Jon couldn't focus on the English lecture. He made the motions. He raised his hand an acceptable amount. But in the back of his mind he was preoccupied with the girl sitting next to Sarah McMillan at the back of the room.
It was Karyn, but it... wasn't. She was wearing an outfit that the Karyn he knew would never be caught dead in. And she was using body language that Karyn would never use. And she was giggling alongside Sarah McMillan of all people.
Jon had just seen her twenty minutes earlier, how had Karyn become her blondest self so quickly? The stone was in Jon's bedroom, hidden away. He was certain this wasn't the result of some new wish. Was it a continuation of Karyn's original wish? Did all these other things just piggyback along when she got blonde hair and big boobs?
He couldn't do or say anything while class was in session, but the more he sat, the more ideas kept snowballing in his head. The more he found himself imagining the rest of his academic career, the rest of his life, without the Karyn he knew in it.
No. There must be something he can do. This can't be the end. Jon would find some way to make this better. And he would start--
The bell rang.
"Remember to read the first five chapters of Emma before tomorrow's class, everyone!" the teacher shouted over the cacophony of closing books and zipping backpacks.
Karyn was in Jon's next class, but Sarah wasn't. He watched the two exit the classroom together, but split off into different directions. If he could get Karyn alone, then maybe he'd be a step closer to some solution.
But to Jon's great surprise, the moment he exited the door himself, the moment he was physically between Karyn and Sarah, Karyn's body language changed. She was moving like her usual self. At least she was for two steps before she paused, brought a hand to her forehead, and let her back collapse into the hallway wall.
