THE BEGINNING - SUMMER KIDS LEARNING CENTER
Ann Chapman sighed as the chaos in the classroom roiled and tossed around her. It was the Thursday from hell in the pre-second grade classroom of the Summer Kids Learning Center. The kids had been inside all week due to bad weather, so not only were they cranked up and restless, but Ann got a third of the breaks she was supposed to. The teachers had to all rotate watching each other's classes for short break periods because of the lack of outside recess where one teacher could watch 5 or 6 classes at once.
She brushed a wayward strand of blonde hair, which had come untucked from her hair band, out of her face and raised her voice again. "Children, you need to put up the art supplies now or you will all have to skip snack time!" A chorus of "awwws" and "no fairs" greeted the announcement. Gina Beresford, the teacher's pet, skipped up to her desk.
"I'm all done with my station, Ms. Ann," she said, twisting one of her braids with her hand. She was a cute little girl with hair so light it almost looked white. A splash of freckles were across her nose.
"Thank you Gina, then you can help pass out the snacks today," said Ann. If only they were all like Gina, she thought. The chaos seemed to be making its way toward calm when Jimmy Hart, a boy in toughskin jeans with unruly brown hair shouted, "Oh, no! Marissa hasn't done any cleaning up, we'll all miss snack time!" Turmoil erupted again as the children turned on the quiet dark-haired girl. Ann had never really liked Marissa Fortescu, she was too quiet. She couldn't decide if the child was slow or just shy. Ann had tried to get her to open up, but had been rewarded with stony silence. Since then, Marissa had slid along with average performance and Ann had pretty much decided she was average or below and let it go at that.
"Marissa - pause. MARISSA!" said Ann sternly. The child was dreamily drawing a sunny landscape and seemed lost in the task. Suddenly, Ann's voice cut through and she looked up, startled, and blinked owlishly. "You have not picked up your supplies and you have almost caused the class to miss snack time. Because they are done and you are not, YOU will miss snack time and also the first recess tomorrow. Ann was pretty sure it would be nice enough on Friday that the kids would go outside. In fact, it was clearing up already, too late for recess this afternnon of course, but maybe tomorrow would be better.
Marissa mumbled something like "I'm sorry I didn't hear you." But it was hard to tell because she was staring at the ground. This infuriated Ann, she was tired of the girl's attitude. It was like she didn't even care about what was going on around her. Ann pulled Marissa roughly to her feet and helped her quickly pick up the art supplies. The unfinished picture was shoved into her cubbyhole where Marissa's backpack fell on top of it and wrinkled it. While Gina handed out drinks and cookies, Marissa had to sit in front of the class and watch her classmates enjoy their treat.
"You ready to go?" came a voice from the door. It was Ann's friend Jenny who was following Ruth, the fourth grade instructor who was going to watch Ann's class during her break.
"See you in ten minutes." said Ann to Ruth, "Good luck." Ruth put on a sour look, she wasn't having the greatest day either.
Ann and Jenny walked into the breakroom and got soft drinks. "Ah, caffeine!" said Jenny, putting her feet up on the breakroom table. "So what are you doing this weekend?"
"It isn't the weekend yet!" exclaimed Ann, then she realized that this Friday was Jenny's day off. "I'll probably just hang out around the apartment. Oh, and I have to get my car fixed. Another dull two days off." she sighed. "What happened to the days when weekends were so full of potential."
Jenny said, "I think that flew the coop when you hit the wrong side of thirty," she grinned. "What was that 13, 14 years ago?" She was joking, Jenny knew Ann was 33. "Yeah, but my weekend won't start early if I have to sub tomorrow. I'm on call." Then the two chatted about their day so far and shared a quick (forbidden) cigarette together.
All too soon, break time was over. "Thank Ruth for covering both our rooms," said Jenny, "she did it as a favor so we could break at the same time." She left for her classroom and Ann returned to the pre-2nd room. She thanked Ruth and then walked to the front of the class. "Take out your reading workbooks and turn to page 36," she began, and dove back into classwork.
The reading lesson went well, and it was quickly time for parents to start picking up their kids. As usual, Marissa's mother was last to arrive, just minutes before the 6:00 deadline. After 6, there was a fee that went directly to the teacher. Ann had actually been looking forward to collecting it from Mrs. Fortescu.
"Victoria," said Ann to Mrs. Fortescu, "We need to talk for a moment about Marissa." Ann always called her by her first name, even though it plainly irritated her. Victoria Fortescu was a trim, youthful woman of 29, with the same dark hair and fine features as Marissa. She was of Eastern European origin, some said that the family had been nobility before World War II. Sometimes a trace of an accent would surface in Victoria Fortescu's speech. Ann's discussion of the events of the afternoon soon led to a heated discussion about Marissa, and Mrs. Fortescu's eyes flashed angrily. "I don't think you understand the first thing about these children!" she exclaimed, "you are sorely lacking in sympathy for a girl who is adjusting to life in a foreign society."
