A Wish Unwanted – Part 21
by Limbo’s Mistress

We stood there, staring at Lee. Well, more like at the rock in his hand. A rock that everyone else in the room knew intimately. Managing to tear my eyes away from the wishing stone, I glanced around to see that everyone looked completely shocked and utterly speechless.

Even Jen’s face was a mask of surprise.

“Lee?” I asked as I turned back to my former boyfriend. Once again, my attention was drawn to the green block resting in his palm. I hadn’t seen that damned thing since the voice inside it announced that the wishes Cindy and I had made were granted.

Now, looking at it again, I felt cold and afraid.

“Where … where did you find it?” Tabitha asked, sounding just as terrified as me.

The boy turned to look at her. “It was sitting on the floor of my room when I woke up this morning. Right there on the carpet waiting for me.”

“You haven’t used it though?” I said, even though the question was rather moot. We’d all have already felt any changes to reality.

He glanced my way, smiling slightly. “No. Not yet. I think my curiosity overrode my urge to use it immediately.”

Jen took a step toward him, her eyes roving all around as if she were looking for a fast escape. A way to get gone before Lee used the stone. Though, she should have already known that there was nowhere to hide from the results of a wish. I guess suddenly finding yourself surrounded by enemies with no remaining spell slots was causing her to freak out.

“Lee,” she said in a calmness that was in complete contradiction with the expression on her face. “Don’t do anything rash. Please.”

Lee’s eyes darted up to her for only a second, then went back to looking at me.

“When I touched it, I suddenly realized what you were trying to ask me yesterday. What you were hoping to hear when we were speaking in Eastman’s class.” He frowned. “I’m sorry I ran off. You seemed so sincere in your words. At least until you said you had been asking people about me.” The frown turned into a smirk. “You are horrible at lying, Pee-Jay.”

Jen snorted, drawing our attention back to her. The panic that had been present a moment ago seemed to have evaporated. “That’s hilarious.”

“What’s hilarious?” Charlie asked her. His hands opened and closed repeatedly, as if to pump the agitation I heard in his voice. However, despite how much anger was in his tone, I doubted he would actually get physical with Jen.

“That ‘Pee-Jay’ is a horrible liar.” She lifted her hands and actually performed finger quotes around my name. “If you guys knew the truth …”

Lee shot her an annoyed look. “Shut up.” Then he stepped closer to me. “I came to school to talk to you, Peej. To let you that I finally understood what you were hinting at in class.” A bit of red appeared on his cheeks. “I saw you come into the building and, uh, followed you into the library.”

“You did?” I asked, glancing over at Charlie and Tracy, who both responded with a confused shrug.

Lee nodded. “When I watched you sit down with them and start talking in rather excited whispers, I sort of … snuck up on your table. You couldn’t see me because of the shelf, but I was close enough to hear your conversation.”

“So you heard us discussing the stone, and knew that we’d all made wishes?” Charlie asked.

Lee nodded. “Then I tried to talk to you about it before third period. But the other cheerleader wouldn’t leave us alone and I didn’t know if she was one of the wishers or not.”

Jen glanced over at me, arching a brow. “Strand?”

I shook my head. “Kara.”

“Oh,” she said, visibly relaxing. “Good.”

I let her comment slide then looked back to Lee. “I’m sorry I blew you off. It’s been a long couple of days.”

He nodded, smiling at me. “I can imagine. Must have been rough to go from being Sam to Pee-Jay.”

My face warmed, and I had to look away. “I didn’t know you overheard that part.”

Jen started giggling, pointing at me. “Are you fracking … embarrassed? Holy crap,” she said, shaking her head. “This is better than I could have hoped for. You acting all demure and shy. It’s even better than when you were a super dork.”

“What the hell did you do, Winters?” Tracy asked, turning to sneer at Jen. “Some of the comments you’ve been making, and the way you’re behaving tells me there’s a lot more going on here than you just being pissed that other people have upset your perfect by making wishes. And it’s more than the fact that the boy you used to torture is now one of your fellow cheerleaders. So spill.”

Jen rolled her eyes. “Once a loser, always a loser, Malloy. Surely you understand that, right?”

Lee held up the stone. “Then tell them what you wished for, Jennifer. Or else…”

Lee Taylor was a good guy. One of the best. However, the problem with good guys is people know they won’t actually do something bad to someone on purpose. I mean, sure, they might spout threats and promise retribution, but the will to follow through never materializes in their eyes.

People who know how to manipulate others, though, can see past the false threats.

Jen snorted, shaking her head. “Okay, Big Boy. Since you’re new to the club, let me provide you with a little insight about that rock you’re holding. First of all, you cannot use it to undo another wish. Or make an adjustment to someone else’s wish.” She gestured over at Tabitha. “Stevens here used to be a Plain Jane nobody. Then she wished to be pretty and popular. No amount of wishing can change that.”

“What do you mean?” Lee asked.

Jen shrugged. “Let’s say you decided to wish her to be ugly. Or vilified by the whole school. It wouldn’t take. You can’t use the magic of the stone to undo the magic of the stone.” She arched a brow. “It’s like a logic loop.”

“How do you know so much about the stone?” I asked.

“Because, unlike the rest of you morons, I did my research before I used the thing, Sammy.” She crossed her arms over her bountiful chest and smirked at me. “You losers are the ones who pull the lever first and check for traps later.”

I pointed at her. “That’s the second time you’ve done that.”

“Done what?” Lee asked me.

“Made a gaming reference,” Charlie answered before I could. Then he looked at me. “Since when does Jennifer Winters know anything about playing RPGs?”

Jen placed her hand over her mouth for a second, then lowered it and shrugged. “Oops. My bad. I guess being around you again, Samantha, brings out my Dork Side.”

Charlie shook his head. “Answer the question. Who were you before you used the stone?”

She shrugged. “Does it really matter? That person no longer exists. Actually, as far as everyone else is concerned, she never existed.” She spread her arms wide. “I’m the reigning queen of Benson High. True, I may not be loved and adored quite the same as our precious Pee-Jay, but I am feared. One word from me, and someone’s social life is over.”

“How does someone so vile become so popular?” Lee asked, frowning at Jen. “I can’t believe that anyone would want to be associated with someone as crass and heartless as you.”

