i'm Michael: Transformation: A Supernatural LGBT Romance Page 6
“Now, to find the missing angle we need to know which side is which. So the hypotenuse is always the longest side,” he wrote it on the side opposite the right angle, “The adjacent side would be the side beside the angle that isn’t the hypotenuse and the opposite, obviously, the side opposite the angle.” He wrote all of this out on the napkin.
“To figure out if we are using Sine, Cosine, or Tangent we look at the letters involved. In this case we know the opposite and the hypotenuse. So thus we are dealing with the opposite and hypotenuse we are dealing with Sine or SOH. So, we would put the Sine (x) = into the calculator then the 30/50 to get an answer.”
As he had been speaking Joey had fished his calculator out and plugged the numbers in before turning it to show him. “So, the angle would be 0.6?” Mike nodded, “Exactly!” He went on to show him how to find missing sides as well and by the time it had hit noon, Joey had the hang of it.
*
“Thanks a bunch, man. I would still be lost if it wasn’t for you.” Joey thanked Mike as they all packed up and got ready to leave. Mike hand waved him, “Not a problem, man. Anytime.”
Joey seemed to teeter for a moment on the balls of his feet before Rebecca rolled her eyes and tugged on his arm, “Come on! I wanna hit the music store on the way back home!” Joey gave Mike one last smile and allowed himself to be tugged away.
As Mike seemed to watch the two go, suddenly torn between the two and thoroughly confused, he was brought back to Earth by a tugging at his elbow. He turned to smile down at Hannah who had a bit of a mischievous smirk plastered on her face. “So, you gonna show me some more of that… hospitality of yours then?” Mike laughed and slid his arm up around her shoulders to squeeze gently, “Oh, of course. Let’s go then.” With that, they left the now crowded diner – no one the wiser about who Hannah had just left with.
Chapter 7: Plotting and Planning
Michael and Hannah returned to his place and fooled around a bit, mostly culminating in a heavy make-out session up in his room, until about 10 minutes before her parents were due home. Michael, of course, tried to persuade her to stay but she pried herself out of his grasp with a smirk and a soft touch of her finger to his nose saying that he would have to wait till the next weekend.
Pouting, he agreed and once she had left laid back on his bed, arms beneath his head, as his mind turned to the new plan forming in his mind as to how to convince his parents to let him transfer school in his senior year.
He would of course have to gather all the relevant academic bonuses to attending TCA over Treyton. He knew they were a prestigious prep school so the academics would not be a problem. Where he saw the problem, was proving it the better choice for the cost of tuition.
As he mulled this over in his mind and stretched, he felt one of his sore muscles from one of Tyler Gandry's attacks pull a bit. As he relaxed and rubbed the spot it hit him. Bullying. He had been bullied most of his high school career, and this year had only gotten more intense. All he had to do, aside from gathering the academic information, was show his parents just how badly it had gotten.
That meant, of course, he would have to take a few hits instead of using his powers to defend against them. That really wasn’t much of a problem as he had taken plenty of those over the years; he might have to provoke Tyler into it, however.
He was smirking now, staring up at his ceiling fan as it spun around lazily. It was the perfect plan and until he got his transfer he would use the afterschool hours, occasionally, to go try and convince Rebecca to go out with him. That was when a thought hit him, Joey, he was certain he had felt something there and it had confused him immensely. After a moment's thought on the matter, he dismissed it with a wave of his hand: that particular exploration could wait till he got the transfer.
By the time he had worked out all the kinks and details of his plan in his head, it was fast approaching 3 pm. He decided to get in a little more gaming before he made himself supper and made his way downstairs. It was several hours later, and many successful battles, before Michael decided it was time to make a quick supper. He was starting to feel the exhaustion from his transformation setting in and had deduced that this meant he was close to reverting back to his normal form. And so, after a simple supper of a bologna and pickle sandwich he headed up to have a relaxing shower before returning to his room and laying down on his bed; he was asleep moments later.
