Jon the Entirely Normal Girl: The Pecking Order

Despite having to rush out the door, Jon did make it to the bus stop in time and without tripping over herself. It was _highly_ strange trying to run like this, but by the time she got there she was more or less getting the hang of moving with her new legs, new hips, new center of gravity... She'd finished her toast, too; she hoped she could hold out 'til lunch on just that. Then the bus pulled up, and she realized that all of her classmates were going to see her like this. Okay, none of them would _know_ it wasn't normal for her to be a girl, but she still felt self-conscious about it. She'd gotten her hair...adequate-ish, hadn't she? She hadn't really paid much attention to the clothes she'd picked out, either; she hoped she hadn't dressed herself to look like an idiot... It was funny that she _cared,_ she mused; Jon wasn't used to worrying much about what people thought of his appearance, mostly because he didn't feel like it was particularly remarkable to begin with. Did she feel self-conscious now because she felt like her altered body was worthier of it? Well, the girl in the mirror had been kinda cute, but she didn't think of her as any kind of stunner. Was it just a _thing_ with women, like the popular stereotype? Or was she a little paranoid about being noticed because a part of her kept insisting that someone might _find out,_ even though reality itself had warped so that there was nothing _to_ "find out," for anyone but her? She had no idea. She got on board and made her way down the aisle, like usual. Her worries about attracting suspicion were needless; the only stares she got were from the boys, and they were exclusively focused on her chest. This made her an altogether _different_ flavor of self-conscious; she hadn't thought, from her brief survey, that she was remarkably "gifted," but then she knew full well that, with teenage boys, she didn't _need_ to be. She hurried to the back, her face slightly flushed, and sat down next to Karyn. "Mornin', Joni-girl!" her best friend grinned. "Something up? You look kinda flustered." "Oh, uh, j-just one of those mornings," she said awkwardly, keeping her voice down. "Zoe was in a capital-M _Mood,_ I almost missed the bus, and I feel like every single boy on it just checked out my, my tits." God, it felt so weird to _say_ it - to acknowledge the reality of what'd happened to her, to put a _name_ to things that had never been a part of her before. And now she was feeling all awkward about "Joni" again, to boot... Karyn laughed. "_Tell_ me about it. I thought they were bad _before,_ but after...well, _you_ know..." She didn't need to gesture; they both knew what she was referring to. "And Zoe...it's 'that time' for her, I take it?" Jon nodded. "She got _royally_ pissed off at me for, uh, forgetting. Just about _threw_ me out of the bathroom." She flushed a bit more; it still felt weird to be _talking_ about this kind of thing with other people, but apparently it was normal to Karyn. She'd never been _terribly_ shy about acknowledging it to Jon, but it didn't really come up in conversation much; but now that "Joni" was "in the club," it seemed... "Poor kid; I can't imagine what that must be like," Karyn said, shaking her head; then, "Hey, you're getting all worked up again. Seriously, what's up with-wait, wait, don't tell me, did you make a _wish!?_" Jon tried to keep calm at that, but her expression told Karyn all she needed to know. "Omigod, you made a wish, didn't you? You _gotta_ tell me!" "Not _here,_" she said, eyeing their fellow students. Nobody seemed to be taking particular notice, but she didn't want to take any chances; that, and the thought of trying to explain all this to a Karyn for whom it was totally normal was...something she was gonna have to mull over for a bit, to say the least. Karyn nodded, barely able to contain her curiosity. "Okay, okay...look, we'll get together at lunch and find somewhere quiet. _Man,_ it's bugging me already...!" - - - In spite of it all, Karyn managed to rein herself in, and the rest of their conversation was fairly mundane. They got to school, hit their lockers, and parted ways for the moment. First period was essentially normal, except for the looks she kept getting from some of the boys. She found herself getting a little irritated; for crying out loud, she knew how hard it could be to keep his attention from wandering, but could they at least _try_ not to stare!? It was afterward, as they were getting up to leave, that she felt it: she had to