“Okay, why don’t you come with me and we will see if there was any physical damage done while your parents are called.” He helped Jacob to stand up, he winced, and Jacob followed him to the nurse's office holding his side. As the nurse on duty inspected the bruises blossoming across his ribs, and the partly healed one on his elbow, making notes as she went; Jacob had to suppress a smirk because as painful as this part was, his plan was playing out perfectly. As soon as he got home he could express his fear of continuing to attend Treyton and show his research about Tri-City Academy.
*
It wasn’t long before both his parents showed up, which surprised Jacob because they both worked fairly demanding jobs, Katherine looked scared and Alan looked angry. Jacob opened his mouth to speak, however, his parents stormed past him with naught but a raised finger into the principal's office. The door was shut behind them and so Jacob was forced to wait out in the main office with nothing but the occasional angry outburst filtering through the door.
He watched as someone, likely his father from the size of the shape, paced back and forth angry in front of the frosted door a few times. The nurse had just left after giving him a fresh ice pack for his ribs, and giving him a small smile as she did so, when the door opened angrily as his parents stormed out; his father was clearly livid and his mother looked like she had been crying by the tear tracks on her face.
“Come on, Jacob, we’re leaving and transferring you somewhere else. No way in hell are we letting you attend a school where you are bullied, beat up and put into life threatening situations by a classmate who only gets suspended.” His father angrily spat out, clearly angry not at his son but at the school the way he glared at the principal’s door.
This was a dream come true for Jacob, he was getting exactly what he wanted and the only thing he had to do was convince his parents Tri-City was the right fit for him. Rising from his seat he gingerly slung his backpack over his shoulder on the unbruised side." Mind of I go clear out my personal stuff from my locker, dad?” he asked casually.
His father was shaking so badly from anger he didn’t think that he heard him so his mother, while placing a hand on his father's arm answered. “Yes, yes of course, Jakey.” With that, they proceeded towards his locker one last time and he cleared it out of the personal belongings, which wasn’t much truth be told, leaving the locker unlocked with the textbooks sitting on the floor of it.
Once they were in the car and pulling away from Treyton high for the last time Jacob, who had been fighting allowing a smirk to spread across his face, finally spoke up having decided on the best way to approach the TCA issue. “I do have a confession to make, dad.”
“Oh? What is it, Jacob?” He snapped a bit harsher than he realized, “Sorry, go on, son,” he added in a softer tone. “It isn’t much but… the bullying and everything has been going on for longer than I gave indication and I have wanted to transfer schools for a while…” he paused for a moment and when no one interrupted him he continued. “It’s just that the school I want to transfer too well… it isn’t exactly cheap and I wanted to gather resources and statistics to show you why it is totally worth it and the perfect fit for me.”
Here he pulled the TCA file out of his backpack and handed it up over the back of the seat to his mother. “I had just gathered the last bit of data today, I’ve been working on this for weeks really, and I was going to show it to you when I got home after school today.” There was silence for the rest of the drive home as he heard his mother flipping through the file and saw his father's eyes dart every so often sideways as he drove along. Once they had pulled into the driveway of their home, his father took his turn to flip through the file before he turned in his seat to look at his son seriously, studying him.
Jacob did his best to keep any sign that he had planned this all along off of his face as his father watched him, instead he opted for a sort of hopeful optimism. Finally, his father spoke holding the file up.
“Are you sure about this, Jacob? You know this will mean school uniforms and even more studying?”
“Of course I’m sure, dad. I’ve thought about it a lot and I think TCA is the perfect fit for my senior year.” He replied confidently. Plus, it works out perfectly with my plans for Rebecca. He thought privately.
After a few moments of eerie silence Alan finally nodded, “Alright, we’ll enroll you this weekend and with any luck you’ll be able to start Monday.”