“Lee, sweetie,” Jen cooed. “I know you don’t remember this, since everyone’s been fracking up reality lately, but once upon a time, you and I were a thing. At least for a little while. You liked me just fine back then.”

Lee visibly blanched. “That’s not true. I couldn’t possibly be attracted to someone like that.”

Jen nodded, grinning. “Of course it’s true. Why would I lie? I mean, granted, you were a football playing stud-muffin at the time. Athletic, powerful, and, dear god, the things you could do with that tongue …” she sighed loudly, as if remembering a happy moment.

My mouth dropped open as I looked between the two of them repeatedly. That magic Lee had performed with his mouth in my bedroom? He’d done the same thing for Jennifer Winters? My mortal enemy. Nausea rolled through me.

“Well, I can be thankful that now you and I have never been on so much as a date,” Lee said, though not with much conviction. I guess he was finally catching up to speed on the whole multiple reality aspect of the stone’s power. “I know that I would never, have never, done anything like that.” He glanced over at me, his eyes pleading for me to believe him. “With anyone like you.”

Jen shrugged. “Maybe not in this world. You played a completely different tune back before the more-recent changes were made. Right, Tabs?”

The other blonde cheerleader’s face paled slightly and she looked away from us, giving her head a slight nod.

“However,” Jen continued, still sounding rather happy. “Despite the fact that you were extremely talented in bed, I decided you weren’t quite the deliciously-won trophy I thought you were. So I kicked you to the curb for an older, more handsome guy.”

I drew in a deep breath, and began to walk toward the despicable cheerleader. My hands curled into fists, nails digging into the tender flesh of my palms. Charlie might not be willing to actually knock Jen’s teeth in, but I was more than happy to give it a shot.

Hell, with the power of my own wish, I thought it would be the height of hilarity for me to blacken the eye of the school’s queen, then watch as all of Pee-Jay’s fans tried to figure out what Jen had done to deserve it.

Before I could make it more than a few steps, Tabitha, of all people, moved forward and blocked my way. Stopping me from giving the smug bitch a severe slapping. She looked into my eyes, then turned her back on me to face Jen.

“Jennifer,” she said. “There’s no reason to keep playing this game. We all made wishes, we’ve all screwed with each other’s lives …”

I noticed her glance quickly over at Tracy, and her mouth turned down into a slight frown. Then she swallowed, and faced Jen again.

“I don’t know about you,” she continued, “but I’m tired of the constant changes that come from each wish. Just tell them what they want to know so Lee doesn’t use the stone and screw things up even more.”

Jen tilted her head to the side, smiling with a tiny smirk at our fellow Raiderette. Like Tabitha truly was the bimbo she appeared to be.

“Tabby, Tabby, Tabby.” Jen said with a sneer. “Don’t be such a wussy. Everyone else in here has already used the stone, and Lee can’t make a wish all by himself.”

The boy nodded, then shrugged one shoulder. “Yeah, I know that it takes two people to make wishes. That’s why I brought a friend.” He took a step backward, grabbed the handle of the door, and opened it. “Come on in.”

We all stared at the door as Sarah walked into the Clubhouse.

When her eyes met mine, I immediately abandoned my quest to literally slap the smile off Jen’s face. Feeling hot tears starting to form in my eyes, I rushed over and threw my arms around my best friend. As I hugged her tightly against my chest, I felt her own limbs wrap around me.

“I’m sorry I didn’t believe you, Peej,” she whispered into my ear. “I mean, I wanted to. I felt like I should. I just … couldn’t.”

“It’s okay,” I said, fighting the tears of happiness that continued their threat to appear. “It wasn’t you, girl. It was the stone.”

“Anyone want to clue me in on how the hell Strand figures into this scenario?” Jennifer asked, her voice sounding a little shaky.

Lee turned to look back at her. “When I was in the library, I heard the three of them talking about how they could convince Sarah about the truth of the stone. Since I’d not believed Pee-Jay until I touched the stone myself, I thought the same trick might work on her.” He looked over his shoulder at Sarah and I, our arms still around each other. “When Pee-Jay didn’t want to talk to me in the hallway, I waited outside for Sarah to show up. Figured I could use an ally.”

My friend nodded, sweeping her gaze around at the other faces staring at her. “Lee cornered me and practically shoved the rock in my hand. I didn’t know what he was doing, but as soon as I touched it, I knew Peej had been telling me the truth.”

“Why didn’t you two make a wish right then?” Tabitha asked her, in a voice that was unusually curious. “I mean, you could have asked for almost anything.” Her gaze moved from Sarah to me. “Anything your heart desired.”

Sarah drew in a slow breath, her cheeks reddening a bit, before answering.

“Lee suggested that we wait,” she answered. The tone of her voice hinted that she probably hadn’t agreed with him. At least, not right off the bat. “He said that being hasty was being reckless, and that we should first find out who has used it and for what reasons.”

I smiled at him. “I always knew you were more than a handsome face and a nice butt.”

Lee smiled back, shrugging a shoulder. “Just trying to be smarter than I was the day before.”

Jen sighed. “Whatever. Go ahead, make your wishes. Like I said, you can’t topple me. Until graduation, I rule this school.” She grinned. “Personally, I think the two of you should both wish for little Miss Pee-Jay. True, it would seem she already has a permanent boyfriend in Geoff Barnes. But that doesn’t mean she can’t be a little more … flexible in her relationships.” Her eyes narrowed at me. “A bi-sexual, polyamorous, promiscuous beauty like her? What’s not to like?”

Sarah’s eyes hardened and she reached out, snatching the wishing stone from Lee’s hands before he could even register her attempting it. She pulled away from me and clutched the rock tightly in her fist.

“Damn you, Jen.” Charlie said. “You would just use people and throw them away. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that you would suggest something like that. God only knows how much you would enjoy watching Pee-Jay debase herself, completely aware that she was doing it.”

“Oh, get off your high-horse, Mueller. I swear, no matter how much reality gets re-shuffled, you being wedge up Sam’s ass is a damned constant. Like gravity.”

Sarah stepped forward. “Enough already, Jennifer. Start talking.”