pee. Jon cringed inwardly at the realization, but, well, it was probably inevitable. She made her way to the bathrooms and, after a moment's hesitation, went into what had until now been the "wrong" one. She still felt like at any moment one of the other girls might turn to her and do that _Invasion of the Body Snatchers_ screech...but nobody gave her a second look, and she made it to the toilets without incident. The process itself was slightly weird and novel, but it was still essentially what she'd been doing her entire life, which was to say it was slightly gross but "normal," and a relief to get it taken care of. Cleaning up afterward was a little more involved, but she was already vaguely aware of that, mostly from being old enough to remember when Zoe was potty-trained and for about the first year their mom felt the need to ask her if she'd done so. She wondered idly if there were potential health complications, but basic hygiene was reason enough for her. When she'd finished - and when she'd worked her jeans back up over these new hips of hers - she went to the sinks to wash her hands; but while she was doing this, there was a yelp from the other end of the bathroom, followed by a chorus of gasps and then an eruption of cackling. "H-hey, _stop...!_" Jon couldn't place the voice from memory, but she knew it was _someone_ she knew. Not a friend, she didn't think, but- "Oh my _gawd,_ Nadine's a friggin' hen," said Tiffany Saunders. _That_ was it - Nadine Ferguson, the one with the reputation as a religious zealot, or so people said. Jon couldn't remember ever interacting with her much, so she had no idea how true it was. "I knew it, I _knew_ it!" snickered someone else. "This isn't _funny...!_" Nadine protested. "Hey, keep it down," came Sarah McMillan's voice. "Mrs. Licklider gets her panties in a _major_ twist if she hears 'names like that.'" "Well, no _duh,_" said another girl, "Lid-Licker's one, too." "_What!?_" gasped the snickerer. "Omigod, for _real?_ Someone catch her?" "Well, no, but Kylie swears she found-" "Gawd, she _would_ be..." "Look, I don't care _why_ she's...oversensitive about it," Sarah snapped; she sounded strangely uneasy, for someone whose position at the top of the school's social hierarchy usually resulted in unflappable self-confidence/arrogance. "She can hand out detention either way, and I'm not having _my_ week ruined 'cause _you_ dumbasses can't play it safe." "Oh, _talk_ about 'oversensitive,'" Tiffany shot back. "There a _reason_ this bugs you so much, Sarah?" "_Wh-!_ Say that again, bitch, I _dare_ you!" "P-please, just...j-just leave me _alone!_" _What the hell are you even_ talking _about!?_ Jon thought to herself. It was only when the whole gaggle of them turned to stare across the bathroom at her that she realized she'd _said_ it. "The fuck do _you_ want, Gibson?" Tiffany said archly. Well, _now_ she'd done it. While it bugged her on a gut level to hear them mob Nadine like that, Jon hadn't really wanted to get involved with anything related to the girls' pecking order; but she'd just done so more or less by accident, and she knew there was no way they'd let this slide, even if she turned tail. Besides, even ignoring the fact that Tiffany'd gotten her name wrong, she felt protective instincts firing in a way that she wasn't really accustomed to. She stepped forward. Nadine was cornered by the towel dispenser (and another dispenser which didn't have an equivalent in the boys' room, whose contents she could take a pretty good guess at.) Her face was beet-red, and she was holding the hem of her gym shirt down like it was about to fly away and indignantly tucking it into the waistband of her shorts. She didn't seem to be _physically_ hurt, but even at this distance, Jon could see tears in the corners of her eyes. "Look, just leave her _alone_ already," she said, trying to steel her nerves. While he liked to think of himself as not particularly subject to peer pressure, she had to admit that it was a little intimidating having four people trying to bore holes in her with their gaze all at once. Were girls really _like_ this to each other? "Don't you have anything _better_ to do?" "_Guh,_ what do _you_ care, anyway!?" said the gossipy one. "Heh, she's probably one too," snickered the snickerer. "I mean, with _those_ hips?" What _were_ they talking about? She had no idea, and honestly she was too irritated with them to care. "You realize tearing other people down just makes _you_ look insecure, right?" she said, cocking her hips and trying to put on her best