Chapter 5 ~ Screw Mondays
I wake up late. Shit! No time to really do much other than pull on my clothes and get out the door. I hastily take off my pajamas, replacing them with a plain white t-shirt and some worn jeans. Tearing through the house, arriving in the kitchen, only to find Jazz has already left, so my only option is beating the pavement. Luckily, it's not too far. I grab my purple bag on the way out.
Beating pavement paid off, I arrive at school with several minutes to spare. I receive many gawks, gasps, and some odd looks. But, don't pay them any mind. I got a locker to get to!
Just as I get to my locker and open my locker door, I hear a specific nasally voice and inwardly cringe. "Hey, Fen-Turd!"
I quickly find myself surrounded by Dash and his friends. Suddenly, I'm being whirled around and hoisted up against the row of lockers. I tense, preparing for what I know is coming.
"Fen-Tina, I knew you were a freaky loser! What did ya do? Like, eat ten crates of glow sticks? 'See, you're finally as unhinged as your nutty parents! Nice jumpsuit, now you match! Halloween is like two months ..."
As my panic rises, his words start to fade in the other background noises. Glow? Jumpsuit? Halloween? Glancing down at my arm to my hand, I see it. My weird inverted HAZMAT suit. Looking up at my bangs, I see that they are an impossible white. I don't have to look at my eyes to see acid green; I know they are. Also, they are glowing brighter. I can see it on my nose. I realize to my absolute horror that I'm a ghost.
Abruptly I feel a cool-numb sensation, and with it, I am intangible. I slip through Dash's grasp and float up a few feet before becoming solid again.
"FREAK!" escapes a horrified Dash as he backs up a few paces. I look around to see horror and disgust on the sea of faces threatening to swallow me whole. No! This can't be happening. It can't be. It just can't! Strangled sobs rack my form as I curl in on myself while I still float higher.
"GHOST!" I look up, my eyes still blurred from tears.
"M-mom ... D-dad?" I murmur.
"Your no son of mine, ghost!" Jack Fenton screams while his wife charges up her ecto-gun, taking aim. The scowl on their faces worsens.
I tense and slam my eyes shut, unable to watch. I hear the gun discharge. The world and the shouts fade away.
My eyes fly open. It's so dark. Where am I? I can't breathe! I can't see! I frantically move my limbs around, trying to gain purchase on anything solid. My foot meets the floor, and my hand grasps a blanket. My other foot quickly follows suit. Now having some semblance of anchors, I hoist myself up and right myself. Now I'm standing thighs deep in my bed. I climb out of bed. Literally! As I do so, my legs become solid. I collapse on my bed with a sigh of relief. Though my heart is still thundering in my chest.
BEEP... BEEP... BEEP
I groan a low "Fuck!" and roll over. Hitting the dismiss on my alarm clock, figuring I'm not getting any more zees after this astounding start to my morning. I walk over to my dresser and pull out a plain, light blue t-shirt, dark wash jeans, socks, and fresh boxers. I set those aside, strip, and hop in the shower. I take my shower as cold as it will go.
After I towel off my hair, I get dressed. I put all my school stuff in my bag and have some trouble with intangibility. But get it all in at the end. I swing my bag over my back and head downstairs.
Jazz is already in the kitchen making scrambled eggs when I walk in she is glowing yellow with hints of purple. She smiles, and I give one in kind.
"Morning Jazz." I greet.
"Morning Danny, Have a good sleep? Were you over or under your bed this morning?" Asks me with a trace of a giggle. I roll my eyes at that.
"Neither; I woke up inside my bed." Still feeling more than a little uncomfortable about the nightmare and the awkwardness of waking up.
"So normal then?" I shake my head.
"I was literally inside my box spring!" Jazz paled at this. Then a thought occurred to me, 'how the actual fuck did I not suffocate?!'. Maybe I should try to hold my breath and see how long I can last. Is it a half-ghost thing?
A bright blue-violet flair pulls me from my musings. Jazz rushes over, concern etched into her features.
"Are you alright, Danny?! You could have suffocated!" Not so sure about that anymore, but I keep that to myself.
"Jazz, I'm fine." Smoke billows from the pan. "Jazz! Pan!"
"What? ...Oh," Jazz whirls around and hurries over to the stove, turning it off. She divvies up the eggs and sets down the eggs and a glass of OJ for each of us.
