Struggling in Ross' grip, Jake looked wide-eyed at Dave as he cracked his knuckles and smirked wickedly. He glanced over at Sasha who looked as though she wanted to stop what was happening, but didn't know how. As tough as she was, there was no way she could take on Dave and Ross by herself. In the end, Jake decided to take her advice.
"Okay, okay! I'll do it. I'll curse you."
Dave smirked. "That's more like it." He nodded at Ross, who let him go. Ross then moved into a position, blocking Jake in and keeping him from escaping.
"So, what are you waiting for?" Dave took a step closer to Jake. "Go ahead. Do your voodoo."
"I, er, can't. I need to get a few things first."
Dave scowled. "I said do it, you little freak!"
"Hey!" Sasha exclaimed. "He's not lying. Just let him get his stuff. Okay?"
"Fine." Dave nodded at Ross who took a step back, giving Jake a path out. "But no funny business, alright?"
Jake quickly made his way out and and made his way to his locker. He's stashed them there when he promised to not use them anymore. And now he was breaking that promise. Sasha, Dave, and Ross followed him the whole way, Sasha doing her best to stay closer to Jake than Dave or Ross. With Will around, they were slack-jawed thugs. Without Will, they were slack-jawed thugs with nobody to control them. They were a little more unpredictable now, which made them dangerous. For the first time in a long time, Sasha began to feel genuinely scared. There was no way she could take on both of them. One of them definitely, but not both. Though, she was at least smarter than both of them combined. Whatever position she'd had above them was gone along with Will. She could not see this going well.
Jake opened his locker and dug through the books and loose papers until he reached the bottom, where he'd hidden the hex papers. Sasha saw the looked like palm-sized, slightly crumpled pieces of plain white paper with faded, looping markings on them that might've been writing.
Sasha leaned on to Jake. "Do you know what you're doing?"
Jake shook his head. "No idea."
Jake pulled out the pages and turned to the two other bullies. "Alright. Let's go to the-"
"No." Dave took an intimidating step closer. "Right here. Right now. Come on, Voodoo Boy. Give us your best shot."
Jake bit his lip and looked up at Sasha. She nodded back down at him. He sighed, pulled out two of the pages, and placed the rest back into his locker. He held the two up and took a deep breath.
"You two want to be bigger and older so much? Fine! I curse you!"
For a moment, nothing happened. Then the papers turned to ash, mixed together, and flew into both the boys' faces, making them cough and sputter.
After they cleared the ashes from their faces, the both peered down at their bodies.
Dave frowned. "I don't feel any older. Do you?"
Ross shook his head.
Dave twisted and turned, trying to look at his body at different angles. "Do I look older to you?"
Ross shook his head again.
Dave crossed his arms and glared at Jake. "I think the Gyp gypped us."
"Hold on a second," Sasha interjected. "Will didn't transform instantly either, remember? He didn't look older until that evening. It takes time, doesn't it, Jake?"
Jake nodded. "Yeah. Yeah..."
Dave sighed impatiently. "How long do we have to wait, then?"
Jake knew that the curse would take effect whenever they would act like delinquents or do thinks inappropriate for kids their age. However, he didn't really want them to know that. So he merely shrugged.
Sasha stepped between Jake and the other two. "Alright, you got what you wanted. After school, we'll meet at the usual spot so Jake can practice his counter curse."
Dave shook his head. "Tomorrow."
"What?" This was what Sasha had been afraid of.
"We'll meet you guys at the usual spot tomorrow evening. You gotta give us time to have fun, first."
Sasha sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Aright, tomorrow and sundown. Be there."
Dave nodded and smirked. "Oh, of course. We'll be there. Won't we, Ross?"
Ross nodded. Of course, the two had no intention of going back, which Sasha suspected. In either case, they wouldn't be her or Jake's problem for the time being.
The bell rang, signalling first period and students began to flow through the halls. Jake took the opportunity to quickly get lost in the crowd, but Jake and Ross didn't seem to notice.
"You know what, Ross? I don't feel like going to school today." Dave and Ross then rode the crowd to the nearest school door and stepped outside, not caring if anybody saw them. It wasn't like they hadn't done this before, anyway.
Sasha, finding herself alone and more nervous than ever made her way to her own first period class. Despite herself, she was glad Jake was safe. He was a nice kid, if a little too meek. She began to feel bad about throwing him into a dumpster yesterday. She'd have to make it up to him. Her nervousness, though, was nothing compared to Jake's. He now had to find two more sets of counter curses and dig the original out from the dumpster behind the school, assuming the hadn't emptied it out already. He hoped that his grandmother wouldn't find out about this.
Outside, Dave and Ross grabbed their bikes and began pedaling away from school. As they did so, Jake's curse on them began to take effect. When Jake cursed Dave and Ross he used two hex pages, assuming he'd need one for each of them. However, his overcompensation actually had the effect of doubling the curse's power. Instead of only aging the pair three years for and act of delinquency or indulgence of maturity, they would age six.
As Ross aged from 13 to 19, skipping his high school years, he quickly shot up in height, but stayed rail thin, giving him a strange, elongated appearance. His dark, slightly reddish hair grew a little shaggier and blew in the wind. Sparse stubble spread across and cheeks, chin and neck, as well as sparse body hair around his belly button and chest.
As Dave aged form 13 to 19, he only grew a few inches before stopping. His body did get wider, though, as he filled out with muscle. His chest barreled out and his abs thickened, though there was no distinct six-pack. His jaw jutted out as his chin became more pronounced. His head hair retracted, becoming a short, dark buzz. Dark stubble covered his jawline and thick, dark body hair covered his chest, stomach, and forearms.
Ross's sudden increase in height and the lengthening of his limbs made him wobble suddenly on his bike. He stopped, got off his bike at looked down at his longer limbs and taller frame. Luckily, both his and Dave's clothes seemed to expand to compensate for them. Dave noticed Ross had stopped and turned around.
"What's the matter?" he asked. "What- Oh..." He noticed that his friend seemed much taller and more mature. "Fuckin' hell, man! It worked! Ha! It goddamn worked!"
He quickly hopped off his bike and ran a hand over his jaw, feeling the thick stubble. "Holy fuck, man! Quick! What do I look like? What do I look like?"
Before Ross could answer, Dave snatched Ross' bike's mirror and held it up to his own face, trying to get a good view. He gave and enormous grin and ran and hand over his buzzed hair. "Oh, man. I look great! I wonder if..."
Dave pulled his shirt up revealing his very hairy torso and began laughing to himself. He then looked up at tall, skinny, Ross. "Woah, man. You're really tall."
Ross was about to tell Dave that, as tall as he was, it was more accurate to say that Dave was really short. Though, he thought better of it and stayed silent.
Tall skinny Ross and short wide Dave stood there for a moment longer, looking over their newly mature bodies before remounting their bikes and moving on once again.
Meanwhile, in a nearby town, Will was having adventures of his own...