Jon and Zoe arrived at school to once again find the front lawn an uproar of photos, comradery, sympathy, support, and intermingling. Zoe was immediately welcomed in by her friends who raved about her leather jacket. Jon found himself involved in tons of group pictures and gentle teasing about his apparent unicorn obsession, along with him being grouped amid the other students who also got closets from younger children throughout town. At least I'm not stuck in a diaper, Jon grimaced, looking at one of his classmates. It was honest, genuine fun. Sarah McMillan had on some nerdy teen boy's button-up shirt and khakis, but was laughing delightedly about it. Biff was swaggering around in a business suit. Kyla seemed stunned to be in a golden cocktail dress, but was blushing from all the compliments she was receiving.
Karyn looked remarkably professional in a red pantsuit, although her lips pursed in amusement and she crossed her arms when she came up next to Jon. "Ok, so you look adorable, but I'm going to hold off on kissing you today. It'd feel too much like a mom getting uncomfortably personal with their child."
Jon laughed. "Fine by me. You can just admire the glitter and sequins on my unicorn."
After that, classes were, as was the case the day before, remarkably normal. It didn't matter if a teacher was crossdressed or wearing something from a teen skateboarder's closet, and it certainly didn't matter what any student was wearing. Besides some students feeling physically uncomfortable due to the cut or material of their clothes, school was normal boring school. The only difference as far as Jon could tell was the breakdown of all the societal cliques; people sat with other people at lunch because they were friends, nothing more, and even then, it seemed like everyone was friends with everyone else. Whatever the "witch's curse" had done to this reality his wish had accidentally created, it was clearly a more positive one to live in. I'm honestly looking forward to seeing whatever everything is like in November, Jon mused to himself.
And everything would have been fine, even in the ridiculous unicorn outfit. Until soccer practice.
Jon would have forgotten about soccer if Tyler hadn't crossed paths with him as school was ending, and ten minutes later, he found himself on the field with his new-found teammates. Coach Miller looked more comfortable than the day before, even if his jeans and open red flannel shirt were still a little off-target from what a soccer coach might normally wear. Three players got attire-related excuses for the day. Jon stood there next to them, hesitant. I haven't played soccer in about ten years!
The coach blew his whistle. "Jon! Are you playing or not? Let's go!"
"Yeah, Jon, come on!" Tyler laughed at him. "If I can practice in Sarah's cheerleading skirt, I think the Princess of the Unicorn Kingdom should be just fine!"
Jon rolled his eyes and stood out on the field. The first warm-up pass bounced over to him. Without even thinking, Jon reached out with his left foot, cradled the ball over to his right, and cleanly hit it back.
That was disturbingly natural, Jon sighed in relief.
The rest of practice was a blur from there. Passing drills, constant motion and cutting back and forth, and players occasionally ripping hard shots on goal. Jon found himself assigned to the starting defensive line during scrimmage, and he put everything he had into physically bodying the other players off the ball, poking the ball out wide to teammates, and even attempting a tentative slide tackle. By the time practice ended, he was drenched in sweat but felt remarkably great.
As he grabbed his backpack and apparent gym bag and got ready to head home, he heard Tyler curse behind him. "Ah, shit, Jon. Your hair. It looks like you're missing one."
Jon immediately dropped the bags and felt up on his head. Nothing seemed out of place? Then he felt set of hair ribbons on the back side of his head, but the other was missing. He quickly scanned the field, but they were nowhere in sight, with the setting sun making it harder to guess where it might even be.
He groaned. "Did you see when it fell off?"
"No, sorrry, man. That's tough luck. And by the time you find it, it'll probably be 30 minutes since you lost it. May as well just take the physical penalty at this point." Tyler grimaced. "Hopefully it doesn't keep you from playing in the game on Friday."
Jon forced a smile. "Guess we'll find out, huh?"
On the walk home from the school, Jon pulled out his phone.
JON: How do the physical penalties work again
It didn't take Karyn long to respond.
KARYN: What happened
JON: Lost a hair ribbon during soccer practice
KARYN: Oh that sucks
KARYN: Sorry Jon
JON: So how does it work
KARYN: Well
KARYN: Basically you'll wake up tomorrow somewhat different
KARYN: The curse treats it like you rejected the person whose closet you borrowed from
KARYN: So something about you will be warped that would better fit the unicorn-loving six-year-old
Jon looked skyward. This counts as interesting, I guess.
JON: Well
JON: Fuck me I guess
JON: So I could end up with a six-year-old's height for the rest of the month
KARYN: If it makes you feel better
KARYN: Physical penalties end up being pretty common throughout town just because it's hard to be perfect
JON: Yeah but your wish made this happen to me
KARYN: I'm sorry
KARYN: We've both made bad wishes
JON: ...
JON: Yeah
JON: It's okay
He took a deep breath, and slowly let it out.
JON: You'll be the first to know tomorrow morning
KARYN: Hopefully it won't be too bad
JON: Fingers crossed
With that, Jon headed for home.
JON: I'll text you in the morning
