The class started out as being loud and restless. These were all kids who were trying to catch up and raise their grades during the summer session, and they obviously did not want to be in school during summer vacation.
Francisco Mendes was assigned to a small class to teach about stages of puberty, which was far from being his favorite subject to substitute for, especially before a rowdy bunch of teenagers.
Paper planes and rubber bands were being tossed around in the back of the class, as Mr. Mendes continued to cover the stages of puberty to the class of uninterested middle school students. He had finished with the female stages (embarrassing enough) and now had to deal with the male stages…in front of a group of mostly rowdy boys.
Mr. Mendes had been feeling strange ever since he had left the house. Ric had placed a youth spell on him, but the spell was slow at taking its effect on him. The reversed aging appeared to accelerate while he was covering male puberty. He was quickly starting to show signs of rapidly becoming younger and younger.
“Moving right along,…” he continued, as he tried his hardest to keep the attention of the 12 students who were sitting in the classroom before him, “Puberty means that you guys will experience a time of rapid change in your body, coinciding with increased growth in height and weight. Your voices will change, you will gain weight and muscle, and you will become more hairy in certain areas of your body! Your days of being boys, at least physically, will be over.”
One of the students raised his hand.
“Yes, Jordan…”
“Will you become as hairy as a gorilla?” Jordan asked him. The entire class erupted in laughter, as Mr. Mendes tried his hardest to emphasize the serious implications and consequences of passing through the growth period called puberty. However, he thought the question was funny and answered Jordan, “No Jordan, that would be abnormal, but some guys DO get pretty close.”
The students seemed the least bit interested in the class, and Mr. Mendes was looking forward to the end of this class within the next 10 minutes. But it was during this time that something very strange was about to happen, that would grab the attention of every single person in the class.
The students all gasped at once when they noticed that Mr. Mendes was rapidly losing height, as he continued to lecture in front of the class.
“There will be rapid changes in height, voice, body hair, weight and muscle. It will vary from person to person. Some of you may find this a little much to bear, since you have been used to living all your life as a skinnier, shorter, and weaker kid. But some of you may find this will be the most exciting time in your life, as you’ll go through these dramatic changes…” Mr. Mendes continued, when he suddenly felt weird.
Francisco Mendes felt as if the room was growing rapidly, when he began to grow back in time at an accelerated rate.
He shrunk down fast, going from 5’7” to almost a foot shorter, making him as tall as a little kid! Mr. Mendes had not really been a late bloomer, but a boy who WAS shorter and smaller in stature and muscle at the start of his puberty than most other boys. At 13 he was still less than five feet tall, but had started to grow small areas of hair on his body. Francisco was now quickly returning to that stage of his life. His face became smoother and softer, as did his skin.. His hands were smaller and his fingers appeared thinner, as his arms and legs grew shorter at a rapid pace.
The entire class noticed what was happening, although they could not understand it, much less even believe it!
“Look what’s happening to him! He’s shrinking!” one of the boys mentioned.
“Holy cow! Is this supposed to be a part of the class?” another boy said.
Everyone was standing in awe as Mendes slowly grew backwards, passing through puberty as an adult. His body became thinner and leaner, as his facial stubble completely disappeared from view…he had not had time to shave before the class. His thick hair grew a bit more boyish, his neck became thinner, and his shoulders no longer seemed to be as wide. As Mr. Mendes grew younger, his clothes began to hang from his body, appearing much too big for the boy he was slowly being transformed into.
“Hey, Mr. Mendes… Is this the part where you get body hair?” Ben shouted.
“Get hair? He’s growing younger you doofus! He’s probably getting less hair under those clothes!” Charlie laughed out loud.
“Is that how you grow through puberty? Golly, I don’t want to grow up like him!” another kid shouted out loud.
“That’s the point, dumb ass, He’s not growing UP…He’s growing DOWN!” yet another boy shouted.
The entire class erupted in laughter as Mendes’ jeans had grown too large to fit around the man’s torso, as his body no longer was wide enough to allow the jeans to stay up around his waist. Within moments, his jeans and boxers fell to the floor, as Mendes tried to walk while he was wearing shoes which were several sizes too big!
“Oh my gosh! Look at him! The teacher is naked!” one of the boys shouted. Poor Mr. Mendes had no idea what to do and say, for he had lost complete control over his class.
“Good special effects, Mr. Mendes… Is this going to be on the test?” Darryl wondered.
Poor Mr. Mendes had never felt so embarrassed in his life, and it seemed like the seconds before the bell was supposed to ring seemed like hours. For once, the teacher couldn’t wait for the class to end.
“Hey Mendes, Aren’t you a little young to be our teacher?” Juan hollered at him. Juan was relishing every moment of this amazing transformation…was it just a trick? He was skeptical of his luck.
“Teacher? He looks like a sixth grader to me!” Jeffrey yelled back.
“Wow, Mr. Mendes!” Monica yelled at him. “You look so cute like that. Can I ask you out on a date?”
Mr. Mendes was completely at a loss for words. What was causing him to grow younger and younger?
“If my mom hears about this, she’ll freak out big time! ‘The teachers are just too young these days!’ Give me a break!” Paul giggled out loud.
“Hey, where did the little kid come from? Look at him; he dropped his pants in class! Watch out, he may pee on us! Duck!!” Ray shouted back.
