The Old (Young) Zoe Is Back

Zoe stood there, hair its natural brown color down to her shoulders, a limited amount of makeup on her face, wearing a yellow tank-top shirt, blue jeans, and a pair of slip-on flat shoes. It was just how she'd looked prior to entering her Goth period.

"What kind of a prank is this?" she asked, holding up two textbooks. "Where are MY books?"

John noticed the book titles: "Pre-Calculus" and "Advanced Placement American History." Looked normal to him -- he didn't know Zoe's exact class schedule, but those were classes that he'd taken the year before as an academically advanced junior, same as Zoe was now. So he could only say "What?"

"Come on, John, these are 11th grade classes. Where did you even get these? Didn't you have to turn them in at the end of last year? At least give me my algebra book back -- I know I'll need it in class today."

But algebra was a 9th grade class, John thought, and then realized that Zoe looked smaller than she should have, almost as if she'd missed out on a couple of growth spurts she should have. The wish appeared to have literally transformed her into "the sweet girl that was here two years ago." He blurted, "You're 16."

"Yeah, since last week," she said. "We went out to dinner, remember? What's your problem?"

John's head was spinning, and finally, all he could think to do was say to himself, "Okay, Zoe should be 18, but not a Goth, with those textbooks seeming perfectly normal to her."

He watched as she grew a couple of inches taller before his eyes, her breasts gaining a cup size, parts of her body curving to make her look more womanly, and her clothes altering themselves to fit.

He blinked, and she was sitting at her desk shoving books and papers into a backpack. "What's your problem?" she asked.

"Uh...you don't feel any different?"

"What -- should I?" She zipped the backpack closed and stood up. "Jeez, only three weeks until finals. Can't wait. Hey, Mom should remember that I'm going in early today to work on my chemistry project -- I told her enough times. Tell her I'll get breakfast at school."

John headed for the bathroom, remembering that he didn't have to be at school for over an hour. It wasn't until he was under the hot spray of the shower that the implications hit him. He really had gained a life-altering magical power, and really had gone back in time six months. He thought about what lay ahead -- Karyn was back today, most importantly. The senior prom was this Saturday, although he hadn't gone. Three more weeks of school, graduation, a boring summer job, his first couple months of college -- the possibilities stretched out before him, possibilities for altering those events in any way he saw fit.