Naturally.

Jessica had somehow managed to finish out the party, which concluded without incident, and then dragged herself to bed. Her sleep was broken and troubled, fraught with nightmares in which nameless voices **** her to do unspeakable things. The only bright spot was that, at one point, she'd dreamed she was strangling Kevin Scott, and that almost made the nightmares worth it.

She woke early, and immediately checked her phone. Ernest hadn't called, or texted, or messaged. She flipped between apps, checking all of his social media accounts. No Facebook update since he'd said he was going to her party the night before. His Instagram feed was the same mishmash of quotes from obscure authors, photos of misspelled signs, and awkward selfies that it had been yesterday. Nothing on his Snapchat story. Hell, she even checked his YouTube account, but the last thing he'd posted was the same two-month-old video of him fumbling his way through 'Come & Get It' on a cheap acoustic guitar.

Either he was ignoring her, or -- perhaps more likely -- something else was keeping his mind occupied.

Eh, I wish that no one else would notice the ring. Oh, and I wish I couldn't lose it.

An erotic spark hit Jess's pussy, but it was noticeably less overwhelming than it had been the night before. Maybe the wishes themselves somehow dictated how arousing the experience would be for her, or maybe she was just getting used to it. Either way...well, those wishes weren't ideal from Jess's perspective, but they also weren't impossible to overcome. He could still give her the ring; she just had to convince him to do it.

Since she knew he was awake now, she once again brought up his contact info on her phone and hit call. This time, however, it went straight to voicemail without even ringing.

"Fuck."

Well, there was nothing for Jess to do at this point besides get ready for school and try to catch him there.

Ernest finished his shower, brushed his teeth, and pulled on his clothes. When he walked back into his room, it occurred to him that he hadn't yet checked his phone. He walked over to the spot where Tiffany had tossed it, picked it up, and hit the power button.

Nothing happened.

"Ugh, it's dead." Well, that's what came of using it all day, and then not charging it at night. He shoved the phone and the cable into his backpack with a sigh.

"I'm gonna have to drive to school by myself, 'cuz I have cheer practice afterwards," Tiffany was putting her own backpack on her shoulders and preparing to leave, "See you there, babe." She kissed Ernest, a lingering, affectionate kiss, and then headed out the door.

"See you later, Tiff."

Ernest double checked his backpack -- in addition to his phone, he tossed in his homework, a couple of granola bars for the morning, and small umbrella. Then he also went down the stairs. There was noise from the other bedrooms of his sisters and mom waking up, but he managed to slip out of the house before any of them had come down for coffee.

The sight of the black Corvette in the driveway momentarily gave him pause. But there was no point in just leaving it there, right? He hit the starter button on the fob, and as the engine roared to life, he couldn't help but smile. Thank you, alternate-Tiffany's parents!

Jessica trudged to her locker with a sigh. She didn't actually know where Ernest's locker was -- they'd always met in the library when working on their project -- and though she'd kept her eyes out for him, Eastlake was a big school, and she hadn't seen him. She'd tried texting him, but with no response.

"Hey there, birthday girl! Can't blame you if you're still tired after that epic party!"

Samantha Mason, one of Jess's best friends, tapped her playfully on the shoulder before opening her own locker, "I'd have stayed home if it weren't for cheer practice. I hardly got any sleep."

"Hope I didn't miss anything too wild," another voice said. Jessica turned, expecting to see Tiffany Handford, her other best friend. And that's who it was -- sort of. But the Tiffany that Jessica knew didn't have the kind of figure that would make Jessica Rabbit jealous, or the hair and skin of a salon model.

"Holy shit, what happened to you?"

It was out of her mouth before Jessica could stop it. Tiffany, however, only laughed, "I know, you don't have to rub it in. I didn't make it home from Ernest's last night, so I had to wear what I'd left over there. It's not high fashion, but surely it's not worth making a scene over?"

Tiff was being playful, but Jess could barely disguise the horror on her face, "Master? What were you doing over there? What did he do to you?" Again, the 'Master' bit threw Jess off, but neither Tiff nor Sam seemed to notice.

"Just the usual," Tiffany responded with a grin, but it faded as she gazed at Jessica, "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

"You have a hangover? Or something else?" Sam added, "We're here to listen if you need us." Tiffany nodded in agreement.

Was this the 'girl of his dreams' wish? Jess was fuming inside, though she did note that her friends at least were acting normally toward her. If Ernest had changed Tiffany into his own Barbie-doll girlfriend though, she'd have to insist he changed Tiff right back, and then gave her the ring. But, as if it knew someone was thinking of 'rings', the class bell abruptly sounded.

"Just a bit hung over. It'll pass. I'd better get to class," Jess mumbled, and started down the hall towards the Biology room.