"Mr. Gibson," Miss Fine was on the opposite side of the stage from Karyn, but saw the boy approaching his still-slightly-dazed friend. "Could you come here just a moment?"
The boy obliged, though he was a little confused, and entered the stage from the steps closest to Miss Fine. "What do you need?"
"You wished for this," she put a hand on his shoulder, "and you have no will to change it. Am I right?"
"I don't know what you mean." Jon was starting to feel a little dizzy now, himself.
"I don't like being this direct, Jon," the guidance counselor brought her eyes directly into the boy's line of sight, and wrested their attention. Jon found he couldn't look away from her eyes. "But what you've set in motion cannot be interrupted. And since only you and Karyn heard the wish, only you and Karyn even know that there is something to interrupt in the first place. So I will let Miss McMillan handle her new protege, but as for you: you have no will to alter your wish. Even if Karyn requests it directly from you. You will find every reason possible to leave things as they are, and to let events unfold as they will."
"I can't change my wish, what if it makes things worse?" Jon said in a monotone, his eyes still locked onto Miss Fine's.
"That's right. Now you're going to forget about this conversation, and go talk to Karyn."
Jon shook his head. "What do you need, Miss Fine?"
She gave two quick tugs at the open zippers of Jon's hoodie, then smiled. "It wasn't on straight. Now you look much better."
"Uh, thank you."
"You're really close with Karyn, aren't you. I bet she's waiting to talk to you."
Jon turned to look behind him. Karyn was at the other end of the stage, still looking woozy. "Yeah. Thanks." Then he crossed the stage.
Karyn blinked as she saw her friend approach, then slapped him hard on the shoulder. "This is your fault, and you know it," she hissed. "We need to fix this."
"But what if we make things worse?"
"I don't care. I'm not going to be a cheerleader, especially if it means doing what Sarah says. Give me the stone."
"Right here? People can listen in."
"Jon." Karyn's eyes said that there was no option to refuse. "Give me the stone right now."
He did so. But the moment that Karyn took possession of the stone, her eyes glazed over, and her beauty pageant smile returned. "I wish..." The words came out in a slur that seemed to contradict her smile.
"Are you okay?"
Karyn blinked, and her eyes cleared but her smile remained. "Oh gosh, I wish Sarah would pick me to be at her sleepover."
She dropped the stone like it had bit her, looking at her own hands in horror.
"Well, some wishes do come true," the head cheerleader sidled up beside the two friends, beaming as always. "Of course you can come to my sleepover, Karyn. I'll see you on Friday!" And with a wink, Sarah left them to talk to some of the other new cheerleaders.
Jon scrambled to pick up the stone before it was lost. "I told you," he groaned. "We'll just make things worse."
Karyn, now completely under her own control, collapsed into Jon and began crying on the shoulder of the hoodie that Miss Fine had only just straightened.