too-mature-for-this-shit expression. God, trying to affect a "sensible person" voice made her sound _exactly_ like her mother, now... "Hey," Tiffany replied, crossing her arms under her breasts and flashing a not-at-all-pleasant grin, "we just don't like it when people keep secrets from us, that's all. Right, Sarah?" A look of discomfort flashed across Sarah's face for a moment, followed by irritation, but she nodded and stepped forward to stand next to Tiffany. Jon noticed that she had her midriff bared today; she couldn't recall if he'd ever seen Sarah's navel before. It seemed funny to look at, but she wasn't sure why; as far as she could tell it was about like anyone else's. "I-it's..." Nadine's voice was quavering a little. She looked to Jon, who still wasn't sure what the hell was going on or how she'd ended up in this situation, but gave her what she thought was an encouraging nod. "It's n-not a secret. I...I _like_ the way I'm made, even if you're j-j-jerks about...about..." She bit her lip and tried to keep from sniffling. "Yeah?" said the gossipy one. "Then you don't mind if we tell the whole school, right?" "_God,_ you dumb bitch!" Sarah snapped. "You are _seriously_ gonna get us all detention if you pull shit like that!" "_So?_" rejoined the snickerer. "You _afraid_ of Lid-Licker, McMillan?" "You know what, _fine,_" she growled. "_You_ want to get stuck in some dusty-ass classroom to 'think about what you've done,' you be my guest. I've got better things to do with my time." With that, she stalked out of the restroom, "accidentally" brushing into Jon's shoulder none-too-gently on the way. "_Don't think this gets you out of anything!_" Tiffany called after her. She turned back to the other girls. "We all know it, right? Hell, even Ferguson here knows it. Bitch thinks she can just bail on us? Don't make me laugh." Their attention returned to Jon and Nadine, but apparently the mood for arbitrary cruelty had been ruined, and after a few dark mutters and dirty looks, the rest of the group filtered out of the bathroom in such a way as to suggest that they were definitely doing so of their own volition and not because anybody'd actually won any kind of argument or anything. Tiffany was the last one out, and turned back to Jon just before she reached the doorway. "You oughta be careful," she said. "Stick your neck out for the freaks like that, and people might start to wonder about _you._" Jon was mostly feeling sort of amazed at having emerged as the victor in a fight she hadn't meant to enter despite hardly _doing_ anything, but her temper flared at that; on top of her protective urges, the implication that she should _want_ these girls' approval felt like an insult. "Y'know what," she said, "I could not _possibly_ give less of a shit what you people think of me." It sounded braver than she'd actually _felt_ just now, but it felt good anyway. Tiffany glared daggers at her for a moment, then left, and she turned back to Nadine...who promptly burst into tears and hugged her for dear life. Jon felt all weird and awkward again; as with her brother-turned-sister this morning, it felt like she was just stumbling into intimate-girly-emotional type moments despite not being a real girl, like she'd somehow gotten called in as an understudy for some person who _was_ a reliable-big-sis figure or schoolgirl _confidante_...but she did her best to make soothing noises and offer gentle pats on the back anyway. "I-it's s-so hard," Nadine bawled, burying her face in Jon's general shoulder/upper-chest area, which was a whole new level of weird; he'd never _had_ a bosom to cry into 'til now. "I _do_ believe that God made me s-s-special, really I do! I think it's beautiful th-that He meant for me to be this way. But...even if I _try_ to, to think of myself a-as 'f-fearfully and wonderfully made,' it...it's so _hard_ being different, sometimes..." "W-well, uh, remember," she replied, still completely clueless as to what the actual point of contention might've been, if there even _was_ one, "it's not even really about _you,_ they're just picking on someone to try and make themselves feel better." She sighed, feeling dampness seep through the upper-left quadrant of her shirt. "It sucks that you're on the butt-end of it, sure; and I guess it's easy to _say_ 'it's just words' - but really, you don't have to internalize it. Other people being assholes isn't something for _you_ to feel bad about." She felt Nadine cringe a little at what she hardly even thought of as swearing; but the other girl looked up at her