“Or what, Strand? What do you think you could ask for that would convince me to play along?”

Sarah grinned. It wasn’t a pretty sight. No, it was like the grin one might expect a serial killer to flash, right before they sank a knife into their victim’s chest. It was the smile of someone who just figured out exactly where the soft spots in your armor were.

“Tossed Taylor aside for a new boy-toy? Despite how great he was in bed.” Sarah arched a brow. “Does the new guy give you multiple orgasms? After screwing him, are you sweaty and panting on twisted sheets, basking in the mind-blowing afterglow?”

Jen’s face faltered for a second, then returned to that dismissive, aloof superiority I knew all too well. “What if he does? If you change him, I’ll just find another. No shortage of guys around who might want a piece of this action.” She gestured at her well-developed body. “Or maybe you were going to turn me onto women? No big deal. I’ve already been on that side of the bed. Had a pretty good time with it, too.”

She giggled and looked at Tabitha, winking. The other girl’s face turned a light shade of crimson.

“No,” Sarah said, still holding that maniacal grin. “I figured a better way to ruin you. Permanently.” Holding the stone in one hand, she pointed at Jen with the other. “I wish that Jennifer Winters never, ever, has another orgasm so long as she lives.”

The rock in her hand pulsed once, but the voice inside remained silent.

As did the entire room. I don’t think any of us even bothered to breathe.

Jen’s face went beyond pale to a sickly shade of green.

“What did you do?” she asked in a cracking voice more suited to a little girl, rather than the infamous Ice Queen. “Take that back.” There was a whine to her words.

After a few more seconds of silence from the rest of us. Lee stepped forward and took the stone from Sarah’s hand. There was no smile on his face. In fact, the glance he gave Sarah was full of disappointment and regret. As if he suddenly considered that perhaps he shouldn’t have shared the truth about the stone with her.

Sarah, however, continued to look like she’d just scored a major victory.

Which I could completely understand. Despite us having the majority, as well as the stone, Jen had managed to keep the upper hand through this entire confrontation. If we were going to get any answers from her, we needed a nuclear option.

Sarah hadn’t exactly pushed the button, but she’d definitely brought us to Def-Con Two.

Lee shook his head. “Jennifer, you know that a wish cannot be undone. Nor can a wish be used to amend another wish.” He sighed. “If I make a wish now, what Sarah has done to you will become reality. I’m not sure what the effects of that wish might be on you. Psychologically. Though I can imagine it won’t be pleasant.”

“Lee …” Jen whined again. “Please don’t.”

He nodded. “If I refuse to make a wish, then nothing will happen to you. But, if you refuse to play along …” He pointed at the rock. “Consider it to be like the Sword of Damocles. Always waiting within a hair’s breath, to change your life forever.”

“Fine,” Jen said, still looking like she was going to be sick. She sat down on one of the sofas, her shoulders slumped. “Just don’t make any wishes. Or use the word ‘wish’. I’ll tell you … everything.”

“Who was your wish partner?” Charlie blurted out before Jen’s bottom had the chance to settle into the sofa’s cushion.

“What did you wish for?” Tabitha asked, lowering herself into the sofa across from Jen.

As for the currently-subjugated Queen of Benson High, she simply shook her head and held up both hands.

“Don’t get ahead of yourselves,” she said softly. “If I’m going to explain, I’m going to do it on my own terms.”

“Get on with it then,” Sarah grumbled.

Jen looked around at them. “While I’m sure you all consider me to be the worst possible person at this school. Well, except for Peter McDonald, of course.”

“Peter McDonald?” Sarah asked, glancing at me with a look that seemed to ask what the boy had done that was so bad.

“He used the stone, too,” I whispered. “To make it so any girl he wanted would have sex with him. Which is why you and he at the pool party kind of … you know.”

Now Sarah looked like she was going to throw up as well.

Jen cleared her throat. “Do you want to hear this, or not, Strand?”

We turned back around to look at Jennifer.

“As I was saying,” she resumed. “I’m not really the worst to walk these halls. I actually learned how to be the queen by observing and mimicking the true villain of this piece. Her.”

She pointed directly at me.

Charlie snorted. “Pee-Jay? Pee-Jay’s the villain here? Do you really think we’d believe the friendliest, most loved person in the whole school taught you how to be a malicious, manipulative skank?”

Jen shook her head, sighing. “No, Mueller, you idiot. Not this Pee-Jay person. Sam.” She pointed at me again. “Samantha Jane Davenport.” Her lips parted into a sardonic smile. “The most reviled and feared cheerleader in the history of Benson High School.”

Every head whipped around in my direction, causing me to reflexively take a step backward. The look on their faces made it seem like they fully expected me to suddenly rip off a mask and start laughing maniacally.

I would have gotten away with it, too. If it weren’t for you meddling kids and your dog!

“What?” I said, my voice shaking.

Tracy was the first to recover from the bomb Jen had dropped. She looked back to the head Raiderette and pointed at me. “Are you saying that Pee-Jay, who used to be a guy named Samuel Davenport, actually started off as a girl named Samantha?”

At that point, my legs decided that they’d done enough work for one day. Before Jen could begin to answer Tabitha’s question, my knees buckled, sending me down to the Clubhouse floor. I didn’t even register the impact of landing on the polished hardwood. My brain was too busy with flashbacks.

Samantha.

Jen had called me by that name over the phone more than a few times over the past few days. But those weren’t the only instances. There had been others, many actually, from times long before the evening Cindy burst into my room with the Stone of Invidia in her hand.

“What the matter, Samantha?” Jen cackled after Chad Burrow punched me in the gut for merely walking past him. “Can’t you walk like a normal person?”

“Hey everyone, Samantha peed her pants!” That was when she’d snuck up on me in the lunch line and sprayed the front of my jeans with a Capris Sun.

“You’re such a loser, Samantha. You should just kill yourself.” That particular nugget had been thrown my way on more than a single occasion. Along with equally endearing terms of “worthless”, “pathetic”, and “disgusting”.

“But …” I tried to speak, but my voice sounded distant. Like I was talking from the bottom of a really deep, metal-lined, hole. “I remember being …”

“Remember always being a boy?” Jen asked, still highly amused with herself. “Yes, I imagine that you do.”

