Chapter Three

It was clear to Theodore that these kids were not going to let him go. There were a lot of people around, however. If he made enough noise that would probably get someone's attention, and send these goons scurrying. Theodore had more than enough experience with people like this to know their confidence came from strength in numbers.

Yet Theodore also didn't want to give them the satisfaction of thinking that he was in any way scared of them, let alone so scared that he needed to call out for help. He was eighteen after all - an adult, if only currently in his mind. Theodore had dealt with plenty of bullies at Holyoke academy. By the time sophomore year had rolled around, he had gotten a little bit of a growth spurt giving him some confidence to not just let his bullies walk over him. He had still gotten pounded more often than not, but not without getting in a few of his own jabs. One could even say he had walked away on top in a couple of fights.

Theodore knew he had more experience in a fight than the two boys before him. If Theodore had been able to deal with the much bigger opponents in high school, then surely these two should be no problem?

“Last chance to leave me alone,” Theodore growled, confident in his ability. Both boys laughed.

“Ooooh the teddy- '' the ginger boy began to say, before Theodore wasted no time in rearing back his fist and swinging up hard at his jaw. When it came time to a fight, there was no such thing as good sportsmanship.

Something that Theodore hadn't been expecting however was how light and feeble his strike had felt. He had neither the strength nor the coordination to land a solid strike, the ginger boy pretty much shirking off the hit with no problem as he grabbed Theodore by the collar.

“You're going to regret that,” he said as his nostrils flared. It was the other boy who put his hand on his partner's shoulder, saving Theodore from reprisal.

“Don't go crazy now, we probably shouldn't send him back all beat up,” the greasy boy said.

“I suppose,” the ginger boy said with a thoughtful look. “Wouldn't want mama bear getting involved..” he snickered.

“Let's use that,” the greasy haired boy said, pointing off towards something Theodore couldn't see.

“That's perfect,” the ginger haired boy laughed, before looking back at Theodore. “Little bears are always getting into the garbage.”

The ginger boy began to drag Theodore over to a garbage can. Theodore tried to resist, but the greasy boy had already hoisted up his legs.

“In you go,” the ginger boy said, before they tossed him into the garbage can so that his legs were sticking up in the air - his body folded over like a chair.

“That'll teach little teddy bears not to wander too far from mama bear,” the greasy haired boy chuckled.

“Yeah, no telling what kind of mischief they get up to on their own,” the ginger haired boy crowed before both the boys walked off laughing heartily.

Theodore struggled, rocking the trash can back and forth before it finally fell over and he was able to crawl out. Standing up, Theo could feel stickiness all up his arms. He sulked over to the bathroom to try and clean himself up. He had gotten most of the filth off of him before giving himself a check in the mirror. He had managed to clean himself up off enough that he didn't look too disheveled. It was then he noticed the blob of brown paint smeared across the seat of his pants. Theodore grimaced before attacking it the best he could with some paper towels.

Despite his best efforts however, he had done little to make the situation any better. There was now a large noticeable dark stain that not even the navy shade of his shorts could hide. Theodore gave up, walking back into the hallway. He certainly wasn't going back into the ceremony -not like this. Theodore gave a look towards the double doors down the hall that lead outside. He figured he could just go outside and find someplace to hunker down until the ceremony was over. He had skipped his high school graduation after all, why shouldn’t he keep up the streak with this one? It's not like he actually wanted to be here in the first place anyways. As he started to make his way towards the doors, he was stopped by the sudden appearance of his Mother.

“There you are,” she said with a hurried tone. “Hurry up, the ceremony is going to start any minute.”

Theodore felt his voice catch in his throat. His Mother came and grabbed his arm to lead him back to the ceremony.

“I can't,” Theodore yelped as he pulled his arm out of his Mom's hold.

“What are you talking about?” Mom said, giving him a skeptical yet sympathetic look. “There is no reason to be nervous, it's just a little ceremony.” Theodore grimaced, unable to think of a plausible excuse. His decision to act like a big man had gotten him into this situation. He hadn't wanted help, but now it seemed his only choice.

