The Stupendous Springer

Episode 1: Exposure, Chapter 2

The next day, Tuesday, started off like many Tuesdays - a second attempt at Monday, in case the first one did not take. It usually did take anyway, of course, causing one to resent Tuesday even more than Monday, but also to never truly capture this thought consciously, allowing Tuesday to get off scot-free with Monday serving as the eternal scapegoat.

The day had started off fairly normally for Sophie and Holly as well, the only deviation from the norm being Holly commenting that Sophie should really get some kind of outfit to accommodate her stretching, in case of complications with her wardrobe. Sophie had pushed the idea aside, claiming it was not a big enough part of her life to warrant it. Even as they entered the school, they still exchanged wordless glances that carried on the conversation further, but Sophie stood firm, and Holly acquiesced for the time being.

As it was the final week of the semester, to no one's surprise, after the regular school day most of the students were cramming for the upcoming due date of the science project, "most" including Holly, but for different reasons. Most students had simply procrastinated. Holly's project had both made her best friend elastic and had its core component stolen and later destroyed; she had a legitimate excuse. Of course she had no plans to share this excuse with her teachers, but it was legitimate nonetheless. Holly had devised a way to simplify her project down to something not-bleeding-edge, but still impressive, once Sophie had reminded her that high school science projects do not have the expectation of breaking the currently understood laws of physics to receive a passing grade. Holly sometimes required perspective check-ups like that.

Sophie stuck around to help with no prompting this time, partly because she did not have martial arts class until Friday, partly because she felt involved in it after her incident on Friday, partly because her mother had quietly asked her to keep an eye on Holly, and finally, she was also wanted to watch in amusement as the procrastinators scurried around in mild panic. Holly, as usual, was happy for the companionship. Immediately she set out rewiring the Epithelial Amplified Resonance Wavicle Interface Generator, or E.A.R.W.I.G., into a stripped-back version of its former self. Sophie encouraged her to pick a name with a better acronym while she was at it. Holly had mumbled something in response that Sophie did not listen to, already engrossed in checking her social media statistics.

Her overall discovery on her music sharing feed was down, which elicited a side-frown, the offspring of understanding and frustration. She was happy with where she was, but of course she wanted to push it further. This whole body modification she had experienced had pushed her usual output back a few days, and in the world of Internet exposure, that was detrimental. While her "distraction" was completely justified, the world at large knew nothing about that, and that was exactly how Sophie wanted it, at least for now.

However, maybe it would be best to actually tell her friends sometime? Sophie was uncertain. She was optimistic, but still wary of the idea - she had heard many stories of people seeming to be one way, but revealing themselves to be completely different in another context or situation. Sophie liked what she had, if she was honest.

Sophie glanced across the lab. She saw several students clearly stressed and rushing, which would do their projects no good in the long run, but she also saw Aiden helping Trevor with his project, Aiden having kept pace with the due date perfectly. The contrast between the human metronome and the pair of fumbling procrastinators next to him amused Sophie, and she smiled. But upon a moment of reflection, she sighed, subtly aware of how her shoulders shifted a bit more than normal as she let the breath out. As much as she might want to be open with the people she cared about, that was a risk. Maybe the risk was not worth it.

That was when the fumblers' project exploded.

All eyes whirled to see the rush job's remains erupting in billows of smoke and fire. In a panic, the students in the lab made a mad dash for the doors, one of them pulling the fire alarm in the hall as they gathered outside. Sophie and Holly had been in the back corner, so they were the last ones out, but they made it just as safely as the others. They closed one of the lab doors behind them as they exited through it, the other one having already been shut. Soon they joined the other students down the hall, all of them milling about as they waited for the response, watching through the windows in the doors as the room filled with smoke. The sprinklers had been triggered, but clearly had little effect on whatever was causing the smoke to issue forth.