One person stayed behind, a girl Jennifer had seen around school before and figured was a freshman or sophomore. She was a definite Goth, although her appearance was nowhere near as elaborate as Jenn had gotten with her transformation. This girl's Gothiness consisted of a black sweatshirt, ripped black pants, and Army boots, plus the obligatory pale skin, black lipstick, and heavy black eyeliner; her dark brown hair was relatively short and sat, tousled, atop her head.
"Uh, excuse me," said the girl. "Did you say you changed her with the Transform or Dare curse?"
"Yeah," said Jennifer.
"So she's got it now," said the girl, more to herself than to her Goth counterpart.
"I guess," replied Jennifer.
The girl took off running down the hallway. Jennifer slumped against the wall and ended up sliding downward until she was sitting on the floor, her legs bent in front of her. She thought about having to go the rest of her life looking like this -- jeez, she was practically a midget. But at least she was still human. She'd been forced by the dare to turn her friend into a literal sideshow freak, as a half cow. And now -- hmm, maybe she should have been the one to run after Kelly and try to get the Transform or Dare ability for herself. Instead, this Goth chick had thought of it first. What was her name -- she'd been called up a couple of times during the first semester awards assembly --
"Veronica!" said Jennifer.
"My friends call me Vero," said the girl as she stepped in front of Jennifer. She was smiling, which was of course not the usual look for a Goth. She continued, "Don't worry - - I found Kelly in an empty classroom, hiding under the teacher's desk, and between her sobs, I convinced her everything would be okay if she transformed me into what I wanted."
Jennifer looked up at Vero. She didn't appear to have changed, so Jennifer had to ask, "Into what?"
"An all-powerful sorceress," said Vero, matter-of-factly. She snapped her fingers, and she was instantly wearing a sexier version of Jennifer's outfit, with a lace-front top that left her midriff exposed, fishnet stockings and arm-warmers, and boots with 8-inch stiletto heels instead of the flat platform bottoms of Jennifer's footwear.
"Oh, my God," said Jennifer, standing up as fast as she could. She found she still had to look up at Vero. "That's great. Could you do me a huge favor?"
"Sure," said Vero. She snapped her fingers, and the hallway was once again filled with students walking back and forth, paying little to no attention to the two Goth girls standing off to one side talking. "Nobody remembers you turned Kelly into a cowgirl -- not even Kelly."
"Wow, thank you!" exclaimed Jennifer. Maybe she'd had the wrong impression of Goths all along. "So, um, I don't know if you realize it, but I'm not really Goth --"
"But you are now, aren't you?" interrupted Vero. "In fact..." She snapped her fingers, and the air seemed to ripple outward in all directions.
Jennifer stared, open-mouthed, at the crowd in the hallway. The students were still walking through as if everything was normal, but they all looked different. Pale skin and dark makeup abounded, even on the guys. Clothing was now leather, vinyl, latex, and lace, mostly black, and noticeably skimpier. Shoes had all become platform boots or fetish heels. Two guys walked past wearing fishnet shirts, which showed off the silver rings that pierced their nipples.
"Just a fantasy of mine," explained Vero. "What if everyone in the school were Goth? And, actually, I think this is a fantasy of yours..."
She pointed. Three creatures who were half-cow and half-Goth girl were walking down the hall, holding books in their hoof-hands, their udders bouncing and their tails swinging with each step. As they got closer, Jennifer could see that two of the three had piercings in each of the teats dangling from their udder.
"I made it so 5 percent of girls are cowgirls. So Kelly's always been like that, as far as she knows," explained Vero.
"But that's not my fantasy," pleaded Jennifer.
"It must have come from somewhere," said Vero. She had turned away from Jennifer, watching the parade of black and white as it went by as if nothing had happened.
After a few seconds, Jennifer spoke up. "Okay, you've seen what your fantasy looks like in real life. Isn't it time to change everyone back?"
Vero turned back to her. "On the contrary," she said. "In fact, I think we'll have an assembly this afternoon where I reveal what I've done, and let everyone know about their new lives. Of course, some people may like the changes."
"Like them?!" Jennifer was a bit incredulous.
"Well, yeah," said Vero. "I'm sure there were a few closet Goths around here who will be happy they didn't have to spend a ton of money on a new wardrobe, and go through the pain of tattoos and piercings with actual needles. But other than that, I've eliminated acne, all that ugly body hair, the school dress code -- there's not even a rule against public displays of affection."
She nodded to one side, and Jennifer turned to look. Two Goths were embracing and engaging in an open-mouthed kiss -- and Jennifer quickly realized it was two guys.
"Oh, yeah, and everyone's bi now, to various degrees," said Vero. "Or maybe 'polysexual' is a better description. The concept of monogamy no longer exists in this school."
"What?!" Jennifer exclaimed. "You're pretty much completely changing everyone's lives here!"
"Well, of course." Vero shrugged. "It's not my fault --"
The bell rang.