The rest of Jamal and Gen's day went by fairly uneventfully, to their relief. Jamal had managed to get through his Trig and Chemistry classes without fusing anything together, though he did have a few close calls. You see, Jamal's Chemistry class was participating in a lab that day, and while Jamal was curious about his powers, he did not want to find out what happened when two volatile chemicals were fused together.
Gen had a bit of trouble, on the other hand. There was a point in the middle of her History class where her hand had gotten stuck in her textbook while she was in the middle of reading a passage to the rest of the class. Luckily, she managed to play off yanking her hand out as a bit of a dramatic flair.
By the end of their day, Jamal and Gen were both tired and excited. It was a little exhausting going out of your way to not touch anything, but both were excited to be able to experiment with their own powers.
Jamal carefully exited the front entrance of the school and glanced around. Gen stood a few feet away, currently in the process of waving goodbye to a crowd of her friends. Jamal quickly walked up to her and said, "Hey, Gen!" Gen wheeled around, then smiled. "There you are," Gen responded. "What took you so long?" Jamal gave her a shrug. "The halls were kinda crowded," he mumbled. "I didn't want any, uh, accidents to happen because I wanted to get out faster." Gen gave a Jamal a small smile. "Probably a good move," she agreed. "Are you gonna head home now?"
Jamal shook his head. "Not just yet," he said, pointing his thumb back towards the school. "I still have to fix Tam." At that, Gen frowned slightly. "Why didn't you just do that while you were inside?" she asked. Jamal paused. "W-well, I-" he stammered, clearly embarrassed that he had neglected to think about that. Gen waved her hand dismissively and, with a knowing smirk, said, "Let's just say that you came to get me so that you weren't doing it alone, okay?" "Y-yeah, let's go with that," Jamal agreed, turning back towards the entrance. Gen's smirk changed to a smile as she followed closely behind.
Thanks to Jamal's slight tardiness, the main hall of the high school was mostly empty. There were a few students struggling with their lockers here and there, but the hall was otherwise barren. "So where are we heading?" Gen asked, speeding up a little to match Jamal's pace. "Same place where we unfused," Jamal responded. "The girl's bathroom." Gen frowned slightly, but kept her peace. If she didn't know any better, she would've that going to the bathroom was Jamal's hobby. Jamal glanced down at her and muttered, "It's a good private place to retreat to."
When the two got to the bathroom, they nervously peeked inside, listening for a bit. The bathroom was quiet. "Okay," Jamal whispered, cautiously glancing around to make sure no one was watching, "Here's the plan. I go in there, unfuse Tam, and get out of there as quickly as possible. You stay out here and makes sure nobody comes in." Gen frowned. "Wouldn't it make more sense for me to me to do it?" she questioned. "It would make more sense for me to be in the girl's bathroom, after all."
Jamal shook his head. "I'm the one who made the mistake," he explained, "I want to fix it myself. Besides, do you really want to Tam to know that you can do the whole fusing thing?" Gen paused and bit her lip, thinking a little. Inwardly, Jamal smiled. Gen looked really cute when she was thinking. "I guess you're right," Gen conceded. "But hurry up. I don't want to be out here any longer than I have to." Jamal flashed Gen a grateful smile, then disappeared into the bathroom, immediately rushing to the closest stall and locking the door behind himself. Gen smiled slightly. Jamal looked pretty handsome when he smiled.
Jamal quickly set his things down around him and reached into his pocket, pulling out Tam's fused form. She looked exactly the same as before, basically a pencil patterned after a surprised black teenager who hadn't been expecting to be fused with a pencil, but something was different. Unlike before, Tam wasn't struggling or anything. In fact, Jamal hadn't felt movement from his pocket since the incident during lunchtime. Though he hadn't mentioned it to Gen, he was a little worried.
Jamal shook his head and slapped his cheeks forcing himself to focus. Jamal took a deep breath, then grabbed Tam's fused form and, well, unfused her.
"POP!"
..................
Meanwhile, on the outside of the bathroom, Gen looked up from her position by the door and gasped. "H-hi Ms. Bookai!" Gen stammered, taking a nervous step back. "Oh, Gen!" Ms. Bookai responded, flashing Gen a wide smile. "Perfect! I was just looking for you." "Looking for me?" Gen questioned, giving a nervous glance towards the bathroom. If this was about Jamal's run in with her earlier, this might spell trouble.
"Question:" Ms. Bookai began, stopping in front of Gen, "Do you have any idea where Jamal is right now?" Gen paused, her face going a shade paler. "Not really," Gen said slowly, trying her best to sound natural. "But why did you come find me if you're looking for Jamal?" Ms. Bookai gave Gen a knowing smile and leaned a little closer. "You know how fast the gossip mill moves in this school," Ms. Bookai whispered, her smile extending to her eyes. "I've gotta know, though. How long have you and Jamal been a thing?"
At that, the color rushed back to Gen's face. "W-we're not a thing!" she blurted a little too loudly, her face blushing a deep red. "Oh~?" Ms. Bookai hummed. "That's a strong reaction for someone who isn't in a thing, don't you think?" Gen waved her hands in a frantic dismissing motion. "It's just a rumor!" Gen insisted, glancing back at the bathroom door and silently willing Jamal to hurry up. "Jamal was just helping me with a problem earlier, and we share Gym with each other, so we walked there together! That's it!"