“How is that possible?” Charlie asked, coming to stand next to me. “If Samantha made a wish with you, she shouldn’t have forgotten her real past.”

Jen stopped laughing to look at him. “I never said she was my wishing partner, Mueller.”

“You made the wish about her,” Tabitha said, looking from Jen down to me. “It’s just like what Sarah did to you. Samantha wasn’t in on the wish, she was the target of it.”

“But Jen knows that Sarah blasted her with a wish,” Tracy countered. “She’s not going to lose memory of that. So how did Sam forget he used to be Samantha.”

“Because I hadn’t used the stone before then, remember? She used her wish to change me. Made me completely forget about the person I used to be.”

I slowly brought my face up to look at Jen.

“If your wish turned me into a boy,” I said, feeling my heartbeat racing in my chest. “What did your partner wish for?”

Everyone looked to Jennifer. She shrugged, an almost bored expression on her pretty face.

“Simple,” she said. “She wished for her big sister to be the head cheerleader.”

“Hold up,” Tabitha said, waving her hands in the air. “You let your sister make a wish? Isn’t she, like, ten?”

“Eleven.”

“Why?” Charlie asked.

Jen shot him a look. “Because, I could trust her to say what I wanted her to say.”

“You got two wishes,” Lee said. “Yours that affected Samantha and your sister’s, which affected you.”

Jen clapped her hands. “Bravo.”

“No,” Charlie said, taking a step closer to Jennifer. “Why did you wish Samantha into being Sam?”

The queen of the school leaned back to cross her arms over her chest.

“Okay. I guess it’s story time. If you all can stop pestering me with asinine questions.” She looked around at all of us, then turned her attention to me. “You’re going to want to pay extra-close attention, Sammy. Since this wonderful tale mostly concerns you.” She nodded and tossed me a wink.

“Get on with it,” Sarah snapped, kneeling down to put her arm around me.

“Fine, fine,” Jen said, waving her hand. Then she looked at Sarah and gestured in our direction. “The irony of what you’re doing right now is absolutely hilarious. You’ll see what I mean soon.”

Then she tapped on her chin with one French-manicured finger, as if trying to decide where to begin her sordid, little story.

“Okay. So, once upon a time, there were three friends. Three best friends, actually. Their names were Jennifer …” She pointed at herself. “Samantha.” She pointed at me. “ … and Clark.”

With that, she extended her arm and aimed the tip of her finger directly at Charlie.

“What?” he said, glancing over at me, then back to her. “You changed me, too?”

She shook her head. “Not exactly. Just shut up and listen. Anyways, these three friends were inseparable. At school, after school, on weekends. The times they were apart were far fewer than the times they were together. They had a lot of shared interests, including the love of science-fiction and role-playing games.”

Charlie shook his head. I thought maybe he was still dealing with the announcement that what he thought to be his true identity, wasn’t. Much like I was having trouble doing. Instead, his thought processes were running down another path.

“But you constantly harassed Sam for liking those things. Hell, you gave Cindy crap about it, too. Why?”

“Getting to that, Clark. Be patient.” She shook her head. “Three best friends, from the beginning of fifth grade. Then, in the summer before eighth, things began to change. Samantha’s parents decided that she needed an extra-curricular hobby. Something that would be marketable to college admissions boards.” Jennifer sighed, sounding almost apologetic. “The choices they gave her was piano lessons, singing lessons, or ballet. Being as athletic as she was, Sam chose dance.”

“Well,” I said in a dispassionate voice. “Now I know where that part of the history came from.”

“Not that big of a deal,” Jen continued. “Not at first. But there was more than just the thrice weekly practices that started chipping away at the foundation of that friendship. Nature also decided to add her own ingredients to the mix.”

“Puberty,” Tracy said in a near-whisper.

“Exactly. So, Samantha’s body is changing, well ahead of Jennifer’s. As is Clark’s. But, there are also all the snobby, stuck-up girls in that gorram dance class. They start to influence my friend, changing the way she thought about herself. The way she thought about her interests. The way she thought about her friends.”

Jen sighed, then looked at me with an expression I’d never seen on her face before. At least, not when it had been directed at me.

Hurt. Her eyes were filled with hurt at the memory she was recounting.

“Soon, Sam started to turn down offers of hanging out. Cancelling on going to see the latest Star Wars flick.” The blonde shook her head. “Demanding that Clark and I stop calling her ‘Sam’, because that was a dumb boy’s name. She insisted that we call her ‘Samantha’ at all times.”

“People change,” Lee said, moving to stand on my other side. “I mean, maybe your friend might have been a bit harsh, but it doesn’t sound like she was this terrible person you claim she was.”

Jen laughed. “I haven’t gotten to that part yet, Lee. I mean, it sucked that my friend no longer had as much time for me as she used to, but I still considered her my friend.” Her eyes lost their pain and turned hard. “At least, until high school.”

“I … she … became popular,” I said, looking down at my hands and legs.

“She did. Being as nice as she was, and possessing a body better than most girls older than her, she was a natural draw for the in-crowd. At first, it was simply annoying. The fact that our already decreased time together was cut even further. Then she started to change. Personality-wise.”

“Where was I?” Charlie interrupted. “I mean, Clark.”

Jen laughed. “Well, the hormone fairy didn’t forget you either. By freshman year, you’d packed on about forty pounds of muscle, six inches in height, and was drafted onto the JV football team before you could say ‘later losers’.” She shrugged. “Even though you and Samantha didn’t hang out as much as you used to, you both ran in the same circle of friends. Friends that didn’t include me.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, looking at Jen. “Sam … I shouldn’t have treated you like that. Shouldn’t have dismissed you as a friend.”

Jen shook her head and jumped to her feet. “No! Save your damned apologies, Sammy. You aren’t sorry for what you did back then. Because you don’t remember doing it. What you’re feeling now is pity. Pity for me for the way my best friends, my only friends, treated me like something they’d stepped in. “

Lee shook his head. “By that same admission,” he said. “You’re punishing Pee-Jay for something she didn’t do.”

