She understood how their questions made me feel. In regard to Cole, I knew that it was always up to me as to what to do next. He consumed my thoughts ...lmost every waking second. Do I give him a chance to explain? Or do I just cut all ties and save myself more pain? My mom gave me little in the way of an answer, but it was my decision so I didn't blame her. She stuck around and we talked about so many things we hadn't talked about for a long time. It was nice. If anything good came out of this. Uncle Mitch had never talked to me like that before. He was usually an easygoing guy, and in spite of my fears we’d gotten along pretty well. He worked as a manager in the annuities department of a life insurance company — all business suits, lunch meetings, Blackberries and talk of cross subsidies and equity indexed products. Today when he got home he had doffed his white shirt, tie and jacket and changed into a soft suede shirt in a dark shade of gray that complemented his darker gray slacks. " What happens then?" I asked, "I'm stuck like this?"She frowned. "Yeah, well, until next Halloween..."I gave her a nasty glare. "So, can't you change me back now?" I can..." She fidgeted, "But, since you're already looking younger..." What?" Why don't you just come with me? I'll give you a costume andeverything!" What? No way! Besides, I'm going to Jake's party..." Tell you what," she said, "You hang out with me for an hour, then I'llgo with you to Jake's party." I don't know..." I wasn't so. .. all we need now is approval by the most powerful man at each of the schools involved.”They both chuckled, with Harold saying, “Go on?”I explained every little detail of it all, occasionally stopping to let a point settle in. When I was through I asked the question, “So, this is really a no-brainer, don’t you think?”“What if our answer is NO?” Richard said.Pushing back, “Is it?”“What if it is?” Harold pursued.“Well, that would mean that I would ... transfer to South Knox or Rivet High, if I.