I scarf down my eggs fast, probably due to my nerves. Jazz gives me a pointed look, so I slow down. While Jazz continues at an average pace, finishing a little after me. We both put our dishes in the sink and head out the door.
As soon as I get in her car, I pull out my new lock and practice the directions some more.
"... Up ... Up ... Up ... Left ... Right ... Down ... Up," I mumble to myself and pull the latch and start the cycle anew.
"What was that, Danny?" Jazz asks after she pulls out, briefly glancing over.
"Nothing much, Just practicing my lock," I answer, looking up, then resuming my cycling.
"Looks like you've pretty much got it." She states.
"Yeah, I've always found directional locks easier to remember than your standard three combo lock; I find the dial tends to get stuck often on those. There was an issue with my old one." I put the lock back in my bag and look back to Jazz and see Casper fast approaching. My sister pulls into her usual spot at the end of the lot. I pale a little and shrink back into my seat. Jazz looks over at me and gives me a light warm smile.
"Danny, you'll be fine. You'll get the hang of this." Jazz gives me a reassuring shoulder squeeze as we exit her car. It does make me feel a little better but doesn't totally quell my fears. We start walking towards the school. Jazz looks over to me again, adopting a more serious expression.
"Danny, before we part, I just want to clarify that we are doing some practice and exercises after school, so meet me here after school lets out. If you are late for any reason, please let me know. I'll wait in the library in that case. See you after school, little brother." With that, she waves me off, and we head to the doors closest to our respective lockers.
As I enter the school, I am quickly overwhelmed. The sea of emotional auras is too much. I stumble back against some lockers. I feel entirely nauseated and bloated like I just overate. I try my best to beat back the feeling and just get to my locker. I see Dash up ahead, narrowly missing him, relieved as he turns and heads in the opposite direction. I continue on my way to my locker. I open my locker, grab my math, Geo, History, and science textbooks and binders for those subjects, and drop off my bag. I usually do it because there isn't enough time to stop by my locker with five minutes between classes. I lock up my locker with my new lock and head to my homeroom.
The bell goes off just as I get into my homeroom. I find my usual seat at the back. We all stood to attention with a hand over the heart and recited. "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." Then the announcements continue to state their typical junk consisting of sports tryouts, club meetings, and events. Which I quickly tune out in favor of my thoughts as per usual.
The emotions all around the room are not helping my spectral side. The colors are becoming too much, so I put my head down. I'm gonna have to figure out how to tune this out. It's a shame there's no one to teach me these things. Sure my parents are always spouting on about ghosts, but none of that is helpful right now. I inwardly sigh. But seriously, I need to get this under control somehow. I'll have to make a mental note to ask Jazz, or maybe I'll come across a ghost. You never know. The bell snaps me out of my musing, so I grab my stuff and head to math.
I grab my seat on the far left corner, just as the bell goes off. I pull out my homework from Friday. Ms. Geridean makes her rounds checking off each student that completed their work. This takes a few minutes. She walks up to the whiteboard and writes out the lesson plan.
Homework check
Lecture
Practice
Assigned homework
I pull out my math binder and a pencil, ready to take notes.
"Okay, class, today we will be covering exponent rules."
Okay, that lecture was pretty short. Ms. Geridean hands out a worksheet, and I finish pretty quick. I glance around and see mostly dull red. I guess most of my class doesn't like math. If that isn't already apparent by their expressions.
Ms. Geridean writes the problems up on the board and places a marker under each area.
"Okay, Class, I'm going to call some of you up to solve these problems. Valerie 1, Troy 2, Benjamen 3, Wallace 4, Amy 5, Darell 6, Curtis 7, Daniel 8."
I get up out of my seat and walk over to my problem:
(−2)^4
(3^2+ 2^2)^2
Just as I am about to grab my marker, both my hands go intangible. Fuck! I move closer to the board and hunch forward in an attempt to hide my hands. I stay like that for a few minutes. The teacher looks over at me.
"Daniel, is everything alright? Do you need a hand?" She asks. Actually, I could use a hand. Mine are kinda indisposed at the moment.
