“How’s everything going, Jason?”
“I don’t know, Mr. Reyes,” he sounded discouraged. He looked over his shoulder and then whispered to me, “I think I could use a little help with this one.”
“Are you sure?” I asked him.
He looked over the study guide once more and nodded his head.
“I have to pass this test, Mr. Reyes. You know how hard Coach has been on me about my grades this semester.”
“OK,” I agreed, “But just a little.”
I touched my hand briefly to his shoulder, trying to be as discrete as possible. I could feel it as the knowledge sparked out through my fingertips and sank into Jason’s arm. I could see the lightbulb turn on in his eyes.
“Oh, now I get it!” he said, “The neurocranium is like a protective vault for the brain and the brainstem, and then the viscerocranium is all of bones supporting the face.”
“Very smart, Jason,” I nodded approvingly, “And what connects all the bones together?”
“Sutures,” he answered confidently.
“Very good,” I said, “I think you’ll have no trouble at all passing the test tomorrow.”
He smiled with a sense of relief, but then he looked up at me with a worried look on his face. He knew what had to happen now.
“Just don’t take too much,” he said as quietly as he could, “I can’t lose too much size before the game this weekend.”
I smiled and placed my hand on his shoulder once more. I felt his strength being pulled up through my arm. A feeling of warmth spread across my body before it settled deep into my muscles. I could feel them growing and expanding ever so slightly underneath my clothes. My button-up shirt stretched just a little bit more across my chest. I’d have to go up a size soon.
Jason didn’t look any noticeably smaller, at least from what I could tell. I was careful to only take a little bit from him at a time, and he was practically able to gain it back instantaneously with just a few workouts in the school gym. Ah, to be young again.
“Thanks, Mr. Reyes,” he said.
“No,” I said, subtly crossing my arms so that I could feel how much they had grown, “Thank you, Jason.”