Lunch found Karyn now Ken stretched out on the sun-warmed grass, the strangeness of the morning already softening into something dangerously pleasant. His head rested comfortably in one Jon’s lap, her delicate fingers drifting lazily through his blond hair. His shoes were off, and another Jon sat cross-legged at his feet, massaging his legs in slow circles that made him sigh in spite of himself.
The third Jon had curled up against him, her cheek pillowed on his stomach, rising and falling with his breath as if she’d been there forever. The fourth was propped against her backpack, compact mirror in hand, carefully touching up her lipstick after their make-out session under the oak tree had left her smudged.
Ken stared at the sky, overwhelmed. This is insane. Completely insane. But… god, it feels good.
Part of him worried about logistics—did he have to kiss all of them separately, or was it just one consciousness in four bodies? The answer seemed to be the latter, which somehow made it stranger and simpler all at once. They were still Jon. His best friend. Only now Jon was four beautiful girls who all wanted him.
The Jon with her head on his stomach tilted her chin up, smiling slyly. “So… what are we doing after school, boyfriend?”
The word jolted through him, but instead of panic, a grin spread across his face before he could stop it. “Easy,” he said, his voice steady, confident. “I’m taking my amazing girls to the movies.”
The response was instantaneous—four delighted squeals, overlapping in chorus like a song. One bent down and kissed his cheek; another squeezed his hand; the one with his head in her lap beamed down at him like he’d just given her the world.
“You’re the best boyfriend ever,” they chimed together.
Ken chuckled, sinking deeper into the grass, the warmth of their bodies pressing against him from every side. Against all odds, he was starting to feel… happy. Shockingly happy. Maybe this week wasn’t going to be a nightmare after all.
Making out as a guy, he thought, closing his eyes as a Jon’s lips brushed his again, is about a hundred times better than it ever was as a girl.
And for the first time since the hat game began, Ken let himself stop worrying and simply enjoy it.
