Thomas sat on the grass outside the school, an exasperated expression plastered across his face. "Ugh, this is getting ridiculous," he muttered under his breath.
He needed to calm down—to get control of himself. Birds chirped nearby, their soothing melodies offering a hint of peace. Closing his eyes, Thomas focused on deep, steady breaths. "Okay... that's it. Be calm," he whispered, feeling the tension in his metallic body slowly fade. His mind cleared, his stress loosened its grip, and he felt himself on the verge of transforming back.
But then the school bell rang, shattering his concentration.
With a startled gasp, Thomas's eyes flew open. "Oh, crap!" he exclaimed. Panic surged through him as he glanced at the school doors. He was certain the bell signaled the start of class, and the thought of students streaming outside and seeing him sent a fresh wave of anxiety crashing through him. The stress returned with a vengeance, undoing his calm.
Thomas tried to move, but without a fuel source, his engine form was nearly immobile. "Come on, move!" he growled, straining with all his might. His wheels trembled against the grass, and his traction rod shook violently. At the far end of the hallway, two students turned the corner. "AHH!" Thomas gasped, panic intensifying. Desperation fueled his efforts as he forced his pistons to budge. To his surprise, he began to inch backward.
Thomas had thought that he was moving with out any coal or water, but what was really happening, was that the laws of physics was taking it's course.
His frantic movements had dislodged him from the patch of grass that was holding him in place, and gravity did the rest. "Yes, I'm moving!" he cheered—until the realization hit him.
"W-Wait, no! Oh, no!"
Thomas rolled backward, gaining speed as he went downhill. He tried to brake but couldn't remember how to work his own controls. His panic muddled his thoughts, and before he knew it, he was crashing into the woods behind the school. Small trees snapped and bushes crushed as his metal chassis plowed through the greenery. "OUCH!" he groaned, his back buffers slamming into the underbrush.
Thomas eventually stopped just after, looking around at the trees at the side of him. He closed his eyes. "Why..." He groaned.
His entire paint job got all scratched. His backside, his sides. And even his engine number. But, he didn't notice, because all the paint damage was away from his eye sight. He took deep breaths, to try and change back. He slowly felt himself turning back, then in a puff of white steam, he turned back into a human, dropping to the floor almost tripping.
"I really need to get this straighten out.." He noticed something terrible as he looked down at his shirt. "No... No..."
He pulled his shirt out from in front of him. The entire top had tears, and scratches. Same thing with the pants. "M-My clothes!" He gasped.
Then, he looked behind him at the trees. "D-Did the trees scratch my paint off?!"
Thomas was nervous, and didn't know what to do. His clothes are his paint in his engine form.
The pink undershirt: his the undercoat for the paint.
The blue: His paint and number.
He can't go around with torn clothes. Especially in a school!
"My other clothes are at home! I can't skip school! School started!"
Then, he realized that he keeps some emergency clothes in his locker. The only problem was to get to his locker, and not be seen.
Thomas crept through the hallways, ducking behind corners and lockers like he was on some mission from a movie. Only to get some freaking clothes of his.
He peeked around a corner and froze at the sound of voices. Two girls were walking down the hallway, one of them vaguely familiar.
"I swear you're imagining it, Stacy," her friend said dismissively.
"I'm telling you, I didn't!" Stacy argued, pouting.
Thomas squinted, recognition dawning as he noticed Stacy's blonde hair. She was the girl who'd seen him transform.
"You saw a boy turn into a train with a face? Seriously, Stacy?" the friend said with a laugh.
Stacy pouted. "I'm serious! Hey! I wasn't lying when it came to Mei, was I?" She asked.
"Come on. Mei turns into something alive, not a machine. That's just... impossible." Her friend said rolling her eyes. "Your diabetes is getting to your head." With that rude comment, she walked off, leaving Stacy looking dejected.
"B-But I-," Stacy seemed like she didn't what to say. She looked down sadly, then walked away.
Thomas felt bad for her. She had seen him, after all, and now she was being ridiculed for it. He wanted to comfort her but knew it wasn't the time. Walking up to someone with torn clothes wasn't exactly a great thing to do.
Once the coast was clear, Thomas sprinted to his locker. After fumbling with the combination lock in his anxious state, he finally opened it and grabbed his spare clothes. Just as he turned to leave, he nearly jumped out of his skin—Carter was standing behind the locker door.
