At school, a guy Jon wasn’t particularly familiar with but who he had seen before because he was in at least 2 of Jon’s classes, approached Jon.
“Hi Tiff, how you holdin’ up,” the guy said in a depressed tone.
“Oh, up,” Jesus my name is Tiffany now? Jon quickly reeled in revulsion. “I mean, hi…” what was his name.
“Did you bring the stone with you today?”
Jon stifled a gasp. Oh shit, this guy knows about it.
“You seem really on edge, did some wish go horribly wrong by any chance?”
“Well actually, maybe, and I’m not sure what to do about it.” In for a penny, and this guy already knows anyway, apparently he’s someone girl me trusts?
“Well let me know what happened, two heads are better than one, or something, maybe I’ll have an idea you don’t?”
At least he seems friendly.
“Well, you see, um,” Jon, or Tiffany, began, how could she tell this guy who was on good terms with her that in her own memories she didn’t even know him without hurting his feelings? “Well, supposing things, were very different before, and you might be surprised by how much…”
“Oh no…” he said in anxiety. “Is this a situation where everything I think I know is wrong?”
“Um, well, you see…” Jon, err, Tiffany tried to say.
“Did I never even ask you out? Are we friendzoned? Am I not even your boyfriend?” the guy said.
“Oh god,” Tiffany said. “I’m really sorry and you really seem like a nice person but, in my memories, I don’t even know your name.”
And then he did a surprising thing to Jon/Tiffany. He started crying. “So years of friendship, me making that silver ring for you with the hammer and the anvil and the propane torch, taking you on that adventure with my family’s farm in Tennessee, that’s all gone?” he said, holding back tears.
“Oh god,” Jon said. She was half inclined to actually wish to have memories of that other him, except it wasn’t another him, it was another her, and she didn’t really find it all that appealing a thought to merge her mind with a girl let alone a girl she truly didn’t even know even if it was herself and even more if she was a heterosexual girl and had a boyfriend! Even if it was more an addition than a change, that was just too much a change to his own mind to be comfortable with!
“What is your name?” Tiffany asked.
“Josh,” he said. “And I’m not Joshing you. That was a bad joke. But, tell me everything that happened at least. Maybe not here, it must be a long story.”
“It’s not really that complicated, just shocking. My real name is Jon, I was a boy, I wished girls all had animal parts, and then this girl I know named Karyn, I don’t even know how she ties in in your timeline…”
“Your on and off girlfriend,” Josh said.
“Wait, what?” Tiffany said, trying to make sense of it.
“You’re both bisexual, she’s your girlfriend but she’s hiding it from most people, and all 3 of us are on friendly terms,” he whispered.
“Holy shit,” Jon said, before continuing. “Anyway as retribution for her whole life being a lie she wished I was a girl.”
Josh stood there in silence for about 15 seconds before finally saying “well this is awkward.”
“Yeah,” Jon admitted. “So, any good ideas?”
“… when you were, Jerry?”
“Jon,” Tiffany said in mild irritation.
“Sorry, when you were Jon, just, as an idea where we stand, what was your, sexual orientation?”
“Hetero,” Jon said without hesitation.
“Right. My girlfriend was a heterosexual guy in a life I don’t remember. Also the whole human species isn’t what it was. Just peachy. Well, how about, first, we become friends?”
“That’s certainly not asking for too much,” Tiffany said. “You’re taking it pretty reasonably and seem nice enough.”
“Second, you consider, not necessarily doing it, but consider, just wishing to remember the other life you had with me,” Josh said.
“I was actually already thinking about doing that,” Jon admitted. “But you have to understand that is asking a lot.”
“Right. So it stands to reason I should offer a lot in return. Three, you wish me into being a girl.”
Tiffany’s mouth was open but nothing was coming out at first. “What?”
“You wish me into a girl. Then our relationship will be fine with you, right? We’d be in the same boat kind of. You’re a guy inside but still the same person I know and love, and one version of you wouldn’t want a boyfriend and the other version is fine with me being a girl since she’s bisexual, so half the problems would be solved by turning me into a girl, and, 48 percent of the problems would be solved with you wishing for the memories of the Tiffany I know. The last bit, well, nothing’s perfect.”
“You’d be willing to do that,” Jon asked almost rhetorically.
“Wouldn’t you?” Josh said back, “choice 1, I lose the love of my life, choice 2, we become a lesbian couple and live happily ever after, decisions decisions. Plus I've kind of always been jealous of girls' tails, honestly I think it would be cool to be a girl, and have that limb that has always captured my imagination.”
“Ugh. This complicates things,” Tiffany said glumly. It was interesting though, this perspective that she hadn't even considered. In a world where girls only had these extra parts, it could easily be a point of jealousy. There were probably a lot more male-to-female transsexuals in this world, males who jealously wish they had been born female, not just for the reproductive function, but for this extra perk that came along with the female gender now.
“Well, sorry. I hope it doesn't complicate things in too negatively a way. I'm trying to be understanding here,” Josh said, trying to be supportive.
“No, you don't understand. Before, my plan was just to fix things, to change things back to the way they were. I was already thinking it shouldn't really be impossible, knowing what I already know about what can and can't be done with the stone, but I wasn't worrying about the ethics of that, but now that I know about this, that would erase everything you have with the Tiffany you know, and that would be mighty selfish of me. And maybe, your timeline, is just as valid, and deserves to exist, and I can't just, fix things now. I can't just pick what's more convenient to me personally as if nothing else mattered,” Jon explained. “Maybe your plan really is the best way. There's more at stake than me.”
“Ahh, yes, I see. Well thanks for thinking of me and not casually erasing my entire universe,” Josh said with a little sarcasm but understanding the perspective.
“All right, I think I should do it. But I want Karyn to be here for it too. Her memories are of yet another timeline, where I'm a guy but where girls have animal parts, and I don't think she'll remember you. I think the plan is, we get her, and if she agrees, we'll wish for your Tiffany and me to have our minds and memories merged so I am both people and remember it both ways, and to do the same thing with Karyn, but I don't just want to do it from a distance without her permission. I just hope she agrees to all of this. She'd better. It's a problem she partially created after all,” Tiffany outlined the plan.
