Edible Essence - Part Five

"Huh?" Kelly shoots back, grabbing her own over stuffed bag from beside the parent's front door. "Say something?"

"Nope" I call back, stepping out and locking up as my my turns to the jug inside my couch. I couldn't risk anyone finding it, or even just losing it myself. With my own essence down the drain I'd need to replace it from somewhere if I wanted any chance of return to a semblance of my former self, and that container was my only hope.

"Well come on then" Kelly chimes, racing down the stairs. "If we're quick maybe we can still get a coffee before class."

 

 I freeze up for a second, watching at the taller brunette bounds around the corner as the sound of her footfalls against the wooden stairs grow ever more distant. With a little hop I quickly sling the heavy messenger bag over one shoulder, wincing as the strap pins itself to my chest and the seemingly immense weight threatens to drag me down.

"Shit..." I wheeze, rushing down the hallway before pivoting down into the stairwell. "This is... harder than I..." I huff and puff as I stumble down the stairs, each footfall seemingly coming up short on each step.

Still I needed to rush after Kelly, realizing that out of the two of us she was the one that seemed to know even a little about this new life I had found myself in. My legs burn as I pass the ground floor, the pitifully weak muscles practically screaming at me in protest of the sudden burst of activity.

Before long I find myself tumbling out into the underground garage, the dimly lit concrete room sitting relatively empty with most of the cars gone from their allocated spaces. Panting in the hopes of catching my breath I look around, spotting Kelly as she walks over to my old reliable sedan.

I try to run after her, though soon find myself slowing to an exhausted trudging along as I look down at my keys. My gaze shifts between the newly formed keys and my old car, the dissonance between the two causing the gears in my head to stall out as I fail to reconcile the two.

"Uh El?" Kelly asks, fiddling with the passenger's side door handle. "Can you..."

Blinking up at her dimly I final snap out of my confused state. "Oh, right..." I mutter, fidgeting with the key fob in search of the unlock button. Thankfully I manage to find it quickly, the loud clunk of the locks distracting Kelly from my odd behavior as she quickly climbs inside.

As I approach the car my head begins to pound, the image of the small but useful sedan seeming to warp into various longer and taller shapes. My stomach churns, the shifting images before me threatening to cause another bout of violent nausea as I pace around the vehicle.

Finally, as I reach for the driver's side door and grasp the handle the garage fills with a near deafening crack. My aging white sedan is suddenly squashed and squished, Kelly whipping around violently inside without so much as a flinch at the sudden motions. Suddenly, the car springs out like a coiled spring as it grows not only in length but also in height.

My jaw drops as I slowly open the navy blue door, my head whipping about as I take in the sight of the relatively old mini van that I know apparently drove. I'm forced to take a fairly step step up to reach my seat, the worn fabric smelling fairly musty and old with more than a few scuffs and minor tears. The seat is terrifyingly close to the steering wheel compared to how I feel it should be, my heart racing as I feel the pedals just siting perfectly in reach.

Kelly fiddles with her seat, sliding it back as far as it can go with a long sigh.

"Leg room..." she coos, stretching out with her arms and legs as she twists to look in the back seat. "I can't believe you own something like this, I'm still nervous driving with my parents and that's in an automatic."

"Me neither" I whisper, swallowing hard as I start the engine with a loud rumble. Looking to my right I spy the stick shift, my hand shaking a little as I grab it. What if I was a bad driver now? I has awful with a stick shift when I was younger, it had taken years to get comfortable behind the wheel.

However, as I throw it into reverse and begin to pull out it just feels as natural as ever. Sure, the size of vehicle feels a little off but with a little extra focus I soon manage to swing us both out and line up perfectly with the driveway out to the street.

Pulling out into the street I try to keep an eye on Kelly, the young brunette mostly spending her time messaging on her phone as I navigate the city streets. The blasting hot air coming from the dash does little to help with my nervous sweating, my anxiety raising further and further as I drive towards where I think we're meant to be heading.

Thankfully, I don't have to wait long for confirmation as Kelly reaches into the glove compartment and pulls out a familiar parking permit. Lathem College, my alma mater and apparently our current school.

"Don't wanna forget again" Kelly chuckles, hooking it over the rear view mirror. "You were so moppy after you got your first fine."

"Yeah..." I mumble, trying to keep up the conversation while having no idea what she was talking about. "Thanks... for helping and stuff..."

"No problem" she chirps back, leaning back in her seat as we hit the main road and last straight away to the campus. "What are friends for... Though..." she chimes in, a mischievous smile spreading across her lips. "Before heading home do you mind if we pick something up from the studio?"

Pausing for a second I try to find a mental balance between driving the overly large car and conversing with the girl beside me, the drastic changes draining far more mental resources than it should.

"Sure..." I finally manage to eek out, finally reaching the roundabout I was looking for. "Count us even for the laundry and it's a deal."

"You drive a hard bargain Ms. Summers" Kelly laughs, failing to be serious. "Done and done, I just need to move a few easels and my parents car is... well you know..."