"I'm just teasing you," Ms. Bookai said, giving Gen a friendly pat on her shoulder. "Whether or not you and Jamal are dating is your business, not mine." Gen gave a slight sigh of relief, seeming to deflate slightly. Ms. Bookai's face settled into a frown. "I really have to have a chat with Jamal, though," she stated. "I apparently missed two of the periods I was teaching today." The tension in Gen's body returned almost instantly.
"Really?" Gen said, just barely managing to keep her tone steady. "That's odd. You're one of the more punctual teachers in the school." Ms. Bookai nodded in agreement. "The weirdest part is that I don't remember what I was doing while I was gone," she explained. "The last thing that I remember is bumping into to Jamal, which is why I want to talk to him. Maybe he knows what happened." Gen shot another hurried glance at the bathroom and said, "I guess you'll just have to ask him about it tomorrow."
When Gen turned back around, she found Ms. Bookai peering closely at her face. "You keep glancing at that bathroom," she pointed out, a frown settling on her face. "Is something wrong?" Gen broke out into a cold sweat. "Nothing's wrong!" she blurted out a little too quickly. Ms. Bookai arched up an eyebrow and stared for a few moments. "I was planning on going in there anyways," Ms. Bookai intoned as she strode forward, making clear her intention. She was going into that bathroom unless Gen provided a good enough reason to stop her.
Gen bit her lip and thought quickly. "Ms. Bookai," Gen began, "Please don't go in there." Ms. Bookai paused and turned back to face Gen. "Why not?" she asked. "My friend's in there," Gen explained, lowering her voice to a whisper as she spoke. "And it's that time of the month." Ms. Bookai's frown grew slightly deeper. "So?" she questioned. "She's got it really, REALLY bad," Gen continued, "Which is why she asked me to stand guard. She didn't want anyone else in there with her." Once again, Ms. Bookai frowned. "Do you really expect to believe that-" she started.
"GAH!" A loud scream abruptly blasted out from the bathroom. It was the kind of scream that didn't really indicate what kind of scream it was meant to be, not sounding particularly terrified or excited. It gave Ms. Bookai pause.
"Oof," Ms. Bookai said lamely after a few moments of silence. "I guess it really is that bad, huh?" Gen gave her teacher a silent nod, a worried look emerging on her face. "I'll just, uh, leave you to it, then," Ms. Bookai said, taking a few steps back. "Good luck, I suppose." With that, Ms. Bookai hurried off, presumably heading back to her office. Once Ms. Bookai was out of sight, Gen gave another sigh and relaxed slightly. That had been a close one. "What's going on in there, Jamal?" Gen murmured under her breath, giving another worried glance towards the door.
..................
With that unceremonious pop, Tam appeared in the stall with Jamal, separating from the pencil Jamal now held in his left hand. Tam fell out of the air and plopped on the ground. She had this bewildered look on her face and glanced around in a daze. Once Tam's eyes alighted on Jamal, her gaze sharpened and she stood up. She took a moment to look over herself, brushing off a bit of dust from her dress, then turned back to Jamal.
"Uh," Jamal began his voice hushed and more than a little cautious, "Hi."
Then Tam slapped Jamal in the face. Hard.
"GAH!" Jamal yelped a little too loud, staggering back a few feet.
Tam bared her teeth at Jamal in a look that approached anger, but didn't quite reach it. "At least ask first," she growled, her fists tightly curled at her sides.
Jamal stared at Tam in surprise, his hand delicately cradling his cheek. In all of his years of knowing her, this was the most passionate reaction that she'd ever given anyone. "Ask?" Jamal said lamely, not really knowing what else to say.
"Y-yes," Tam said, turning away from Jamal and crossing her arms in a huff. "Ask."
Hundreds of questions instantly sprung to Jamal's mind, each questioning exactly what his power had done and how Tam had experienced it, but one question rang out louder than any of the others. "Wait, you enjoyed it?" Jamal asked.
Though Tam stayed silent, the question had a visible effect on her. Her stiff posture relaxed a little, and she bit her lip a little. If Jamal wasn't watching closely he would have totally missed her reaction.
"I have to go," Tam stated, hurrying past Jamal and exiting the stall. Tam took a direct route out of the bathroom, pausing only when she noticed Gen standing next to the exit. Tam took one long look at Gen, then said, "I get it." Gen gave Tam a look that mirrored Jamal's face when he had just gotten slapped. Then Tam left.
Jamal exited the bathroom to find Gen standing there, looking just as bewildered as he felt. "Well," he began, stepping up next to Gen, "That was a little weird."
"How'd it go?" Gen asked, turning to face Jamal. Jamal shrugged slightly. "It went fine," he said. "I unfused her, she slapped me, and then she left." "She slapped you?" Gen said in a tone of disbelief. Jamal shrugged. "I probably deserved it, to be completely honest." Jamal paused, tilting his head slightly. "There is one thing, though," he continued, a slight frown coming to his face. "What thing?" Gen asked, prompting Jamal to continue. "She never said it, per se," Jamal began, "But I think she liked. She said to ask first next time." This time, Gen paused. Is that what Tam meant?
The two of them stood where they were for a bit. Eventually, Gen said, "We should probably get going now. School's out and we probably shouldn't get home too late." "Yeah," Jamal agreed, "Let's go." The two walked off, close to each other, but not too close, for safety's sake. After all, they didn't want another accident to happen.
_____
Twendos's note to The 1: Thank you for coming back, yo! I was honestly out of ideas as well, so I'm glad you started. I didn't want this story to end either, and I'm really glad that you decided to pick it up like a year ago. Thank you, and look forward to working with you later on!