And while Jon was trying to cope...what had Tina Black been up to?
Tina felt extremely guilty about what she was doing with Jon. She was selling out her best friend...but something about what the person doing this rang true. Something felt wrong. And...meeting her Mom...her real Mom...it just felt right. She didn't know that was a combination of factors...including the conditioning she'd been given.
Sabrina Brewer joined her as she walked. "Hey, Tina...you weren't in class earlier..." To Tina's recollection, which started after Sabrina had become her current self, Sabrina was someone she was friendly with.
"I overslept..." Tina said. "My mom already read me the riot act about it..." She actually had enjoyed that. It felt right...it felt normal...especially after the craziness of the last few nights.
"I had fun at the sleepover the other night..."
"Me too...I don't do stuff like that a lot."
"Yeah...you're always hanging around with Jon," Sabrina said. "I always thought that was kind of weird." She paused. "You are sure the two of you aren't a thing, right?"
"No!" Tina insisted. "We're just friends." She paused, thinking about it. "Weird how?"
"Just...that you often turn down invitations from us to hang out with Jon. I mean...we're friends, right?"
Tina thought about it. If everything was broken...was that broken too? She knew Jon was her friend...but she also knew that Jon wasn't right about everything related to the strange men and the changes going on. "Sure..."
"Maybe you'll come and help us paint sets after school..."
Tina thought about it. "Maybe," she said. "Will Jennifer be there?"
Sabrina looked at her blankly. "Jennifer who?"
Tina frowned. What now?