“Because of this,” Theodore said, turning so his Mom could see the back of his shorts.

“Oh Theo what did you do to your shorts?” she said, holding him still at the back of his arms as if he were some little kid trying to run away to hide an accident. She wrinkled her nose. “Is that…?”

“It’s paint!I slipped in something,” Theodore whined. “I tried to get it off, but it's stained.”

His Mother released him with a sigh.She told him to stay put and that she would be back. Theodore had no choice but to do as he was told. Minutes later, his Mother returned with some clothing in her hand. “You'll have to wear this around your waist,” Theodore's mother said, letting the piece of clothing unfurl to reveal a bright red hoodie sweater that was emblazoned with the members of the Paw Patrol on it.

“What is that?” Theodore mewled as his eyes bulged.

“We brought it for Luke in case he got cold,” Mom said. Luke was one of Theodore's cousins and Ewan's younger brother. At five years old the sweater was perfectly appropriate for him, yet it was something a middle schooler like Theodore wouldn’t be caught dead in.

“I can't wear that,” Theodore yelped.

“I don't have anything else,” Mom said. “I didn't think at your age I needed to be carrying around an extra pair of pants after all.”

Mom went ahead and tied the sweater around Theodore's waist. It looked incredibly awkward and tight around Theodore's waist, yet it did cover the stain.

“Now hurry up,” Mom said as she ushered Theodore back into the ceremony.

Theodore moved quickly to where the rest of his classmates were seated. His face was beet red, matching the color of the sweater. He sat down quickly, breathing a sigh of relief that no one had seemingly noticed the theme of the thing around his waist. The ceremony seemed to drag on forever. Endless speeches were given. First the principal, then the valedictorian, then as if they needed more, a special speaker was invited to say some words. Theodore was worried. He couldn’t stop thinking about what he was going to do when it came time for them to walk across the stage. He wondered if they even did that He couldn't exactly remember the particularities of middle school graduation.

The principal then took the mic again. “Now we have a very special treat. Three of our students have been accepted to the Holyoke academy and Mrs. Somerton has put together a small performance to showcase their musical talents. So let's give them a hand as they come up here!”

Theodore felt a lurch in stomach as he watched two other students get up and make their way over to the side of the stage where a piano and some other instruments were set up. He knew he was the third. Theodore got up and quickly made his way over, careful to keep the sweater obscured as he took a seat next to the other two students.

“Theodore,” Mrs. Somerton whispered from the piano. “Your violin.” she said pointing to the case back near some bleachers. Theodore closed his eyes. Of course nothing could be easy. Theodore stood up walking over to the violin case and turning his back towards the crowd allowing them to get a full view of the smiling character covering his backside. Theodore returned back to his seat with violin in hand.

He looked out into the crowd, none of the adults seemed to notice anything - yet some of the kids did, and he could see some smirks mixed in with some befuddled looks as to why a person like Theo would have a sweater like that around his waist. He spotted his own family. Ewan looked like he wanted to laugh, knowing full well where the sweater had originated. As Theodore scanned down he saw Charlie, expecting him to share in Ewan's delight - yet Charlie was smiling as he gave Theodore two big thumbs up. Theodore shook his head a little as he looked at the sheet music in front of him. He didn't recognize the song which meant he was going to have to play it on sight alone.

As the music began, Theo did his best to muddle through it. It was certainly not at the level of the pieces that Theodore had become accustomed to playing, and he was pleased to find that he still possessed the practiced techniques he had spent four long years honing. In the end, he was able to play a halfway decent rendition of the song. If he had been able to run through it once or twice before, he probably could have outplayed the other two kids and Mrs. Sommerton, yet he was just going to have to settle for giving a performance befitting a rookie who had only begun to grapple with the complexities of the instrument in his hand.

Theodore was relieved to be able to sit back down with the rest of the class. There was no use in trying to obscure the garment around his waist everyone had already seen. Yet maybe Theodore was making a bigger deal about it than was really necessary - was it really such a big deal?

