The ride to the mall passed by with uncomfortable silence for the first 5 minutes or so. Jon was driving down a residential street, when he slowed the car down. Karyn was about to ask why he was slowing down, until she saw a familiar red octagon on the side of the road. While she knew this was a STOP sign, her brain could not make out a single letter of the word. Jon sensed her frustration, and knew what just happened, as it seemed like Karyn was drawing closer and closer to tears with each passing second. He thought that he would try to console her, or at least start a conversation.
Not really knowing a good place to start small talk given the circumstances, Jon said, "So, uh, how you doing over there?"
This mundane question was all it took to light the fuse and set Karyn off completely. "How am I doing? How AM I DOING?! Just fucking great, thanks for asking! Let's see, in less than 48 hours, I have gone from a nicely-built, red-headed, honor-roll student, to a big titted bleach blonde retard, and the one thing that could have fixed this is in the hands of the biggest bitch in the whole school "“ thanks to you. We did not get to hear her wish that made me illiterate, so we have no idea what to make of it. Did she change reality so that I never could read? Am I now in special ed and taking the little bus to school? Do I even go to school with you anymore? Or, am I going to have to wake up, and try to explain to everyone that I forgot how to read overnight? I don't know Jon, how exactly do you think I am doing?"
As each word rolled off of Karyn's tongue, Jon felt the words stinging more and more. He knew that this was his fault, but he did not need Karyn reminding him of that. Her frustration fed his frustration, and then led to him blowing up back at her. "Wow Karyn, I am so sorry about your predicament. Let's see, you gave yourself the bleach job and breast enhancement since you were so cavalier with your words after I told you to be careful. And now what "“ you can't read? Big deal. My DICK IS GONE! Do you understand that. GONE. You get some kind of 'out clause' tonight, and you can be back on the honor roll by the morning. BUT NOT ME! Nope, I have to worry about what is happening to my MOTHER, and then I have to worry about what is in store for me tomorrow! You get your out clause, and this is behind you. I have no idea when "“ if ever "“ I get released."
Karyn was about to rebut Jon's fury, but she realized that getting more pissed at Jon would not help anything. Not only that, Jon was right. She did not like hearing that most of her situation was her fault, but in the grand scheme of things, Jon was in a much worse situation than she was. Seeing that they had pulled into the mall parking lot, Karyn gave Jon a sympathetic pat on the arm, and said, "OK Jon, let's go shopping and try to get this night behind us."
And with that, Jon parked the car, and the two stressed out friends headed into the mall
