Coming Back Down

In his mind, shop class was an easy cruiser course and an excellent way to finish an otherwise completely bizarre school day. Moving over to his work station, he put his school books in the shelf and laid a mat for his mahogany end table project.

The effects of the Kush all but gone, leaving little stray bits of seemingly disconnected information coalescing in his head. He frowned as he moved the orbital disc sander back and forth over the side of his woodworking project.

“With the grain of the wood,” said Mr. Tiergarten, shop teacher from somewhere behind him, “Don’t push down on the sander Morris, you won’t get an even sand and you could damage the bushings in the tool,” he urged, circling around into Morris’s field of view.

Morris looked up blankly and nodded.

Mr. Tiergarten took the hand held sander from Morris and demonstrated correct use, slow circular motions moving parallel to the natural striations in the rich colored wood. “See?” he asked, turning the machine off and handing it back to the boy.

Morris nodded and mumbled some words of thanks.

As the fog lifted from his mind, the event from under the bleachers replayed in his mind’s eye, so vivid. Rationally, he knew it wasn’t possible, but the way she jerked her head back and swallowed. It had happened. Never in the time he had been at the school, had any one of the Graces even so much as given him a look and now twice in one day, they were interacting with him. He frowned, pondering. Nine students missing from both local high schools over the last two years. One teacher and school principal abruptly gone already this year, two others mysteriously retiring right at the end of school last year. Was it somehow connected? Did these people perhaps run afoul of the Graces and wind up on the wrong end of their ability to shrink people?

A random thought drifted across the top of his mind, if by sharing what he saw with Tom and Sly, had he unwittingly exposed his friends to some type of retribution from the Graces? If Susannah pulled a Jonah, not that Susannah was a whale, far from it, but if she swallowed Len whole for saying she had blown him, what would the Graces do to him and his friends? Who would possibly believe such a fanciful tale? The thought of it was incredulous. Even now, he was sure he had seen it, but he wasn’t. He muttered to himself.

By the end of the day he was convinced of one thing, this had been one of the weirdest days of his life. Dropping his books off at his locker, he went out the back of the school by the bike rack and lit up a cigarette while waiting for Tom.

Sly’s older sister, a senior, Silke walked up to Morris, arms cradling her books across her chest. She was very pretty, dark hair held off her face by a hair band and loose down her back. Both Morris and Tom had confided in one another that they could never tell Sly they both lusted after his hot sister, though the joked which in of itself drove Sly mental.

“Hey Morris,” she said, a curious expression on her lovely face.

“Silke,” he said, taking a drag off the smoke. “I haven’t seen Sly,” he added, knowing her brother usually caught a ride with her to and from school.

She shook her head, “He knows where I’m parked, I wanted to talk to you,” she said, kind of semi smile on her face.

“Oh?” he asked, eyes narrowing.

“Yeah, you know Kimber St. John,” she rolled her eyes, “Duh, of course you know Kimber, anyway, she interrogated me earlier today about you,” she stated.

Morris choked and coughed. “W-what?”

Silke chuckled, “I know, weird right?”

He nodded.

“I thought maybe you scratched her car or something, but then I see Elisha and she comments about you, how she thinks you’re cute,” she said, nodding her head.

“Cute?”

“You know, got that whole Brad Pitt Legends of the Fall thing working for you,” she said, reaching up and touching his long hair. “Anyway, she wanted to know if I had your cell number and whether or not you were seeing anybody, or if you lived nearby,” she added.

“What?” he sputtered.

Tom appeared. “Hey Silke,” he said as he walked up, eyeballing her butt and shaking the fingers of his right hand, sly grin on his face.

She turned, “Tom,” she acknowledged.

“I saw Sly heading to the student lot,” Tom said, looking back in the direction where the cars were parked.

“I know,” she said, “I was just telling Morris that Kimber and Elisha were asking me about him,” she added.

“Like totally!” said Tom excitedly. “Kimber came up on him earlier today and gave him a cheek pat,” he stated, moving his hand up close to her face to demonstrate the gesture.

She turned away, scrunching up her face, “Why does your hand smell like that?” she asked, sour expression.

Tom pulled his hand back and sniffed then shrugged, “I don’t smell anything,” he commented.

“Did you see Len Carswell today?” Morris asked.

Silke seemed to ponder a second, “I think so, like maybe first block but I don’t think I saw him after that. Don’t know, really wasn’t looking for him. He’s a pig anyway, told Maria that Susannah gave him head or something. Real class act,” she said sarcastically.

Tom extended his hand to Morris and took the cigarette, taking a drag before handing it back.

“But not after first period?” clarified Morris.

She shook her head. “Anyway, I got to go,” she said with a smile, “Just thought you might like to know you’ve caught somebody’s eye,” she said, turning and walking. “Later Tom,” she added without looking back.

Both boys watched as she walked off. “She is smoking,” commented Tom, shaking his head. “Maybe not Graces hot, but real close.”

Morris nodded, appreciating the sway of her hips and tight butt, “Uh huh,” was all he said.

Once Silke was out of sight, the two began to walk home.

Tom reached his hand up near Morris’s face, “My hand smell funny?” he asked.

Morris jerked his head away, “Dude, like bad goat cheese or something,” he commented.

Tom pulled it back and sniffed it again, “I don’t smell it,” he said, looking at his mitt.

Slipping through the opening in the fence, the stepped on to the sidewalk.

“That’s weird, I don’t know why it would smell,” Tom commented, again shrugging his shoulders.

They ignored the sound of the car approaching from behind as they tried to unravel the source of Tom’s odiferous hand. When the car didn’t pass, Morris looked over his shoulder and saw Susannah’s Austin Mini Cooper painted in the style and colors of the Union Jack trailing behind them. Susannah was driving, Kimber in the passenger and Elisha in the back behind Susannah. Morris stopped followed a beat later by Tom to see what had halted his friend. The car drove slowly passed, all eyes inside the vehicle on the two boys before driving off. Lost in his own thoughts, Morris almost ignored Tom as the other boy babbled about the significance of the drive by, how their social status would improve simply by being noticed by the Graces as they resumed walking. Dropping Tom off at home, Morris plodded toward his own place.