Fresh Face; Fresh Start

I really should have noticed the changes sooner. So much had happened so fast and I was absorbing so many new things that I had not stopped to actually look at myself in the mirror or or take any account of how my body had changed from absorbing that ogre's magical energies. They say that the mind creates an image of a person in your brain and my self image has not finished updating as I rushed out the gate on my bicycle.

That was my first hint that something had changed. I wanted to peddle as fast as I could without rushing, I wanted to go fast. I did not want to go four hundred miles an hour. As the scenery was rushing by me I started to panic that I was going to tear the bike apart before I began to panic that I was going to crash into the garbage truck that had stopped in front of my path. I hit my brakes and jerked up on the handle bars and started to soar.

Time seemed to slow down as I sailed through the air over the enormous diesel rig, above the tree tops, over the other lane of traffic and even cleared the power cables before landing on the other side of the avenue with a sliding stop. A group of people, some of them holding their phones were staring at me.

<New title: Trick rider>

I waved at them and then hurried down an alley and did my best to go slow and take the long way to school through the back alleys, my HUD guiding me around traffic. As I peddled through the streets I looked at the text messages I had missed. I was really thankful for the way my System HUD could let me text and bike at the same time.

<New skill acquired: Multitask- you expanded consciousness can focus on doing multiple actions at the same time. You may access multiple System functions simultaneously without drawing your attention out of the physical world.>

I tried reading and responding to my folks and my sister at the same time. I almost lost my balance on the bike from how easy it was. The trick was to focus on not focusing. Like when you try to look at a whole room rather than any one thing in it. I just thought about who I wanted to message and peeled off a part of my consciousness to do the job and trusted that a small division of my attention would be more than enough.

<"I am fine mom"> I said telepathically. As far as my parents were concerned I was talking on a headset. But my mouth was not moving, I was thinking of what I wanted to say and The System let me talk through their cellphone. <"I was just exhausted from the move, ya'know?>

<"How you holding up, bud?"> My dad asked me.

<"Fine. It has been a little weird, but things are looking up. The new house is unbelievable."> I said.

<"Brianna was planning on swinging by with Yazmeen in the afternoon. They are both looking forward to seeing your place. Apparently you winning that raffle was a big deal. Your name was in the paper and everything."> Said my mom.

<"I am here, I gotta go."> I said.

<"We love you, son"> said my dad.

<"Have a good first day of school."> said my mom.

<"I love you to. I will call later, bye."> I ended the call, locked my bike to a rack, put my helmet into my inventory, and took a moment to marvel at the ivy covered brick towers and congratulate myself on being slightly early before I followed the signs to the auditorium.

"Hey, kid." I heard a woman call out. The idea that she was talking to me was so incredulous that I ignored her. "Hey!" She shouted, sounding very irritated. "Don't ignore me punk!" I only started to wonder who she might be talking to when my HUD flashed <ALERT attack imminent.> With an arrow telling me to turn around.

The book was flying towards my head. With hindsight I know that it had been thrown with considerable speed and ferocity. At the time I could not help but think that the tome was moving in slow motion through the air. I had enough time to read "Principles of Calculus" on the book's spine before I caught it with one hand.

The young lady with honey blonde hair bound up in a pony tail and green eyes hidden behind her glasses pushed aside the look of awe and shock on her face to give me a glare of righteous indignation. "You need to learn to show respect young man. When a teacher it addressing you, you should turn and listen to what they have to say." I stood in dumbstruck shock. I was completely confused. Was this some kind of hazing ritual? The lovely young lady did not like the expression on my face and leveled a **** glare at me. "This meeting is for faculty only. Students are supposed to be in the stadium."

"Right." I said nodding along as I handed her back the math book and walked towards the bathroom figuring that the crazy girl would not follow me in there.

"You are going to be in a lot of trouble." The girl said. I could not help but notice the dimples in her cheeks made her angry face adorable before putting the bathroom door between us.

I turned on the sink, splashed some water on my face and looked at myself for the first time since I found that portal. I could barely recognize the face in front of me.

No wonder that woman had thought that I was a student. I looked easily twenty, maybe twenty five years younger. I must have grown over half a foot. My hair! My hair had started to go after I turned thirty. Now here it was, long, thick, dark, and lustrous. My skin had never looked this good. My eyes seemed to blaze with a radiant shiny gloss. And then there was the rest of my body.

I had not noticed since the clothes had been enchanted to fit, but I had lost nearly fifty pounds. I had always been a bit on the pudgy side. Even when I hit the gym regularly I always retained a gut. Not anymore. I appeared entirely devoid of body fat. Every inch of me was lean, steely muscle.

"Holy Hamburgers!" I exclaimed.

I stood there looking at myself for a long moment before I remembered that I still had a job to do.

After looking to confirm that the angry girl with the pretty eyes was no longer in the hallway waiting for me, I sprinted stealthily towards the table with the name tags.

I found the tag with my name printed on it 'Dr. Lucas Kenji, PhD. History and Social Science.' and walked down the banked stairs and realized that people were staring at me. I was about to find a seat when I heard someone call out"Look-Ass-san!" Hearing my old nickname from my time as an exchange student in Japan, I turned to see who was calling my name and smiled with delight at the sight of the guy who helped me get this job.

"Yoshi-kun. It is good to see you. You look well." I said.
"Likewise. Looks like someone has been really hitting the gym." said my old friend. Yoshi Katshiro's parents had hosted me as a foreign exchange student in High School. My grandpa's idea of helping me get in touch with my roots. We had been rivals in those days, but we stayed in touch and when Yoshi moved to my country for a job as a corporate translator, I helped him get settled. It was Yoshi who suggested that I try getting away for a year to teach at the academy level. "I would ask how you are holding up, but divorce seems to agree with you. Oh 'Risa, I want to introduce you to someone, this is Lucas Kenji, I have known Luke for over a quarter century. Fantastic guy. Luke, this is Clarissa Lambert. She was a student here back when I first started, now she is going to be joining us in the faculty lounge. The student, has become, the professor."

It was the girl. Her lip quivered in shock. She was rendered speechless. "It is a pleasure to meet you. Just now." I said to the young lady, extending my hand. "Physics and calculus." I read aloud from her name tag. "Must come in handy if you are coaching pitching."

"How did you know that she was going to be the assistant softball coach?" asked Yoshi.
The image of the book flying towards me came back to me as I smiled and said. "lucky guess." I turned my attention to the very lovely, very embarrassed young woman. "So, Ms. Lambert, any relationship to our illustrious headmistress?"
"I am her daughter." said Clarissa.
"I see." I said as the woman entered the room and took center stage at the podium.
"better get on the stage, y'all should take a seat. Mistress Lambert will want to get started. and once she gets started..." Yoshi made a face which told me all I needed to know. Flora Lambert was a woman who liked the sound of her own voice and would not appreciate us keeping her from the opportunity to smugly give her underlings a lecture.