"N-no, I'm fine." Just as I reply, my hands become solid again. I quickly solve the problem. Ms. Geridean finally returned to me after checking the others. She smiles and says I got it right. I return to my seat. The bell goes off. Quickly I pack up my books in a stack and cut out the classroom door. Just as I do, though, my foot temporarily goes intangible, causing me to trip, sending all of my things careening across the hallway. Damn it! I quickly rounded up my things and head to geography.
As usual, I take a seat in the back as I make it into the classroom. Mr. Dowling clears his throat and waits a few seconds for the chattering to disperse.
"Today's lesson will consist of the topic of thematic Maps, to do with their definitions and types …" He begins to drone. I pull up my binder and a writing utensil and hunker down for the spiritless lesson that this is gonna be. I find myself spacing out. He's just so dry. I'm also starting to feel uneasy in my own skin. Before I know it, the class is almost over, and he's already giving it worksheets. There are only three worksheets for tonight. The bell goes off, and I head to my next class; History.
I find my seat and pull out my textbook binder and pencil. Mr. Livingston starts lecturing; he doesn't even care if anyone's paying attention. He just likes ranting on about his subject, just as my parents like ranting on about ghosts. At least his lectures are not dull and monotonous. They're actually kind of entertaining. Why can't all teachers be like him? Today's lesson is about The First Great Awakening: religious revival in American independence. It goes by pretty fast. Mr. Livingston is interrupted by the bell. Much to his chagrin, he's forced to stop. He calls out after us to read the assigned chapters, hastily preparing his next class's material. He's fun.
Next, science class rolls around. We have just finished the mini-unit On the rules of the classroom and lab conduct. I now realize that my parents don't follow a lot of these. Go figure. However, today we're actually doing a lab. Mrs. Snider, Gives the class a pointed look and thins her mouth to a line. While she's waiting for the class to quiet down, she begins to bend her knees repeatedly and pops them multiple times. It's a weird quirk she has while she is idling.
"Okay, class, today's lab will be having to do with physical and chemical properties. To save time, I have already picked lab partners. The list is posted up at the front. Now go retrieve your lab coats, goggles, and gloves."
I walk to the front of the room, turn to the closet, and grab the said supplies. Equipping them, I walk over to the list and see I'm partnered with Jana Workman. I find Jana then we decide on the lab bench at the far end of the room. All the stations were set up the same, with bunsen burner various containers containing; aluminum, magnesium, iron, copper, zinc, lead.
There is also a beaker of hydrochloric acid, a bar magnet, tongues, heat resistant pad, and an electrical conductivity kit.
I'm pretty excited to start this lab. I feel my core start to thrum with energy, which makes me a bit nervous. Jana says she wants to record the results. I reluctantly agree. I light the burner slowly. Next to me, Jana documents luster, malleability, and magnetism. Next, I use the metal tongs to grab a piece of magnesium and hold it in The fire. The Magnesium flake ignites blinding white, but still not as bright as my transformation. We record the results. Next, I grabbed another fragment with the tongs. Just as I am carefully placing it in the acid, I feel a surge of energy from my core stronger than earlier. My hand holding the tongs glows an eerie green which quickly spreads to the tongs. It causes me to jerk. There's a bright flash without warning; the beaker explodes, completely shattering, spilling the leftover acid all over the workspace. Jana Was scribbling down the result, aura swirling Blue-violet With hints of red. Meanwhile, Mrs. Snider Looks up and zeros in on me, her aura flaring bright red. Man, she's pissed.
"Daniel Fenton! what on Earth happened here?!". She exclaims, rushing over. I look down meekly and embarrassed.
"Well?" She presses, very much not impressed.
"Um … I kind of just ... Um … dropped the magnesium in the acid, and … Um ... it just lit up and exploded?" I mumble back to her, looking down at my shoes. She sighs, completely exasperated.
"Look, Daniel, you are the first student to ever get this result. I don't know how you managed it. But, for the remainder of this lab, you will not be taking an active role. You will be taking the results." She looks over to Jana softening her gaze.
"Jana, you will be conducting the practical portion of this lab, understand?" Jana nods. Mrs. Snider Cleans up the acid and the shattered beaker. She then goes to the supply cabinet and grabs a new beaker, and replaces the solution. Her eyes reharden, and she turns to me.
"Daniel, this spells detention for you after school today." I looked down at my shoes. I know there's not really anything I can say to defend myself. Sorry Mrs. Snider, my core sent a jolt of energy to my hands then to the tongs exploding the beaker. Like I can say that. At least now I know. Still sucks, though.
