ash asked.
"You're...not gonna believe it, Ash. It's Nicole Forsyth." Jonatha's voice trailed off into a dreamy, overwhelmed tone. "She's just so...so...hot."
"I thought you were mad at her for something though....isn't it funny how you are adapting?" Jade commented.
"Love does strange things, doesn't it?" Buffie was all smiles.
Nessa looked at him. "Neither of us have girlfriends..." he checked. "Right?"
"Not that I know of," Buffie giggled.
"So Ash," Jonatha began, "what changes have you seen at Mount Valley? Besides the Karyn swap?"
"Well, it's weird to think that girls play football. Apparently I do now. I'm scared for spring football, because at this rate, I'll have no idea what to do. Sometimes I wish we had some of our old memories, the ones we didn't bring with us from some other world."
"It'd make school less awkward," Jade added.
"And I might understand my own family's deal. I'm lucky I can speak Korean," Nessa sighed with a laugh.
