Destiny's Crossing in a Public School Bathroom

Jessica had arrived with time to spare and was already sitting down for Biology before the bell rang.

Bzzzt.

Rather than the anticipated bell, the buzz came from her purse/backpack instead. Jessica's friends were suddenly blowing her phone up with messages, but she ignored them; it was too close to class starting, and they knew better than to expect her immediate response. She was in Biology now, and that meant radio silence under penalty of **** stares from the teacher.

She sat down, more chipper and ready to do flips and cheer on the Eastlake Tigers than she ever felt before, but now had to spend all that enthusiasm on the topic of cellular structures. By some awful coincidence, Jessica’s biology class had no one that fit into the “popular” strata of Eastlake’s society: a few notable band seniors, a girl that failed her tryouts for the cheerleading squad, and the leftovers of various small cliques filled the classroom. Others were there, but failed to rise to Jessica’s attention; overall, it was the bummer course to start every Tuesday and Thursday, and not one of her friends were there to make it better.

Bzzzzt. Bzzzt.

At the head of this boorish hour-and-a-half was Mrs. Cooper, a wild-haired spinster who had bitterly accepted her lot in life, but never agreed to spare her students the spite in her heart. Thankfully, there was no homework due this time; Jessica’s head was nowhere near Biology today.

Bzzzt.

The constant buzz from her small backpack wasn't helping her focus, either, but her thoughts were put to one task: getting the ring back… or finding a way to control Ernest enough where she wouldn't become the **** her mother was. A full night’s rest—and not having her puss be on fire from a bombardment of wishes—had cleared her head: Master's infatuation with her had no happy end for the genie, and so she had to find a way to turn it into guilt and, hopefully, surrender.

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt.

Mrs. Cooper’s lecture was mostly taken down to Jessica’s notes for the first half-hour... and all the while, her phone buzzed sporadically. Jessica ignored it at first—Mrs. Cooper was a stickler about reading texts in class—but soon it got rampant enough that Jessica was pretty sure the teacher was catching wind of it.

Bzzzt. Bzzzt. Bzzzt.

For God's sake-

"Mrs. Cooper?"

"Go quickly, Ms. Edwards," spat the bitter woman as she watched the rest of the class struggle to identify the ribosome on her diagram, "and turn your cellphone off before returning!"

Jessica had used the bathroom excuse enough times here that Mrs. Cooper already caught on to the game; the merciful permission was to be exchanged for actual radio silence... or Hell to pay if Jessica disrespected the mercy. With her buzzing backpack in tow, Jessica fled to the ladies' room.

Meanwhile, in AP Calculus...

Like most AP courses at Eastlake, Ernest's Calculus course was sparsely populated. As one student of only ten, Ernest was expected to do a fair amount of the heavy lifting in terms of the proofs being put on the board; discrete mathematics were so last semester this year, and now they had moved on to models and formulas he absolutely should have studied last night... and had all the time to study... and certainly had no excuse to not study...

The night of porn, random genie information searches, and eventually ending on genie-themed porn? Less than productive.

So Ernest was determined to keep his head low today. Luckily, Mrs. Chen was quite the talker. Pudgy and middle-aged, Mrs. Chen dyed her hair a raven black and made sure to master her painted eyebrow twitches that signaled the key considerations of whatever formula was on the board. Having the intimate group of students hanging on her words was a natural state for her; their relative silence today, despite their homework, didn't seem to bother her much.

Unfortunately, Ernest didn't get to absorb much of the lesson. The tiny classroom couldn't hold much more than the ten students and the narrow walking space made for the teacher; the desks were thus pressed tightly together, and the threat of being touched by one of his neighbors, and complicate his day so much more than it already was, was a constant pendulum over Ernest's head.

To his left sat Maggie Frost, a girl who, as far as Ernest could tell, couldn't care less about going to college. She wore band t-shirts for groups Ernest had seldom ever even heard of, leather boots, and generous metal spikes wherever her outfit permitted them. Behind him and to his right were the Santos twins, a pair of nerdy, dark Brazilian girls that were among Mrs. Chen's favorites for both math and chess competitions. At either corner were two of the near-nameless young men who otherwise filled the class, including Donald Yaks, one of those in Ernest's small clutch of friends, who sat in the far corner of the classroom. Only now did Ernest regret the fortune of being in the middle of so many hot girls; he sat down and did his best to not come into contact with any of them. As long as he did so, they were safe... and he wouldn't have any explaining to do.

Right?

The first half hour had passed without event... or so Ernest thought. He was at the front of the classroom and did his best to keep from the others... so he didn't notice their slow shifts in their seats, or their stolen glances at him. None of this dawned on Ernest as even being possible until Mrs. Chen--heavy, middle-aged, no-nonsense Mrs. Chen--suddenly turned, sighed as she waved at herself... and unbuttoned another button of her blouse. Wait, another button? When did she undo the first... two?

Ernest's math teacher was now three buttons undone on her blue shirt, and her yellow cordigan was totally open; Ernest could now clearly see the mature woman's thick and oversized bra, as well as the swell of her jiggling tits inside their grip and- ... and did she just sigh at Ernest? Mrs. Chen stared down at Ernest... and gave him a nervous smile.

Mrs. Chen did not smile.

She turned back to the equation as if a sudden guilt overtook her. "Y-Yes, well... oh... what was... the equation, now?"

"We were moving on to the limit function from Problem #59, Mrs. Chen," Donald confidently assured her. Whatever effect was hitting Mrs. Chen, then, apparently wasn't hitting his fellow students. Ernest turned towards Donald to confirm this-

Ana Santos was all but eye-fucking Ernest, and only when he stared, slack-jawed, at the hot little number did she glance up from behind her horn-rimmed glasses and blush deeper than she already had been. She turned, and her sister, Rosalicia, giggled like an enchanting song. If Mrs. Chen noticed, she didn't break off from trying to remember what she was even doing up there. Ernest glanced over at Maggie, half-expecting her to be rolling her eyes...