“Nice sweater,” a boy behind him whispered. “Which one is your favorite?” The comment set off a chorus of snickers. Theodore closed his eyes as he gritted his teeth. He needed to figure out what was happening to him and find out some way to reverse it as the looming future of re-living the next four years of high school loomed.

***

12:30 pm

As soon as Theodore got in the door, he sprinted up the stairs and rushed into the guest bedroom - slamming the door behind him. He quickly unzipped the chino shorts, stripping them off and flinging away the soiled childish garment in disgust. After the incident at the graduation ceremony, Theo had not only had to endure Ewan’s teasing enquiries about the exact origin of the stain on his shorts, he’d also had to sit crammed in the back seat of the minivan next to Luke’s car seat as the five-year-old talked his ear off about his favorite Paw Patrol episodes. The worst part was that everyone seemed to act as if things were completely normal, the mortifying middle school scene no more out of place to Theodore’s family than the boy’s sulky mood or his whiny adolescent alto. He couldn’t take it any more! He had to find a way to reverse things.

Pacing around the small space, he urgently wracked his brain, trying to think of anything unusual that had happened the day prior. Countless harebrained half-baked ideas came to mind. Could it have been the flower pot? Mom had a hobby for gardening. Perhaps she’d bought Uncle Robb a weird exotic plant, and it had secreted some strange foreign chemical to make him shrink! But that wouldn’t explain why everyone was acting so weird. Perhaps it was all some giant elaborate prank his family were all in on, conceived especially to teach him a lesson after he skipped his original graduation? But no - those matchstick arms, deflated slender shoulders, and gawky oversized features crowding out his fourteen year old face were all too real.

Frustrated, Theodore let out an emotional yell, eyeing up the stuffed fox still lying on the floor from that morning and bringing his leg back to kick it as hard as he could. Still far from at home in his new gangly uncoordinated form, Theodore unintentionally knocked himself off balance, falling back to land his butt painfully on the hardwood floor. Theodore watched from the ground as the stuffed fox careened in a smooth arch towards the open window. To the kid’s great surprise however, the toy stopped dead in the air as soon as it reached the frame - falling limply to the floor as if intercepted by some invisible force.

Theodore cocked his head in confusion. He got to his feet, moving curiously over towards the window frame. It certainly didn’t look as if anything was there. The boy put a timid hand through the open space, slowly moving it back and forward through the gap, but came across no resistance. He picked up the fox once more, trying to lob it directly through the opening this time, but it simply bounced right back towards him - falling flat on his bed. Finally, the boy tried punching the empty space in the window frame as hard as he could, only to feel his hand stop dead in the middle of open air! It felt as if he had just punched a bag of rice, or perhaps a particularly firm pillow.

Amazed, the boy observed the space more closely. Sure enough, there was just the vaguest distortion of light in the corner of the window frame, shimmering like something out of sci-fi film. It seemed to be some kind of semi-permeable force field employed as a safety device, intended to stop fast moving objects while allowing slow deliberate movement to pass through. Theodore was completely dumb-struck. He knew his uncle’s technology was innovative, he wouldn’t be nearly so rich if it wasn’t, but this was the stuff of miracles!

A worrying thought entered Theodore’s mind. Could his Uncle’s technology be responsible for his current predicament? If Uncle Rob could make a force field, then who knew the limits of his technological genius? Perhaps he had invented some miracle drug capable of reversing the aging process, and had subliminal messaging machines all around the house making everyone act so weird! But why? Thedore couldn’t think of any reason his Uncle Rob would want him to be fourteen again, and he’d been acting weird just like the rest of them! Uncle Rob was a lot of things, but he was certainly no actor. He genuinely thought Theodore had always been this age - just like the rest of them. Whatever it was, Theodore couldn’t help but fear the worst. This wasn’t magic, it wasn’t a dream, and it wasn’t a prank. It could well be real bona fide science. And then what hope did he have?

“Theo, honey!” Mom called. Theodore heard the click-clack of her heels making their way up the stairs before she knocked briskly on his door. “What on earth are you doing in there? You’re missing your own party!”