from within her embrace. "Y-you mean that?" she sniffled; her glasses had little splotches of salt crystal on the lenses, and her wiry auburn hair was starting to come out of its bun. "You don't think I'm a, a f-freak...?" "I mean, uh, I can't say I understand _everything_ about you," Jon said, trying to figure out what they'd been harassing her over. Was it the Christian thing? No, it'd seemed more like they were making fun of her appearance; but aside from being a bit frumpy, she was perfectly normal. Not that bullies needed a _valid_ reason to torment people, but if it was something even Nadine felt a little awkward about... "I, I don't really _know_ you that well, y'know? But, like...you shouldn't feel ashamed of how you're made. There's nothing _wrong_ with being different, no matter _what_ other people think." Nadine gave a big tearful snort, took off her glasses and wiped her eyes, and gave Jon a shaky smile. "Um, th-thanks," she said. "For, uh, for everything. And, um, if _you_ ever need to talk..." "...Thanks, I guess," Jon said, wondering what she'd say if she told her that *A.* she was really a guy, and *B.* the reason she wasn't _currently_ was because she'd been messing around with a pagan artifact. Besides, if she really needed to get anything off her chest (like that fact that she had a lot more _on_ her chest now,) she had Karyn. Then her phone pinged, and she realized that she was already late for second period. "_Shit!_" she hissed, then: "Uh, sorry. Um, take care...?" She dashed out of the ladies' room, but not before noticing Nadine smile in spite of herself. - - - The rest of the morning passed pretty much without incident (though she could feel Sarah's icy glare all throughout English class,) and before she knew it, it was lunchtime. She'd thought about it all morning, but Jon was still a bit intimidated at the prospect of breaking the news to Karyn. What _would_ she think? She was still the same person who'd been her best friend for so many years before, right? She'd understand; she _had_ to understand... They spotted each other across the lunchroom while she was busy loading up her tray; Karyn motioned to the door out to the back lawn, and Jon followed once she'd finished. It was an eclectic assortment: several helpings of what passed for fish, a pile of slightly-wilted green leafy salad, three packets of trail mix, a carton of whole milk (she usually preferred 2%...) She didn't really know why; she just had a hankering, a feeling that this was what she needed today. One of the lunch ladies gave her a Look, but left off after a nudge and a nod of assent from another; she had no idea what _that_ was about. Karyn had staked out a picnic spot near the treeline, and gave her a knowing chuckle when she saw the contents of her tray; but it was clear that she had only one thing on her mind. "Okay, _dish,_" she said excitedly, after taking a quick look around to make sure nobody was in earshot. "What'd you wish for?" It took a moment for her to respond, partly due to nervousness and partly because she'd already started cramming fish in her mouth. "Uh vffed-" She swallowed. "I, uh, wished that something interesting would happen..." Karyn stared at her for a moment, then laughed. "What, verbatim?" Jon nodded. "Oh man, is _that_ ever open to interpretation...!" _Don't I know it,_ she thought, taking a big forkful of salad. Still, she had to admit that, out of the practically infinite possibilities, this wasn't the worst potential outcome. _Weird,_ yes, and a little awkward, but she could fix things easily enough with the stone, once she was back home; after all, it wouldn't be in direct contravention of the wish for her to have this strange new experience and _then_ return to normal... "So," Karyn said, picking fitfully at her Beef Stroganoff Approximation, "any idea _what_ happened? Notice anything out of the ordinary yet? I guess you could just _wish_ to know, but that'd take the fun out of it..." "Um, well," she said, futzing with a packet of trail mix, "actually..._I,_ uh, woke up...different...today." Karyn's eyes widened. "'Different?' Different _how!?_" she said; then, dryly, "Wait, don't tell me - 'dja used to be super stacked and honey-blonde?" She flushed slightly at the mental image; it was strange enough just _having_ breasts, and now she couldn't help picturing herself endowed like, well, her best friend here. (God, she had _context_ for imagining it.) She took a deep breath, feeling her chest rise. "Karyn...would you believe that I used to be a guy?" Karyn just stared, for a long moment; then her face broke into an impish grin. "'I find that _pretty_ hard to believe,'" she said, doing her best Don Adams impression. Jon couldn't help but snort at that, and only barely avoided inhaling peanut fragments. "_Karyn...!