*
Jacob
Bedroom
By the time he woke next morning it was already nearly noon and he could hear voices down in the kitchen. Rolling over to see that his alarm clock read 12:00 pm he groaned. However, as he was sitting up he caught a glimpse of his arm slowly reverting back to its lean, hardly muscled form. Shit, I must be just on the edge of the 8 hours or so between transformations. He thought as he stood and went to inspect himself in the mirror to ensure all parts of him had changed. Thankfully he seemed to have reverted completely back to his former self. He even had the “feeling” of being “Jacob and not Michael; it was admittedly and strange feeling.
Shrugging his now scrawny shoulders, he reached for a T-shirt on the floor and tugged it over his head where it hung loosely opposed to a bit snug as it was previously hours ago. Once he was dressed he proceeded to go back downstairs and as soon as he had entered the kitchen his father looks up, smiled and ruffled his newspaper.
“Well, good afternoon sleepy head. Sleep well I trust?”
Jacob yawned and smiled faintly, “Oh, perfectly, Dad. Hey, Mum.” He addressed his parents before sliding onto a bar stool at the island and leaning, chin in hand.
Katherine regarded her son for a moment frowning, “You’ve been staying up late this weekend haven’t you?”
Jacob sat up suddenly, alert, “No! Honest! In fact, there were days where I passed out by like 6:00. Maybe I’m just starting to finally go through actual puberty ever think of that?” His voice was a little snarky but there was truth ringing his voice and both his parents heard it.
“You may be right, my boy," Alan said clearing his throat. "Although that doesn’t excuse the tone, apologize to your mother.” Jacob looked sheepish and looked immediately at Katherine, “Sorry, Mum. Really.”
Katherine nodded, “Thank you, Jacob. Would you like some lunch now?”
When he heard his mom say his name it sent a jolt through his spine. It felt right - he wasn’t “Michael” looking like this, but it also felt strange after being called Michael the day previously. He only hoped that Hannah wouldn't come looking for Michael while his parents were home. Given the way she had acted around him their entire lives growing up next door, he highly doubted it but it was going to happen but the thought tingled in the back of his mind as to just how he would explain it.
In the end, he decided if it ever happened he would have to just show his parents what he could do and what had happened to him and hope that he didn’t get shut up in some hospital, or locked away and experimented on. He gave a visible shudder as Katherine served him a grilled cheese sandwich and she looked at him with concern.
“Jake, are you okay? You just shivered.”
Thinking fast, and deciding to put his plan into action he looked up and shrugged, “Just thinking about what's waiting for me come school on Monday.”
Alan folded his paper and set it aside, eyebrow arched, “Oh? What might that be that it would make you shiver.” Playing it cool, as if he was dealing with it but secretly hiding pain Jacob scratched at his nose, “Just Tyler sh- stuff as per usual.”
Alan sighed and looked at Katherine before turning his head back to Jacob, “Is Tyler Gandry still bothering you, son?”
Another shrug, “I suppose yeah. He’s just a jerk really.”
Alan looked seriously at his son, “If it’s more of what that report said last time you tell us, Jacob. If we have to we’ll transfer you out of Treyton.” Jacob suppressed a smirk at that, Excellent, now I just need to provide enough data that proves TCA is the optimal option. This is working out better tha
n I could have imagined. Instead of saying anything much out loud all he did was shrug and nod saying, “Okay, will do.”
The table got quiet again as Jacob started to eat his grilled cheese. After a few bites, he looked up at his father, “So, how did the conference thing go? What did they talk about?” Alan finished swallowing his own mouthful of food before he answered with a serious expression on his lined face. “It was just a boring safety conference. Mostly prompted by the recent collapse and of course your recent exposure. They wanted to figure out just what to do with the place.”
At the mention of his exposure incident, Katherine had to reach out and give her son’s hand a squeeze, which he returned, of course. “So, what did they decide?”
