Gloria stretched as her alarm woke her the next morning. Smiling the girl threw off her covers as she made her way downstairs. As she peered into the kitchen she could see her parents happily drinking coffee. “Morning mom, morning dad.”
“Morning sweety,” Jason smiled as he drank his coffee. “You sleep well?”
Gloria nodded as Lisa spooned scrambled eggs onto a plate. “Yeah slept great,” she said. “I wanted ask though if it would be okay to go to the park after school with my friends.”
“Any reason why,” Lisa asked curiously looking her daughter over. Gloria shrugged as she continued to eat. “No no reason,” she said. “Just looking to hang out with my friends.”
“As long as your cAreful,” Jason stated. “Me and your mom just want to be sure your safe.”
“And not being reckless,” Lisa added.
Gloria sighed as she saw her parents giving her a knowing look. Judging by their expressions she believed they thought she was going to use the ring. Although that was Gloria’s ultimate plan, she had intended to be safe and change everything back afterwards. As she was about to answer her father she looked at him gasping in surprise.
“Is that a hickey!!!!”
“Umm Uh What are you talking about,” Jason blushed, turning away from his daughter to prevent her from seeing it. Gloria looked up at Lisa noticing the sheepish look on her face as she tried to hide her face behind her coffee. “Seriously,” she groaned glaring at both them.
“It’s not my fault,” Jason whined. “Lisa got carried away at the movie theater.”
“Me,” Lisa exclaimed. “You were the one that started it and I don’t remember you complaining at the time.”
“Ew,” Gloria moaned. Slowly the she stood up giving her parents a look of annoyance. “Unbelievable you guys are teenagers for one night and you do that! And you worry I’m reckless.” Lisa and Jason blushed five different shades of red as they watched their daughter leave the table. “I’m going to school,” she grumbled. “You two behave yourselves....AND no more hickies!!!”
Thankfully for Gloria school went much smoother for her. The girls listened as she asked them to all hangout after school at the park. Gloria explained that she wanted the girls to know how to use the ring in case of emergency. While the girls were hesitant at first Gloria eventually was able to convince them. The only other excitement for the girls during school was the awkward encounters between Ms. Dean and Mr. Harris. Both teachers tried to find any reason to come in contact with eachother. As the girls sat in Mr. Harris’s class they saw Ms. Dean stumble into the classroom, making up a sorry excuse about dropping of some paperwork.
“What’s with thos e two,” Jackie asked as Ms. Dean blushed in embarrassment.
“They started dating again,” Gloria giggled as they watched the two adults. “I think their trying to keep it a secret.”
“Well they need to try harder cuz they suck at keeping it secret.” Jackie grumbled as the girls burst into a fit of laughter.
Finally school was finished and the girls found themselves at the park. Looking around Gloria smiled as she noticed several possible people they could test the ring on. “So why do you want us to all know how to use the ring,” Felicia asked. Gloria grinned looking her friends over. “Well it was something me and Sasha saw with my siter and her friends.” The girls looked back and forth between Sasha and Gloria trying to figure out what it could be. “Well what,”Diane exclaimed. “Don't leave us in the dark.”
“Well my sister and her friends can all use the ring really well,” Gloria stated. “That way if anything goes wrong one of the most can fix it. It makes a lot of sense. That’s why I want us to practice with the ring so that we can all use it really well.”
The girls gave Gloria a look of concern, staring between her and the ring. “I don’t know,” Sasha mused. “I mean from what I’ve seen that thing can be a bit nuts.”
“She’s right,” Jackie added. “I don’t know how comfortable I am useing that ring.”
“Okay I understand,” Gloria sighed. “The ring even scares me a little Okay. Here’s the thing though, I trust you guys and well if we work together I know we won’t let anything bad happen.” The girls now all looked at eachother, unsure of what to do. Slowly but surely they each sighed, nodding in agreement with Gloria. “So what should we do then,” Felicia asked.
Gloria smiled as she looked about at the park. She could see an elderly couple strolling through the park by a grove of trees, looking them over she considered possibly agreeing them back to a first date. Gloria could also see a mother and her young son by a small playground. The mother looked tired as she tried to keep up with the active five year old. Gloria considered possibly switching their ages. Finally she noticed two young children happily playing with eachother at the same playground. The two kids were around eight or nine however they seemed to be looking at each other as possibly more than friends. All three options were intriguing to Gloria, however she would need her friends help in making the decision.