Jon was continuing to worry about what might be going on, but he had not even considered that what Tim had told him might have anything to do with it. Mostly because the idea that anything interesting would come from a shallow cheerleader trying to pay attention in class didn't occur to him. He was expecting a much larger hammer to fall.
He was on his way out of the school when Allison Wright approached him. "Have you seen Sarah?"
He paused. "Why would I have seen Sarah?"
"I'm asking everyone," Allison said. "How about Tiffany, Amber, or Melissa?"
"Sarah isn't exactly my favorite person," Jon said. "I don't keep track of her."
Allison nodded. "Fine, just...they didn't show up for practice. And she's usually the first one there."
He paused, suddenly thinking back to what Tim had said this morning, and his wish. "Do you need help looking for them?"
Allison's eyes narrowed. She had no particular issue with Jon Madison. He was like plain yogurt...uninteresting. He wasn't particularly attractive, or athletic, or outgoing. He was like the picture that came with the frame. Sarah seemed to have some sort of issue with him, and had riled up her boyfriend, Biff, to give him a hard time. But she'd always suspected that wasn't so much about Jon as his friend, Karyn. Karyn had an odd resemblance to Sarah, similar figure and hair...but everything else about Karyn was completely different. Sarah seemed fixated on it at times, as if Karyn had deliberately chosen to look like her just to annoy her, which was completely ridiculous. "Why do you want to help?"
Jon paused, as if thinking about it, before answering. "Because I'm not a heartless jerk?" He said.
Allison wondered if she had been hanging around Sarah and the others for so long she was starting to think everyone had an angle. She wasn't sure Jon didn't have some other motive, he wouldn't be the first boy to use an excuse to spend time with her, but... "Fine...you want to come along, you can."
They started systematically searching the school, hall by hall. They were nearly done when Allison's phone beeped with a text from Erika, with an accompanying picture. Sarah and the others had shown up, but...there was definitely something wrong. She looked at Jon. "They just turned up. I've got to go...thanks for trying."
"Where were they?"
"I don't know, I...need to get to practice," Allison said. She hurried away.
Jon frowned, and followed her, something was definitely wrong.
He followed her to the gym, and peeked in through the doors. Allison was standing on the other side, a look of surprise on her face, one mirrored by the others who had been waiting.
"Sarah, what happened to you?" Allison said.
"Why do you all keep asking that?" Sarah said. "We were in the library and..." she snorted, "we all forgot we were supposed to be here until we saw your text."
"What happened to your hair?" She asked. Sarah had her hair tied up in a messy pony tail.
"It kept getting in my eyes," Sarah said. "I mean, it is completely impractical. I'm going to have to do something about that."
"And I don't know what I was thinking with these nails," Melissa said. "Do you know how much faster I could type without them?" She remarked.
"Why don't we test it?" Tiffany said. "I bet I can type more words per minute than either of you," she said.
"You're on..." Sarah said.
"I don't know what's wrong with you four today, but are you going to change or not?"
Amber looked at her. "Change?"
"Your clothes, Amber..." Jessica said. "Honestly...what is wrong with you all?"
"That's a good idea," Amber said. "Come on," she said to the others. That was odd also, as she was usually not the one speaking up. "Let's get into something more appropriate." The four heading toward the locker rooms.
The three cheerleaders left behind exchanged glances. "Did someone drug them or something?" Erika mused.
"Like what?" Allison replied. "What drug makes you want to prove who types faster?"
"Or those weird things they were saying this morning?"
"Maybe they are on something."
They waited around for a few minutes. Jon slipped into the gym, unnoticed by them as they watched the locker room door.
When the four girls finally returned, if Jon had any doubt this was somehow related to his wish, he didn't any more.
The girls had changed outfits...but not into their cheerleading uniforms. None of them were wearing any makeup. Sarah was wearing a modest skirt and blouse, and a pair of comfortable looking shoes. Tiffany had on a t-shirt with some sort of blue box on it. Melissa was wearing a sweatshirt and slacks. Amber was wearing a fedora.
"You're right, those clothes didn't fit us at all," Melissa said. The others nodded in agreement.
"So, you decided to dress in the dark?" Jessica said, looking at them.
Tiffany snorted. "At least we aren't all wearing the same thing."
"It's a cheerleading uniform," Allison said. "We are all supposed to be wearing it."