“N-not now Mom!” Theo objected, his voice cracking part from plain surprise and part in fear of the conclusion he had just reached.

Mom tutted loudly. “Come on sweetie, everyone’s waiting for you.”

“I’m busy!”

There was a brief silence, Mom seeming to be choosing her own words carefully before she spoke. “Theo, I know you need your privacy…” she began awkwardly.

“Huh?” Theodore responded, baffled by the sudden about-turn in the direction of the conversation.

“...especially now that you’re getting older. But it’s hardly the time and the place.”

The boy’s stomach dropped, the mortifying realization of just what his mother was insinuating instantly making his ears turn a hot humiliated red. “Mom, I wasn’t!” He blurted out his denial at once. He quickly went over to the door, fumbling to open the touch-pad lock as quickly as possible - as if a full and frank disclosure might somehow prove his innocence beyond any reasonable doubt. Unfortunately, when Theodore finally did get the door to swing open, it revealed his skinny pubescent form dressed only in his cutesy seersucker shirt and his oversized boxers.

To her credit, Mom tried to look unphased. “Just put some pants on and come downstairs.” she instructed. “You’re too old to be romping around in your underwear.”

***
13:54

Theodore sat at the table, picking at the burger in front of him. A banner was strung across the kitchen entrance that read “Congrats Grads” a sign that was meant for both him and Jessica. Some of Jessica's friends had come over to join in the festivities. To Theo's relief it seemed that none of his middle school friends were going to be in attendance. However, he couldn't get over how awkward it was seeing Jessica with her own group. He and Jessica had not shared a social group at the school, yet Theodore still recognized some of them - which made it all the more strange that he was now barely a freshman. Only days prior they had been on equal footing.

Ewan was sitting next to Theodore prattling on about something or another, despite Theo reacting with not so much as a grunt to show that he was listening.

“We could ditch this party and go play right now,” Ewan said, nudging Theo. “C'mon we should, it'll be a lot more fun.”

“Do what now?” Theo asked, finally paying attention to his cousin.

“Pokemon,” Ewan replied. “You brought your game console with you right? Let's go battle already!”

“I don't play that,” Theo muttered, turning his attention back to his burger.

“What are you talking about?” Ewan asked, confused. “You texted me like two nights ago gloating about the new team you just put together.”

“I did?” Theo asked with some surprise. It seemed in this reality he and Ewan were closer than they had ever been. For as long as Theodore had known Ewan, he had always been distant with him. Especially during his high school years on the few occasions he had been forced to spend time with his family and Ewan would follow him around incessantly like a lost puppy trying to impress his older cousin - despite Theodore's best efforts to ignore him.

“Maybe Theo has decided it's time to stop playing kids games,” Jessica chimed in.

“Pokemon is not a kids game, plenty of adults play it too,” Ewan said, resenting his sister's insinuation that he was in any way a little kid.

“Hey Theo, I heard you were enrolling at Holyoke,” one of Jessica's friends asked. “Guess you wanted to follow in your cool big cousin's shoes huh.” she said, playfully shoving Jessica.

“It's not like I want to,” Theo grumbled. “I don't really have a choice.”

“Yeah Jessica is a pretty hard act to follow,” her friend said laughing. Jessica gave her friend a sarcastic look.

“Theo will do great at Holyoke,” Jessica said, sending a confident smile towards Theodore. “Your performance at the graduation was great. After four years at Holyoke you'll probably be quite the violinist.Who knows, you might even get yourself a scholarship to college out of it.”

“Speaking of scholarships, you never told me if you were going to take that full ride you got,” Jessica's friend said.

“Oh no I've decided to go to a different school actually. One with a good computer science program.” Jessica mentioned which threw Theodore for a loop.

“You mean you're not going to continue with music?” Theodore wondered why in the world she had even attended Holyoke in the first place if she didn't have plans to go pro.

“Piano is fun and all, just not my passion,” Jessica said with an airy dismissal. Theodore was taken aback, though if he was being honest he hadn't really given much thought as to what he was going to do after high school either - yet now that didn't seem to matter.

