Becca was still hard at work. She had swiveled her hips and John had agreed to take her to Saks Fifth Avenue. A few shakes of her shoulders and he was taking her out to a show as well. A heavy sigh and Clem Varney would find someone to do her math paper. She still needed to find a prom date for her skinny, plain sister to get her parents off her back. She didn't know the other boy at all, but he sure was big and muscular. Maybe Ellen would like that. Anyway, he was as good as she'd get. Ellen! How pathetic it must be to be so plain that you had take any boy who came your way!
John was droning on again about football. She liked to watch him play, especially when he dominated the other boys and didn't get tackled -- that must really hurt! Ugh! But it was so boring to hear him talk about it! And he went on and on and on about this play and this pass and that tackle. Boring!
She was just going to interrupt again to talk about something more interesting when there was a loud crack down the hall like the whole building was breaking, then a frightening gust of wind. Dust got in her eyes and her hair was blown around. Her blow dry was ruined! She turned away to shield her face and her makeup, but as she did she felt a sharp sting in her neck. A bee sting? She looked down, worried there would be a huge welt, but instead she saw a ring caught in the folds of her blouse where it pulled above her bust. The ring wasn't pretty at all -- some cheap trinket. She picked it up to throw it away but as she held it, it briefly rested around her pinkie, and she stopped short.
It was as if the world around her became brighter and clearer, it sounds became sharper and more melodious. The boys sexier but also ... easier. She let the ring drop into her palm and everything went back to normal. Ewww! She slipped it back onto her ring finger and pushed it on tightly and securely. Ahhhh!
"What the HELL was that?!" John was saying, looking around at the debris. "It sounded like a bomb! Fucking terrorists I bet! Well, it doesn't look like there's any real damage," he added, looking around.
"Yeah. It figures they'd just throw a bomb or something and run away. I'd like to see what they could do man-to-man, you know?" he said, puffing out his chest.
'Terrorists? A bomb? Was there a bomb here?!!' Becca wondered, and before she voiced her concern the thought came back, 'There was no bomb. No terrorists.' Becca paused. 'How did I know that?' The thought came back. 'Anything you want to know, you'll know.'
"There was no bomb," she blurted casually. "No terrorists either."
John and Clem turned to her in surprise. "How do YOU know that?" John said aggressively, looking down at her.
'How do I know?' she wondered, hoping that voice would answer. 'Because you wanted to.' 'Just because I want something …' '… you can have it.' the voice replied. 'Anything?' 'Anything.' 'Ha! Well, I want John and Clem to stop asking questions I can’t answer. They should just believe me.'
John suddenly said, "OK. Sure, you're right, Becca." He nodded vigorously.
'Yeah, there's no bomb," Clem agreed.
Becca beamed. ‘This is fun. I want to get what I want all the time!’
Chad Holtz was looking at them curiously. "Um, was there some kind of secret message I didn't get?" he asked John.
"Hey!" he said, putting his finger in Chad's chest. "Becca said it, and I believe her. That’s it. What do YOU think you know about it, huh?"
Becca smiled and rewarded John with a hand on his shoulder and a quick kiss. "That's so sweet of you," she said approvingly. "I like it when you respect my opinions and stick up for me."
John nodded again. "You should just lay off her!" He warned Chad, who looked puzzled at first but then was getting angry.
"Fuck it, John. I know she's your girl, and she is hot, but don’t start using your dick for a brain. She's a total airhead.” His large muscles tensed.
Becca was shocked. She was NOT an airhead. She had lots of ideas, important ideas. Boys were always paying attention to her when she talked, although not so much before as just now. Still, she had no idea Chad could be so mean! He was scary when he was angry, especially when his big muscles started twitching. He looked so much stronger than John.
“Hey! You’re out of line, Chad!” John said firmly, stepping up to him.
Chad looked down at John and pushed him, sending him spinning across the room. “Don’t be a dickhead. She’s just a girl! If you don’t know that, you’re as dumb as she is.”
“I’m not dumb!” Becca declared. “Just because I’m not a great student doesn’t mean I’m dumb. Right John?”
“That’s right!” He got up and went right back to Chad. This time, Chad punched him, knocking him down in one punch.
Becca ran to him and held him. “Oh John! John! Are you all right?” She wanted to help, but what could SHE do against Chad. He was so strong, and she was just a girl! What she wanted was for John to be strong enough to beat Chad.
Immediately after she thought this, John’s body felt different to her. Harder. Heavier. He shook his head and stood up. “Damn it, Chad!” He walked quickly up to him.
“Don’t be an idiot, John. I don’t want to hurt you so bad you won’t be able to play,” Chad said. “But I will knock some sense into you if you don’t start making sense yourself.”
“Fuck you!” John said, balling his fists, feeling his muscles tense and bulge under his loose shirt.
Chad was surprised. John wasn’t usually so stubborn. But he couldn’t let the cocky quarterback get THIS one over him. He reached back to hit him again, to put him out for awhile this time. He hurled his fist forward, but John caught it in his wrist and then twisted the larger Chad’s arm behind his back.
“HA!” he said, forcing Chad’s arm higher, making the larger boy groan with pain.
Becca watched in fascination. Again, she had just wanted something, and it happened! ‘Was this just her lucky day, or was it something else?’ ‘Something else. You can have whatever you want, so long as you wear the ring.’ She looked down at the ugly ring on her finger. ‘It can be prettier, at least, can’t it?’ ‘No. You can’t change the ring.’ She loved the ring, if it let her have whatever she wanted, but why did it have to be so ugly?’ Becca frowned.
“Hey, babe, what’s the matter? Look at me!” John was saying. He was holding Chad helpless, begging for mercy, with just one arm while Chad and Clem looked at him in disbelief.
“You’re hurting him, John. Stop it,” Becca said, feeling half-responsible for what John was doing.
“Are you kidding? He was beating on me, and he insulted you. He deserves it!” He twisted Chad’s arm harder and pinned him to the wall.
Becca winced. Now John was scaring her. Now he was too strong. She never would cause anyone physical pain. Boys never knew how to behave! Why couldn’t they be nicer, like girls? She looked down at her body, her large, shapely breasts, which were so soft and curvy. Boys loved to look at them, and they felt so good when they touched her. They loved her small waist, her round hips and bottom, and the way everything moved when she walked. She made herself as pretty as she could, which made everybody happy. Everything she did made her and other people want her. She loved boys to bits, but there was something bad about them too. If girls were in charge, the world would definitely be nicer! She looked down at the ring and thought. What if boys were so attracted to pretty girls that they HAD to listen to them? Or if girls could punish boys by taking their strength away if they didn’t use it right, just the way a mother would take away a misused toy. She smiled, thinking about how she would use the ring and make the world a better place. Her getting this ring was going to be such a GOOD thing for everyone!
If only it weren’t so ugly. Even if the ring wouldn’t let her change it, maybe there was something else she could do to make it prettier. She moved away from the grappling boys, just for a moment, to take off the ring and look at it more closely in the light.
Several miles in the air, Mark was getting bored of his battle with Superman. He was so far superior to him that he was beginning to think of the Man of Steel as a mere Man of Jello. Just for fun, knowing it wouldn’t harm him, he ended their battle by hurling Superman 93 million miles into the sun. Now that he had tested his powers, it was time to return to his room and see what more he could do with the ring. Suddenly, he felt a strange feeling run through him, changing him. But that was impossible. He was invincible, ten times as invincible as Superman. He flew back to investigate.
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