Zendaya sat down in the front passenger side seat. Of course she gets to ride up front, Gena thought bitterly.
"Sorry, I'm late. I just needed to tell Karyn where I was going, and why," the black girl said.
"Hey, how come she got to tell her best friend that and not me?" Gena asked. Zara was undoubtedly wondering what was up and where she was going. Though she probably shouldn't have been complaining so much. After all, she didn't have to sit through her last class of the day, getting to go home early. Though it might have been more enjoyable if it were under different circumstances.
"You can tell Zara later," Lanie said, starting the engine and pulling out of the parking lot. "Right now, we need to focus on making Myka feel as loved and supported as possible."
"Okay, yeah, sure," Gena said, relenting.
Myka was glad for the support, but still felt awkward about all of this. After all, the three people in the car with her right now were members of her own family, but vastly different ones from just that morning. Even she was different. Zoe had gotten older by two years and became black, not to mention adopted by the Gibson family; Jon had turned into a Goth girl; Myka's mother Linda should have been the one to drive them home in these circumstances, but she was now a different kind of person who divorced her dad, and was essentially replaced by Miss Wright (Lanie), who was now Myka's stepmother! But the biggest change to Myka's family was Myka herself. Just that morning, she was a somewhat ordinary 10-year old elementary school boy named Mikey, and now she was an attractive 17-year old high school softball star named Myka. But the others knew none of this. Because Myka (as Mikey) was the one who made all of this happen, via a wish, she was the only one who noticed that things were different. It also meant that she didn't know anything about anything in whatever new reality was being created at the moment. She didn't even know how to live as a girl! She's only been one for no more than a couple of hours! The only person in her family who probably wasn't any different was her dad, who wasn't even in town at the moment.
"Hey, don't worry. We'll get that bastard," Gena told her, misinterpreting her distress. "He won't get away with this."
"Oh, uh, yeah," Myka said, giving an uneasy smile. It was still just so weird to know that this Goth girl used to be her big brother Jon, or that now Myka was the same age as her, making them twins - identical twins. Growing up must have been pretty unique for them, but again, Myka had no knowledge of any of that. Maybe when she got home, she could use the stone to enlighten herself. At least until she could get help with dealing with her out-of-control wish. She still wanted Karyn's help with that. "So, uh, Zendaya?"
"Yeah, sis?" she asked, from the front seat.
"Will Karyn be coming over, after school, I mean?"
"Sure, I guess she could, but don't you think we should focus on you right now?" Zendaya asked.
"Oh, uh, I don't mind the company. I like Karyn," Myka said.
"You do? Since when?" Gena asked. "Didn't you call her a loser just last week?"
I did? Why would I do something like that? Myka thought. "Okay, maybe I did, but something changed between us. I'd really like her to stop by."
Zendaya shrugged her shoulders. "Okay."
"Speaking of Karyn ..." Lanie said, turning down another street. "Which college is she going to in the fall again?"
"College?" Myka asked. "I thought she's a Junior."
Zendaya looked back at Myka, giving her a confused look. "No, she's a Senior. Obviously." She then turned back towards Lanie. "She hasn't decided yet."
Myka started to panic again. The changes to Karyn were already happening. She had aged by one year! If she aged even more, it was quite possible that she'd not even be Zendaya's friend anymore, and maybe even forget about the stone. That would leave her adopted sister as the only one who knew about the stone, and the only one who could help her figure things out.
"Okay, we're here. Home sweet home," Lanie said, parking the car in the driveway.
