Doug could hardly pay attention to the new teacher, Mr. Jonathan Palko, whom he recognized from the list of regular substitute teachers from his old reality, though now apparently was permanently hired in this reality. He was in his early 40s, dirty blond hair mixed with gray, green eyes, stubbled face from a shave that looked like he'd done it with an old electric brick razor that needed to be replaced. He had a bit of a stocky build, balding head and had the look of a man who had changed careers due to a mid-life crisis, and having a harder time breaking into being a teacher now that he was 40 rather than a younger 20 something straight from college. Doug could definitely see why he never fully hired Jonathan as a Principal, the man could not keep the attention of the kids well, Doug now included. Though his eagerness to get up and check with Nancy was also playing a part--and giving Doug enough nervous energy that his left leg was almost unconsciously pounding away against the floor as he looked out the frosted windows on the side of the classroom door.
"Do you need to use the restroom Mr. Savage?"
Doug was caught completely by surprise by Mr Palko's question, causing his nervous tremor to stop, only to realize that a small squeaking of his shoes against the linoleum floor of the classroom stopped at that moment too. Okay... shit, well, that explained the call out.
"Uhh, yeah, I do," said Doug, if only to save face.
"There's no need to ruin your bladder trying to hold it in. You'd only regret that when you get older and find you can't hold it anymore at all. Grab the hall pass and go and relieve yourself while the rest of class and I enjoy a few moments of... silence."
This was met with some mild snickering from the rest of his classmates, which only caused Doug to feel somewhat humiliated unlike he had in a long time. He jumped quickly and without looking anyone--least of all Mr. Palko--in the eye, he grabbed the stupid yardstick with Palko's last name painted on one side and hall pass painted on the other and left the classroom at the same time as someone else from across the hall. Thankfully it was Nancy, who immediately joined him as he began walking towards the bathrooms to fit his cover story.
"So I see from the yardstick you didn't de-age Mr. Palko into a Sophmore, yet?" asked Nancy. Doug looked both ways up and down the hall before indicating with his head that they should probably find somewhere else to talk than the middle of the hallway where anyone could turn the corner and interrupt their conversation. Luckily an unused classroom was just around the corner and a few feet down the hall that they could duck in. All the while Doug tried to focus on the results of the test, rather than his own slightly wounded teenage pride.
Test 1: 20 yards; Results: Too distant.
"He wasn't the original target--though I might make him the second after that."
"Okay... so you did the test, changed a previous teacher into someone, and now you have Palko the Plain as your teacher which is who I thought you'd originally do the test on."
"Want another little brother?" asked Doug, only half joking, or was he? Dealing with these teenage boy emotions that he had sorted out years ago once again were irritating.
"Only if he ends up a little older than Dickie," joked Nancy, before looking at Doug again.
"Are you okay, Doug?" asked Nancy
Part of him knew that he should tell Nancy the truth, but the other part of him felt like he couldn't show her any sign of weakness, not after what had just happened to him.
"Y-yes," he answered, not at all confidently enough to convince Nancy.
Nancy didn't say anything, instead only crossing her arms and giving him a look, showing how convinced she was.
"It's stupid. I know it's stupid, but being back at this age, and feeling like a teenager again--I got called out in class for having a nervous tick of bouncing my leg enough that Palko thought I had to go to the bathroom--and when I stopped bouncing my leg I figured out I'd been causing a small low-level squeak which apparently had been what interrupted the class, and Palko said how I shouldn't ruin my bladder at my age, and that I should go relieve myself and let the rest of the class enjoy some peace and quiet. It's stupid, it's my own stupid teenage pride getting all offended and feeling humiliated at being called out. It's all stupid. I really know it's stupid, yet... it's really got under my skin for some reason."
Nancy, bless her, had the good sense to at least try and stifle the laugh she had as her first response, before taking his hands in hers, massaging the tension out of the back of his hands with her thumbs, looking up at him straight in his eyes, and saying rather soothingly, "All right, he's not Palko the Plain... he's Palko the Prick. And I give you full permission to give me another little brother."
Oddly enough, Doug found Nancy's actions immediately calming to his teenage frustration and pride.
She continued, "And it'll be a second chance to test the ring, too."
"You won't remember being across the hall."
"No, we've proven that, but what if I was in the hall, say about 15 yards away?" asked Nancy.
"Worth a shot..." admitted Doug.
"Who was the original teacher? Which student?" asked Nancy, just as they left the abandoned classroom.
"Sharon Campbell."
"Sharon Campbell..." Nancy's immediate reaction was one of confusion if not indifference, as though the name were completely unfamiliar. "Sharon Campbell... oh, that cute little freshman girl all the boys my year are all tripping themselves over? What was she like before?" asked Nancy.
"Well, you called her a bitch. I'd always had had no problems with her, but just before I made the wish I'd realized it was likely because in the reality you remembered she'd been angling for your job as principal because she has a want to be the best attitude in general. You thought she might turn out to be one of those mean girls in high school so you said not to make her older or the same age as you," said Doug as they turned back into the hallway they'd originally come from.
"Wow... I was off the mark."
"It's also hard to be the school's mean girl, when you're only a freshman," countered Doug.
"Yeah, well let's go get me another little brother, then. And this time, why don't you make Jonathan--or Johnny--let's say second grade?" asked Nancy.
