"You know, Ty," Dustin remarked thoughtfully as he pressed Ty paper thin with the iron, "I'd definitely get an A in Art Class if I turned in as realistic a poster boy as you..."
He smiled, having come to a decision. Ty wanted to scream, but the thinner he got the weaker his powers got. Dustin ran his fingers over Ty's perfectly sculpted flattened torso, and smiled. His fingers caught in Ty's waist band, and he quickly stripped Ty down to his bikini briefs.
"A little paint, and you'll look perfect with a seaside background...I'll call you "Ty at the Beach,"" announced Dustin tapping his chin. There was a knocking at the door.
"Hey, Ty, Dustin, I'm locked out!" shouted Stephanie.
"Just a minute," Dustin answered. He grabbed a wooden pointer from the chalk board tray, and quickly rolled Ty around it. When he was done he fastened the poster boy in place with a couple rubber bands. Then he pulled on Ty's jeans, and headed for the door.
"It's about time!" Stephanie exclaimed when Dustin finally opened the door. She had an armload of products. Noticing Dustin was wearing jeans again, she asked, "Did you take your jeans out of the sink?" there was a hint of anger in her voice.
"No, Stephanie. These belong to Ty. He decided to change into his sweats and loaned these to me. I really want to thank you for helping with those stains. It's really kind of you. Uh, perhaps I could take you to the dance next week as a way to thank you," Dustin blurted out.
Before Stephanie could answer, Dustin cut her off, "Think about it, ok? I have to run to Art Class, I've got a project to laminate," he smiled grabbed his pack and rolled Ty. Then vanished out the door.
"Laminate? When I get back to normal, Dustin, you're going to be so sorry!" Ty thought in a threatening whisper. He was too thin to shout into Dustin's mind.
"Bro, that's why I'm going to laminate you! That should keep you flat forever," thought Dustin with the hint of a nervous giggle.
"Wha--? Why?"
"Cause I don't want to end up in the cornfield. You know how easily you get ticked off by little things. Like my clipping my toe nails and shooting them across the room, last week you had a fit over that. If you had your powers last week, I'd probably be a pile of ashes or a pillar of salt. So the best thing for me is to contain your power until it can be controlled better. Perhaps your cousin Peter can help with that, he seems to have things under control. Oh, that's right you didn't know that Peter has the power too. He showed me at Christmas when he visited, he didn't want to get your hopes up. Apparently, he told me that the power runs in your family, but shows up in only about a sixteenth of the descendants. I'm kind of envious, but I'm also afraid what you might do if you get angry."
"I'm get-ting an-gry, now!" whisper thought Ty.
Entering the art studio, Dustin headed to his locker, and pulled out the large seaside mural he'd painted. He spread it out against the wall clipping it in place, and picked up a pot of glue. He pasted a shocked Ty to the canvass, and started painting Ty's body to give him an artificial-realistic painted appearance.
Ty giggled, the hairs of the brush tickled. A tanner looking Ty with white flecks in his eyes, and highlights in his hair wearing a red speedo looked back from the canvas. While the acrylic paint set, Dustin went across the room, and turned on the laminator.
Then Dustin took his masterpiece over to a large press with a shiny plastic roller. The pair of red lights glowed indicating that the laminator was ready to roll.
"NO! Please, Dustin!"
The motor whirred and the mounted Ty plunged head first into the laminator.
"Don't worry, Ty, Peter will be able to restore you, when he gets here. In the mean time, you can earn me an A."
Ty felt the sheet of plastic rolling over his forehead, and felt the hot pressure of the rollers sealing him between two thick plastic sheets. Ty couldn't believe he was getting pressed thinner by the powerful rollers, but he felt his strength fade even more as he was pressed into a living pin up poster. He could no longer hear other people's thoughts, and he found it hard to think. Atleast it was peaceful.
"Ty? Are you okay?" Dustin asked. Ty was strangely silent after his ride through the laminator. Perhaps he was brooding or maybe it killed him. Dustin swallowed hard, and clipped his laminated artwork back on to the wall. He had to call Peter in Toronto right away.