Chapter 9: Tri-City Academy
Jacob
Tri-City Academy
It turned out Alan was about a week off with all that was involved in transferring someone between schools after the school year had already began. And so it was the Monday approximately a week after the incident at Treyton that Jacob walked into Tri-City Academy in his new, crisp navy blue suit with its school patch and restricting tie.
It was a whole other world here as he proceeded to the office to obtain his timetable and locker assignment. Of course, he had already been hanging out around the school, and Rebecca, as Michael for the last week but he still had to play the new kid as Jacob.
As he walked into the office, his new messenger bag slung across his chest, he approached the long counter where a couple of other students were being helped. Once one of the ladies was free he approached her.
“Hi, I’m Jacob Russell, I’m transferring from Treyton High. These are my transfer papers.” As he spoke he slid the folder papers across the counter towards her and she picked them up and opened them to skim them.
“Right, Jacob. Well Mr. Russell, just give me one moment and I will get you your class schedule.”Jacob drummed his fingers silently on the counter top as he looked around for the next 10 minutes or so while the receptionist found his file and extracted the paperwork he needed. She was back soon enough and handing him the timetable and welcome package.
“There you are, course schedule, map and locker assignment. I hope you enjoy TCA.” The woman was all smiles as she spoke and Jacob simply nodded, “Yeah.. thanks.” He muttered as he examined his schedule. AP Physics, Math, English, Biology, College prep, Legal Studies and a few smaller ones. As he studied the schedule he began to move out of the office. As he walked with his head down looking over the various paper in his hands he didn’t notice someone approaching him until he ran right into her.
“Oof! Hey Wa-” he began before noticing who he had run into, “Oh hey, Re-becca wasn’t it? You were on the Treyton trip.”
Rebecca blinked for a moment before a sliver of recognition dawned on her, “Oh, yeah… I forget what was your name?”
“Oh, I’m…” he struggled for a moment before managing to clasp his paperwork to his chest and extend his hand, “Jacob. Jacob Russell.” Rebecca shook his hand lightly, eyebrows knitted in confusion, “Forgive me, I’m a little confused. Don’t you go to Treyton High?”
Pulling his hand back he gave a shrug, “Not anymore. Bit of an incident and so I’ve been transferred here.”
Her eyes seemed to take in the schedule poking out from his pile, “Oh! So, you must be the new kid I’m supposed to show around. What classes do you have?” He held out his schedule, “Like… every Advanced Placement class imaginable.” He chuckled lightly as she took in his schedule nodding.
“Yeah, I’m in a fair few AP classes too… Oh! You’re taking Legal Studies? Well… you’re brave that’s for sure!”
Jacob shrugged, “Yeah, we never had it back at Treyton and being a lawyer kind of appeals to me so I figured why not.”
Rebecca laughed, “Well, according to this your locker is down in ‘D’ wing, so let’s go find that.”
It only took about 10 minutes before Rebecca had helped him locate his locker, he tried his hardest not to look her over longingly but he slipped a few times. By the time he was walking into his first class, AP Biology, she had shown him around most of the school and headed off to her own class.
“Wow, could she get any colder towards me?” he muttered under his breath as he pulled
his books from his bag and sat back ready to get started; he already had plans to make a transformation to Michael after school - his excuse to his parents being going to the library to study and getting home late. He hoped he could figure out a way to revert on his own, and he had an idea, but at this point it was better safe than sorry and having his parents see his temporary state.
*
Jacob & Michael
Forest After School
With his first day proceeding relatively smoothly, and smoothly meant being relatively ignored by most of school populace was the appropriate definition. Once school let out Jacob exited the building and circled around to find a small crop of trees that served as a bit of a small “forest”. After ensuring he had not been followed he tugged his jacket and tie off and stuffed them in his knapsack.
From there, he sat down cross legged and focused on the fallen log he had found and lifting it telepathically. He had intentionally picked a rather heavy log so that the effort would force a change. He could, again, feel the weight of the log as he strained to lift it using only his mental prowess.
