Tess

Tess was troubled, “Stupid hormones,” she muttered under her breath as she navigated to her next class. Janine had caught her off guard with the kiss and had gained the upper hand. She wished she had an opportunity to speak with Tom because she wasn’t certain whether Janine was telling the truth or not. Was Tom happy? Was this where he wanted to be? She chuckled a moment. Even if it wasn’t where he wanted to be, serve him right for being such a horn dog. Through the balance of the day, she and Janine would exchange glances, the blonde with a smile worthy of Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. Tess frowned.

At the end of the school day, Tess tried to locate Janine but couldn’t find her, so she retired to her room in the dormitory, thunder brewing her bright green eyes.

Sam was already in the room when Tess returned, sitting cross legged on her bed, laptop open. Storming across the room, Tess flopped on her own bed, lying on her back.

“Angry bird,” Sam said, looking up from her bed and making a mock mean face.

Tess growled.

“And what pray tell is the origin of such discord?” Sam inquired, tipping her computer screen forward.

Tess rolled onto her side, snaking an arm under her pillow.

Sam grinned, she was in a cheeky mood.

“Janine Lindholm,” Tess said.

Sam nodded slowly, “And?”

Tess pursed her lips.

“Well?”

“Gah!” exclaimed Tess, rolling back onto her back, “She kissed me earlier today,” she informed.

Sam laughed, “Oh? I thought you didn’t, you know, you like boys.”

“I know,” replied Tess, “But there’s more and I don’t know if I can do this alone,” she said, rolling back onto her side to face Sam.

Sam waited, then raised her hands, “Am I supposed to guess?”

Tess let out a big breath, “Okay, now this is going to sound messed, but save your questions for the end, alright?”

Sam frowned, puzzled expression on her face, “Okay.”

“So you know my grandfather is some kind of mechanical prodigy and he founded BioDyne?”

Sam nodded.

“In the basement of his house, well our house now, is a workshop with all sorts of different prototypes for a whole bunch of devices. I’m not sure I should say more,” Tess said, pausing.

“Come on, you can’t just stop like that, there’s too much build up,” protested Sam, scowling.

“You have got to promise me you won’t tell anybody what I’m going to tell you,” she said, sitting up and swinging her legs off the bed.

Samira’s dark eyes sparkled with excitement, “Of course,” she replied, closing her laptop and mirroring Tess’s posture.

“Swear it,” Tess asserted.

Sam held up her right hand and nodded. “I so swear,” she said, tome solemn.

“Okay, so, where to begin? I know, so with one of the machines in our basement, Tom accidentally shrunk himself down,” she said, holding her right thumb and forefinger apart to indicate his approximate size.

“What?” asked Sam, lengthening the word, disbelieving.

Tess nodded. “It’s true,” she assured.

Sam shook her head, “No,” she said, half grin on her face, thinking Tess was trying to put one off on her.

Getting up from her bed, Tess knelt down and slid out the box that was Tom’s habitat.

Getting up, Sam crossed the room and looked down as Tess removed the lid to the box.

“Are you freaking kidding me?” Sam asked, dark chocolate colored eyes growing big and round.

Tess looked up and nodded. “He was here the whole week,” she informed.

“I can’t believe it, I mean, what? Tom’s been here the whole time?” she asked, incredulity in her voice.

“Remember, Tom has a little something, something small, a play on words I know, but,” Tess shrugged.

“Oh my god,” Sam exclaimed, kneeling down beside Tess, reaching a hand into the box.

Tess decided to omit the part about Tom’s purloining her underpants.

“Where is he now?” she asked.

Tess frowned. “At Janine’s,” she answered. “Well, technically, he was in her panties when she kissed me.”

Sam’s face grew serious, “I can see how that would just be weird,” she said.

“I need to rescue him, but Janine says he’s happy there, but,” Tess said.

“And you want my help? Got it,” she said, nodding affirmatively.

“Remember, not a word to anyone,” Tess cautioned.

“Who would believe me anyway?” chuckled Sam, a stray though crossing her mind wondering how many times had Tom spied on her when she was alone and naked in the room.

Tess laughed, “I was sure you were going to believe me,” she said.

Sam pointed at Tom’s box, “I think this sealed it for me,” she replied. “What’s our course of action? What do you need me to do?”

“Not sure,” Tess replied, pondering, “While I would like to take a direct approach, we have to careful that Tom’s doesn’t get stuck in the middle of something. If he’s happy living as Janine’s human panty liner, so be it, but if he isn’t, he needs to be rescued. I need to hear it from him.”

“Okay,” Sam said, “So what do we do first?”

“First, I need to check my emails, I’m hoping to hear from my grandfather,” she responded.

Sam nodded, still sifting through the little box of Tom’s impromptu apartment while Tess got up and gathered her laptop from the desk.

Firing it up, she called up her email. There was one form her grandfather, a smile crossed her face.

Tessie, time is very limited and my access to a computer is sporadic. If this is only a class project, then ignore this email. If it isn’t, then you need to call Harrison Kinsley and tell him the Molecular de-stabilizer serves as a compression device reducing sub atomic gaps between the nucleus and electrons bands. He’ll know what that means. He will only be able to contact me via email. I hope everything is alright, my love to you and your brother.

P.S. speak to no one else about this, lives may hang in the balance.

Looking over at Sam still hovering over the box, Tess frowned, hoping she hadn’t just made a big mistake.