Jen rolled her eyes. “Please don’t try getting all moral on me, Taylor. I’m punishing her because I can.” She snorted. “Do you know that Samantha once invited me to come to a sleepover with the Raiderettes? Of course, when I got there, they spent the entire evening making fun of me. My hair, my complexion, my nearly flat chest. Everything about me, physically, was ridiculed. Then Sam started on my nerdy hobbies and it escalated from there. Notes in my locker. Catcalls from the football team. Every single day, I cried before I left the house and bawled when I got back home. Every. Single. Day.”

I felt my own tears slide down my cheeks. Jennifer was right, I had absolutely no memory of doing those things to her as the girl I apparently used to be. However, I did have plenty of memories of the way she had tortured me along those same lines and the thought that some part of me was capable of treating people like that caused my heart to hurt.

“I actually considered killing myself,” she said in a low voice. “Just to make the pain stop.”

The rest of the room was completely silent for several seconds before Charlie broke the stillness.

“Then you found the stone.”

Jen nodded. “Yes. In here, as a matter of fact.”

“In the Clubhouse?” Tabitha asked, glancing around. “Where?”

Jen pointed to a spot at the other end of the room. “I came in here with the intention of ending my life in this sacred spot. I wanted Samantha and every one of her flunkies to think about every time they stepped through the door.” Her hands balled into fists and she turned away from us. “There is a loose board in the floor. When I peeked beneath it, I found the stone sitting there.”

“And your revenge was at hand.” Tracy said.

Jen nodded. “I almost made a wish right then. But the fact that I needed a partner allowed me time to cool down. I started investigating the stone, slowly learning about who Invidia was and what I wanted to accomplish. When I was finally ready, I brought Caroline in. Told her it was a game we were playing.”

I frowned. “What did you wish for?” I had most of the picture, but still needed to hear the words.

“Well,” Jen said. “I made Caroline go first. Just in case she flubbed her lines. She announced that she wished her big sister, Jennifer, was the head cheerleader and everyone would be afraid to make her mad.”

Charlie shook his head. “Nice. Making an eleven year old alter reality to turn you into a tyrant.”

Jen shrugged. “Well, I was originally just going to make Samantha be my friend again. How pathetic, right? She’d crapped on me for years, driving me to the brink of suicide, and all I wanted to do was make her like me again.” Her jaw clenched. “Then I thought about all the times Caroline had cried because I was crying. It made me so angry that I decided to go a little further. I wished that Sam Davenport was a dorky, unattractive, and unpopular geek.” She laughed. “I didn’t expect the magic to turn her into a guy.”

“What about me?” Charlie asked. “How did Clark get changed into Cindy?”

Jen shrugged again. “Nature abhors a vacuum. I was the new head cheerleader, but I guess someone needed to fill Samantha’s ballet shoes. The only thing I know for certain is that Samantha turned into an oily-haired dork and you turned into a pretty cheerleader.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Tracy said. “I mean, sure people get changed a little along with the wish’s target. But not to that degree.”

I shook my head. “Geoff wished to be my boyfriend. The magic turned him into a football player and turned Lee into a non-jock. I mean, it could have just altered Geoff, but it didn’t.”

“There’s a lot about the stone we don’t know,” Charlie said. “But that does explain why Cindy never really enjoyed all the attention of being a cheerleader, or performing ballet.“

“Once you were in Sam’s spot, all the rage you’d been feeling came out, didn’t it?” I asked, looking at Jen. “Everything she’d done to you twisted around in your mind and made you just as bad as her.”

Jen nodded. “Yes. Of course I realized that as it was happening. But I was enjoying myself far too much to really care. I took the chance I’d been given and ran with it. I reorganized the cheer team, turning them from a pack of butt-shaking, mouth-watering jokes into the Elite. I was the queen of the school and they were my court. I was obeyed without question.”

“Until Tabitha’s wish,” Tracy said.

“Yes. That was the start of the screw up. Then Sam got his hands on the stone and fracked things up even more.” She sighed. “Now we’re here. Lee’s no longer a football player. I’ve got a cheerleader in my squad who’s more popular with the student body than me. And there is apparently a jerk running around who can make any girl he wants sleep with him.”

“I think, of all those, Peter is the more pressing issue,” Sarah said. There was no mistaking the disgust in her voice. True, before she’d held the stone, she hadn’t thought anything wrong with giving the letch a blowjob. Now? Well, let’s just say that I probably wasn’t the only one who was going to have had the pleasure of kicking him in the nuts.”

“Yeah,” I said. “His stupid wish has already screwed up Miss LaCroix’s life.”

Jen barked out a laugh, then quickly stifled it.

“Something funny about that?” Charlie growled.

The queen bee of Benson High waved her hand. “Actually, yes. See, in the reality before I got hold of the stone, Miss LaCroix had to resign. Seems someone, I’m sure you can all guess who, managed to convince one of the school’s A/V nerds to hack into her home computer and use its camera to record a bunch of high-definition videos of the pretty French teacher and her girlfriend in rather compromising, very adult, positions. Videos that were then uploaded to the internet.”

Everyone turned to look at me. Some of them wore expressions of contempt.

“Why?” I asked, looking up at Jen. “Why would I … she … do that?”

Jen smiled. “Because any attention paid to a hot teacher was attention not being paid to her. Especially in class.” She shook her head. “You think I’m bad, but I’m a fracking amateur compared to her.”

“What do we do now?” Tracy asked, looking around at us all. “I mean, I doubt Lee’s actually going to make a wish. Since Jen did tell us everything. What will happen if there is no complimenting wish?”

“I don’t think it will let you not make a wish,” I said. “I made Cindy’s wish for her, but refused to let her make one for me. The stone kept insisting that we complete the ritual.”

“Well, I’m not going to,” Lee said. “This thing has caused enough trouble.” He looked at me. “Yes, some might say it did a good thing by replacing Samantha with you. But I disagree.”

“You disagree?” Jen asked incredulously. “Did you not hear a word I said about how evil she was?”

“I did. But that’s not Samantha sitting there,” he responded, pointing at me. “That’s someone who is completely different from that other girl. She’s atoning for sins that aren’t hers. That’s not justice.”

“The other side must declare!” The stone spoke, making us all jump.