Ann could see that there was going to be no progress made today. She hastily ended the conference and excused herself. Later, when she was putting the students' papers on the front seat of her car, she saw Marissa and Victoria getting into Victoria's red Saab. Marissa just looked sad, but Victoria shot a keen piercing glance at the teacher. For a moment, it almost made her shiver, but then Ann's opinion of their relative positions, Victoria was so young and all, reasserted itself, and she looked almost smug as she closed the door on her Oldsmobile and turned the key.
"R-r-r-rr-rrrrrr-rrrr-rrrr" went the motor. "Damn you, start!" she swore and turned the key again. This time the engine caught and sputtered to life. Ann made her way carefully home. All she had to do was make it to this weekend and then she could get it fixed. Now it was home to her apartment, with dinner and grading papers on the couch in front of the TV.
THE NEXT MORNING - ARBOR VALE APARTMENTS
"Rr- r-r-click, click" Her car was not going to start this morning. Ann lifted the hood of her car in the apartment parking lot and looked inside, but everything looked fine as far as she could tell. "Damn," she thought, "I'm going to have to call in and burn another personal day to get this fixed." She went inside and called the school. "I'll be in as soon as possible," she said, "but I have no idea how long its going to take to get my car in to a mechanic or how soon I can get a ride to work. Tell Jenny I'm sorry I wrecked her day off and I'll make it up to her." She hung up the phone and walked back outside to her disabled car to have one more look at it.
She poked around in the engine compartment a little. "Was that wire supposed to be that way?" she thought and reached in. It was still attached, so that wasn't the problem. When she stepped back from the car, she noticed a big black grease stain on the sleeve of her red blouse. "Just what I needed," she said to herself, "what else can happen?"
Then she saw the Fortescu's red Saab moving through the parking lot. They lived in the same apartment complex as Ann, although she rarely saw them because it was a huge complex with five entrances. Victoria Fortescu pulled over to the side and rolled down her window, "Do you need a ride to school?" she asked. Ann thought for a second. At least this way she would still have her personal day and Jenny wouldn't be pissed at her. "OK, Victoria, thanks. But I need to go inside and change clothes. Do you want to come in and have a cup of coffee?"
Victoria pulled the Saab into a nearby space and she and Marissa followed Ann up the stairs to her apartment. "Thank you again, this really means a lot to me," Ann said.
"Well, it should be educational," said Victoria.
Ann turned on PBS for Marissa, who quietly seated herself on the edge of the couch. "Would you like some grapefruit juice?" she asked Victoria, holding up the carton after she poured herself a glass.
"No thank you, just black coffee please," replied Victoria Fortescu. Ann turned to fix the coffee, leaving the glass of grapefruit juice sitting on the counter in front of Victoria. As she turned to carry the coffee over, she thought she detected motion out of the corner of her eye and looked sharply over, but it was just Victoria touching up her makeup. Ann put the cup of coffee down in front of her guest and picked up the grapefruit juice. It tasted sweeter than usual, like something she hadn't had in a long time, but she couldn't recall what. It was certainly delicious.
"Well, I better hurry up and get changed." she said indicating the grease spot on her blouse. She walked down the hallway to her bedroom. She felt funny, kind of nervous and fluttery in her stomach. "Must be all the drama with my stupid car," she thought. She took off the blouse and put it into the sink to soak. Then she removed the skirt - the red blouse was the only thing she had that it matched, so she was basically having to get dressed again from scratch. She picked out a white blouse and blue skirt and set them out on the bed.
She went into the bathroom to find the camisole she usually wore under the white blouse. She looked into the mirror and patted her hair. "At least that looks OK," she thought. Then she stopped and peered closer at her face. "I look better rested than I thought, those dark circles I had this morning are gone. Must have been the grapefruit juice." She went back into the bedroom and put on the camisole and the blouse. She pulled up the skirt and then walked into the bathroom so she could see the zipper in the mirror. It always stuck and was a pain to get pulled up right. She stood sideways and tugged at the zipper. It stuck a little, but then slid easily up. "I must be losing weight!" she thought, "at last."
She padded back into the bedroom and put on her comfortable shoes. They slid on easily and she walked down the hallway brushing her hair. Part way down the hall, her blouse suddenly was tucked in funny, it hung out over the sides of her skirt like it was too big. She walked into the kitchen trying to get it to stay in her skirt. Victoria was looking intently at her as she walked in. The blouse was kind of uncomfortable, like the shoulders sat too far on her arms. The bottom twisted as she tried to get it tucked into her skirt.
"Here, let me help you," said Victoria, walking around the bar and into the kitchen. She tucked the loose back of the blouse into the back of the skirt, but Ann noticed that the fingers up to the knuckle easily slipped into the waistband of her skirt without it pulling tight. It felt like the skirt was settling lower on her hips. She twisted to look at the back of her blouse and could see how loose the skirt looked. She glanced at Victoria, " this outfit is getting a little big, I must have lost more weight than I thought." She laughed uneasily. Then she realized she was looking up to see Victoria's eyes. Ann knew she was the taller one. She looked down to confirm she had on shoes. Yes, she did, but they looked a couple of sizes too big! What was happening here? Ann bolted down the hall into the half bathroom and looked in the mirror. Victoria followed.