Jana Was sending acidic stares at me for the rest of the lab. I'm just relieved I didn't have to touch the iron.
I drop my stuff off at my locker and head off to the cafeteria. As soon as I enter the cafe, I begin to feel really nauseous again. Too many colors. Too many emotions. I push it back down, go over to wait in line, and get a turkey sandwich. I go sit down at the far end of the cafeteria on a lone table. I pull up my phone to text Jazz.
Danny: I'm just letting you know I'm going to be late after school. I have detention. I don't really want to get into details over the phone. I'll tell you after.
Jazz: Okay, Danny, But I expect an answer. Meet me in front of the library as soon as you're let out.
I put away my phone and finish my sandwich. I reach my locker, and I'm about to pull up my books. Suddenly, I am being hoisted up by my collar and violently shoved into my locker. And with that, the locker door slams shut and the lock clicks closed. I can hear Dash Baxter and his posse snickering further away. I can hear the hallway is empty. I moan. Looks like I'm stuck in here for a while. I hate confined spaces. A few minutes later, I feel a jolt from my core again. My body flickers intangible and I fall out of my locker spread eagle on the floor. I just lie there for a few seconds. I quickly get up and look around. Thank the ancients, no one saw me.
I head over to the boys' locker room to get changed for physical education. Unfortunately for me, Dash immediately spots me.
"Hey, Fentina!" Dash's cronies immediately surround him. I let out an involuntary whine and cursed him. Of course, Dash hears it. I wince slightly. Dash picks me up again and slams my back into the row of lockers.
"What was that, Fentileena?" Dash sneers at me. My eyes turn downcast, and I try to shy away as best I can in my current position. Dash just laughs at me. I get tossed between a few other jocks for several more minutes. Then a harsh whistle breaks up their jostling. And the jocks immediately finish getting changed and rush out into the gym. Which gives me a chance to change.
Just as I finish putting on my gym uniform and rush out, I see the rest of the class already getting the rundown from Ms. Tetslaff. I quickly realized that I missed roll call and sighed to myself. Ms. Tetslaff Looks over at me.
"Fenton! You're late. That's 15 laps; get moving!" Dash and the others snicker at my expense. I start to jog to the perimeter of the gym and begrudgingly start running my laps. Screw Dash! Smug bastard! That asshole is the reason I'm running these laps in the first place.
I finished the laps faster than I expected. I'm still winded, though. I look over to the other boys who are just finishing up their stretches. I returned to the main group.
"Today, we will be doing reps. I will be pairing you up." Ms. Tetslaff states. I'm picked first and paired with Eddie, one of Dash's buds. I moan inwardly. I can feel the annoyance coming off the kid and waves. Good! At least we share the same sentiment.
I follow Eddie over to one of the mats. He tells me to start first, reasoning that he could get rid of me faster. I lower myself to the mat and get started on my reps.
I just finished my reps when my core jolts painfully. My skin feels way too tight. I feel like I have way too much energy built up; it's going to burst. I have to get out of here. Fast! There isn't time to ask permission to leave. And I rush out of the gym like a bat out of hell.
As I'm rounding the corner, I realize the washroom is too far. I know I'm not going to make it. But there's a janitor's closet just up ahead that'll have to do. So I rip open the janitor's closet and duck in.
I sank against the door panting in pain and exertion. I bite down on my wrist just to keep from screaming in pain. My insides feel like they're Boiling or freezing. I just can't tell right now. It hurts too much. Just as I think I can't take anymore, the transformation triggers in the halos leave me in my spectral form. Relief washes over me. I'm not being squeezed and confined anymore. I feel right. My white glow is brighter than last time. Maybe that's because I'm in a dark closet. I swear it seems brighter. I float off the ground. My legs merge back into a tail. I whine in frustration. My tail flicks in irritation.