“You could make a little wish,” Tabitha suggested. “Nothing too major. Like, uh, maybe Sarah always has a good hair day?”

“No!” Jen screamed. “Regardless of the size of his wish, it will still trigger Sarah’s. If that happens, I might as well follow through on what I first stepped foot into this room to do.”

“No one is making any wishes,” I said, looking at Lee. “Maybe if you just refuse to make one, it will reset or something.”

“Probably not,” Tracy said. “I don’t think Invidia will let that happen.”

Jen nodded. “She’s right. From what I could learn, if Lee doesn’t make a wish, the stone will just vanish and move to someone else. And they’ll only need to make a wish for someone else.”

Lee shook his head. “This thing. Bouncing around, playing with people’s lives.” His jaw tightened and he looked at me. “Well, I’m not playing the game.”

Without warning, he spun around and hurled the green stone at the nearest wall. The block tumbled end over end until it met the smooth, unyielding surface of the painted cinderblocks. With a deafening roar, the stone shattered into thousands of shards that scattered away from the wall in a dazzling pattern that caught the light streaming down from above and formed a glittering globe of green.

Then, the pieces flashed brilliantly one time, and vanished without so much as a peep. The only evidence that they’d ever existed was a small chip in the wall’s paint.

Lee looked from the wall to us, as he did … he changed.

Muscles began to fill out his form across his chest, arms, and legs. At first, they pushed against the crew-neck tee and his faded jeans. But then the clothes changed as well, the legs of his jeans expanded to accommodate the increase in size and the long-sleeved t-shirt changed into a blue and white football jersey with the number “38” on the chest. The glasses perched on the end of his nose disappeared, causing him to blink a few times.

Less than five seconds after the stone shattered, the Lee I remembered stood before me.

“Oh shit,” Tabitha said from my left side.

Whirling around, I realized that Lee wasn’t the only one returning to normal.

I had missed the first part of Tabby’s change, but the rest of it captured my attention and didn’t let go. Her bouncy platinum hair darkened, becoming more of a brownish-blonde and fell in a straight line down onto her shoulders. Her height decreased about an inch or so, but her figure was a bit more drastic. Her breasts seemed to deflate. Not going completely flat, but definitely dropping from the large globes they’d been. Her hips lost some of their flair, though you could still see the curves that lived beneath the jean skirt and peach sweater that replaced her cheer uniform.

I spun around, looking at everyone around me. Only Sarah remained exactly the same.

The flab that Tabitha’s wish had saddled her with melted away, leaving behind a thin girl who, now that I was looking, had more on her chest than her former best friend. Her hair turned a reddish auburn and assumed a natural wave as it lost any excess oil. Her complexion cleared. Tiny blackheads and pimples vanishing as if being attacked by an invisible eraser. Her clothing changed from the leggings and oversized sweatshirt to a dark blue cardigan over a pair of jeans that were ripped at the knee.

I couldn’t understand why she’d bothered with making a wish. The real her was actually really pretty.

Tears began to stream down her face as she reached up and touched her cheeks and nose, then ran her fingers through her hair. She pulled her hands away and stared at them, turning them over several times as her mouth hung slightly open.

Charlie didn’t return to being Cindy before becoming Clark. As with Lee, he just started filling out, muscles expanding across his lanky frame. It was like watching Bruce Banner transform into the Incredible Hulk. Unlike Lee, Clark was several inches taller than Charlie. However, like the other boy, his clothing morphed from the typical casual attire of a high school senior to that of a Benson High football player.

When it was done, he looked down at himself, then over to me, grinning like a champ.

I spun around once more, searching the room. Then I spotted Jennifer, standing in front of the mirrors running along the far wall.

It was her transformation that struck me the hardest.

Her arms hung limply at her sides. Two thin limbs peeking out from the short sleeves of a peach blouse. Her legs, while not fat, were a little thicker than expected. The khaki pants she wore did showcase a rather admirable rear end, and the hair hanging down to the middle of her back was still the color of freshly spun gold. It was straight as a board, however, rather than arranged in the ringlets I was used to seeing.

“Jen?” I said softly, taking a couple of steps toward her.

Her shoulders slumped, then she turned around slowly.

Her hazel eyes were staring out behind a pair of thick lensed glasses, giving them a bit of an enlarged appearance. Her face was slightly longer than before, with an Aquiline nose. Her lips were thin and pale, rather than the pouty crimson ones that had haunted my nightmares for so long.

I walked over to her and stood there. She had shrunk several inches in her return to normal, and had to look up to meet my eyes.

We stared at each other for several long seconds. Neither of us spoke, and the room behind us had the stillness of a morgue. After everything that we had been through, before the stone and after, it was finally back down to the two of us.

Jennifer and Samantha.

I swallowed the lump in my throat as I felt a hot wetness start sliding down my cheeks.

“I’m sorry,” I said in a choked voice. “For everything.”

Then I leaned in and grabbed her, pulling her tightly against me as I hugged her and sobbed.

“I’m sorry. So sorry.” I mumbled again. Feeling the weight of the history between us pushing down on my soul.

Because I remembered it all. Every last thing. My memories of being Samantha, my time as Samuel, and the short period I’d been Penelope all meshed together in my mind.

How could I have treated anyone the way I had? Let alone someone who’s only transgression was trying to be my friend.

Soon I realized that my shoulder was damp, and knew that I wasn’t the only one bawling.

“I’m sorry, too,” Jen whispered, clutching at me like a drowning person. “I’m so sorry.”

A second later, I felt a set of strong arms wrap around us both.

“I was an ass,” Clark said, squeezing both Jen and me. “Please forgive me?”

As we stood there embracing each other, I lifted my head and looked back over my shoulder.

Tracy and Tabitha were hugging as well, both of them with tears running down their cheeks that glistened in the overhead lights. Lee and Sarah stood a little further back, watching the multiple reunions with large smiles on their faces.

When my eyes met Sarah’s, she inclined her head in my direction, then gave me a thumbs up. Lee looked down at her, following her line of sight until he too was looking at me. Then he shrugged and mouthed “so much for fifth period”.

