Jon was furious by the time he made it back home. How could she have talked to him like that? Why had he even told Karyn about the stone? So she could lecture him?
"Why did you even let her in your house?" she wondered. Was that really any of her business? But that wasn't a good time to get pissed off.
"I don't know. She said she needed help."
Karyn shrugged. She knew Jon was a pushover. Not that Jon was proud of that fact. Especially now.
"Who knows what she could do with that power," Karyn said. "Does she even know how dangerous it is?"
"Probably not," Jon replied. Not that Karyn was one to talk about ill-thought wishes. Then she had the gall to lay into him.
"What happened to your nails, Jon?"
Jon looked at the baby blue polish on his nails, remembering he'd wished for them to test the stone.
"What do you mean?" Jon looked at Karyn, and saw something in her eyes. Something that told him the gears were turning. It was if she'd had an epiphany. Her brow furrowed.
"Sarah's doing this. She's doing something to you. She changed your fingernails... don't you notice?"
"Karyn, don't be ridiculous. I did this to myself... although you shouldn't have noticed. I made the wish earlier. I had red polish on at school, then I wished for it to be blue. Are you okay?"
"Jon, Sarah's messing with you! You're not even supposed to have a manicure!"
"And why not? So my nails can look as rutty as yours? Give me a break. I'm sorry if I spend a bit more time on my grooming."
"Grooming?" Karyn was growing incredulous. "Jon. Listen to me. You're not normal!"
"Oh, that's rich. You're telling me what's normal? I don't have time for this. I'm out."
"But what about the stone?"
"I think I can handle it by myself. Don't worry about me," Jon said as he turned to storm out of the house. But Karyn was worried. The way Jon seemed so temperamental all of a sudden reminded her of... no. No, it couldn't be. Karyn felt a lump in her throat as she realized that Jon was acting almost like Sarah.
Jon slammed the door when he got home, stirring his father who'd dozed off on the couch. He glanced at his watch, then at Jon.
"Short study session," he commented, then saw the look on his son's face. "You okay?"
"Dad, do I look different?" Jon asked, holding up his dainty, manicured hands as he did so. His dad looked him up and down.
"No. You look fine. Why?"
"Nothing," Jon sighed. It wasn't something he'd understand anyway, Jon thought as he turned and trudged up the stairs. He felt bad for flying off the handle at Karyn like that. Even if she was being ridiculous, he decided he'd apologize when he saw her at school tomorrow.
He got to his room and looked at his nails. Blue wasn't bad, but he felt like he'd need something a bit brighter for tomorrow. He took off his rings, then grabbed his bottle of nail polish remover and started perusing the collection of colors that sat on top of his dresser. He quickly decided on "That's Hot! Pink" and went over to his bed to get to work. Tomorrow was going to be a long day, so he figured he might as well bring a little color to the party.