"Oh my God,"Ann said, "I look like a teenager." And she did - the adult blouse and skirt looked ludicrous on the slender 15 year old she saw in the mirror.
"Ann . . ." started Victoria Fortescu, but Ann pushed past her and rushed down the hallway to her bedroom and closed the door, holding her skirt up with both hands and walking right out of her oversized shoes as she did so. The skirt hung to her ankles now, and looking down she noticed that her breasts were not as prominent in her peripheral vision as she was used to. She looked directly in the mirror. Her chest was almost non-existent, and her face! Her face was so thin and smooth with a short, girlish haircut framing it. She raised one hand to her cheek and saw that the sleeve fell past her hand. The butterflies in her stomach feeling intensified.
Victoria Fortescu opened the bedroom door and walked in, startling Ann. "She looks so adult!" thought Ann, of Mrs. Fortescu. Then the skirt became too large for Ann's dwindling hips and it slid down to her ankles. Her pantyhose wrinkled and sagged in the seat and at the knees. She pulled down the hose and stepped out of them. The neck of her blouse hung much further open than she was used to and looking down it she could see the conical breasts of a young girl, too small to fill the cups of her woman's bra. She looked quickly in the mirror again and saw the seventh grader she had once been. Just then, her point of view slipped downward several inches and the blouse grew even larger. She pulled her hands and arms back up through the humongous sleeves and unbuttoned the blouse from the inside. Then she frantically pulled off the large camisole and bra. Victoria Fortescu stepped closer to her and appeared to be growing. She looked over six two to Ann, but everything else had gotten larger too. The bathroom counter came to above her belly button. She looked down at herself and saw the lineless build of a girl. The hair on her pubis was thinning visibly and soon left the bare cleft of a little girl.
When she looked up into the mirror again, she could see that she didn't even come up to Victoria's neck anymore. She looked more mature, and powerful. Ann turned to face her. "What's happening to me?" she said and was shocked at the little girl pitch of her voice. Victoria wrapped a bathrobe around Ann's shoulders and pulled her close. "There, there," she said soothingly. Ann noticed that her head was now resting against Victoria's breast. How small was she? After a few moments, she realized that she had stopped shrinking. Victoria's big hand caressed the back of her head and somehow she felt protected. Soon she felt OK to step away from Victoria. She had to look way up to see the woman's face.
"I gave you a little something to help you remember what being a little girl feels like," Mrs. Fortescu said, "I think the way you treated Marissa was unconscionalble."
"I'm sorry," she said plaintively looking up at her, "can you turn me back now?"
"No, the potion wears off in time little one," she said, "you get to spend a day in Marissa's shoes. Speaking of which, we need to go get you some clothes that fit." She bundled the thick heavy robe around Ann's thin shoulders and guided her down the hall. "Marissa honey, come on - we need to stop by the house before we go."
Marissa stood and walked over to them, staring wide eyed at the little girl who had been her teacher. She was actually half an inch taller than Ann now and five or ten pounds heavier, it looked like. "Say hello to Annie," said Mrs. Fortescu.
They hurried down the stairs and to the car, Ann was glad no one saw her in this condition. Victoria drove them through the parking lot to the Fortescu's townhome, and they quickly went inside. Ann noticed how much larger everything looked now and how high the doorknob was. They walked into Marissa's room and Mrs. Fortescu guided Ann to the pretty bed. "Sit down while I pick something out for you," she said. Ann didn't question the order. She went into the closet and came out with a blue jumper, a blouse and a pair of shoes and set them on the bed next to Ann. Then she opened a drawer and pulled out a pair of white cotton panties and white ankle socks with lace trim.
"Take off the robe now, sweetie," she said, helping Ann to her feet and easing the robe off. Ann felt nervous in such close proximity to this giant woman. Victoria held out the panties and Ann stepped into them. She helped her into the blouse and pulled the jumper over her head. Then she had Ann sit on the bed and she pulled the ankle socks on and buckled up the shoes. The shoes looked kind of like Mary Janes, except they weren't shiny leather and they had tennis shoe soles. Marissa watched from the door to her room. With every item, her teacher's adulthood slipped farther and farther away, leaving a little girl just like her.
"Come over here and let's do your hair. Ann looked in the mirror and saw that her hair was shoulder length. The thin blonde hair of her girlhood. Mrs. Fortescu deftly pulled some of it into a single pony tail on top of one side of her head. Then she picked up the curling iron and gave it a little curl. "There, how does that look?" she asked.
Ann stared at the vision in the mirror, it was her as a little girl! The small face and upturned nose. She couldn't help but contrast the mature femininity of Mrs. Fortescu with her little girl look. Victoria stood up.
"Come on Annie, Marissa - it's time to go to school."
NEXT CHAPTER: "BACK TO SCHOOL"