“Jessica is going to follow in her old man's footsteps,” Uncle Rob said as he took a seat next to Theodore. “She's already contributed to some product lines at my company. Her work on the force field tech was a big help.”

“Force field,” Theo said with some surprise. “So that's what that was.” Theo muttered, remembering what he had observed back in his room.

“Oh, so you saw it?” Uncle Rob asked with some intrigue, never one to back down from talking about all the zany things his company made. “Still in the experimental phase of course -but I think when it makes it to market as part of our new and improved child safe house package it's going to make some big waves. It might even become one of our bestsellers.”

Theodore gave no reaction,yet that did not seem to deter his Uncle in the slightest from continuing on with his explanation.

“You see, it will only trigger the child safeguards in rooms where children are detected.” Uncle Rob continued.

“Wait, so the house sees me as a child?” Theodore asked, scrunching up his face.

“Probably not,” Uncle Rob said. “It’s most likely because Charlie is also staying in that room.”

“Hey I'm not a little kid!,” Charlie yelped from further down the table.

“Sure you are,” Ewan snorted. “Little cry baby Charlie who still sleeps with his stuffie,” Ewan then sang out in a mocking tone, flashing a smile at Theodore for approval.

“S-stop it,” Charlie stammered as his face went a little red.

“Ewan shove it - for real,” Jessica chided. “Or do I need to show everyone your stuffed shark, who last time I checked was sitting at the foot of your bed? Mr Nibbles?”

“I don't sleep with him…” Ewan countered, though it was now his turn to turn a little red in the face. “It's just for decoration,” he muttered quickly.

Before anyone could say anything more though, Mom appeared with a wrapped present in her hand. She placed it on the table in front of Theodore.

“Present time,” Mom sang out. “Now don't worry - this isn't the only thing I got for you. It’s just a little something to help my little man who is becoming a big man in front of my eyes,” Mom cooed..

Theodore furrowed his brow as he slipped out of his Mom's embrace. He looked at the square package in front of him wrapped in festive paper. He lazily started to unwrap the paper, finding a metal box that had the name of some fashion brand on the front.

“What is it?” Theo asked.

“Just open up the top,” Mom instructed. Theo opened the top of the metal box and was met with a variety of items. There was a can of body spray and cologne as well as some aftershave. Also included were a razor and a hair brush, as well as some nose and fingernail clippers.

“It's a grooming kit,” Mom said cheerfully, thinking it was a perfectly appropriate gift for her burgeoning teenage son. The subtle implication that it was time for him to start taking some more care of his hygiene wasn’t lost on Theo. He stared at the contents of the box apprehensively.

“Well go on, try some of it on - see if you like how it smells.” Mom instructed in an expectant tone.

“She thinks you smell dude.” Ewan laughed.

“I do not smell,” Theodore yelped back.

“Ewan quiet.” Uncle Robb tutted. “No one is saying Theo smells, but he is getting to an age when he has to start taking care of himself a little more. It's a sign of maturity.”

“That's right,” Mom said before she gave a sort of awkward look towards Theo. “Although I will say you do have a little bit of an odor right now dear.” Mom said, placing a hand on Theodore's shoulder. “It must have been from your accident with your pants at school.”

“Theo had an accident in his pants?” Luke, Theodore's five year old cousin interjected, which elicited some chuckles from the table.

“Not that kind of accident dear,” Mom clarified. “He slipped in something, which is why we had to borrow your sweater.”

It had all been a little much for Theodore, as he felt his face start to burn red. She wasn't exactly wrong.He had only just noticed a lingering scent, realizing in this exact moment that it was coming from his shirt. But did she really have to announce it in front of everyone? What's more, it had been her fault anyway! He had planned to take a shower, but she had been the one to hurry him to come down to this stupid party. He didn't need his Mom to tell him how to make himself presentable like some clueless fourteen year old! He had figured all that stuff out just fine without her help the first time around!

Just get out of there
Give her a piece of your mind