“Basically, what they had before that it would be minimally staffed with rotating security personnel, no school trips, in fact, I think they spent a good deal of time trying to make sure we weren’t going to sue them for what happened to you.” At the last few words Alan glanced at his wife and held his gaze as he next spoke, “In fact, it is something we have been considering…”
Jacob’s eyes widened, “Why? I mean, I’m fine. Nothing is wrong with me, I haven’t changed at all.” Alan looked back at his son, “Yes, yes we know. But it's more the principle of the thing, they should never have allowed such a thing to happen.”
Jacob was growing increasingly desperate, he was certain that if they opened a lawsuit he would be watched far too closely to do any transformation or using his powers without being caught. Switching tack, he shook his head, “from a legal standpoint how much of a leg do you really have to stand on? I am perfectly healthy and haven’t suffered any ill effects. On principle is shaky legally, I mean…”
Both of his parents seemed to be beaming, “What?” Jacob asked annoyed. Alan smiled and laughed, “Nothing, we can just see you going places, buddy. That’s all.”
Jacob scrunched up his nose, “Mmkay…So, does that mean you’ll forget the lawsuit?”
Alan looked at his wife, “It means we will consider it. Although after what happened I'm surprised you don’t want to.” Jacob shrugged, “It wasn’t Treyton’s fault, they thoroughly explained the safety protocols and made sure we wore our suits. It was Tyler who was the ass – I mean, jerk.”
“Hmm.. it was Tyler Gandry…” his mom spoke up. “I don’t want you to sue his parents either!” Jacob expressed quickly, panicked.
“No, no we’d never sue a child's parents for bullying behaviour… But why didn’t the teachers realize you were missing? If you hadn’t been down there so long you wouldn’t have been exposed…”
Jacob sighed, shit… he thought before composing himself. “If you care, at all, about my well-being you will not start some lawsuit.”
“How does that show that we care?” Alan asked puzzled. “Because it creates such a social stigma around the child in question that bullying often increases as the consequences of the school having to shell out that money ensue.”
Both of his parents just stared at him before finally, his father sighed, “Alright, as long as you are healthy. No lawsuit.” Trying to contain his glee, Jacob had to bite his tongue before answering, “Thank you. That is all I ask. If I wind up getting some sort of disease from radiation exposure - sue away.”
Both of his parents laughed at that and Jacob took another bite of his sandwich, he hadn’t realized how hungry he was. Probably due to transforming into an entirely different person, I’m sure that takes its toll on the body. He thought to himself as his mother cleaned up the dishes and his father disappeared behind the paper.
Once he had finished his own lunch, he excused himself to his room and began to do some research on Tri-City Academy; printing off page after page on his personal printer and putting them neatly in a folder. Once he had all the statistics, and course lists and reviews neatly organized he tucked the file safely away in his desk drawer and moved on to thinking about how he could go about baiting Tyler to go after him without it seeming like he was baiting him.
Chapter 8: Ready, Set, Action...
Jacob
His Bedroom
When the next morning rolled around, Jacob was ready to put his plan into action. It was a plan that required grace and finesse to pull off to the desired result. Because of that, he had not used his telekinetic powers at all the previous day and ensured he went to bed early enough to be well rested.
The morning was a fairly typical one for the Russell household: breakfast together, small talk intertwined with a bit of awkwardness from the previous afternoon's conversation, then Jacob heading out the door to walk to school.
By the time Jacob reached his locker at school, Tyler was already waiting beside it; his hand was heavily bandaged. Suppressing a smirk, he approached the wall of lockers, stopping about a foot away from Tyler who was standing in front of his.
“Hey, Tyler. How’s the hand?” he asked with as much sarcasm as he could throw at him. Tyler glared down at him and growled in a low voice as he looked left and right at his companions, “How’s the hand? The twerp somehow manages to have my hand slammed in a locker and he has the nerve to sit there with that smug look on his face and ask ‘How’s the hand?’ Can you believe that?”
“I think you should teach him a lesson, T.” One of the big apes commented, cracking his knuckles.
“Duh… yeah, T. Smush the little twerp.” The other chimed in.
Jacob had to thing fast. Okay, now for my ‘defense,' he thought to himself before putting his hands up defensively in mock surrender. “Whoa, whoa guys. No need to smush anybody, I didn’t smash any hands in lockers. I just ducked erm.... T’s attacks I swear!”
