Jen quickly got her books from her locker and went to homeroom. She made it just before the bell rang. The teacher called for everyone to take their seats so she could take attendance. Jen obediently plunked herself at her desk.
Jen was incredibly nervous. If she found herself unable to resist any command, she needed to make sure nobody gave her orders to do something unacceptable...or obscene. She figured the best way to avoid commands was to just stay put and stay silent. The less she engaged in conversation, the better.
And how she hated Kyle for this. She hoped she would run into him soon. She'd need to act fast before he could tell her to stop. Muffle his mouth. Punch his face. Pound him into the dirt that he crawled out of.
"Hey, Jen, what are you thinking about?" asked Jen's friend Molly, who was sitting at a neighboring desk.
She couldn't stop herself from answering. "I'm going to ge-e-e-et revenge on Ky-y-yle Pe-e-erkins for cursing me-e-e."
"Huh?" Molly reacted the same way any rational person would when they heard something ridiculous like that. A few other students turned to look at Jen as well.
"He-e-e-e cursed me-e-e, and now I'm a shee-e-e-eep." Jeez I sound ridiculous, Jen thought.
Molly put a hand on her mouth in an overblown gesture that pretended to hold back a torrent of snickering. "I'm sorry, I couldn't quite make that out through your bleating. Did you say you were...cursed?"
"Ye-e-e-es!" came Jen's insistent reply.
"Oh come on, Jen," said Peter from his nearby desk. "You still believe in curses and stuff?"
"I-i-it's re-e-e-eal!" Jen bleated. "Loo-o-o-ok at me-e-e-e-e-e!"
"Yeah, okay," Molly said with a smile. "Maybe you were cursed at birth to have such a silly voice. It's like nobody can understand you most of the time."
"Yeah, Jen," Peter cackled. "With all your bleating, you practically can't speak at all!"
Jen felt another tingling, this time concentrated on her throat. "Yo-o-o-u don't understa-a-a-ah... sta-a-a-nd! I'm huma-a-a-a-a-a-a... Ba-a-a-aah! Ba-a-a-a-aaaaaaah!" Jen's voice grew louder and more forceful as her speech dissolved into the primitive cries of a sheep. She tried to create words, but her mouth and vocal cords refused to cooperate any longer. Her friends had doomed her to bleat and baa forever.
"Miss Smith, please cease that obnoxious bleating!" the teacher commanded. Jen's protesting voice was instantly quelled.
Just as the classroom settled into a tense silence, the bell rang. Several students jumped at the tone, including Jennifer. Everyone gathered up their backpacks and headed out without even a backwards glance at the pathetic sheep-girl.
"Get a move on, Miss Smith," the teacher said. "Learning awaits."
Jen compulsively stood up, strapped on her backpack, and walked out into the hallway toward her first class.