"Dawn," Tony said, "you're not really talking about a dream, are you?"
She sighed, glad that she hadn't had to come out and say it herself. She didn't know why, but it made her sound a little less crazy if he was the one that put the pieces together. "No," she replied. "How did you know?"
Tony shrugged. "After knowing a prankster like you for so long, you kinda learn to read people. I can usually tell whether you're joking or serious, but right now you're, like, uber-serious. But are you really saying you used to be...?"
Dawn nearly broke down right then and there, but she managed to get ahold of herself long enough to explain about what had happened in the library that morning before bursting into tears. Tony whistled in amazement as Dawn cried into his shoulder. "That's something else," he said. "So me and everybody else, we all just suddenly remembered this new reality instead of the old one?"
Dawn shrugged. "I dunno," she said, sniffling. "Maybe I got dumped into a different reality, I have no idea. The main thing is just that I'm stuck in this alternate world, in this body that's not mine, and nobody even knows about it!"
"That's...that's gotta be rough," he replied. "But this book, you think it can change you back?"
She sighed, sitting back up and wiping away the tears with her sleeve. "Maybe," she said. "I mean, it made me this way in the first place. But I can't find it!"
Tony nodded. "Yeah," he said. "But are you sure it actually vanished? Maybe someone just made off with it while you were out."
Dawn nodded thoughtfully. "I sure hope so," she said, putting her hands on her hips. "I just better be able to change back to normal; I don't think I could face life as...this."
"Hey, nobody around here is going to think badly of you for being like that," Tony said. "I mean, I didn't even know there was anything out of the ordinary about nagas until you told me."
She frowned. "Well, it's not other people I'm concerned about," she said. "I mean, how would you like it if you woke up one morning and you were a girl?"
"Not much, I suppose," he replied. "Well, let's hope it doesn't come to that in the first place. In any case, you've got my support in trying to find this book. If nothing else, we need to get it locked away before anyone else goes through something like your experience."
Dawn nodded. "But we really can't do anything about it until tomorrow. Meet me in the library first chance you get, okay?" Tony nodded. "Good," she said. "So...I suppose we ought to get down to business."
Tony smiled. "Hey," he said. "It sounds like you've had a pretty rough day. Wanna just hang out? We can study another night..."
She smiled back. "You know, yeah. That sounds like a good plan."