The rest of class passed without incident. Jon did his best to follow along, but it was hard to stay focused. He was thoroughly relieved when the bell rang and he could move on. Jon threw his things in his bag and joined the flow of students out of the hall. The hallway was already fairly crowded.
As he walked, a plump boy with large, round glasses caught his attention. The boy waved at him as he approached. “Hey boyfriend!”
“Boyfriend”? Am I gay in this world? Then he remembered that it was perfectly normal in the old reality for girls to call each other “girlfriend.” This probably didn’t mean anything romantic.
“Oh, hey!” Jon said, trying to sound as familiar as possible. He didn’t know the boy personally, but recognized him from one of the photos in his locker. He tried to remember his name. Jake? Jade?
“How was your break?” The boy asked.
“It was fine. How about yours?”
“Oh, you know. A bit lonely without you, Noah, and Ryan.”
“For sure.” Jon nodded, making a mental note of those names. “What have you been up to?”
“Not much, with no school and no dance practice. At least I’ve had some time to play Animal Crossing. Kyla’s been trying to get me to play some new shooter game, but you know I’m not really into that…”
As the boy talked, Jon was distracted by another familiar face down the hall. It was a boy in high heels and a tight, hot pink miniskirt that generously framed his bulge. His pastel pink tank top showed off his flat, hairless chest. Jon did a double-take when he saw the boy’s face. It was hard to tell behind the mountain of makeup, but was that… Biff!?
Biff’s hair was now golden blonde. It was pretty short, for a boy, and was pulled into pigtails. Jon fingered a strand of his own, much lighter and longer blonde hair. Seems he didn’t get it from Biff after all. Then who?
Jon’s question was answered when he spotted a boy standing near Biff. He first noticed the boy’s bleached blonde hair, which cascaded down his back almost to his exposed waist. The boy had tan skin and sharp features. He dressed elegantly; like Biff, he also wore a skirt and crop top, but unlike Biff, the clothing felt natural on his body, rather than superficial. This boy was also incredibly tall–in fact, Jon recognized him from the school’s basketball team: Christopher Mena, star player.
As Jon stared, Chris caught his eye, then pretended not to notice Jon. After saying something to Biff and another boy Jon didn't recognize, he turned and strode nonchalantly in Jon’s direction. As he passed, he not-so-accidentally bumped into Jon’s friend.
“Oh, my bad. I didn’t see you there. Jace, right?”
The other boy glared at Chris through his glasses. “It’s Jay.”
“Right.” He turned to look down on Jon. “And Savers. Long time no see.”
“Not long enough,” Jay mumbled.
Chris pointedly ignored him. "You're actually looking less girlish than usual today. Whatever new makeup you've got on, it's really doing a lot."
"Ha ha," Jon said sarcastically. "Don't you have anywhere better to be?"
"As a matter of fact, I do. It's been great catching up. Savers. Jace." He turned to Biff and the other friend. "Come on boys."
As the bullies sauntered off, Jon huffed. "What's his problem?"
"He's even more unpleasant than usual." Jay agreed. "Wonder if he missed having someone to pick on during the break."
"Yeesh."
