Chapter 3

"I don't understand this," Jennifer spoke softly as she walked to her desk. Picking the photo frame, she stood motionless and stared blankly at it.

Peter came up behind her and held her hands. "I don't know either, Jenny. This seems really strange."

Jennifer turned around and looked into Peter's eyes. Grabbing on to the photo frame more tightly, she whispered, "I'm scared, Pete. What have I done?"

"It'll be ok, Jenny. We'll figure it out," Peter comforted her as he guided her to sit on the bed.

Peter continued, "Let's see, do we have other photos of you that we can look at?"

"Why do you want to look at other photos?"

"Well, I have an idea. Maybe the spell changed all of 'your hair' to gold in this room. If we can find some photos that weren't in the room, maybe it'll still be your usual color."

After thinking for a second, Jennifer answered, "I'm sure we have some photos of me downstairs in the living room, but Mum will wonder why we're scouring for them."

"Hmm," Peter said. "We can say we want to scan them for some reason."

"Oh!" Jennifer exclaimed. "I have some photos online. Do you think we can check those instead?"

"That's a great idea. Let's have a look."

Jennifer quickly stood and went to her computer. Logging on to the Internet, she checked the pictures she had placed online. To her dismay, she had the same gold hair in all the photos. Bewildered, she staggered back to the bed and sat down.

They sat quietly for a few minutes, trying to think of possible explanations.

Peter finally broke the silence and said, "Well, I have another idea. It's a little wild though."

"What is it?"

Pausing for a second, he continued, "What if the spell changed our reality? Somehow it changed the past, so that you've always had gold hair."

"I don't know, Pete, it does sound pretty wild."

Peter explained further, "That might be why you have gold hair in all the photos, and why your parents didn't notice anything different about your hair."

"Well," Jennifer replied. "I guess that kind of makes sense. But why do we remember the real reality then?"

"I don't know, Jenny. Maybe it's because you cast the spell, and I was here in the room?" Peter suggested. "Or I could be totally wrong. After all, this is just an idea that popped into my head."

Glancing at his watch, Peter said, "Uh-oh, it's getting late. I should probably head back or my Mum will kill me."

Jennifer looked frightened and grabbed on to Peter's hands. "Please don't leave, Pete. I'm scared."

Peter leaned closer and kissed Jennifer on the forehead. "I'd love to stay, but I don't think my parents would allow it. I don't think your parents would either."

"What if we say it's my birthday and we want to spend it together?" Jennifer offered.

"Hmm," Peter said. "We could give that a try, I guess. We haven't stayed over at each other's houses since we were twelve though."

"I'm sure my parents would allow it since we're holding hands and all that," Jennifer said as she smiled weakly.

"I'd thought that would be the reason why they wouldn't allow it."

"You don't know my parents as well as I do," Jennifer replied as she stood up. Pulling Peter along, she continued, "Come on, let's go ask them!"

Walking hand-in-hand down the stairs, Jennifer tried her best to look cute and happy. Peter, on the other hand, plainly looked nervous. They found April and Josh sitting on the couch watching television.

"Mum," Jennifer started. "Can Pete stay for the night?"

April and Josh turned quickly to face them.

"Ho ho ho," Josh boomed again. "Isn't that a little too soon?"

April hit Josh on the arm. "Don't make fun of them!" Looking at Jennifer, she asked, "Why do you want him to stay? He can always come again tomorrow morning."

"Well," Jennifer said as she played with her hair. "It's my birthday, and I thought it would be nice if we could just chat for the whole night. It's Friday, after all."

"Are you sure you'll only be chatting?" Josh asked and winked at April, who promptly hit him on his arm again.

Jennifer blushed and said, "Yes Daddy, we'll be chatting!"

"As much as I trust the two of you," April began. "I don't think it'll be appropriate for Pete to stay for the night. Besides, Mike and Sally wouldn't agree."

"I'm sure I can convince them to allow it," Josh said and smiled. "But Pete will probably get a long interrogation when he goes home tomorrow."

"Could you, Daddy?" Jennifer asked and opened her eyes wide.

"I'm still not sure it's a good idea," April said softly.

Josh laughed and put his arm around April's shoulder. "Relax honey. Like you said, we should trust the two of them," he said and looked solemnly at Peter.

Peter gulped and nodded his head. "You can trust us, Mr. - erm, Josh."

Josh laughed loudly. "I'm glad you remembered, young man. Now, go on upstairs and chat," he said and winked at Peter. "I'll talk to your parents and convince them."

Jennifer quickly pulled Peter upstairs before her parents could change their minds.

"Remember to leave the door open!" April shouted from the first floor again.

"Wow, that was easier than I thought!" Jennifer exclaimed as she sat back down on her bed.

"It seemed a little too easy, I feel," Peter commented. "It was almost as if your Dad wanted me to stay over."

"Now you're being paranoid, Pete. Daddy's just being Daddy."

"Ok, what shall we do now then? Chat, or chat?" Peter asked as he smiled.

Jennifer playfully slapped Peter on his arm. "Don't be naughty!"

"I guess you do take after your Mum," Peter stated as he rubbed his arm. "Ok, seriously," he continued. "Why did you want me to stay for the night?"

"I was afraid of being alone," Jennifer said. "If you're right about reality being changed, maybe tomorrow morning you won't remember what happened. Then, I'd feel really scared and alone, and..." Jennifer babbled and burst into tears.

Peter moved closer to Jennifer and hugged her tightly. He whispered into her ear, "I won't forget you, Jenny." Rubbing his palm along her back, he comforted her as she sobbed.

After a while, Jennifer calmed down and looked deeply into Peter's eyes. "I'm sorry Pete. It seems like I can't control my emotions anymore."

"It's alright, Jenny. I got to hug you, without getting burned too!" Peter joked.

Jennifer smiled and whispered, "You can always make me laugh, Pete. That's what I love about you."

Peter smiled in return and gave Jennifer a kiss. Soon, their passions ran wild and they were kissing fervently, rubbing their hands around each other's back. They did not notice April and Josh approach the bedroom door.

Josh elbowed April softly and whispered, "See, I told you they would be chatting."

April looked concerned and asked, "Are you sure we should leave them like this?"

"Yeah, I'm sure they're responsible kids. Pete gave me his word," Josh answered. "Don't you feel like chatting too?" he asked and winked.

April laughed and hit him on the arm. She then silently pulled him into their bedroom, closing and locking their door.

Long after April and Josh left, Peter and Jennifer finished kissing. They were breathing heavily and smiling at each other.

"Wow," Peter exclaimed. "I didn't know kisses could be that long."

"Yeah," Jennifer said dreamily. She held on to Peter's hands and sighed contentedly.

"So what should we do for the rest of the night, Jenny?"

"I was thinking that we should figure out what the spell did," Jennifer offered. "I don't know how we can do that though. There's nothing on the page except the words to say," she continued as she picked up the book lying on the bed.

"Hmm," Peter thought for a second. "Remember how you said the front sounds real? Does it tell you anything about the spells in the book?"

"Let's see," Jennifer replied as she flipped to the front. "I didn't really read these very carefully earlier. I just skimmed through them."

"Wait a minute, didn't you call me lazy for not reading it earlier?"