I got my coat and followed Mr. Dirksen out to the parking lot. The snow was coming down so fast that we couldn't even see the far end of the parking lot. "So, Jake, having a good year?" Mr. Dirksen asked as we trekked through the white stuff. "Not really," I said. "Why not?" he asked. "Barry Dunn's a major pain." Mr. Dirksen nodded.
We stopped next to a yellow rented van and Mr. Dirksen opened the back doors. Inside was some odd-looking science equipment.
"It's the for a new experiment!" Mr. Dirksen said "It's supposed to revert aging food to the moment just before it becomes ripe."
"Cool, would it work on a person?" I asked out of curiosity. "Well, I suppose in theory it could but I've never tested it nor will I."
It wasn't long before I’d helped Mr. Dirksen carry all of the equipment into the gym. The machine was so big that we had to push two plywood tables together. I was in the middle of helping our science teacher assemble it when Principal Blanco came in. A former gym teacher himself, he was a short, pudgy man with short curly black hair. He was wearing a green parka with a fur-lined hood.
"Afterschool activities are cancelled," he announced. "The snow's knocked down some power lines. Some of us have long trips home and we're not going to make it if we wait much longer. How are you going to get home?"
"I'll call my mom," I said, taking out my cell phone. "We've got four-wheel drive."
Principal Blanco turned to Mr. Dirksen. "What about you, Phil?"
"I guess I'll head home now," Mr. Dirksen said.
Mr. Krebs came out of the gym office. "Why don't you go home, too," he said to Principal Blanco. "I only live a few blocks away. I'll wait here until Sherman gets picked up."
"Thanks, Ryan, I appreciate it," Principal Blanco said. "Make sure you lock up." I'd never heard anyone call Mr. Krebs by his first name before.
Pretty soon, the only people left in the gym were Mr. Krebs and me. Having nothing better to do, I kept assembling Mr. Dirksen's experiment. It was kind of fun, like putting together a big model.
"This is some contraption," Mr. Krebs said, looking over Mr. Dirksen's experiment. "How do you know where everything goes?" I told him how I was just following the manual left behind by Mr. Dirksen. Mr. Krebs wanted to know what it did and how it worked, now was my chance to have some fun.
"It's supposed to make things grow." "Grow how?" he asked, a puzzled look on his face "It supposedly will turn a grape into the size of an orange. Mr. Dirksen said it might even work on people. Who knows, I bet it would make your muscles bigger and maybe even make you taller too."
I plugged the heavy black electrical cables into the wall sockets. I wanted to make sure I'd connected everything correctly. Lights came on and the machine began to hum. "Wow," said Mr. Krebs. "Do you know how to turn it on?"
"Yeah, why?" I asked. "Because I want you to use it on me!"