Ms. Lopez shook her head as she watched the girl who had called herself Jennifer Smith slink up the now empty corridor, a fistful of skirt wadded up in her hand
as she tried in vain to keep from tripping over the oversized garment.. What had happened to the mature, sexy girl who owned the halls of East Hampton High?
Yes, the facial resemblance had been uncanny, and she had clearly sounded like Jennifer, too. But this girl’s periwinkle blue eyes had twinkled with innocence and
fear, not arrogance and loathing. And her voice had been far too high and plaintive to belong to Jennifer Smith.
But as striking as these similarities were, they clearly ended at the neck. Ms. Lopez cleared her throat. Unless ‘Seventeen’ was now running makeovers for high
school seniors who wanted to take five years off their figures, that scrawny little thing could not be Jennifer Smith.
"Young lady!" shouted Ms. Lopez. Jennifer anxiously craned her neck over her shoulder, her lips mumbling a prayer that Joanne was still lurking in the hallway as
her feet instinctively sped up their pace. Her prayer became a silent curse as she saw that she was alone in the hallway with Ms. Lopez.
"Come back here this instant!" Jennifer bowed her head and shuffled back toward the waiting teacher. She stopped and stood a few feet in front of Ms. Lopez,
bowing her head in defeat as she clutched at her skirt with her right hand.
"All right, now will you tell me who you really are?" Ms. Lopez asked.
Jennifer shuffled her weight from foot to foot. "I told you, I’m Jennifer Smith."
Ms. Lopez bent down and lifted Jennifer’s face toward hers. Jennifer Smith is seventeen years old. You can’t be a day over twelve. You’re obviously her little
sister or her cousin." "Ms. Lopez’s tone grew more indignant. "Now tell me who you are, and why you’re pretending to be Jennifer Smith!"
Jennifer began to cry. "I told you I am Jennifer Smith!" she sniffled. "Some dweeb freshman zapped me with the ‘Transform or Dare’ curse, and made me twelve
instead of seventeen!"
Ms. Lopez rolled her eyes. "Transform or dare, that’s a good one. You kids have been pulling tricks on me all year, just because I’m the new teacher. But I have
to give you credit, this is the best one yet." Ms. Lopez reached out and grabbed Jennifer’s left hand. "Now let’s get you to the principal’s office, so we can figure
out who you are."
Ms. Lopez turned and tugged on Jennifer’s small hand. Jennifer pressed her little feet to the floor as hard as she could. Her shoes squealed against the floor as Ms.
Lopez dragged her down the corridor.
"You don’t believe me, fine. Anna Lopez, transform or dare!"