Jim slipped the ring on his finger. He closed his eyes as he felt a power radiate from his hand, building up inside him. It was true, this was it. The ring WAS magical.
Jim had done his research combing through the schools website, Maxwell Johnson, all star athlete, Deans list 3 years running, sports and academic scholarships, he seemed popular, and after cross referencing his family name with the schools registration area, his family seems better than average financially with a 5 bedroom 4 bathroom house. Max barely missed the cutoff for the school year so he was 19 instead of 18, no doubt helping him excel at sports and study, not to mention puberty was gracious to him. Jim was just one conversation away from having the next part of his life planned and handed to him.
Jim saw his target on the other side of the lunchroom and began his journey. He naturally kept his head down, not drawing attention to himself. Years of experience being a nobody guiding him invisibly toward his target. He passed the 15-16 year old stoner wannabe's listening to music in their earbuds loud enough that Jim could make out every word. He slid by the freshmen tables, the girls were cackling and discussing trends, the boys were being stupid and throwing paper wads at each other. He made it by without engaging.
He could feel his whole arm throbbing pleasantly with the energy of the ring, it was radiating into his chest now and spreading rapidly. He felt as though he was glowing but guessed that wasn't the case because someone would have screamed.
He weaved past a table of nerds discussing robotics and on the other side of the table a kid was describing the dungeon their tiefling character was crawling through.
The cheerleading table was next mostly comprised of girls and a guy or two interspersed, presumably the boyfriends but maybe male cheerleaders, they were buff so it could go either way. They looked to genuinely be having a good time and paid him no heed.
He was almost there and everything but his ankles and below seemed to be infused with magical energy. He turned before passing the delinquent table, best to avoid them, where one boy was angrily professing that he didn't care what Mr. Carl thought while Jim suspected otherwise.
He silently passed the very animate mixed age thespian table. It was a mish mash of people, there were some students doing homework (probably for their next class), band instruments were under the table with book bags, some were very animated, some were quiet. some pairs were quietly chatting while others were nearly yelling their conversation even though the person was three feet away, and still others were singing to themselves.
Extroverts, gotta watch out for them. Jim thought as his whole body pulsed. He passed the thespian table quietly until accidentally kicking a book-bag and almost tripping, there was a laugh from three tables down, but not close enough to engage. Jim was terrified of engaging with this group of pure chaos, what would he become? He looked back and noticed the owner of the bag was leaning over the table in deep juicy conversation with her girlfriend. Jim quickly freed his foot and left.
Some students were still getting their lunches and finding seats, so as Jim navigated he had to be careful not to make eye contact or talk to them. Jim is naturally a disengaging introvert, the kind of person you find apologizing for existing near you, and excusing himself for coming close to you, anything to keep from a confrontation. Jim was warned however that even those casual comments could trigger the ring if the other person responds. It was impossibly hard to not even excuse himself as he passed people but Jim fought the instinct and won. His whole body was now thrumming with the mystical energies of the ring,
He had reached his table! Mostly jock guys but some of their girlfriends were there, Max stood out from the others as not only the tallest and biggest guy, but he was one of very few students with beard shadow coming in at lunch time despite having shaved that morning.
Max however was in the middle on the other side of the table and engrossed in conversation with his palls. "Hey Max" Jim called, but way too softly over the roar of the Cafeteria. He had a choice, he could talk over people and risk engagement from a lesser (dumber, weaker) jock, or go around and tap Max on the shoulder.
Jim decided to walk around, less risk. As he slid between the jock table and the next his focus was torn away as he heard, "Hey Jim, Jim Smith" It wasn't a question from someone checking if that was his name because they'd like to meet him. It was said with confidence, you are Jim Smith and I am speaking to you.
His head turned to see who knew him, "huh?" fell out of his mouth involuntarily, Jim's eyes fell on the table he was passing, not the jock table, the teacher table. Jim saw Mr. Brown, his English Lit teacher, looking right at him. "Oh, yeah?" he said naturally, and that's all it took to trigger the ring.
