“Do you hear that?” Jon asked voice noticeably higher than before. Ronald could hear it too. The sharp, clacking footsteps of a pair of heels. It could be a teacher. It could be a student. Who know? It was but it was best if they didn’t get caught. It would be hard to explain why the two of them were combing the halls in the middle of a class period.
“In there?” Ronald replied, pointing to a nondescript door in the wall. Jon moved toward the door and grabbed the handle. He twisted but the handle didn’t budge. Jon looked back to Ronald but he turned around, ostensibly looking in the direction of the approaching footsteps while slipping a hand in his pocket.
“I wish the door in front of Jon was unlocked and no one would enter while we are in it,” Ronald whispered before turning back to Jon. “Let me try.”
“It’s locked,” Jon stated. Ignoring Jon’s statement Ronald grabbed the handle. Brushing Jon’s hand in the process, which was strangely cold. Jon quickly retracted his hand feeling a rush of butterflies he couldn’t quite explain as he watched Ronald turn the door handle he could have sworn was locked and usher the two of them inside.
“That was close.” Jon’s voice crackled. The two of them hung by the door listening to the footsteps approach, pass, and then start moving away. Ronald let out his best fake sigh of relief, looking down to meet Jon’s tentative smile. It seemed that Jon’s teeth had gotten whiter, and cleaner.
“It was,” Ronald replied as he looked up to take in the room in front of them. It was a server room. Ronald never thought about it but he guessed it did make sense the school would need a server room.
“Should we go?” Jon asked tentatively. Perhaps more tentatively than usual. Which was strange but there was something about Ronald that unsettled Jon. Well, made him uncomfortable. Not in a bad way though.
“To class?” Ronald asked as he watched Jon swipe a strand of auburn hair out of his eyes. The changes were progressing but he still looked similar to before. He was a bit cleaner. Hair a bit longer. There were some curves there that Jon’s loose letterman jacket and sweatpants couldn’t fully conceal. It was not a masculine figure. Still, Jon was very much not a woman.
“No to keep looking. You offered to help me find my stone. Though I wouldn’t want to hold you. Getting in trouble for taking too long in the restroom is a risk I need to take but I wouldn’t wish to place it on you.” Jon replied. That was weird. He was usually not so selfless. He should be guilting Ronald into helping him find the stone. It was important. Then he could wish it so they wouldn’t be in trouble. But he couldn’t bring himself to. Ronald started talking but he almost didn’t notice. Something about Ronald’s eyes were captivating. Jon quickly looked away, his cheeks flushing.
“Let’s look in here.”
“But how could it be in here?” Jon replied a little incensed. Ronald’s seemingly new charism wasn’t enough for Jon to entertain such a farcical option.
“We’ve looked for 15 minutes where you said you last had it and nothing.” Jon nodded as he followed Ronald's line of thought. “And this room is usually locked. We will never get as good a chance to look here. Perhaps someone stashed it here.” Jon looked around the server room as he parsed Ronald’s words. Fuck. Ronald was right.
“What if someone comes-s?” Jon asked, his voice hitching on the last syllable. He cleared his throat. His hand came up to his throat to feel it just as a lump under the skin faded away under his polished blue nails. Alarm spiked in his mind and he was about to say something about it when Ronald’s voice stirred up the butterflies in his stomach again, scattering his thoughts.
“I’ll stay at the door and listen. Just look quickly.” Ronald replied.
“Sure.” Jon conceded as he started to quickly scan the small server room.
As Jon moved away, Ronald quickly slipped a hand back into his pocket to make another wish. “I wish that somehow, no one will find it strange or suspicious that the two of us have been gone so long. And no one will remark or think about it when we return to our class.”