... except the leather-clad goth only looking at him, and... staring? Maggie Frost was staring at him? Unlike the sisters, she was quick to look away from Ernest; her only response beyond that was a sigh through her nose that ranged from confused to angry. As far as Ernest knew, Maggie was purportedly a lesbian... so did becoming everyone's type mean that this was how everyone would react?

Maggie inhaled deeply... and rubbed her cheeks as she did so, causing the pale makeup to thin and hint at the blushing underneath. Ernest heard something like a strong sniff from behind him. Mrs. Chen inhaled for another sigh... and waved herself off as if the air had grown too hot to breathe.

Pheromones.

They were real! Ernest just hadn't been stuck in that bathroom with Jessica for a half-hour like he was in this classroom with these girls! But if Maggie was responding to them, then... what did that even mean? Ernest decided he would dare an experiment... and see if his touch aroused even those who had no interest in his sex. Fear of being discovered gave way to an intense curiosity as he reached over to tap Maggie gently on her hand.

Tap. Tap.

Maggie shivered before glancing at Ernest with wide, unbelieving eyes. Ernest had a half-baked lie about needing a pencil--he hid his behind his notebook--but now he couldn't even mouth it after seeing her reaction. He began to withdraw his hand... and Maggie grabbed it.

Another shiver... and a cute, tiny, and wholly out-of-character gasp.

Ernest withdrew his hand with some ****, causing him to smack his elbow into his desk. "Ack-!"

"Mr. Red... ha... Redmond!" Mrs. Chen sighed again, nearly out of breath, "Are you alright?"

Was he alright? What happened to the usual admonishment for making a racket? "C-Could... I be excused to the bathroom?" It seemed the only way to test his theory... and possibly spare his classmates an unfair attack.

"A-Ah, sure... ah, is the air conditioner working...? Go on then." Mrs. Chen headed over to the vent near the back of the room as she continued to walk in a haze... while Ernest quickly and quietly made his escape.

He was already halfway out the room when Mrs. Chen's back was completely turned... and both missed Maggie as she stealthily rose from her seat.

Meanwhile, in the Girl's Bathroom...

New Hottie Watch: Ernest

Fucking... what?!

TIFF changed the group conversation name to "New Hottie Watch: Ernest"
TIFF: Alright, hear me out, lol
CASS: OMG U TOO?!
TIFF: Me too????
ZARA: Oh c'mon!
SAM: too rich but ya he's hot out of nowhere seems like?
CASS: Omg we're such sisters we must be joined at the ovaries because when I saw him today... (sweat emoji x 5)
TIFF: Eeew, Cass! ANd SAM don't you have a maan
SAM: Yeah, but I'm kinda bored of him out of nowhere? maybe it was the party lol
ZARA: I'm calling dibs
TIFF: I brought him up first
NINA: stop blowing up my phone lol why did we change the chat name?
TIFF: Girl, because Ernest Redmond has been like some kind of best kept secret until now
NINA: Who?
SAM: Loser kid at the party who helped Jess with her homework? he came today and I couldn't believe it, ugly duckling became a damn prince with one party
TIFF: OMG SAM STOP
NINA: You guys are messing with me. There's no way. The guy that left the party early? The skinny guy?
LAUREN: Just got yelled at by the teacher. Thanks >: (
CASS: Slim got me quakin' (sweat, eggplant, and tongue emojis)
ZARA: EEEW
CASS: j/k but seriously what changed about him????
TIFF: I BROUGHT HIM UP FIRST I even saw him first in the parking lot. We have the same car too match made in (angel emoji)
ZARA: I still called dibs you can't make me not (evil laugh emoji)

The cheerleaders' messenger chatroom, as sacrosanct an institution as the team itself, had suddenly become... a full half-hour of idolization of a boy. That wasn't unheard of--rumors of "Thundercock" had possessed the room before--but Jessica remained surprised that they even knew who Ernest was. Sure, it was a cheerleader's job to know their classmates, remember who goes where and all that, but... Ernest?

Moreover... why were they ALL after his dick? Jessica refused to address the bubbling jealously in her and instead focused on the cause. The wish to become everyone's type was the only explanation Jessica could think of, but it still didn't explain Samantha: wasn't she dating Chris from the team? Weren't most of these bitches after Brad Myers' infamously gigantic cock? They'd gone from wanting to climb Mount Everest to fording a shallow river no one cared about for three years now. Jessica wracked her brain as she tried to make sense of what had overcome her friends--

Everyone's type.

Everyone's... type. Jessica had assumed she, and anyone really, had many types, but... but what if people only really had one? What if instead of adding his type to the list, he had replaced everyone's preference with-

Jessica sniffed the air. Was someone smoking in here... and also... sniff... burning a cinnamon-scented candle?

The thought fled as the bathroom door suddenly slammed open. A scuffle, a worried "H-Hey-!" that sounded too masculine, and that was all Jessica needed to be sent into a standard feminine panic. Two stalls down, unbeknownst to her, was Kris Crow, similarly put into a panic at the sound of a man busting into the girl's room.

Jessica tried to peek through the gaps; she saw a body stumble past, and then another stand with arms crossed. Silence made the creaking bathroom door fill the air until it finally shut itself closed. She glanced around, trying to catch the reflections of the bathroom invaders in the long, tall mirror over the sinks... and her heart sank when she spotted Ernest. What we he doing here?! More, who pushed him in here-?