His denim jeans became dark beige slacks, his tennis shoes morphed into brown dress shoes, his black t shirt became a baby blue button down and tucked itself into his slacks. A brown leather belt appeared and a light brown jacket appeared in a previously unused classroom down the hall, Jim's classroom.
Jim could taste coffee in his mouth and found the taste pleasant as a tumbler appeared in his hand. His teeth yellowed as years of coffee drinking became part of his reality and routine. The odor of his shaving cream still clung to his face. He grew five inches and gained 30 lbs, though not all of it was muscle as he originally planned with Max.
Now 28, Jim's hair was beginning to recede and he had been teaching at this school for several years. Instead of the shy introvert he used to be, he was now a charismatic teacher working his way to tenure. A few years ago around 26 he had lost the youthful appearance that made the students instantly accept him which made things a little more challenging, but at the same time his colleagues seemed to respect him more. He was no longer close enough in age to be seen as someones big brother's older friend and after crossing that barrier he hoped the lustful glances from the hormonal young ladies would stop, but they didn't.
"Yes Mr. Brown?" Jim said with a polite smile.
Mr. Brown was going to talk to his new student to inquire about where he was in reading ability and types of books Jim liked, but that conversation was no longer relevant in this reality. "Just saying good morning."
"But Mr. Brown!" Jim was quick to reply, "You're too late! It's afternoon!" Jim said with a grin.
"Touche Mr. Smith touche." and both men chuckled.
Jim had been doing something... what was it? A very weak pulse echoed throughout his body emanating from the ring on his finger. He wanted to take the ring off but some small part of him screamed "NO"
As Jim turned he noticed the table of jocks, mostly a sad bunch, focused on athletic ability to the detriment of their academic abilities. Jim decided to spend the rest of lunch grading papers, and began walking back to his room. "Mr. Smith, you wanted to talk to me?"
When Jim called out to Max, Max didn't hear but some of the others around him did, and got Max's attention.
Several of the students were watching the exchange as Max was the leader of their group. "Yes Max," Jim said with the authority of a seasoned teacher. "I wanted to discuss the report you turned in on the Mayan ruins."
"What about it" Max asked.
"The report was excellent and you used the correct format, the only issue was you used the time and date stamp instead of the date stamp." Jim's frame shifted as the ring used the last of its power. His upper body began to inflate as his age decreased. 27... 26... no longer showing signs of a receding hairline.
"Oh, is that all?" Max asked confused.
"Well no," Jim continued. "The timestamp showed 2:30 am. on a school night." Jim's arms filled with muscle and his pecs expanded. Now 25, the sleeves of his button down shirt rolled themselves up and his brown jacket in his classroom became a motorcycle jacket and a helmet as the sedan became a motorcycle.
The level of concern Jim had dropped drastically as he realized there was a game on that evening. "I'm not going to dock you any points for it but don't make all-nighters a habit and try to finish your homework before the game... not after, and that goes for the rest of you too!" Jim said looking at the teens who shifted uncomfortably and a few chuckled nervously.
Max smiled, "Thank you Assistant Coach Smith."
Jim regressed to 24 and the ring was spent. In this reality, Jim was in an odd position in a growing school system, they needed more teachers and the athletics department needed help but they couldn't afford both, so he was teaching classes and assisting with training.
He had switched majors from history to physical education during his mid-college crisis when he realized he only "liked" history in school because he could memorize the answers for the test, but he didn't actually care about history. Deciding to become a personal trainer he excelled at his classes taking on a huge course load to make up for lost time. He was a go getter and did not want the title of professional student. Taking summer classes he finished his bachelor's degree in health and fitness at 23 and soon found out he was overqualified for the positions open in the local gyms. On a whim he applied for the school position only to find that he was missing some of the credits needed to be hired as a teacher but besides that he was perfectly suited for the mixed role.
The school offered Jim a position contingent on him going back to college over the summer and picking up the missing classes with a passing score. He did this and became the part time history part time P.E. teacher.