"Girl, you look sexy as hell in that dress," Melissa, the petite auburn haired flyer of the squad, enthusiastically informed Jon as the blonde bombshell showed off the little back dress she was trying on. Jon smiled and gave a little twirl, to the general cheer of the other girls. She'd thought she'd feel vulnerable in something so revealing, compared to what she was used to, but the main emotion thrumming through her at the moment was pride and the sense of power that accompanied it.
"You think so?" Jon asked, checking herself out in one of the store's many mirrors. This was the third shop they'd hit that morning, and far from getting tired from what she'd expected to be a monotonous activity, she was loving it. Clothes shopping as Sarah was an entirely different experience from shopping as Jon, something that usually consisted of at most semi-annual trips to Target or Wal-Mart and grabbing some new jeans, tee-shirts, and maybe tennis shoes or a jacket. It was just sort of a chore she'd needed to do once in a while when she grew out of something, or the fabric wore out. In her new body though... 'I think I finally get why they call it retail therapy' Jon thought as she decided the dress was definitely getting added to her growing number of purchases. She hadn't bought too much, (she didn't trust herself to know what fit with Sarah's style and also, even though Mr. McMillan basically gave her carte blanche, she instinctively didn't want to waste money), but she'd figured not getting at least a few things would be even more suspicious. Besides, Karyn likes this dress!
Tiffany, in the process of trying on her own dress, a silver slightly shimmery body con number, chimed in confidently, "of course you do! Biff is going to be absolutely drooling over you when he sees you in it." Tiffany seemed less enthusiastic with her own garment, which matched her platinum blonde hair, but scrunched awkwardly around the shoulders and didn't sit right, making the squad's vice-captain frown in her own mirror.
Jon grimaced at the reminder that 'she' was dating Biff, before she could stop herself, drawing looks of concern from Amber, Tiffany, Melissa, and Jessica. Feeling like she'd made her first big mistake of the day and rushing to cover she blurted out, "uh, I've been thinking about taking a break from Biff. He's, uh, not been that great of a boyfriend lately." 'What are you doing Jon!? You can't just announce something like that to Sarah's crew without having some kind of a plan!' Jon chastised herself. This was just the sort of vulnerability Sarah had warned her Tiffany would pounce on.
However, instead of taking the side of the quarterback, or making some cutting comment, or really anything Jon had expected, the other four girls had an altogether different reaction. For a beat all four paused and she swore she saw there eyes go glassy for a second before it was like time snapped back into emotion, and looks of deep sympathy were on all their faces. Tiffany stepped forward and swept Jon into a hug, something that she found startling but oddly comforting. "Oh, sweetie, I didn't know. You're way too good for him anyway."
"Yeah, dump that jerk!" Jessica, the tallest member of the squad who had a bit of an amazonian thing going on, interjected fiercely. The African-American girl whipped her phone out, "I'll let everyone know we're now totally anti-Biff."
Amber nodded furiously, her chestnut ponytail bouncing wildly as she did so, "totally, we're behind you all the way captain. You deserve to be with someone who treats you like a queen." There was a chorus of agreement from the other girls, and Jon felt touched despite the fact the thing they were all comforting her over was a total lie. Okay it wasn't a total lie, Sarah and Biff had their share of rough patches as far as she knew, and this wouldn't even be the first time they broke up, even if the last time only lasted like two days. Jon didn't keep up with all the gossip about the school's golden couple, and her Sarah lessons hadn't had a chance to cover her current identity's romantic situation. More to the point though, this might actually be one of the only parts of Sarah's life that Jon knew more about than Sarah, and a tiny piece of information she'd overheard weeks ago suddenly seemed like her salvation.
Jon let her lip quiver and gave a little sniffle, demonstrating a new talent for acting. (Unknown to her, Karyn's wish was letting her access the original Sarah's skill at faking emotions.) "Actually, I think he's cheating on me. Someone told me they saw him making a move on some bitch from Mount Valley." Mount Valley High was the major rival for Lakeview across most athletics and sat on the south side of town. The hug from Tiffany rapidly grew into a group hug as the rest of the squad consolidated around her, surprising Jon yet again by how instantly and completely supportive they were compared to what Sarah had described. 'Does she just see the worst in everyone?'
"Oh my god, Sarah I am SO sorry," Melissa apologized, "that bastard is OVER."
Tiffany nodded decisively in agreement, not realizing that if she'd heard this news a day prior she'd be gleefully planning to exploit it to take Sarah's place as captain of the squad and top of the social food chain. Instead, influenced by Karyn's wish, she was aghast anyone could do that to her bestie and actively plotting to ruin Biff Meadows. "tell me exactly what happened."
"I don't know everything," Jon began, pulling out of the hug and making sure to still look upset even if on the inside she was marveling at how well her little improvised plan was going. "They told me they saw him making out with one of the sluts on their lacrosse team at a party the weekend before the last week of last term." That was, actually, as far as Jon knew, true. She'd been in the bathroom at school and ended up overhearing Biff brag to Steve about getting to second base with a girl from Mount Valley; at the time she'd hid and waited them out, resolving to not get involved. She'd known if she said anything Biff would make her life a living hell, and at the time she hadn't really cared much about Biff and Sarah's relationship one way or the other, now though...
"Fuck that guy," Amber declared, surprising the hell out of Jon who'd never heard the bubbly, constantly pink clad girl swear before. Amber looked royally pissed though, "I'm going to get Mike in line. If the team try to stick with Biff after this, he's not getting anything from me." Mike Matthews was Amber's boyfriend at the moment, and a linebacker for the football team. Jon felt a little bad that the other girl was willing to cause issues in her own relationship to support Jon, but also amazed at how the whole squad instantly fell into line behind her.
Tiffany rubbed Jon's arm, "totally. If Steve tries to make excuses for Biff after this, his ass is grass. I swear, if he knew about this..." a thoughtful look crossed Tiffany's face, "who let you know anyway?" Tiffany totally trusted Sarah's word on this, but she was curious about who was willing to brave Biff's wrath to inform on him.
Jon panicked for a moment, briefly considering saying Jon Gibson before discarding it. She didn't want anyone to realize there was a weird connection between the two swapped individuals going on. Lacking any other options she blurted out, "Karyn Black!"