I laughed through the tears, relishing the pain and the joy, of having my friends back with me.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Epilogue
(1 Month Later)

I stood in front of the doors to the gym, feeling like I was about to hyperventilate. My palms were sweating so badly that I was sure I would start dripping perspiration onto the floor at any second.

I can do this, I told myself over and over like some crazy mantra. I can do this. I can do this.

“You can do this,” Lee said as he stepped up beside me.

The black chinos made his butt look extra-delicious, and the white t-shirt beneath the black leather jacket showcased the hard, taut muscles beneath it. His dirty blonde hair had been swirled and saturated with product into a perfect replication of a pompadour.

“I don’t know,” I said, biting down on my lip. “It seems like a big step. What if, you know, …” I nodded at the doors. The music coming through from the other side sounded a lot like Buddy Holly.

“Babe,” Lee said, taking my hand into his. “You’re doing the best you can. Sure, some people are still going to be holding a grudge. But most have accepted your apologies and have seen that you’re a different person.”

I swallowed the nervous lump in my throat and nodded.

The destruction of the stone returned our bodies and memories. Those of us would had actually used the stone remembered everything. All the various realities. Lee and Sarah, who had only held the thing, cleared remembered the world as it was before Jennifer's wish and after Geoff's. They did, however, have memories of the conversation in the Clubhouse.

Needless to say, it was a serious adjustment for us all.

When the tears we shed finally dried up, and I’d apologized to Jennifer and everyone for the way I’d behaved as Samantha, the first thing I did was quit the cheerleading team. That very day. The thought of standing out in front of the whole school, smiling and jumping around after learning the truth just seemed so … Sith.

I named Sarah as my replacement for the head cheerleader position and insisted that she accept Tracy and Tabitha both as new Raiderettes. When they both tried to decline, stating that they weren’t Elite material, I informed them that there was no more Elite. The Raiderettes were there to boost school spirit, not lord their popularity over others. Besides, Tabitha already knew all the routines and I had no doubt Tracy would be a quick study.

Clark and Lee joined the rest of the football team in delivering a beat-down on Southwest. Clark was even named the MVP of the evening. The celebration in the end zone after the final buzzer was incredible.

I watched it all as I sat by myself at the top of the bleachers.

Then, beginning on Saturday morning, I began to make amends. I invited Jennifer over to hang out for the day. It was a little awkward at first, but a couple of hours into it, we found ourselves arguing if a Force-wielder could defeat Professor X. Then we watched cheesy sit-coms until almost midnight.

When Monday rolled around, the school’s rumor mill was in full swing with dozens of theories as to why the Evil Queen of Benson High had abruptly abdicated her post and had splashed her social media presence with a slew of apologies and regrets.

My favorite was the one where I was trying to keep a low profile because someone had discovered I was secretly working in amateur porn.

I ignored them all and began to focus solely on making amends. Since Samantha didn’t have the benefit of supernatural popularity, and had been quite a complete bitch to nearly everyone at school, I had to do it the old-fashioned way. I walked up to people and told them how sorry I was for the way I had treated them.

Of course, most of them thought it was some elaborate set-up. That I was only pretending to be contrite because I either wanted something from them. Or they were players in some horrible scheme I was enacting. Others seemed to see the sincerity in my words and managed to forgive me. And, more than once, I got cussed at.

But I stood there and took it. Because that’s the least of what I deserved.

Jennifer, Sarah, Tracy, Clark, Lee, and Tabitha helped. Whenever the question came up as to the validity of my apologies, they would all whole-heartedly agree that, yes, Samantha Davenport was attempting to repent for her sins.

And, like the Mariner from Coleridge’s poem, I drifted from group to group, person to person, telling my tale of warning. Of course, I left out the supernatural elements. Getting medicated and spending time under a psych evaluation would only slow down my mission.

During my penance, I felt like a girl without a country. I kept to myself when I wasn’t helping someone or telling them I was sorry. I avoided wearing anything too flashy or risqué. Samantha had always made sure that she was the center of everyone’s attention. But I wasn’t her anymore. I ate lunch in a corner of the cafeteria by myself. Partially because no one wanted me at their table, and partially because I felt like being alone.

That ended at the beginning of the second week of my self-imposed exile of atonement.

I was finishing the final chapters of “Emma”, when I noticed someone move into my periphery. Placing my finger on the page to hold my place, I turned my head, fully expected to see yet another student with a past grievance to air.

Instead, I saw Lee standing there, his tray in his hands.

“Can I join you?” he asked, not taking his eyes off mine.

I paused for a moment, then nodded.

“You’re going to get a reputation,” I said, slowly closing the book and looking at him. “Hanging out with the most hated girl in the school might cost you popularity points.”

He shook his head. “I don’t care if I’m popular, Pee … uh, Sam. I’m going to be who I am and like who I like based on what I think. Not anyone else.”

I nodded. “And it didn’t even take you a magic stone to learn that lesson.”

His gaze held mine for a few moments, then he tapped one finger on the table. “So, I was wondering … would you like to be my date for the Homecoming Dance?”

My mouth dropped open as I stared at him. “Why?”

He arched a brow. “Because I think it would be fun to go and enjoy the evening.”

“No,” I said, lowering my voice as I glanced around us. “Why would you want to go with me? You never liked me.”

He shrugged a shoulder. “No, I didn’t. I always thought you were too snobby and mean to be worth spending any more time with than was absolutely necessary.” He leaned forward, placing his arms on the table. “However, I really liked Pee-Jay. Sure, some of it was due to the stone, but even looking back with clarity, I think she was a good person.”

I frowned. “She was an illusion, Lee.” I pointed at myself. “This is the reality.”

He shook his head. “Not anymore. I think the person you are now has more in common with who the stone turned you into than the girl who sowed chaos and discord through the school.”

I sighed. “You won’t take no for an answer, will you?”

He nodded. “Of course I will. If you really don’t want to go with me, I’m not going to pester you or harass you to change your mind.” He smiled. “But I sincerely hope you will.”

Then he got up and left, leaving me to ponder his words.

In the end, I accepted.

“Are you ready,” he asked, gesturing at the heavy double doors before us.

I drew in a breath and held it as I turned slightly to look at my semi-transparent reflection in the glass front of the huge trophy case.

