The Eyes of Kid Midas by Neal Shusterman

sticky old soda stain, then climbed the face of the phone and heaved the receiver out of its cradle.
    "I don't get it," said Josh. "Is she in shock or something? Doesn't she care that she's been Barbie-fied?"
    Nicole went about her business, jumping on the phone buttons to dial them as if she did this every day.
    "I don't get it, either," said Kevin.
    Nicole knelt by the receiver as her mother answered on the other end.
    "Hello?"
    "Hi, Mom, it's me," said Nicole in that squeaky, mousey voice.
    "Nicole?" said her mother, confused and startled by the strange sound of Nicole's voice. There was silence for a moment, but then Mrs. Patterson's confusion quickly passed away. Too quickly, Kevin thought.
    "Thank God you're all right! You had us all worried, little lady—we had no idea where you were."
    "I'm at a friend's house," explained Nicole. "I forgot to call."
    "We'll talk about it when you get home," said her mother sternly.
    Nicole sighed. "I'll be there as soon as I can."
    "Good," said her mother. "And watch out for cats on the way home."
    Kevin hung up the phone for her. Cats? he thought. Did she say watch out for cats?'
    "You see the trouble you got me in? Wasn't your salami kiss bad enough? Now you have to kidnap me, too?"
    Josh perked up. "You kissed her?"
    There was no time for Kevin to answer, for just then his door sprang open with a bang, and Teri stormed in, unannounced, as she often did.
    "Moron police," she said. "All morons present I.D."
    Then she stopped dead, coming face-to-face with the Barbie-fied Nicole. Teri's jaw dropped dumbly, making her look like the only actual moron in the room.
    Silence hung in the air like the Hindenburg.
    Kevin braced for the explosion.
    But it didn't happen.
    Yes, for a moment terror and confusion filled Teri's eyes, but then Teri blinked, and the terror vanished. It was as though her whole brain had adjusted to accept what she was seeing . . . just as Nicole's mom had adjusted to the voice she was hearing over the phone.
    "Hi, Nicole," said Teri as if everything in the world was perfectly fine.
    Nicole waved. "Hi, Teri. Tell your brother that he's a waste of valuable protoplasm."
    "I would, but I think he already knows." Teri sauntered out of the room as quickly as she had entered. "Better hope I don't tell Mom you're hiding a girl in your room." And then Teri disappeared into her own room.
    "What is this?" cried Josh. "Has the whole world gone schizo?"
    And then the truth swung itself at Kevin with such fury that his brain was launched into deep, deep left field.
    He suddenly understood.
    Kevin coughed out his wind, and no amount of rapid breathing could bring it back.
    "Excuse us, Nicole." He grabbed Josh by the shirt and pulled him out into the hallway, still unable to catch his breath.
    "Talk to me, Kev," said Josh. "Don't just stand there like a fish gulping air."
    Kevin grabbed Josh by the shoulders and looked him right in the eye.
    "Josh, how tall was Nicole yesterday?"
    "She was normal, Kevin. You remember what normal is, don't you? About three inches taller than you!"
    "Okay," said Kevin. "Now close your eyes and try to remember that. Try to remember the last time you saw her looking 'normal.' "
    Josh closed his eyes, and after a few moments, his eyebrows wrinkled and knotted. "I can't," said Josh. "I can't picture it."
    "Okay," said Kevin. "Now tell me what happened to Bertram."
    Josh took a step away from Kevin. He rubbed his arms, as if he were cold. "You sent him to the land down under."
    "And what did Bertram look like?"
    Josh thought for a moment, and his eyebrows knotted up again.
    "Well . . . he had braces. . . ."
    "What else?"
    Josh stammered a bit.
    "What else?"
    "Give me a minute . . . ."
    "What about his hair, his eyes, how tall was he?"
    "I DON'T KNOW! I can't remember, so just shut up about it, okay?"
    Josh looked terrified, and Kevin knew why. Itwas as if someone had yanked something out of their heads. It was like that old trick of pulling a tablecloth out