The next morning, Jon awoke to all sorts of noise coming throughout the house, about 30 minutes before he'd normally get out of bed on a school day.
He could hear his parents down the hall, laughing and joking. "You'll be the prettiest belle at the ball!" his mother was beyond amused. His father said something in response Jon couldn't quite hear, but his mother laughed appreciatively. They seemd in a good mood, Jon supposed, as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.
Zoe was yelling, pissed off about something. "Pink! Why is it all so fucking pink!"
Jon could hear Mikey calling for help. "Dad! I don't know how to tie this and I don't want to get it wrong and get cursed!"
On top of all the ruckus, his phone was buzzing angrily. He leaned over and grabbed it. October 1st, apparently. He'd need to eventually start thinking about Halloween plans and costume ideas at some point this month. But it was the sheer number of texts that threw him off. Every group chat that he was a part of was being added to faster than he could take the time to process what the lines said. Jumbled together, they made even less sense that simply reading them did.
PETE: Guess I joined the football team today
STEVE: Anyone got a good video guide for mascara
TIFFANY: You will NOT believe the track suits I have to pick from
SARAH: OMG I just realized this is all Mrs. Kline
Jon stared. Why do I have Steve and Tiffany and Sarah saved as contacts in my phone? He paused. Actually, why am I on so many group chats?
The phone rang in his hand. Karyn. He immediately answered.
"Ok, so my options are really incredible," she jumped right in without preamble. "It all looks like clothes that one of the basketball players would wear, but pushed to an extreme stereotype. I think I have to wear a backwards baseball cap today just to make sure I'm meeting the standards."
Jon stared into space. "Karyn, what are you talking about?"
Karyn laughed. "Jon, it's October 1st, come on. What's in your closet? Did you just wake up?"
Jon rubbed his eyes again and swung his legs over the side of the bed, stretching. "Yeah, and the house is all loud, and my phone is going a mile a minute. What's happening?"
Karyn was silent. "Jon. It's October 1st. You know. October."
"No, Karyn, I don't know what that means."
"Jon. Abigail Parris. The curse. It's October."
"Karyn, I don't know what that means! What are you talking about!"
Karyn paused again. "Jon, did you use the wishing stone yesterday and make yourself forget about Abigail Parris?"
Jon suddenly remembered the wish for something interesting to happen. "... maybe. I... definitely didn't make a wish worded like that."
"What did you wish for?" Karyn's voice dropped, suspicious.
"I... might have wished... for something interesting to happen. Accidentally."
"Jon!" Karyn's tone shifted, irritated. "Didn't we learn anything about dumb wishes yesterday? And you go and do that? And now you apparently don't remember Abigail Parris?"
Jon sighed. "Could you just give me the rundown so I know what's happening?"
Karyn sounded entirely annoyed. "I can't believe I have to tell you this. I don't have time to go through everything this morning, and I'm betting you don't either. Have you even looked in your closet yet?"
"No, why does that matter? I'll just-" Jon opened his closet door and stopped in mid-sentence. His jaw dropped. Where there had been mostly piles of t-shirts or jeans on shelves just a day ago, there was now a rod lined with elaborate dresses. Shiny dresses that looked like they would seemingly leave no curve hidden when put on. Backless gowns with glittery thread. Cocktail dress after cocktail dress. Lots of satin. Underneath, a rack of ankle boots and thin high heels shoes with straps. A closet that belonged to an outgoing young woman. Definitely not him.
He turned, and stopped again. There, on top of his dresser, was a small rack of jewelry and a supply of cosmetics. That definitely hadn't been there the night before, either.
"Karyn, why do I have the closet of a woman in her twenties that loves to party?" his voice was strained.
