Zoe heard Allison and Karen leave the house from her room. She was hunched over her desk staring at a sheet of paper and the box with the stone in it. The paper has a dozen wishes written on it, and each and every one is crossed out angrily. She'd been obsessing over how to fix her wishes, and just as worried about the moral implications of them. Even if she could improve peoples lives, should she? Was it her place to do so? And even worse, if she changed someone to make their lives better, was the original person even still alive? Or had she effectively killed them and replaced them with a slightly altered replica?
She cried out in distress and rubbed her eyes. Surely that last thought wasn't true. She didn't wish for the person to be replaced, just changed. She was letting the worst interpretation guide her thoughts, and that was scaring her into not making any wishes at all. She sighed, and tilted her head back. What about some small wishes? Something just for fun? She'd been so burdened with the magnitude of the stones power that she hadn't really taken the chance to enjoy it.
She sits up quite suddenly, unboxes the stone, grasps it, and says with some stuttering. "I wish... that my nails would become perfectly painted with a dark violet polish." She held her breath in fear, wondering how terribly the wish could go, but was quite pleased when all it did was exactly as she hoped. Her nails grew slightly in length, and were magically filed to a pleasing curve. Color began to pour out across her nails until it covered over the tips, and immediately after a second layer of a glittery top coat washed over them to both protect them and give them a subtle sparkle. She held them out in front of her, and smiled. At least for a moment she chose to forget the weighty questions that had burdened her mind. She held her nails to the light, and appreciated the shimmer, then held them close to her clothes. The color complimented her dark fashion wonderfully!
Snatching up the stone, she scurried to the bathroom and looked at herself in the full length mirror. Summoning up her courage, she confidently declared, "I wish my hair were longer, all the way down to my back." She beamed with delight as her hair exploded with both length and volume, almost flowing down to her hips. She combed the silky strands through her fingers, and began to braid the back. She never had hair so long. It was always a pain to maintain... But maybe it wouldn't be anymore? She glanced to the stone with a smile and made her next wish. "I wish that my hair would always stay clean and healthy!" She didn't feel anything this time, but also didn't expect to. She was confident she would never have to fuss with split ends, or dry cracked tresses again.
She paused as a thought passed through her mind. Then after some deliberation she smiled, took the stone and declared, "I wish that... my hair was dyed with violet tips." She tittered with delight as the splash of color washed over her hair. She never had the opportunity, or maybe the confidence, to do something so drastic to her hair previously, but now... She had the stone, and that was filling her with a certain recklessness about such minor things.
She posed in front of the mirror, then shook her head, letting her hair splay out over her shoulders, then spun dramatically in front of the mirror.
As she spun she saw someone standing behind her outside the bathroom doorframe and cried out in shock. She tensed up as if exposed and looked at the person.
"God dammit Ryder!" She shouted, as she threw a bottle of shampoo at him. "What the hell are you doing here?!"
He bats the bottle from the air, and scoffs "Geez. Take it easy, I'm just here for Allison."
"She's not in here, asshole!" Her shock passes, and Zoe takes on a more confident posture and slips the stone in her pocket. "Haven't you heard of knocking?!"
"The bathroom door wasn't even closed." he sneers.
"The front door, dumbass! Since when do you just walk in here?"
"Since forever you little punk, now where's Allison?"
"She left!" She sets her jaw and gazes at him. "Now get out." She points resolutely to the door.
His eyes squint, but he relents, and turns to leave. "Tell Allison I want to talk to her, she's not answering her phone."
As he goes Zoe shouts. "It's probably because she figured out what a tool you are!"
The door slams, and she lets out a sigh. Her mouth is dry, and she's trembling slightly as she locks the front door.
"What a creep." She hisses in anger and fear. She glances to her pocket where the stone is, and thoughts begin to fly through her head. "Did he see me making a wish? He didn't act like it... but I didn't hear when he came in either." She hurries to her room, puts the stone in the box, and returns it to the drawer. She has homework to do, and this nonsense with the stone is only going to invite more trouble.