Soon, he felt the tingling sensation and the groaning and twisting as his bones lengthened and he developed more muscles. Once the sensation had faded he opened his eyes to see the log floating about 3 feet in the air. After setting the log back down softly, he stretched his arms out and examined them to see the changes,
“Excellent,” came the deeper voice of Michael as he pushed himself back to his feet and scooped up his knapsack. After making sure his things were carefully stuffed away and unbuttoning another button on his shirt, he set off for the diner where he had overheard Rebecca tell another girl she would be after school.
After walking into the diner he scanned the place before locating Rebecca and Joey, again, sitting at the long counter top. A small smirk playing on his face he casually made his way towards them and slid onto a stool. “Hey you two, long time no see!” He exclaimed cheerily.
Rebecca poked up and smiled, “Hey Mike.”
When Joey looked up he sort of blushed before whispering, “Hey.”
As Michael reached for a menu he asked, “So, what’s up with you two? Still having problems with that trig Joe?” Joey shook his head, “Nah, Once you explained the basics to me I was able to understand it. Thanks by the way.”
“Don’t mention it- A coke, fries and gravy, please.” He replied, interjecting with his order as the waitress stopped in front of them.
As she wandered away, he leaned against the counter and watched the other two for a moment as Rebecca chattered away about how they had “some new kid” at their school and how he was even nerdier than Joey was with all his AP classes.
A muscle tightened in Michael’s jaw as he strained himself from bursting out laughing and coming out and telling her that was him. No this was a different life for him, a fresh start, and he would keep it a secret as long as he could.
Instead he just shook his head, “This is why I’m glad I'm homeschooled. No new kids” he chuckled again at that as his fries and coke arrived. “So, other than new kids at school, how’s life with you two,” as he asked, Michael was ignoring the twinge in his stomach at looking at Joey. It was so strange that he felt this… attraction for the guy when all his life he had been straight as far as he knew. What was stranger was, even when he looked like Jacob he had found himself thinking about not only Rebecca but Joey too. He took a bite of a French fry as he waited for either of them to speak, a look of curiosity of his face.
“Oh, nothing much with me - Joey here on the other hand…” here she gave Joey a nudge and a small smirk. Joey’s eyes widened as he looked around at Rebecca, “Shut up. You swore…”
“Oh come on it’s nothing to be ashamed of h-” she began before Joey’s hands muffled the next syllable. “Maybe not, but I’m not ready to tell anyone yet,” he replied with a hard stare at Rebecca that Michael couldn’t see. Rebecca rolled her eyes and pried Joey’s hands off of her mouth, “Alright, alright, alright… I won’t say anything… chicken.” She mumbled the last word just loud enough for Michael to catch it.
“I.. am not.. but..I… fine I will but not here…” Joey stammered to Michael’s bewilderment.
“You will what?” Michael asked, perplexed.
Rebecca chimed in, “Joey, you don’t have to if it’s too soon you know. I’m only teasing.” She patted her friend’s arm sympathetically. Joey bit his lip as he looked between his old friend and the guy, Michael, who was fast becoming a new friend. “Yes, I’d rather wait if you don’t mind.”
Michael shrugged and ate some more of his fries as Rebecca and Joey’s order’s came. Once the trio had finished their food and each paid for their bills Mike turned to the other two with a sigh and a look at his watch to see that he still had a little time before he transformed back. “So, what do you say we go for a walk? I could use with getting moving after that snack.”
Rebecca and Joey looked at each other and he wasn’t aware but Joey was saying yes to Rebecca with his eyes wide open. “Yeah, let’s. It’s getting crowded in here anyways.” She replied finally.
Yes! Mike cheered inside as they each slid off their stools and exited the diner. Time to put the moves on man, you can change her tastes.
They walked down the street towards a local trail, once there they slowed their pace - Michael walking first next to Rebecca before she smoothly spun around and gently nudged Joey next to him so that Joey was in the middle. “So, you guys lived in Richland long?” His feet kicked at a few fallen leaves, and crunched a few underfoot.
