Milo licked the soap off his lips with an expression of distaste. He stared at the bar of soap. Then he shrugged.
"Well, I tried, Chad," he said and turned away.
Chad was screaming unheard by anyone alone in the soap dish.
Milo went to the janitor's closet. There he used a mild detergent to rinse out his stinky clothes, and he left them to hang by the radiator. He was naked still, even if he was clean. He could use a change of clothes. Then he remembered Chad.
He walked into the shower room, and picked up Chad. The moment he touched Chad, Milo heard Chad groveling in his mind thanking him for coming back to rescue him. Milo was more careful with his thoughts this time.
"Listen, Chad, I dunno how to cure you. I have some ideas. What's your locker number and what's the combo?"
"Huh? Why?" Chad wondered, but he also thought, "007, 36-24-34".
"Gonna see if there's any evidence of how Keith changed you. A clue how to change you back, maybe?"
"It was the cellophane!" Chad thought back.
"Sure that's all? That's what he told you," Milo thought, as he dropped Chad back into the soapdish.
Chad thought, "No, take me with you. Don't leave me here." But without skin contact, his thoughts went unheard.
Milo breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't thought of the real reason he wanted Chad's locker combo. Sure, if he did learn how to change Chad back, he'd probably earn a place to stay for at least a few months. But if he couldn't change Chad back, maybe he could get some new clothes, and whatever money was in Chad's wallet? He opened the locker on the first try. It was interesting how Chad's thoughts embedded themselves in Milo's mind. He remembered Chad's locker better than his own. He found Chad's phone, as the locker room was dark. He turned on the flashlight feature to see as he rifled through Chad's stuff. When the locker was empty, he flashed the flashlight in it to see if he missed any coins, and that's when he saw the sigils drawn inside the locker. He had discovered something. He ran back to the shower room, and grabbed Chad.
"What sigils?" asked Chad, "what are you talking about, Milo?"
"I'll show you."
Milo flashed the light the way the ceiling lights shown down, and the locker just looked empty to Chad. Then he tilted the light to shine straight in, and suddenly shiny symbols appeared inside the locker. They were drawn in crayon in nearly the same color as the locker was painted.
"Whu?" gasped Chad.
"See it wasn't just the cellophane. Let me try to find these symbols online with your phone. Mind if I put some of your gear on, mine's drip drying, and it's getting cold in here."
"Sure, what's mine is yours," said Chad elated that Milo was helping him.
Milo set Chad inside his locker, and pulled on Chad's clean sweat pants and hoodie. Football players lockers were a lot bigger than the regular lockers, Milo noted. Then he started Googling.
Meanwhile in his locker, Chad started to hear chanting voices, and the symbols seemed to glow brightly, but Milo didn't seem to hear or notice.
It was close to midnight when Milo stretched and yawned. The phone battery was nearly dead.
He picked up Chad, "Got a charger, Chad?"
"Oooh, my head, please don't leave me in that locker, it's so scary. The weird symbols were glowing, and chanting."
"Seriously?" Milo asked. He put Chad's stuff in his own locker after first checking the gym bag, and other gear for any more sigils. He then closed and locked the empty locker. He tried the coach's office with his master key, and plugged Chad's phone into the charger. He put Chad in the pocket of his own hoodie, and lay down on the coach's couch for a nap. As a precaution, he set Chad's phone alarm for 6 am. He didn't expect anyone would be around tomorrow as it was a three day weekend.