After several minutes of calming down, I'm a bit more level-headed. Okay, I do have to head back to class soon. Okay, I've done it twice before I can do it again. I start the mantra as before. Become human. On repeat. for several minutes, nothing happens. I flicked my tail out in a fit of annoyance, and it knocked over some rooms making a loud crash. I hope no one heard that. Okay, I really don't want to get double detention. I try again, taking some deep breaths. This time I focus directly on my core. Then I notice there's some warmth nestled deep within my core. Mentally, I reach out. I grasp it. At first, it's elusive, like trying to hold water in your hands. The more I grab, the firmer my hold becomes. And with that, the cold in my veins recedes. My organs restart their intended functions. And the transformation reverses. I fall to my hands and knees, panting. Hurriedly, I head off back to class. But not before looking at the clock. I had missed physical education, and it was halfway through study hall. I still needed to get my stuff from the locker room. So I sprinted back.
After changing back into my regular clothes and grabbing my needed things out of my locker, I head to study hall.
I managed to slip in undetected, which was the first bit of luck throughout this whole day. And take a seat at the back of the library. As I was pulling out my homework, I realized why no one noticed me. I was invisible again. Literally! I look around to make sure no one is watching and force myself back to the visible spectrum after a bit of turmoil.
Soon, study hall is over, and I depart from English class with Mr. Lancer.
I quietly and quickly make my way to the back of his classroom. I pull up my homework from Friday. While Lancer makes roll calls. Soon after, Lancer Begins the lecture On To Kill a Mockingbird, Concerning the implications of mob mentality And its influence on the Tom Robinson vs. Mayella Ewell court case. But he has such a monotonous drone, and I can't stay focussed long, but unlike most of the class, I'm still awake by the end. He's really going to have to learn how to spice up his lectures. If he wants anyone to remember them. The bell goes off; oh, I'm just about to leave. But then I remember I still have detention. And Lancer handles detention, so I'm stuck here for the next hour. Whoopi! I pull up today's work and start on it. Might as well get something done if I'm going to be stuck here for the next hour.
When detention finishes, I've gotten the majority of my homework done. I get up and pack my things. Trip over my intangible foot, resulting in some screeching desks. I hastily get up and get out the door, not giving anyone eye contact.
Jazz is already waiting for me outside the school library. She looks kind of disappointed. Then again, I don't really get detentions that often. She spots me and starts walking towards me.
"So Danny, how was your day? I mean, aside from the detention." She greets me.
"Not anything I'd be comfortable talking about here," I state, my eyes shifting around, never looking her in the eye.
"Okay, that's fine. But I want to hear all about it when we get in my car." Jazz gives me a firm stare, making sure I know she's dead serious.
"Fine," I grumble.
The rest of the walk to Jazz's car is done in silence.
"Okay now, why did you get detention?" She presses, making me squirm a bit and my seat. I buckle myself in.
"Apparently, magnesium, acid, and energized ectoplasm don't really mix. In short, I blew up a beaker today in class." I deadpanned. "I didn't mean to. My core kind of just surged, and energy just flooded into my hands. It all happened so fast. I'm just lucky no one got hurt." I defended myself. I looked down at my lap, still feeling really ashamed about it. On top of that, I know the science teacher will probably hate me for the rest of the year. Jazz pulls out and gives me a side glance and reassuring smile.
"Danny, I don't blame you. It wasn't your fault. This is new to both of us. But, more you, but that's beside the point. We'll figure this out. You just need to be patient." I can see she's trying to help. But that doesn't change the fact I'm still not used to this whole situation or comfortable with it. I look back over to Jazz, who's waiting at the school's exit for an opening in traffic. A brief gap appears, and she takes it. It's not a long drive. I was almost discovered multiple times today. How long will my luck hold out? Jazz is still giving me words of encouragement. But I mostly tune them out. I just don't have the attention span right now.
I look at the passing scenery. We're about halfway home now. My core sparks again. Oh, are you fucking kidding me?! My whole body goes intangible. I'm falling through the car. As I hit the road, it became solid again, scraping my arms as I brace myself. The next thing I know, Jazz sends the car into a screeching halt, and I'm lying in the middle of the road. I get up real fast, not wanting to be run over, and dart over to the sidewalk. I robotically sit down on the curb, not believing what just happened. Jazz hurries over to me.
"Oh my God, Danny! Are you all right?" I don't respond. I'm still too stunned by what just happened. Jazz begins to shake me. Still locked in place, I let her.
What felt like an eternity passed before I could start thinking again, let alone moving. My senses are turned back on. I look back over to Jazz. Who is growing increasingly worried? And becoming more blinding and decadent… what? No! stop that!