Mr. Mendes could only stand there and look down, as his button shirt was now hanging below his knees. He had grown shorter and shorter, and he now appeared to be a 13 year-old boy himself. His shirtsleeves were much too long, his feet were too small for the shoes, his shirt and jeans no longer fit him and were down around his feet, and he was now being ridiculed in front of the entire class! It was no wonder he felt a huge relief when the bell rang to end the class.
The kids immediately grabbed their backpacks and tossed them over their shoulders. Mr. Mendes stood beside his desk. As the kids walked out of the class, he had to endure the ridicule from his students one more time while they filed out of the classroom and walk by him.
“Good trick, Mr. Mendes… I loved it!” Jordan said, as he walked by the younger looking teacher…ruffling Mr. Mendes’ hair. Jordan was now a year older and a bit taller than Francisco.
“Hey Mr. Mendes, you look just like one of us now! You’re a kid!” Chris shouted, as he gave Mendes a slight punch with his fist, which still hurt him since he was now so small.
“Hey Mr. Mendes, can you do this again next week? I want my friends to sit through your next class with me, okay? They won’t believe me when I tell them about this! How did you do this illusion? It looks so real!” Michael wondered out loud.
Mr. Mendes was relieved to see the last student leave the room and he decided that he was going home immediately. He stepped out of his large shoes and socks….as well as his over sized pants and boxers. He was now wearing just his oversized shirt and tie…a tie he quickly removed.
For one moment it seemed as if everyone had left. Mr. Mendes made a slight turn towards the open door in order to leave, when he suddenly found himself staring at the chest of a student remaining in the doorway. Francisco recognized the much taller, muscular boy blocking the doorway. He also recognized the bush of pit hair under the boy’s arms and the tank top he was wearing.
It was Juan Sanchez.
“Ay carumba… I would not believe it had I not seen this with my very own eyes…” the big, hulking kid sneered at Mr. Mendes, who was now looking up to the husky boy.
Then Juan extended both his thick, muscular arms until his hands were firmly placed right below Mr. Mendes’ armpits.
“I have always dreamed of bullying the other kids… But this is the icing on the cake! I actually get to bully a tiny little teacher…” Juan said with a chuckle.
Mr. Mendes could only gasp when the huge biceps began to expand just below the sleeveless tank top of the hulking boy, as the little teacher was slowly being lifted off the ground.
“I must be dreaming… My favorite teacher has been turned into a little shrimp of a kid, right in the middle of class…” Juan sneered at Mendes, who was suddenly overcome with fear. He was no longer the oldest and the biggest guy in class, and the big, oversized bully was going to make good use of the golden opportunity to give him a good scare.
Mr. Mendes looked down and realized that the big kid was holding him suspended in air, with his feet dangling almost a foot from the ground. Juan looked his young teen teacher over, “Man, this is no illusion….you really have grown younger! Oh, I AM going to make you pay little Mendes!”
“If you hurt me, Juan, you’re going to get into big trouble…” Mendes almost half whispered at the giant boy. He noticed how his voice cracked like that of a little kid, and he knew that at this very moment that Juan had all the cards on the table.
“Oh yeah? Well, maybe I should punch your lights out, right now. I just love the fact that you have become so small, Francisco!” Juan returned, with an evil grin on the face.
“I’m still Mr. Mendes to you… You’re going to be in deep trouble, young man! When this is over, I’ll see you in the principal’s office!” Mendes cried back, while trying to maintain the courage to stand up to the big, overgrown bully.
“Oh well, I’m feeling so scared right now…” Juan said with a sarcastic laugh, “Just who is going to believe that a little shrimp like you was once an adult counselor here…huh? All those kids thought this was an illusion…part of the class. Every one knows you’re always doing some sort of unique trick to teach. I’m the only one who knows that you’re really a kid again.” Juan lifted the little teacher higher, “Now little Francisco Mendes, I’m gonna teach you a lesson on snitching!”
Just at that moment one of Juan’s gang came into the classroom.
‘Juan! Come quick! The football coach just called a team meeting and everyone is looking for you! Hurry up! Drop the kid and come now!” Justin shouted at Juan.
Juan then dropped Mendes on the floor with a thud and walked to his desk to retrieve his backpack.
“Gosh, Mendes… Seems like I won’t get to give you that black eye you deserved after all. Oh well, I just hope you will remember this next time you try to get me suspended for taking another kid’s money…” Juan growled at him.
“See you later, little Mendes Boy!” Juan sneered at the little, young teacher. The bully then walked out of the classroom and slammed the door shut behind him. Mendes immediately locked the door, and sat on the chair behind his desk…his feet didn’t even touch the floor. Thinking about the events of the past hour as he took one deep sigh of relief.
He decided to wait a while until he was absolutely sure that all the students had left. He then decided to make a dash for his car to grab his cel phone so that he could call Marco and have him meet him at the school. He didn’t want anyone…teacher or student…to see him as a young teen kid.
It was the worst day of his life, and Mr. Mendes would need to get home first. Then he would find some clothes that would fit him, even if that meant borrowing clothes from Josh or Ric, until he would find a way to grow back to normal.
Still, in a way the change was exciting Francisco. It was kind of a turn on to think that he had slipped back to the edge of puberty. He could let Marco be the grown up and play guardian to him and the boys…of course he wasn’t sure about how Marco would react to having a lover this young…then reality really hit him, “Shit, I’m a kid again!”
What more would there be in store for Mr. Mendes, Marco, Ric, Josh, and their magical Book of Transformations?