_" "Sorry, sorry, it was just too perfect," her friend said, laughing. "But, wait, _really!?_ You actually _mean_ it...? Holy _shit._" She nodded. "Try being on _this_ side of the conversation." "Hey, I _was_ on that side of the conversation yesterday," Karyn said. "Well, I guess _you_ actually heard _my_ wish...wow, no, wait, we were still _friends,_ right...?" "Best friends, 100%," Jon replied, grateful that it was still true in this reality. "Wait, it probably wasn't even a _little_ weird for you to grow up with a...another girl...as your best friend...?" Karyn's eyes somehow managed to widen even further. "Wait, that _must've_ been a thing for you...!? _Holy shit...!_" Jon shook her head slowly, and took a long pull off her milk. She'd considered in the _abstract_ that Karyn's entire reality would be different now, but actually comparing notes was something else entirely. "_God,_ this is so weird..." "_Tell_ me about it," Karyn said. "It's just so hard to even wrap my head around...I mean, you're still the same person I've been friends with for, like, _ages,_ but you're someone else, too...? You don't _seem_ like someone else. How's _that_ work!?" She swallowed another mouthful of fish. "Honestly, I dunno. I guess I should wish for you to remember the real me..." She frowned. "No, wait, I left the stone at home this morning. Look, I'll do it after sch-" "_No...!_" Karyn said, suddenly in a full-fledged panic. Jon was taken aback, then momentarily baffled, but Karyn got ahold of herself as soon as she realized the stone wasn't actually present. "Uh, s-sorry. Look, uh..." She frowned. "...I'm gonna take a _wild_ guess and say 'John?'" She nodded. In either reality, it seemed, her parents were _singularly_ uncreative... "Figures," Karyn said. "Um, look. I...I guess from your perspective, what you remember is 'real,' and...wow, I guess in a sense it _must_ be, but..." She shook her head. "God, it makes my _brain_ cramp to think like this...but, um, 'Joni' is...was...? my best friend, y'know? Even if she isn't 'real' to _you,_ well, _I've_ got a whole childhood's worth of memories with her. And...you _feel_ like the same person, to me, but I...I don't wanna _lose_ what we had together." Jon felt _her_ brain cramp as she tried to process that. She wanted to protest that _he_ was her, not _her,_ or...however you'd parse that, but, well... "I, uh...um, wow. I...hadn't thought about it _that_ way." She took another forkful of salad, but it didn't make any more sense to her after. "So, um, look," Karyn said. "I don't mind remembering this other you. I mean, if there's this whole other _side_ to my best friend, I wanna _know_ about it! But...I just don't wanna forget Joni, okay? Or, um, think of her as 'the fake one,' or anything like that. I, uh, guess what I'm saying is, let's definitely fill me in, but I wanna be in on the decision-making process, okay...?" "Um, yeah, I guess," she replied, munching a handful of trail mix. "..._Wow._" "_Seriously,_" Karyn nodded. "So, uh...anything _else_ you've noticed...?" Jon shrugged. "Well, I guess you don't remember my little brother..." "Wait, you mean Michelle was...? Okay, I guess _that_ tracks." Jon wasn't sure that it _did,_ but it made as much sense as anything right now. "Uh, yeah. Beyond that...well, honestly, just _being_ a girl is weird. Like, well..." She grimaced, unsure if she should actually say what was on her mind, but if she couldn't confide in _Karyn..._ "Um, are...I, uh, I don't mean _all_ girls, but...are they really such _bitches_ to each other?" Her friend just stared at her for a long moment...and then broke into an _extended_ mirthful snort. "Ahahahaomigod, it's your first time in the 'pecking order,' isn't it?" Karyn laughed. "Oh, you poor naïve darling...!" "It wasn't me," said Jon, taking another sip of milk, "it was Nadine. But yeah - Sarah and Tiffany and...some hangers-on? were picking on her for...something? and, well, that was bad and she was hurt and all that, but...I mean, it was like they hated each _other_ at least as much as they disliked _her._" Karyn frowned. "I mean, I'd say pretty much the same thing about the way some of the _guys_ in the school act." She nodded thoughtfully. "Well, I _guess_ - but y'know, when _boys_ hate each other, they'll just _say_ it. It's stupid