As we begin to slowly roll through the parking lot I try to keep an eye out for a good space. For the most part I was used to parking in one of the staff spots after my years of teaching, the sight of the designated zones requiring me to remind myself that I was just a student again.

Suddenly Kelly calls out, pointing and jabbing her finger ahead of us.

"There! There! Car pool spot!" she cries, directing me to one of the coveted spots next to the student hub building. Not thinking twice I quickly pull in, easily gliding the mini van into the spot with little effort.

"Holy..." Kelly coos, looking out the window at the smooth parking job. "This is not fair, how are you this..." she murmurs, gathering up her bag as she opens the door. Her sentence falls short as a gust of icy wind whips into the vehicle, the sudden burst causing us both to brace ourselves.

"Practice" I chuckle, my teeth chattering a little in the cold. "I've been driving for a while."

Kelly looks confused for a moment, jumping from the van as she pulls the woolen jacket tightly around her and places her hands in her pockets.

"But..." she mutters, obviously confused. "You've only been driving for like... a year right?" she states as she frowns at the thought, the dissonance between realities seeming to twig in her head.

"I..." I croak, unbuckling my seat belt and opening my own door. "I mean yeah, that's right" I nervously respond, hoping that her memory of my own history was right. "I meant... like... in terms of hours..." I say, flashing Kelly a smile before climbing down from my seat.

"Riiiiiiiight..." Kelly muses, the gears spinning inside her head. Suddenly, she smiles again as the confusion seems to life. "Right, you drove back and forth in this thing when you moved. That's like, loads of a practice" she chirps, placing her head in her hand out of embarrassment.

We both slam the doors around the same time, the loud thumb of the locks engaging following soon behind as I quickly secure the vehicle. Kelly rushes ahead, ducking her head in as the wind bites at us and any inch of exposed skin.

My nose and ears burn, forcing me to pull my beanie further down over my ears as I rush after my neighbor towards the student hub and the promise of shelter. As we approach the automatic doors swing open, a rush of warm air quickly taking the edge off as we bolt inside. For a second I try to catch my breath from the short sprint, watching as Kelly approaches the notoriously terrible albeit cheap coffee place by the front door.

As she leaves I glance down at my bag, the thought that I had yet to look inside suddenly surging to the forefront of my mind. Undoing the one plastic clip holding the flap in place I open the top, my gaze suddenly being met with a lazily organized pile of papers and food wrappers. Nestled between it all I make out the shape of a small and cheap smart phone along with bottom of the barrel laptop.

I walk slowly over to a nearby bin, pulling the trash from the bag and dumping it out in the hopes of clearing some space. As I shovel in various chocolate bar wrappers and empty chip packets I move onto the papers, soon separating useful from not. My eyes go wide as I pull out something a recognize, a class schedule that looked all too familiar.

"Major in cinema... Minors in literature and history..." I muses, immediately recognizing the classes as the exact same I had taken a decade ago though with different timing and teachers names. "What the hell is..." I whisper to myself, spying the first class of Monday mornings as 'Introduction to Gothic Lit'.

"Hey!" Kelly calls out, causing me to shove the timetable into my bag. I look up at the brunette as she approaches, holding out a paper cup of steaming black liquid. "I have no idea how you drink this stuff" she nervously chuckles, practically forcing the black coffee into my hands.

"I... you didn't need to..." I blurt out, smelling the acidic and burnt liquid in the cup.

"It was my turn" she states with a smile, turning towards the doors at the other end of the massive foyer. "I'll text you when I'm done and we can head to the studio, see ya El!" she chirps, practically skipping away with glee as she heads off to class.

My own journey to is far less gleeful, the cold walk on shorter legs being made worse as I sip at the foul coffee I had been bought. The disgust is compounding, my younger and unrefined taste buds struggling with the bitter beverage while my more knowledgeable mind balks at the burnt beans that had been left to oxidize in the open air.

As I reach the small lecture hall I'm already done for the day, slumping over as I desre nothing more than just taking a nap. Thankfully, I don't have to wait long for the caffiene to begin to kick it thanks to my inexperienced body and empty stomach.

As I walk into the brick pale blue room I quickly glance around at the twenty or so students that filled the various moveable desks. Many had already moved together and into small groups, my arrival getting a few glances from those few who were already seated before they return to their conversations.

Looking around I spot a desk in the back corner, the chance to hide away in the back sounding like a dream to me. I quickly head over, placing my bag beside the chair as I drop my light frame into the plastic seat. Spreading my legs and leaning back I let out a long sigh, my arms hanging down beside me.

"Fuck..." I groan, staring up at the ceiling. "I fucked up so bad" I whisper, shifting in my set as I feel the once cramped desk feeling far more reasonably sized.

Slowly righting myself at the desk I fish out the laptop and set it up, quickly powering it on as I begin to search the bag in my relative seclusion in the hopes of finding some more information that could help me navigate all this.

As I hear the laptop finish booting up my gaze shifts between the bag and the screen, my attention focusing in on my little area around the desk as I try to work out how I can unlock this strangers computer.

Suddenly a noise rips me from my distracted state, my head whipping up as I hear...