Ryan felt something sticky and slimy coat his body as the bucket upturned its contents onto his body.
Ryan loudly cursed. Some idiot had propped a bucket over the door, probably revenge for their bad behavior the previous night. And he had been the even dumber idiot that fell for the simple practical joke. It was just his luck - he was the good kid, the one who showed up early for practice and worked harder than the naturally gifted athletes. And what was his reward? Ridicule for being the weakest, least-talented athlete and a bucket of slime.
Ryan tried to shake off the liquid as he walked to his locker in the locker room. But the liquid was sticky and strangely adherent to his body. Even when he used a towel from his locker, it resisted being removed. Just before 7 AM the other athletes began to pile into the locker room, skirting the edge of being late. It wasn't like the coach as going to punish them. He would never dare to do something like that to the star athletes.
It made Ryan unusually angry for some reason. He could feel the fury flowing, almost burning. But he would never risk challenging the other athletes. They would pound him into dust. This made him even more angry, but he struggled to calm himself as he changed into his uniform.
"Ugh, what is that smell?"
"I think it is Ryan."
"Bro, you stink!"
Ryan tried to ignore the insults. He was used to them by now. True, this was a new way to taunt him. But he had gradually developed an immunity to their teasing.
He felt a hard hand on his shoulder.
"Seriously, man. You really stink. You need to take a shower," said John, the leader of the team.
"But what about practice?"
"Nobody wants to practice with you when you smell that bad. Besides, I think we can manage without you," said John.
Ryan looked to the Coach for help. But the Coach just shrugged his shoulders. "Sorry, kid. Hit the showers. Maybe if you hurry, you can make it back before practice is over."
As the other players took the field, Ryan stomped over to the showers in a huff. He could feel the anger rising again. After all his hard work, how could they treat him like that? Like he was nothing?
He continued to stew as the water ran down his back. His skin felt tight, like it was stretched tightly across his muscles. But he didn't notice. All he could think about was how angry he was at his mistreatment. How much he wanted to hurt them, to punish them.
Suddenly he slammed a fist into the wall of the shower. It punched right through the tile into the plaster behind it. Ryan was startled at his action, quickly trying to control his anger. His loss of control was a little frightening. But he couldn't help but feel a little pride at the destruction he caused. He had no idea that he was so strong.
Ryan was not surprised that practice was over. He had spent a long time in the shower, but he could still smell a little bit of the offensive odor still lingering on his body. As he put his school clothes back on, he was surprised that they felt a little tight.
"Hey, Ryan. You been working out? You look a little ...bigger," said one of the other athletes.
"Really?" asked Ryan.
"Yeah, bro. Lookin good. Keep it up," said another teammate.
Ryan walked out of the locker room with a spring in his step. His morning had started bad, but it was looking up. Maybe all his hard work was finally paying off and his body was rewarding him. Hopefully he get the respect he deserved from his team, maybe the whole school by the end of the day.
Claudia watched Ryan exit the boys locker room. She had to admit she was a little disappointed. She had hoped to infect more of the team, instead of just one person. And she was a little surprised at his restraint. She had expected him to have trashed the whole locker room by now. But she could see that he had changed. Her little concoction was having an effect, just a delayed effect. She would have her revenge against the team with Ryan's help, whether he liked it or not. It was just going to take a little longer than she thought. And that actually might make it more fun.
Claudia smiled as she followed Ryan into the school, heading towards her first class.