Working quickly together, Ronald and Randy began setting up for their experiment. When the taller athlete reached for a graduated cylinder, the other boy noted the lack of hair on his arm. The changes seemed to be progressing steadily.
Ronald hadn't really planned on having to watch his prospective girlfriends transform. Their previous appearance really held no importance for him. He only concerned himself with the personalities that made them compatible with his dreams of true love. Still, he looked forward to seeing how Randy would turn out.
Suddenly, the clatter of a pen hitting the floor brought Ronald back to the present. Turning around, he saw Leonard sliding from his chair to retrieve the fallen writing instrument. With his girth, the task would take a few seconds. Reflexively, Ronald bent down and picked up the pen, holding it out to the nerd. The boy blinked through his coke-bottle lenses for a moment or two before it finally sank in that someone had actually helped him. His chubby cheeks flushed a bit as he cracked a nervous smile and accepted his property. "T-Thanks."
"No problem," Ronald answered graciously. To his surprise, Leonard hopped back onto his seat with a bit more vigor than he had ever shown previously. His stomach, which once would have come close to touching the table's edge, now left a bit of space in front. Interestingly, the gap slowly grew wider.
"Ahem, everything's set up." Randy's voice reclaimed Ronald's attention. The athlete's eyebrows had thinned a bit, becoming light and sculpted. Meanwhile, he seemed to be eyeing Leonard with an odd expression on his face, neither pleased nor angry, perhaps a bit wary. Then, it passed, replaced by a friendly grin as he handed his own pen to his partner. "Care to play data keeper?"
"Uh, sure." Ronald took the pen and picked up his notebook. "Ready."
"Hey, Karyn, are you alright?"
Karyn started, realizing she had gotten distracted yet again. Giving her lab partner, Kelly, an apologetic look, she sighed. "Yeah, sorry. I've got a lot on my mind."
Picking up the class handout, she tried to focus. Stupid Jon. Why'd you have to go and lose the stone? Really, you're my BFF and all, but sometimes, you can be such a ditz!
Immediately, she frowned. Something about that thought struck her as off, but she couldn't quite put a finger on it.
A loud noise came from Ronald's lab table. It seemed that the smaller boy had made a joke of some kind, causing his partner to burst out laughing before he could stifle it.
"Boys, please, concentrate on your assignment," the teacher called over.
The two boys quickly hunched over their experiment like good students.
Karyn let out a deep breath. That Randy was so lucky to snag a cute partner like Ronald. It made her kind of envious. Maybe, if she could find the stone, she could
No. She shook off the idea. Such a thing was too dangerous to be used like that. She only hoped that she and Jon could retrieve the artifact before someone had time to abuse its power.