Both nodded, but Joey answered for them, “Yeah, we were both born here. You?” Mike nodded, “Yeah, I moved away though - I’m actually living with a cousin of mine while I finish school with this local homeschooling group.”
Michael had to switch up what he had been about to say about `going to school` on the fly as he remembered that he had already told them he was homeschooled. "Oh, yeah? Who's your cousin? Maybe we know him.” Rebecca asked curiously, tilting her head around to look up at Michael since he was so much taller.
“I doubt you know him. He’s a bit of a geek, a scrawny geek - his name is Jacob? Jacob Russell?”
At his actual name, he saw Rebecca pale as she remembered him - well Jacob - and had to fight not to laugh, bite his lip or do anything to acknowledge it. Instead he bit the inside of his cheek on the side facing away from them before he spoke again.
“You know him Becks?” Joey asked with a tilt of his head. Rebecca nodded, still pale, “Yeah. He’s the kid I had to show around today, Joey. How can one kid be so pale? I mean, doesn’t he get any sun?”
Michael couldn’t fight laughing at this and as he burst out laughing he had to hurriedly come up with a reason as he straightened up again, having stopped moving. “Sorry, sorry. It’s just I have to agree. Jake is just… he studies a lot and I swear he’s like afraid of the sun. I mean… he does burn really easily.”
Rebecca nodded, “Yeah… bit extreme much?” She giggled.
Michael nodded and the three of them spent the next hour circling the small park before he declared that he had to get home for supper. In reality, he could feel the familiar tingle in his bones that meant he was about to change back into Jacob. Even as he hurried away he could feel himself changing - shrinking. He had just made it to the shadow of the diner when the major changes began to take place and in a bright burst of light, mercifully hidden by the glow of the neon sign over the diner, he was Jacob again.
*
Jacob
Outside Diner
Walking back out around the corner, Jacob was fixing his tie just as Rebecca and Joey turned back up, walking past the diner. Jacob adjusted his pack on his shoulder and set off on a speed walk towards home.
Chapter 10: A Complicated Life
Michael
Running with Rebecca at the track
Life for Michael, as the case was at present, had settled into a routine of attending TCA by day and hanging out
with Rebecca and Joey by night. Or, as the case was that evening, a few moments alone with Rebecca. They were just friends, but Mike definitely wanted it to be more and spent much of his time trying to convince Rebecca of it.
“Awe, come on Becks - you sure there isn't one guy in all of Richland you wouldn't date?” He hinted at her as the made their third lap of the track that evening. She was training for a school track and field event, and since Joey claimed to be allergic to running Mike had taken the opportunity to be alone with her on these nights.
He had been exercising his telekinetic powers which by now had become just another part of him and could easily use them undetected. He had even figured out how to control his transformations, although the maximum length he could be Michael seemed to remain capped around the 8-hour mark.
Rebecca glared up at him at his question and he just grinned innocently as he breathed through his nose and ran.
“Michael Sullivan, you are without a doubt the cockiest guy I have ever known. I love you, you know that but as a friend only. I just much prefer to date women you know that now, shut up and race me - last lap.”
With that, and as they crossed the finish line for the final lap she put on a burst of sped away from him. Smirking slightly he held back for a few paces before putting on a burst of speed unrelated to his actual running speed and caught up to her.
They dueled it out changing positions several times before right at the finish line, Rebecca used an extra push and just managed to cross ahead of Mike.As they did their cool down lap, sipping water, they saw Joey wandering towards them across the field. Rebecca waved to him and he waved back still walking in his direction. Then she turned to Mike all serious.
“Mike. You should talk to Joey. There's something serious he's been meaning to talk to you about for a while.” She told him just as Joey reached them.
i'm Michael: Transformation: A Supernatural LGBT Romance Page 7