alpha-monkey shit, but it's not this weird passive-aggressive nonsense where you're pretending to be friends even though you wanna shank each other." "Guess I'll hafta take your word for it, O master of the arcane Ways of Man," Karyn laughed. "But...well, yeah, hate to say it, but that's really not uncommon. ...Boy, wait'll you have to wrap your head around the concept of 'frienemies.'" Jon shook her head. "Think I'm content to leave _that_ one as an eternal mystery. Besides, it's not like I'm gonna be this way for long." "Wait, you're not seriously just gonna change _back_ right away...!?" "Vll, yf," she said, mouth full of fish again. "Um, yes? I mean, it's not like I _wanted_ to be a girl. Besides, Tiffany's probably already put a price on my head." Karyn gave her a sly grin. "Oh man, were you Nadine's knight in shining armor...?" "More like I stumbled into a let's-torment-the-weirdo party and ruined the mood pretty much by accident," she said, chowing on some more salad, "but I don't think they grasped the distinction." Karyn cackled; then her expression turned more earnest. "But honestly...from your perspective, you _just_ 'got here.' You really wanna turn around and head right back to Kansas, Dorothy?" Jon felt a little weird at _that_ mental image, and crunched down the last of her trail mix. "I mean, I've _already_ hacked off the witch, and that's not even getting into the _other_ freaky terrors in that movie." "Well, yeah, but you'd miss out on all the cool stuff, like...um, horses coated in Jell-O, and makeup that gives you a collapsed lung, and..." She frowned. "Boy, and that's not even getting _into_ all the drugs." Jon washed that thought down with more milk. "Suffice to say, I'm pretty content with 'skipping town' before the witch tries to fireball my ass." "No, but...I mean, you've always got the stone if anything goes _really_ south, and there's so much you haven't experienced yet, and...and..." Jon thought she had a pretty good idea of what was really going on here. "Be honest, Karyn - you're worried about losing 'Joni.'" Her best friend looked her in the eye, and Jon could see she was getting a little misty. She nodded. "...Even though you said yourself that I don't _feel_ like someone else?" "I-is...is that so wrong...?" Jon sighed heavily, munching idly on the last of the salad. "I guess it makes sense from your point of view, doesn't it? God, I had no _idea_ this was all gonna get so complicated..." "No kidding." Karyn heaved a sigh herself. "Look, um...at least for now, okay? It's gonna take us a few days to think of how to handle the wish for me to remember 'John,' so...please? You can change back if you really _need_ to, but...I'm sorry, I guess it's selfish of me, but I don't wanna say goodbye to 'Joni' yet..." She didn't have to make it sound so _funereal,_ Jon thought, but this whole situation was weird and confusing, so it figured that their reactions to it would be, too. And, well, truth be told, this hadn't been _terrible,_ so far, just strange and awkward. "...Alright," she said. "Until we figure that out, anyway." Karyn's usual smile returned, and she threw her arms around her friend, hugging her tightly. Jon tried not to get distracted by the feeling of their breasts squashing together; she wasn't very successful. "_Thank you,_" Karyn said. "And, well, I really _do_ think it'd be a waste for you to miss out on the feminine experience while you're 'here.' You might be the only person in history who's had the chance to be both, y'know?" She thought for a moment. "Wait, what if we wish for _you_ to remember Joni...?" "I, uh, _really_ dunno if I'm ready for _that,_" she said, blanching. Remembering two different _lives?_ How would you keep straight which one was the _real_ you!? "...Yeah, I, uh, guess that'd get confusing," Karyn said regretfully. "At the very least, we'd have to think pretty hard about how to phrase it." Then she brightened. "Okay, then - nothing for it in the meantime. You're sleeping over at my place 'til we figure out how to proceed." Jon blinked. "Uh, what?" "You heard me," she grinned. "We're gonna have girls' nights, just the two of us. If you're really set on going 'back,' I'm gonna make sure you know what you're missing." "Karyn, we have _school._" "I'm not saying we have to stay up 'til 3:00 watching rom-coms or anything," Karyn rejoined. "I just wanna have some 'girl time' with you, alright?" She put on a mock-manipulative voice. "You know, 'cause I don't know when I'll _ever_ get the chance again..." In spite of herself, Jon couldn't help