"I think I'm okay… just a little shaken up, but I'll live." Jazz doesn't seem entirely convinced. But it doesn't look like she wants to press right now. To be honest, I don't really feel like getting back in that car after that. What's to stop it from happening again? We sit in silence for another couple of minutes. Jazz looks over again to me. She opens her mouth and closes it again a few times.
"Danny, are you good to continue heading back?" Jazz continues to squeeze my hand gently in a calming gesture.
"Actually, Jazz, is it okay if I go the rest of the way on foot? I'm not sure I feel comfortable going back in the car the rest of the way."
I get up slowly but shakily. I shove my hands and my jean pockets. I start to walk off towards home when jazz places her hand on my shoulder to stop me.
"Fine but I'm walking back with you. I'm not leaving you alone after what just happened. I'll get my car later". I can see jazz is not going to budge. Which is well and fine cuz I'm not sure I want to be alone either. The rest of the Walk is done in silence. Which is nice, I'm not very much in the mood for talking right now.
As we walk through the front door, we drop our bags off and head upstairs to my room. I know I need to train. I'm not sure I'm in the mood anymore after that. But then, again, if I don't, my slip-ups probably won't get better. Jazz and I both walk over to my bed and sit on it. I just make myself comfortable and try to quell my anxieties. Jazz rubs circles on my back.
"It's ok if you need a few minutes. We can start when you feel ready." Jazz smiles at me. I take a few deep breaths.
"I think I'm good now." I take one more deep breath before resuming steady ones. "What do you think I should start with?" She looks over at me with a thoughtful glance.
"I think you should transform first. You know, that way you'll be more attuned to your powers." I tug on that cold spot. But it doesn't hurt like earlier today. It was just like I jumped into frigid waters and drank a couple cans of monster. Only briefly uncomfortable. It is quickly replaced with a deep sense of relief. Ancients it feels so good to get out of that too-tight meat sack. It just feels right. I wish I could feel like this all the time! Man, what's wrong with me?
I automatically start floating off the bed. My legs fuse together again. But it doesn't freak me out like the first time. Though Jazz visibly flinches. Then quickly hides it. I would have missed it if I had seen her aura briefly flash dim violet before resuming its green and blue-green swirls. I'm kinda wobbly though. And it takes a few seconds to get my balance back.
"Okay Danny, since you're already in the air, why don't we start with flying." She pauses. "Why don't you try coming back over towards me?". I look back down at my tail and realize how far back I had gotten. When did I start drifting away?
"Danny?" Jazz asks, snapping me out of my musing. I give a light chuckle.
"Um, yeah, right." I experimentally lean forward. I slowly inch forward. Okay, not much but it's progress. This is good. I lean forward even more and move my tail faster. I pick up some speed. I get to Jazz. She grins.
"Okay, now try some laps around your room. That'll give you some practice turning." I give her a curt nod. I float past Jazz to the corner to the nearest corner of my room. Right. Turning. Um? I start with twisting my shoulders and torso and slowly start to turn. Then a passing thought hit me. What if this mode of flight follows the same rules as riding a bike. Like looking where you're going. Or how looking at the ground too long will trip your balance and make you crash. I change where I am looking. I push myself forward. As I continue rounding corners, the motion becomes more fluid. I start to go faster with more confidence as my wobble decreases. I feel so free. Jazz clears her throat.
"Okay, I think that's a good start. Now come back over, and we'll try some others." I turn back over to her. But then realize crap, how do I stop. I start by slowing down my tail movements. It does something but not quite enough. That's when I also noticed I've been tugging on my core in the direction I wanted to go as well. Then, I pulled backward on my core hard. I come to a sudden stop. My whole body jerks slightly from the motion. I pull down and feel my legs reform as I touchdown. Jazz seems relieved about that. I walk back over to Jazz and sit down on the edge of my bed next to her. I smile at her.
"That was actually pretty fun" I exclaim and she chuckles.
"Yeah, you seem to really be getting into it." I definitely still need to practice that. once I get good, maybe I'll be able to fly through the night sky. Won't that be something? it would definitely be something to work towards. I'm kind of missing my tail. Is that weird?
"So what do you want to try next? intangibility, or invisibility?" I think about it for a moment. Invisibility would probably be easier. yeah, I think we'll start with invisibility.
"Invisibility" I sit there for a few minutes, with my face screwed up in concentration. I groan. This isn't working. Damn it. I think I might shit myself before I even fade from the visible spectrum.