"Little brother, made to order, coming right up. Just wait right out here, mam" answered Doug with a false "maitre de" persona, earning him little giggle a quick peck on the cheek that re-inflated his wounded teenage pride before he turned, and re-entered his English class. Mr. Palko was in the middle of writing on the board what looked like a planned outline on what chapters to read what week for their last book of the year to read before finals: Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. Doug remembered that book, he also remembered that that book was a slog and there's a reason the film inspired by it re-set it in Vietnam. Doug could just feel himself having to slog through accounts of going through jungle over the next few weeks at a long drawn out pace, and he did not look forward to it. Quickly, returning the hall pass to its proper place, and returning to his seat, Doug then made the wish and hoped changing out the teacher might hopefully change the book.
"I wish Mr. Palko was actually Nancy Page's seven year old little brother," said Doug just loud enough to be audible, but not loud enough to be heard very far. He felt the coin tremble in his pocket, but Doug kept his eyes on Mr. Palko who had been putting the smart board's pen down and turning around to begin to talk and was leaving his forties. Gray hair mixed in with his dirty blond hair immediately began to regain their color. His atrocious shave became a bit smoother. His slightly wrinkled clothes smoothed out. As Mr. Palko returned to his thirties, his stocky build began to trim a bit, and his clothes became a bit more tailored in and less loose looking. Soon instead of a slightly disheveled 40-something Jonathan Palko, a rather dapper looking 30-something Jonathan Page was standing at the front of the classroom with much more confidence about him. Doug knew the last name had changed, just from the name plate on his desk shifting alone.
Younger Jonathan Page continued to grow as he re-entered his twenties, the wear and stockiness of his thirties gave way to a well-built young man's build that had Jonathan's sleeves now rolled up to his elbows, drawing attention to his powerfully build forearms and biceps. Some facial features smoothed over, giving him something of a baby-faced appearance--a look which only intensified as he reached college age, and the teacher badge changed to that of a student teacher's and then teacher's aid. College is where Jonathan seemed to have gained all those muscles as they deflated rapidly until he was left looking more like one of the seniors and a smooth-faced, shaggy haired lean-build teenager like the rest of the class.
As a teenager, Johnathan seemed not just lean, but skinny, his adult clothes now completely bagged out on him--a problem which only grew worse as he quickly went from a lean-build senior, to a skinny and somewhat shorter freshman rather quickly before going through another shrink spurt, taking him from High School completely and pushing him back to the verge of puberty and the throws of middle school. Height continued to take a hit and his clothes continued to bag and deflate as Johnny's dirty blond hair lightened to just plain blond hair and his facial features continued to round, shrink, and if not grow a bit puffier as they reaquired some baby fat that began to return--until at long last, Johnny reached what looked like second grade to Doug's eyes and his adult clothes transformed into a red power ranger shirt, blue jeans and light up sneakers and he looked around the classroom confused as to where he was and why he was there.
"Can I help you young man?" asked a new voice, and Doug turned to see the new teacher was yet another perrennial substitute teacher, this time one he only recognized the name of--not the face--a young twenty-something looking Miss Soudenski.
"I... uh..." started Johnny, still looking confused until a knock was heard at the door.
"Mr Savage, could you go grab the door?" asked Miss Soudenski as she then began focusing on Johnny. Doug obilged and opened it to see Nancy there.
"Do you remember?" asked Doug in a low whisper.
"Palko" was her only answer in an equal whisper before saying more loudly and pushing past Doug to enter into the classroom a bit and say, "There's where he got to! Johnny, come over here!"
Test 2: Sucess. Coin's Range: 0 - 15 yards. So furthest away someone who also knows about the changes can be from a wish is an adjacent room or just outside in a hallway.
Johnny, relieved at seeing his big sister, immediately ran from the front of the class and hugged Nancy before shimmying himself to hide behind her legs, bumping against Doug to do so, catching Johnny by surprise to look up and see Doug. Apparently when Johnny was young he was often shy and scared in front of people he didn't know. Doug decided place his finger up against his mouth and wink before returning to his seat.
"Is he your charge, Miss...?" asked Miss Soudenski.
"Miss Page. And he's my little brother, Johnny."
"And why isn't he in school?" asked Miss Soudenski.
"Because... uh... Family Consumer Science class is having some elementary schoolers over for a lesson in class today, and I volunteered him to be one of them. Speaking of which, I really should get him back there. Thank you for catching him," said Nancy with a wave, before backing out of the classroom with her new little brother.
"As I was saying, we'll be reading Jane Austen's Mansfield Park as our final book of the year. Some of you may find the beginning a bit slow but I promise you will find the story picks up about the point the Crawford siblings appear at Mansfield Park. A lot of the book has young people acting in ways you'll all recognize as they socialize with one another and there are few adults with any authority left around to supervise them for a good portion of the first third of the novel. But what the meat of the story comes from is the examination of the impact that the wealth from slavery has brought to Regency England and its noble families, and how it causes them to act and behave. Keep that in mind as you notice how the richer cousins treat their poorer cousin Fanny, the book's heroine, when she comes to stay with them."
The bell rang, and while the new book wasn't going to be anything too thrilling, it might prove at least a bit funny, if Doug remembered Austen was noted for her wry comments as much as her romance. Better than a slog fest through the jungle at least.
So now that they knew the limit of the coin...