but laugh. "God, you're _incorrigible._" "And proud of it!" she grinned. - - - The rest of the school day went by in a blur. Jon was glad that Karyn hadn't found it weird or gross that she'd originally been a boy, but all the questions raised by her new alternate history as "Joni" made her head spin. She was glad, at least, that Karyn was willing to consider her perspective on it; and to be honest, she was right that this wasn't something to be making any hasty wishes about. If things could get _this_ strange and unfamiliar with just _one_ minor ill-considered wish, what _else_ might they do by accident, if they weren't careful? She shuddered to think of it. She got home, poured herself a cup of coffee, and sank into the recliner to crash for a few minutes. What a _day;_ her whole life flipped around, struggling to come to terms with her best friend's feelings on the matter, accidentally earning the ire of the popular girls...she sat there brooding for a bit, letting the coffee warm her insides and gradually soothe her. She glanced over the windowsill, where the late afternoon sun illuminated her mother's display of miscellaneous _kitsch._ Some of the pieces weren't familiar; she thought they were more of a Slavic thing. Mom had always had an artsy-craftsy streak, but maybe she was embracing her heritage a bit more, in this reality? Strange, but then lots of things were strange today. Finally, she got up, stretched, and set her coffee cup back in its place. If Karyn _was_ going to drag her over for sleepovers, she should probably get some things together. She checked the upstairs bathroom; yes, his little "travel kit" with toothbrush/toothpaste/etc. was still where she remembered it. She probably didn't need to bring combs or hairbrushes or whatever; Karyn would have those. So...pretty much just clothes, then... On the way to her room, she noticed Zoe's door standing open, and she saw her sister flopped out atop the bed in the standard overdramatic-teenager pose. Jon felt a bit bad remembering how worked up Zoe'd been this morning, and even if she wasn't sure it was _really_ her fault, her standing around in a daze while her sister was trying to deal with "feminine matters" probably hadn't helped anything. Heaving a sigh, she cautiously stepped inside. "...Hey," she began. Zoe responded with a wordless moan. Jon bit her lip. "I, uh, wanted to say sorry. I didn't mean to get in your way this morning, I just...had a lot on my mind." Her sister sighed. "...It was another fuckin' _triple,_" she groaned. "It's like a harassment campaign by my own damn reproductive system." Jon cringed inwardly. She'd gathered that it hit every woman differently, but she had no idea they _quantified_ it, or how you'd even do that; every attempt to think about it was too weird and gross for her to feel comfortable with. "I'm, uh, sorry," she said. "That really sucks." "I just don't get why it's _me_ that gets the shit end of the stick." Zoe flopped over onto her back and rubbed tenderly at her stomach. "_You_ don't get hit that bad, do you?" "...Not usually," she said, after a moment of total brain shutdown. This was, technically, the truth. Another heavy sigh. "Like, it's gonna be years before I even _think_ about having kids, but try telling that bitch Mother Nature..." Jon nodded in agreement, feeling like this was another conversation she didn't _belong_ in. How in God's name was it that she kept ending up as a support figure in situations where she wasn't even remotely qualified to comment!? "Well, there's, uh, not much we can do about _that,_" she said, "but...if there's anything I can do to help...?" Zoe shook her head. "Eh, I've got the hot-water bottle, I've got painkillers, I've got loud, angry music. But, uh...thanks, Sis." She tried to offer a reassuring smile, in spite of her own feelings of awkwardness. "A-any time, Zoe." And with that, she left her sister to brood in peace and quiet and went to her room. As she was trying to pick out some basic, sensible school clothes to bring with her, Jon glanced thoughtfully at the cupboard where she'd tucked the stone away. _Not much we can do about that...?_ she thought; but she dismissed the idea after a moment. _Speaking_ of things that you didn't want to screw up with a careless wish...and on that note, she'd probably better not bring it with her. No doubt she'd end up talking over the options with Karyn, and she didn't want any chance of their half-formed ideas becoming permanent reality... Joni shook her head slowly. What had she gotten herself _into...?_