"Danny stop! you look like you're just going to soil yourself." That line stole my last bit of concentration. A grin slips on my face. I let out an exasperated sigh. I glare lightly at Jazz. She shrugs, then adopts a face while she ponders. My mind starts to wander again. but, is quickly drawn back in when Jazz's aura flairs is a bright blue-green before dimming again. My eyes snap back over to her.
"Okay bear with me here. Trying to think of something embarrassing that's happened. you know that feeling when you just want to when you don't want to be seen." I nod.
"Yeah, I think I can do that." I think back to a few weeks ago. When Mom and Dad got into a heated argument with some ghost hunters that passed through town. whether or not the old ways we're more or less effective than their tech. And it started drawing a crowd in the middle of the local hardware store. Jazz was not present cuz she had studying was it at home. but I was stuck coming along. The store owner politely asked both parties to leave. And they continue their argument with the traditional Hunters outside. And dad started pulling inventions out of who knows where. And the traditional Hunters starting to wave around iron and rock salts. and the crowd just kept growing. I was so embarrassed by the looks everyone was giving us. I just wanted to disappear.
"Danny you did it!" Jazz explained happily. I look down at myself and see if she's right. She is! I'm not there. My whole body feels cool. I need to remember this feeling. Okay so getting visible again must be the opposite. I just need to think of something that makes me feel confident and prideful. Coming up with a memory for this is deceptively hard. Then it comes to me. My knowledge and facts about astronomy. The more I think about it. The more visible I become. Finally, I'm fully visible. Then I think about embarrassing memories again and astronomy back and forth for a good several minutes. Eventually, I don't even really have to think about it my core just does it. Jazz Smiles.
"That's good enough for now. now let's move on to your intangibility." I use a similar thought process for this power as for invisibility. Though, this power comes to me a lot easier. But, not as easy as flight. Suddenly, a sweet taste coats the air. Jazz shrieks, aura swirling with blue-violet light. She quickly backpedals to my headboard. I look over to Jazz and follow her gaze. On my ceiling is a big beige spider. Jazz is absolutely petrified of anything with many legs. So her reaction doesn't surprise me. Hey, this'll be good to test my powers together. I kicked off the bed and my legs fused together again. I fly up to the spider and gently coax it into my hands. I carefully cup my hands and fly over to the window. First I try turning the spider and my hands intangible. It's pretty easy since it's so small. Though to Jazz no spider is small. Then, I turned the rest of myself and tangible and float through my bedroom window. Then I turn myself tangible again once I'm outside. I put my hand against the brick wall and guide the spider onto it. I've never really liked killing spiders. I phase back into my bedroom. I look at Jazz. The blue-violet swirls have been replaced with bright yellow. Jazz is clearly happy I got rid of the spider. I glide back over to Jazz and sit down beside her, legs reforming as I do. Jazz looks over at me.
"Thanks," she mumbles.
"No problem." I chuckle.
"I think we have a pretty good start here today. I think we should end it here." I smile I can't help but agree with her. I really did make some good progress today. I think if I slip up again I'll have an easier time correcting it fast. My thoughts wander back to science today. How my weird energy exploded the beaker. I really hope that was a one-off thing. Was that a power? It seemed quite destructive. Then my thoughts wander over to PE today. How I was in such terrible pain. how I had to leave fast I was going to be revealed. How I felt so tight, too tight in my own skin. And once I got in that janitor's closet and changed. How I felt infinitely better. And how right now I feel better now not being in human form. I know I should be bothered about that. But I can't find it in myself to be.
"Danny, you should probably change back now. I need to head down and get supper going." I pout. I really didn't feel like changing back. To be confined in that too-tight meat suit. But, I mentally probe inside myself reaching for that warmth that was my humanity. Light sparks around my waist. I can feel my organs restart. It feels really uncomfortable to breathe again for the first time in an hour. After a sharp inhale and exhale, I sigh. But, At least that wrongness as feeling during PE has died down to a low murmur. But I already know it's going to get worse again the longer I stay in this form. Jazz takes notice of my sullen mood. She sits back down on the bed, concern written all over her face.
"Danny, what's the matter?" How do I put this into words? I ponder a bit. My jaw works for a while, but no words come.