"Thomas? I thought you were coming to breakfast with—" Carter stopped mid-sentence, his eyes trailing down to Thomas's shredded clothes on his body. He blinked a few times "...Uhhh, what happened?"
Thomas's face turned beet red as he clutched the spare clothes to his chest. "I-I'll explain later. I just need to get to the locker room and change!" He darted off, but Carter followed.
In the gym locker room, Thomas tossed his torn shirt into the trash and slipped on a clean one. Carter sat on the bench, arms crossed, watching him.
"So... what happened? Why are your clothes all torn?"
Thomas hesitated. "I turned into the engine again."
"And it ruins your clothes? Are you, like, the Hulk or something?" Carter asked, half-joking.
"W-What? No," Thomas stammered. "I transformed, and I was on a downhill grade. I crashed through some bushes... scratched up my paint."
"Your paint?" Carter's brow furrowed as he leaned forward. "Wait, are you saying your clothes are somehow connected to your paint as a train?"
Thomas nodded slowly, pulling on his signature blue shirt. "Yeah... Have I not told you that before?"
Carter shook his head. "Nope." Then, after a pause, he crossed his arms. "So, is this why you always wear the same clothes?"
Thomas sighed. "Well, it's true. My dad told me it's dangerous to wear anything different. If I changed out of these, no one knows what might happen. This isn't just a shirt—it's my paint. Underneath, I have to wear a pink undershirt for the undercoat, this blue shirt for the engine color, and..." He gestured at the yellow number on his chest, looking irritated. "And this dumb thing for my engine number."
Carter looked at him, leaning back on the bench. "It's like you need... I don't know, training or something."
"Training?" Thomas glanced at him. "From who? I'd need someone like me."
"Someone like you?" Carter asked, sitting up straighter.
Thomas nodded again. "Dad says there are others out there. One's even my age. It'd be incredible to meet another kid like me—maybe then I wouldn't feel so alone."
Carter smiled warmly. "Yeah, that would be amazing for you." He said. "Wow... There's other engine people out there? Does your dad know why?"
Thomas nodded. "Although, his story sounded a bit silly." He said.
"Silly? What did he say?" Carter seemed like he was interested, so Thomas started to talk.
Thomas took a deep breath. "He told me about a woman who worked on the railway in England. She loved steam engines—said she had a 'magical' connection to them." Thomas made air quotes around the word magic.
Carter blinked. "Oh... okay, go on—"
"When diesel trains started taking over, she didn't want steam engines to be scrapped. So, she used her magic to create a secret railway where steam engines could be alive. And she turned herself into one. But something went wrong, and her magic spread—suddenly, people all over the world could transform into engines.
Thomas looked at Carter, expecting him to laugh. "Yeah, I know. Bloody silly, right?" Thomas muttered.
Instead, Carter sat there, eyes wide. He shook his head, "I believe magic is real. Just look at Mei."
Thomas sighed. "I know. But this 'magic' of mine is nothing but a problem."
Carter nodded. "Yeah." Then, after a pause, he glanced at Thomas. "Hey, maybe next time you can come with us to breakfast? I really liked when you joined us this morning. I love hanging out with you at school."
Thomas looked at Carter. His cute face right now was making him blush a little. "Y-You do?"
"Of course! You're my best friend! Why wouldn't I?"
Right... 'Friend,' Thomas thought.
Carter suddenly pulled him into a hug. "Come on, we gotta get to class. We can't be late for first period."
Together, they left the locker room and headed for their first class of the day.
Thomas regretted not asking Carter out while they had that quiet moment together. He'd wanted to all morning, but he just... couldn't. Too nervous.
As he walked toward his classroom, he realized Mei was probably going to interrogate him for disappearing earlier. Rounding the corner, he reached the door just as the teacher was about to shut it. With a quick movement, Thomas squeezed inside right before the final bell rang.
He hurried to his seat, setting his bag down when he heard:
Pssst!
It sounded like it was coming from the left of him. He turned his head, then he saw Mei looking at him.
'What happened?' She mouthed the words to him.
Thomas just shrugged, because he really didn't want to keep on using the bathroom excuse. He felt like they all were slowly was starting to realize that something was up.
