The school day went on with this new status quo that everyone seemed to just accept without really thinking about it. The cheerleaders happily kept to themselves and stayed out of the way, paying quiet attention in class and even taking their lunch outside to have beneath the oak tree that they had very quickly come to think of as theirs.
Karyn, meanwhile, was the center of attention everywhere she went, and she was lapping it up. She included Jon when he was nearby, but in the end everything was always about Karyn.
Teachers who were not in the habit of greeting their students said "Good morning, Ms. Black" as she entered their classroom. Students she didn't recognize greeted her by name in the hallway. If she was disruptive (and several times she had been), the most repremand she received was a gentle wag of the finger and an "oh, you" look from a teacher or administrator.
As the school day drew to a close, however, Jon was starting to get concerned. Even if Karyn was smiling, he knew her well enough to see the strain behind those eyes. Whatever energy she was exerting, it was more than she could truly handle. Because it was one thing to assume all of Sarah's energy, but it was another thing entirely to take on the blonde energy of a dozen cheerleaders, as she had when the new Sarah had integrated herself into that group that morning.
Not all of the cheerleaders were blonde, and none of them saw their hair color change like Sarah had. But they all had had a certain amount of "blonde energy." And when they lost it, it had all siphoned straight into Karyn.
Jon, of course, knew none of this as the school day ended and the cheerleaders held a practice that more resembled a yoga class than a cheerleading session. But he knew that something wasn't right with Karyn. So as she lead a veritable parade of students out the front doors of the school, Jon pulled her aside.
"Are you alright?"
Separated from the incredible pool of attention she'd been receiving all day, Karyn had a moment of clarity. She took a breath, put a hand to her temple, and said "I don't think that I am. What's happened to me?"
"It has to be your wish from yesterday. Come back to my house, we'll get the stone and figure something out."
"I don't know if..." the words trailed off. "Jon, I have a headache."
"Do you need a rest?"
"No, I need..." Karyn grabbed Jon's shoulders, just as she had that morning, and things went fuzzy for Jon, just as they had that morning.
And when they cleared back up, he let out a giggle.
"Come on, let's go, Karyn!" he cackled. "Half the school is waiting for us!"
Jon hadn't changed at all physically, but his body language, and indeed his energy was suddenly a match for Karyn's. Perhaps he had even a bit more energy than Karyn did.
He bounced his way past her, taking the lead for the first time that day, and pulled Karyn be the wrist back into the throng of students. For her part, Karyn was happy to re-join the group. But she was relieved that she was no longer the center: Jon was. He was commanding the crowd like he was half of the school's cheerleading team, dancing up and down the school parking lot, standing up on car hoods, directing traffic with Karyn at his side, following his lead and egging him on.
Eventually, the crowd dispersed as all of the students made their ways home. And Jon and Karyn were no exception, leaning on each other and laughing as they made the walk from the school grounds to Karyn's house, the plan to use to stone to fix things entirely out of either of their minds.
