There was a knock on his door. "Jon?" his mom called. "Are you alright? Just checking to make sure you're okay, we haven't heard you yet this morning. You didn't... you didn't get the dog closet, did you?"
"No, mom, I'm ok. Mostly ok. Kind of ok." Jon said flatly. "Dealing with it."
"Is it a bad closet? It's funny, both of your siblings got closets that were kind of right for them, but your father and I got each other's closets! I decided to wear one of his suits just for the fun of it." Linda tried to offer a positive attitude, but Jon could hear his mother's concern underlying her words. "Do you need help, sweetie?"
Jon closed his eyes, sighed one more time, then opened the door. His mother immediately saw his childish hair, and the look of surprise that flitted across her face was immediately replaced by sympathy. "Oh, Jon, why didn't you tell me you might have ended up with a physical penalty today? I would have been in sooner to help."
"I kind of didn't want it to be true," Jon muttered. "Lost one of the hair ribbons at soccer practice yesterday."
"And so now you have that little girl's hair, just modified to your height. Well, if it's any comfort, I'm sure you won't have to style it like this everyday, and you've had worse physical penalties in years past, remember? Was it two or three years ago you got those ridiculous lips right before the end of the month? Hair is much easier. You're strong enough to handle hair like this for a full month. And I'm right here if you need someone to... to just talk to, ok?"
His mom embraced him, and Jon fell into the comfort of her arms. Hair was simple, it's true, but it was still his life, and there was still more coming this month. And from his perspective, it was the first time that he could remember getting a physical penalty. Sometimes you just need a hug from your mom, he reasoned.
"Alright, I'm going to go warn Zoe and Mikey to be good about your hair or they'll be swamped with chores until December. We do not make fun of each other in this house when this happens - and I'm sure most everyone in town will be kind about it, too." Linda gave Jon another squeeze. "At least your sweater dress is simple and nice. No teenage boy wants to look sweet, but you do look nice, Jon. Finish getting ready and then come get breakfast."
Jon took one more look in the mirror and tugged on a pigtail. He took a deep breath and slowly let it out, then grabbed his backpack and soccer bag and headed downstairs.
His father was sitting at the kitchen table in a blue satin top and black leather skirt that Jon recognized as one of his mother's favorite work outfits. He simply nodded good morning to Jon without saying anything, the sympathy clear in his eyes.
"Um, morning, Jon," Mikey mumbled, clad in a t-shirt with a random anime character, his eyes darting back and forth between Jon and his cereal.
"Hey," Zoe offered. She looked back down at herself, fully goth for the day and seemingly pleased with her scenario, also trying to give Jon his space.
Jon rolled his eyes. "Ok, come on, you can at least talk about the elephant in the room, we don't need to build it up into two elephants."
"It's actually not bad, Jon!" Zoe immediately offered, smiling at him. "Come on, bro, you and I have both had so much worse!"
"Unfortunate that it's so early in the month, Jon, that's all. And I'm sure it was an accident, and those happen to the best of us. Remember when I tripped and ripped that blouse that one time, and ended up shorter than your mom for a week?" Roger shrugged.
"Yes, Roger, we all remember that, you bring it up every year," Linda remarked sarcastically.
"Well, it was very hard to put away things on the top shelf!" he defended himself.
"Make sure you borrow my conditioner," Zoe recommended. "You're going to need to spend more time brushing that out than I bet you're expecting right now."
Roger clapped his hands. "Alright, I need to head out. Zoe, Jon, do you want a ride with me again this morning?"
Jon quickly grabbed a banana and a cereal bar. "Yeah, may as well face it. Hopefully someone got an absurd closet and I won't be the main topic of conversation at school," he muttered.
Zoe scrunched her face at him slightly. "Jon, what does this mean about Friday?"
He looked at her. "What are you talking about?"
"You've got a soccer game, right? You have to wear your team uniform for it? The issue you have every October?" Zoe stared at him. "So you have to stop wearing your closet's clothes and you'll get hit with another physical penalty? Are you... are you going to sit out the game, considering how the penalties stack?"
Jon stared, and felt a sense of dread slowly spread throughout his body. "I guess... I guess we'll see what Friday brings first."
"Fair enough," Zoe gave him a hug as they headed out the door. "You know I've got you if you need me, right?"
Jon closed his eyes. He and Zoe were never this close. Maybe this reality, for all its issues, did have something going for it. "Thanks, Zoe. I mean it."
