Not Exactly Happening the Way Rachel Expects

Deciding to put her theory to the test, Rachel leapt to her feet and rushed over to the girl who had just called her and Katherine "freaks" and immediately grabbed her arm, yanking her back to a halt.

The girl turned and sneered at Rachel. "What the hell do you think you're doing, you freak?!"

Rachel removed her hand, but was puzzled. There was no branding left on the girl. Maybe what was happening didn't work the way she thought?

"Just stay away from me, okay?" the girl said, then hurried away, occasionally giving Rachel dirty looks over her shoulder.

"What was all that about?" Katherine asked, coming up alongside Rachel.

"Uh, nothing. I was just, uh, trying to figure something out."

"Well, whatever you were doing, you picked a hell of a person. Amy hates the Goth crowd, you know that. She's the last person you want to piss off."

"Crowd? I'd hardly call the two of us a crowd," Rachel said.

Katherine looked at her strangely. "You know the Goth crowd is more than us."

Really? Rachel thought. She didn't remember touching anyone else, but then again, she just learned that just touching someone didn't change them. Maybe whatever was happening was being spread from one person to another? That meant that Katherine must have touched someone, but who?

"Well, who else is there?" Rachel asked.

"You're fucking with me, right?" Katherine asked.

"Just tell me."

"Well, Ling, obviously."

Rachel made an expression to show that she had no idea who Katherine was talking about.

"Ling Hong. My dorm-mate?"

Rachel didn't remember any Asian girls on campus. Maybe this girl used to be someone else, but was changed? She did want more diversity, maybe this was part of her wishes being fulfilled?

"Rachel, are you okay? You really seem out of it today," Katherine said, grabbing hold of her friend's arm in a comforting way.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Really," Rachel said, but it wasn't exactly true. It seemed that she was slowly getting what she wanted, but she had no control over who changed and how. Katherine was a Goth girl, but she wasn't a lesbian. And Katherine's dorm-mate (formerly a white girl named Lindsey Hunter, but Rachel didn't know that) was now an Asian Goth girl (she didn't know her sexuality). Were there others who had changed too? How long would it take before the entire campus was the type of place she wanted it to be? If the changes were only spreading person-to-person, it could be awhile. But at the moment, she should count herself lucky. Before all of this happened, she was alone. Now she had a best friend (Katherine) and had the beginnings of a true Goth crowd (thanks to this Ling girl). Maybe things weren't happening the way she expected, but already everything was looking way more "up" to her than before.