Sam the boy had been physically altered to be unattractive. Penny had been physically altered to be exquisitely beautiful. Samantha, on the other hand, was just really pretty.

My hair was longer than it’d been as Pee-Jay, coming down to the middle of my back, and it was more auburn than chestnut. Currently, it was styled into spiraling curls that were held back by a red and white polka dot scarf tied in a side bow.

My eyes and face hadn’t changed that much between Pee-Jay and Samantha, though my nose wasn’t as pert as Penny’s and my cheekbones were now a bit higher. While far from being considered ugly, it wouldn’t be a face that magazines clamored over each other to showcase.

Likewise, my body hadn’t undergone any drastic changes. My hips were a bit smaller, my legs a little shorter, and my bust had lost two inches. Still, it could have been worse. The girl reflected back at me wore a fuzzy white button up sweater with short sleeves and a long, red and white polka dot skirt that came down to just below her knees. The image of a solid white dog graced the bottom of the skirt. The feet visible beneath were wearing a pair of red and white saddle shoes.

I turned back to Lee, my face feeling warmer than before.

“Think it’s too late to change our mind?” I asked. “We could always just go back to my house and watch something on Netflix.”

He smiled. “The last time we did that, which by the way, was yesterday, your parents almost walked in on us making out.”

The heat in my face increased. After I’d agreed to go to the dance with Lee, he immediately insisted that we needed to go on a date first. To get to know each other better. The evening itself had been tame; just a quick dinner at this little out-of-the-way pizza place he knew of and the latest Marvel movie. Imagine my surprise to find out that despite not being a total nerd, Lee enjoyed comic book cinema.

Personally, I think he just liked looking at ScarJo in black leather.

After that, we sat together at lunch every day and talked on the phone at night. It was nice to get to build a relationship with him, rather than have it pre-made by magic.

Speaking of, Geoff wasn’t thrilled to find himself back to his pre-stone life. I tried to explain to him what happened, but he simply said that Lee shouldn’t have made that decision on his own. Then he told me that Peter had tried to convince Shannon Martin, captain of the soccer team, to go down on him.

Apparently the crotch kick she delivered was way worse than the one I’d given him.

Lee took my hands in his. “We’ll go in, dance a bit, talk to our friends, then leave. Okay? I mean, you look so damned beautiful it would be a shame to not show you off.”

I sighed. “Wanting to be seen and liked was what started the whole mess.”

He shook his head. “No, the problem was that the Old Samantha wanted people to worship her, not simply like her.” He leaned down and lightly kissed my cherry red painted lips, then began to walk backward toward the door, pulling me with him. “Now, let’s go inside and have fun.”

I sighed again and resigned myself to being dragged through the doors and into the crowded gym. Greasers, Rockabillys, Pink Ladies, and Poodle Skirts were everywhere. Even some of the teachers had joined in, dressing in 50’s styles.

The only person I’d not been able to make amends to was Mademoiselle LaCroix. After resigning in disgrace, thanks to the video that Samantha had posted, she moved out of town. Clark, Jen, and Tracy tried helping me locate her, though I really didn’t know what I was going to say when we found her.

“Sorry I ruined your life and career because I was a selfish, malicious bitch” didn’t seem to begin to cover it.

However, we’d not had any luck finding out where she’d vanished. Jen figured she had probably changed her name and was living under an alias to avoid the humiliation.

Of all the people I felt indebted to, it was my former French teacher who weighed on me the most.

Lee led me across the room to where our group, affectionately named by Clark as the ‘Stoners’, were hanging around the steps leading up to the track.

When we reached them, Sarah let go of Chad’s hand and came over to hug me.

“I’m glad you came,” she said. “We all are.”

I shrugged. “Lee insisted.”

Clark stepped over to us, which earned me a slightly annoyed look from Kara. Samantha had ruled the Raiderettes more harshly than Jen had, with Kara being the near-constant target of her barbs. The redhead had said that she had forgiven me, but apparently the idea that her new boyfriend was one of my oldest friends still raised her hackles.

“It’s time for your stint in solitary to end, Sam. You can’t continue to hide from society and show people that you’ve changed. You’ve got to be out here. Visible.”

“That’s what I keep telling her,” Lee chimed in, slipping his arm around my waist.

I opened my mouth to explain how hard it was to reconcile what I’d done and what Pee-Jay had done in my head and heart. Until I had managed to achieve some sort of balance, it didn’t seem right to prance around like nothing had ever happened.

I didn’t get the chance to say that, however. Before a single syllable could pass through my lips, a wave of intensive nausea slammed into me. I clutched at my stomach, feeling the world around me twist and bend. Then, just as quickly, it stopped.

I straightened up, glancing around to see that Jen, Clark, and Tracy were also shaking off the effects of what had just happened. Sarah and Lee, though simply stared at us with confused looks on their faces.

Finally, Sarah put her hand on my arm, drawing my attention.

“What was that?” she asked.

I swallowed as I looked to her. Over her shoulder, I could see people getting jostled aside as Tabitha hurried to get over to us.

“The stone,” I said, my voice almost lost in the warbling of a young Elvis.

She put her hand over her mouth. “You mean…”

I nodded. “Someone just made a wish.”

Author’s Note: When I started this little project, I had no intention of rambling on for over 160,000 words. There are a lot of novels that aren’t that long, and they’ve got multiple plots threads and stuff. I only wanted to tell a story about an unpopular boy who becomes an insanely popular girl. It wasn’t until around chapter 4 that I came up with the idea that Pee-Jay actually used to be a girl named Samantha. From there, I chipped away at the words until the story you’ve just finished was the result. Of course, I fully expect that there’ll will be some (or many) who don’t like the ending. That’s fine. Personally, I couldn’t think of a better way to wrap it up.

I want to thank everyone who took the time to tell me how much they enjoyed the story and offered their insight to the plot. You are the reason authors write. You are our audience.

The Stone of Invidia is still out there. Perhaps one day I’ll write a sequel, with different characters and their wishes. If anyone else would like to use it, I only ask that you follow the rules as presented here.

Thanks again for reading my insane ramblings. Comments and reviews, as always, are appreciated. Either here or at [email protected].

Yours in imagination,

Limbo’s Mistress