Class started, and Mei didn't press him further—she didn't want to get in trouble. Thomas tried to focus on the lesson. They were still on the steam unit, discussing how steam pistons work and how they're still used in factories today.
Thomas started to write down some notes, but then a kid in the seat over, tapped his shoulder.
He glanced over and saw a girl handing him a folded slip of paper. Mei was watching him with concern.
'Did she send me a note?' Thomas thought. He took the paper from the girl, and opened it, without making the teacher see.
'Is everything ok?' The paper was obviously from Mei, because the writing was her hand writing.
Yep. Definitely Mei. He sighed internally. What should he say?
'Yes, I'm fine Mei'
He quickly folded it and handed it back to the girl, who passed it along.
Thomas went back to focusing, but then he felt the girl tap his shoulder again.
He let out a quite huff, slightly annoyed, he took the paper.
'Are you sure? You can tell me.'
Thomas honestly really happy to have another friend who cared. 'Should I let her know?' He thought.
He hesitated, then wrote:
'No. I'm not okay Mei. I have a problem similar to yours.'
As he handed it off, the teacher's voice suddenly cut through the room.
"Thomas? Are you passing notes in class?"
Thomas was so surprised, that he jumped up, his hand slamming into the books that where sat neatly on his desk. "N-No, sir!" he blurted out. His anxiety spiked, and suddenly, his skin turned a dull gray.
"...Dude, why do you look gray?" someone muttered.
Realizing what was happening, Thomas shot to his feet. He had to get out of there. NOW.
He didn't care if they thought he was dumb, it was for their own safety.
He bolted for the door, reaching for the handle—
A hand grabbed his arm.
"Thomas, that's enough," the teacher said firmly. "If you need to leave, you need a pass. You can't keep running out of class like this."
Getting in trouble with his teacher, wasn't exactly helping his anxiety. And it was making the engine come out even harder.
He broke from the teachers grasp, then dashed out the door.
"Thomas!" the teacher shouted. "Get back here!"
The teachers words meant nothing now. He had to get out the school. He ran to the back door, but it was too late.
With a deafening CRASH, the entire front wall exploded outward as a massive, 50-ton tank engine burst through it.
Thomas hit the grass with a heavy slam, and nearly toppled over.
Thomas panted, out of exhaustion as he sat on the ground on his blue wheels. "...O-Oh... Oh my god..." Thomas said, taking long and tried breaths. His body felt weak, and tried. This was the worst change he went through. He felt like he couldn't calm down, no matter what he tried. He was just feeling so scared that someone was going to see him.
He could see inside the school, the teacher was out of the classroom, talking to someone. Thomas couldn't make out what they where saying, he was just getting more, and more worried that they where going to turn around and see a train with a face. He tried to calm down again.
Then—
"Oh my... OMG! I KNEW I DIDN'T IMAGINE YOU!"
Thomas had his eyes closed, and the sudden voice nearly gave him a heart attack. "AHHH!" He jumped, his metal frame flung backward in shock. It was Stacy. "No! I... um..." Stacy just stared at him.
"Please don't tell anyone about me!" Thomas pleaded. Stacy sat frozen, her eyes wide. She glanced toward the school, where the teacher was still talking to someone, then headed for the bathroom. She looked back at Thomas, still in shock. There was no calming him now. He had to try harder. He closed his eyes, thinking happy thoughts.
At first, it didn't work. He couldn't think of anything that calmed him down. Then, he thought of Carter—the friend who was always there, never judging, always caring. That thought settled him a little.
Too much, in fact. Thomas began to change again. But this time, it was in mid-air. He fell, and Stacy rushed to catch him, but the weight of his human form came crashing down on her, and they both hit the floor. "Urgh..." Thomas grunted, his head buried in the dirt. "Oh no!" He quickly helped Stacy up. "I'm sorry! Are you okay?"
Stacy blinked, rubbing her back. "Ow..." she muttered.
"Sorry again!" Thomas apologized.
Stacy looked at him. "You're like Mei..."
Thomas looked down. "Now two people know."
Stacy blinked. "W-Who else knows?"
But then the teacher appeared, stepping through the wrecked doorway. "What in the world? W-What happened?!"
Panicking, Thomas dashed behind the corner before the teacher could see him. Stacy quickly followed.