Tyler growled again and after looking left and right to ensure no teachers were there he seized the front of Jacob’s T-shirt in his fist and pulling him up to meet him as he bent over and whispered in his ear. “I know you did it, I’m not sure how but I know it and I will prove it.” With that, he shoved Jacob bodily to the floor causing a textbook to slip out of his backpack and skid along the floor a foot or so. As Tyler walked away from Jacob he gave it a kick into a group of girls and disappeared into a classroom.
Jacob, having had restrained himself from using his abilities to fight back fell solidly to the floor - smashing his elbow into the linoleum as he went. After rolling around to his front, Tyler’s laughter and whisper in his ears, he looked around for the book he had heard hit the ground. Spotting it among the feet of a knot of girls standing around one locker mirror, he pushed himself to his feet and walked over before tapping one of them on the shoulder. When she turned around he realized it was Hannah. Of course, she didn’t know he was Michael so a small look of disgust crept up her face as she surveyed his pale, dark clothed appearance.
“What do you want, Jacob?” She asked at him, obviously annoyed at being interrupted. Jacob scratched seemingly awkwardly at his ear before pointing down at the floor and his book, “Just my textbook. Tyler kicked it away from me.”
She looked down and stepped aside so that he could bend down to retrieve it. As he did, and while her friends were occupied she bent to hiss in his ear, “Get your cousin Michael to call me.” Jacob nodded as he stood up, whispering back, “I will” as he neared her ear and before he tucked the book under his arm and turned around to get to class. He could handle the way she treated him because he was also Michael underneath. What they don’t know can’t hurt them, he thought devilishly.
As he walked into his Geography class his elbow started to throb. As he took his seat he straightened and twisted his arm to look at it and saw a bruise blossoming there. Well, I suppose physical marks will be more effective but shit it hurts. He thought to himself as Ms. Harrison walked in and called the class to order.
*
The rest of the week followed a similar trend: Jacob would go to school as usual and Tyler would push him around and mutter threats under his breath at him. There were no more physical injuries and he successfully hid his bruised elbow from his parents, but t
he bullying did increase.
Even knowing this was his plan all along, that it was all leading to something he wanted - Jacob did begin to feel actual and very real fear about going to school. After taking the punishing bullying from Tyler for an entire week, he was afraid to come to school today. As he walked to his locker that Friday morning, Jacob was looking left and right for Tyler. Waiting for him to jump out at him. The previous lunch hour he had been eating his lunch when Tyler walked by and slipped on someone else's spilled drink - for a change Jacob hadn’t done anything as he had been letting things cool for a few days.
But after Tyler had gotten up to see who he was sitting next to, he threatened Jacob saying, “You’re dead, Runt. You hear me? Dead.” He hadn’t been able to do anything then or for the rest of the day because a teacher had come over and Jacob had purposefully surrounded himself with people for the rest of the day.
However, now the hallways were nearly empty, since most people didn’t have a first class in the first block of the day. As he reached his locker, and just as he had opened it, he was suddenly tackled to the floor. The wind being knocked out of him, all he could think of to do was to raise his arms to cover his face as a flurry of fists and feet began to pummel his sides. Through a gap in his arms he was able to make out the forms of several students gathering suddenly as he rolled onto his side in a ball.
The whole affair only lasted about 5 minutes before someone roughly tugged Tyler off of him. Then there was a soft voice in his ear, even as he remained curled up, “Mr. Russell, Mr. Russell. Jacob. Can you hear me?”
When Jacob looked up it was to see Mr. Anderson looking down at him with concern on his face. He slowly pushed himself to a seated position with a wince to see Tyler being given a stern lecture before being walked to the Principal’s office. He wanted to use his powers to flip him head over heels right then and there but knew it was best if he didn’t. He must have spaced out because suddenly Mr. Anderson's hand was waving in his face, “Jacob? You there?” Shaking his head he managed to croak out, “Yeah, I… I’m okay.”