Jon's first few classes were mostly uneventful. By now he was able to tune out the physical changes, it was the mental ones he had more trouble with. Everyone was acting mostly normal, but every once in a while he'd notice something that would distinctly remind him of Sarah. A look, a gesture, a figure of speech. Everyone seemed just a bit like Sarah, but if you didn't really know Sarah you might not even notice it.
It wasn't until lunch that he noticed another physical change. He sat down with Karyn and Rob in the lunch room, and did a double take when he saw both of them.
Lip gloss. They were wearing lip gloss. He looked around the lunch room, and saw glossy lips everywhere. Shiny, pink, exactly the same shade on everybody: boys, girls, every teacher and the lunch lady too. Every now and then somebody would take a tube out of a purse or pocket and reapply.
So more changes were happening. But it's all on the surface, Jon thought, their bodies haven't changed.
"Earth to Jon," Rob said, interrupting his train of thought.
"Huh?" Jon said.
"I said, are you gonna finish those fries?"
"Oh, um... no. I'm not real hungry." He passed the plate to Rob.
"Thanks," he said. At least Rob still has his appetite, Jon thought, although he ate much more carefully, trying not to smudge his lip gloss.
Jon didn't say much during lunch, though the three did briefly get into a friendly argument about Battlestar Galactica. But Karyn and Rob soon slipped into more Sarah-ish conversations, and Jon could only look on, wondering how much farther things would go.
The rest of his classes were equally uneventful. He didn't see any more changes. His second to last class he shared with Karyn, but due to a pop quiz they didn't really get to talk. After school, the three met up again.
"Hey Jon, me and Rob are gonna hit up the mall. Wanna come?"
"No thanks, I think I'll just head home."
"Whatevs," said Rob, "See you tomorrow, I guess."
"Yeah, I guess." As the parted ways, Jon saw Rob whisper something to Karyn, which made them both giggle.
Jon sighed and turned towards home. He was completely dejected, but there must be a way to reverse things. He wondered if he should just go home, or try to get to Sarah's house and get the stone back.
