Eric had just finished swapping out his outgrown shirt and pants for - he hoped clean - replacements from the lost and found, when he heard the final bell ring for the end of class. Instantly, up and down the hall he heard doors open as his classmates fled for their lives. Eric had about five seconds to slip back into the jacket before three JV football players rounded the corner, Kyle in the lead.
Eric's taller friend was beaming, laughing and smiling as though he'd just heard a good joke, when the two of them locked eyes. Kyle skidded to a stop, staring down at Eric in shock. His two teammates bumped into him from behind; Kyle staggered, and stepped forward once to keep his balance. Eric saw that his friend must have already picked up some new clothes. Kyle's football jersey looked new, and hung close but not tight over his wider shoulders.
"Oh hey!" One of Kyle's friends exclaimed from behind his left shoulder. "You're... um... Eric, right?"
Eric nodded mutely.
"Oh man, yeah!" The last of the teens snapped his fingers and perked up in recognition. "Sorry about what happened, man. I wish you'd been able to try out this year. We could use another player like you!"
"Uh... what?" Eric managed, confused. "What do you mean 'try out'? What happened?"
Kyle stepped forward quickly as both of his teammates' faces went strangely blank.
"We'll catch up later guys!" He offered with a forced laugh. "I need to talk with Eric for a bit, 'kay?"
Visibly shaking themselves out of... whatever that was... the other players nodded and jogged off with some friendly jokes and cursing. Kyle and Eric watched as they disappeared around a corner.
Suddenly, before Eric knew what was going on, he found himself slammed back against a wall! Kyle glared down from his (less) imposing height and gave Eric one last shove for good measure. Eric was a bit surprised how little he'd felt that, but Kyle clearly still had a mass advantage on him.
"What the FUCK, man?" Kyle hissed. "Do you know how freaked out I've been? I pick up some weird voodoo jacket, turn into Captain Fucking America in an afternoon, and then when I tell you about it you steal the jacket and DITCH ME? I thought my parents were going to come home and put me in a fucking HOSPITAL. Why'd you bail on me like that you asshole?"
Eric gulped, a little intimidated and a LOT guilty. He hadn't even thought about it like that, he'd just really, really wanted a turn with the jacket. And now with what it had done to Hank... Eric imagined his little brother being left all alone after changing like that, and how confused or scared he might have been. Sure, Kyle was older, but... yeah, he'd been a terrible friend.
"I'm sorry Kyle," he muttered miserably, unable to look his friend in the face.
"Damn right you're sorry," Kyle hissed. "Do you have ANY idea how many of those creepy blank looks I've seen today? Like, I panicked with my parents and tried to explain how I'd grown, and they just thought I looked normal. Then when I pushed it, or asked questions, they would just turn into fucking zombies! The whole team was like that at practice, too! I don't get..."
POP
Both friends blinked, and glanced down to see Eric's toes poking through the blown-out ends of his shoes.
"Shit," Eric muttered, quickly shucking the jacket off and handing it over to Kyle.
Kyle sighed, and eased up from pushing Eric against the wall.
"Look," his tall friend muttered, "how about we don't fight for now. You look like you know you were a shit friend, but we ARE friends, and we probably need to figure this out. I've... I've got my gym shoes with me, so you can borrow those for now. Let's go buy some clothes that will fit you and talk about..." Kyle gestured to all of Eric, which was a lot more Eric than this morning, "this."
"Sure," Eric agreed, still feeling like the world's crappiest friend. "But, can we pick up Hank on the way?"
"Huh?" Kyle asked as he crammed the jacket into his backpack. "Why?"
"Well..."