"It's just… I don't know... it's just ever since PE today…" I trail off again.
Jazz interjects, "What happened in PE today?"
"I got forced to leave" I mumble.
"Why?" Jaz asks looking more concerned.
"Because... because I was forced to transform and was barely able to hold back long enough to make it to the closest janitor's closet. While I was in there after I transformed I felt so much better. Free. Before I got in there everything ached especially my core. And ever since Friday, my skin... No. Everything about my body, in general, has felt too tight, just wrong while I'm human. The feeling just builds and builds and builds, till it becomes too much. And all the emotions everyone was giving off weren't helping things either. I think it only helped it happen faster... Even now, my body feels tight and unnatural. I hate this!" I finished ranting feeling better now that I finally said it out loud. Jazz looks taken aback. Her jaw moves without words. I look around my room while pulling at fibers from my galaxy-themed comforter.
"Okay, I don't think I'll be able to do anything to help your physiological reaction do your human side. But I think this might help you manage it." She pauses and I nod encouraging her to continue. "At school maybe you should take bathroom breaks throughout the day and transform So the energy and feelings you're keeping capped up and doesn't erupt out like they did today." Okay, that could work, but Jazz is missing one problem with that.
"There's only one issue with that. My transformations are super bright even behind a closed door, Let alone stall, someone's bound to notice the Flash." Jazz thinks for a minute.
"Maybe you could transform while invisible? Maybe that would hide the flash? let's try it right now." I force myself invisible. it's a lot harder to do while human, like the rest of my powers are. Then I trigger the change. Jazz looks over to where I should be standing.
"Have you changed yet?" Jazz asks. I decide to fade back into visibility. Jazz's face breaks into a wide grin. "Well, that's that problem solved" I grin too, but not for the same reason is Jazz, mostly. it's more of the fact that I'm happy to be back in ghost mode. but I know it's not safe to stay that way for long with our parents at home. Though, they haven't been up from the lab in days. In fact, I don't remember seeing them since Friday. Which at this point I still consider a good thing. Safer they don't know.
"Danny?"
"Oh, right!" I change back unhappy with the sensations that it leaves. But, better to look human than a ghost living in a house with ghost hunters. Jazz turns to leave but stops. she sends me a soft smile.
"Danny, I really mean it! You really did great today! I'm going to get supper going and I'll call you down when it's done." With that, she leaves.
After finishing the rest of my homework I head back downstairs. No trip-ups this time. I grin. Small victories. Jazz is setting our plates down on the kitchen table. Then is wrapping up two for Mom and Dad if they come up at some point and putting them in the fridge. We are both pretty tired. So we eat most of the supper in silence. Jazz insists she does the dishes today and sends me upstairs.
I do my bed routine sluggishly and crawl into bed being too tired to do anything else. Not long after my core swells with a little energy radiating some cold that flows through my whole body. I shiver violently. And my next exhale is fogged. But I'm too tired to care. Whatever this is it can wait till tomorrow. I'm tired. With that, I drift off.
AN: Yeah I know this chapter took me like 11 months to write. Got hit with several heavy bouts of writer's block and it turned into my longest one yet (7221 words. Damn!). I also had a large project going on this year which I'm pretty sure has not been mentioned before. I'm not sure though. It was a hand-sewn quilt, themed after my favorite operating system (Arch Linux). Yeah I know I'm such a nerd. The thing had 1645 blocks in all. The blocks took forever to cut and the rows took forever to stitch together (Just finished it last month and started in January). But I certainly don't regret making it. It is the most comfortable blanket I've ever slept with. I also messed around with blender last week ( you know that FOSS 3D modeling software) and learned I can pull fabric patterns off of UV Maps. I made a pattern for a little blob ghost plushie. the pattern turned out pretty all right. it also gave me the excuse to use my glow-in-the-dark thread. its eyes are both unsettling in adorable all in one. I'm thinking of making more of these in the future. Also, I'm thinking of adding a time after this current chapter or the next, but it's coming soon. It won't be a long one probably just a few weeks (Closer to mystery meat.). I hope to not spend another year on the next chapter. That would be most unfortunate. I also got some other works that I'm excited about. I know it's over. But it's going to bother me if I don't finish them. I've seen others give late submissions to events and it never seemed like an issue. I got really wrapped up in stuff in October. :(
~SkarlettSkwrl