Interactive Lesson

Her students commonly stopped paying attention to class when the clock was close to 2:30 p.m. The end of the school day was a joyous occasion for students and faculty alike. But Holly was too busy finishing up her equation to care. Even when the bell sang its tune and her students dismissed themselves, she diligently continued the lesson. Her shoulders tensed up as she saw how little space she had left on the blackboard. But it was just enough.

She took a few steps back and basked in her handiwork. And what else was there to smile about? No students. Just herself and her genius.

"Ms. Phylanski?"

Her smile vanished. One of her students didn't leave with the rest of the class. And by the sound of his voice, it was Tommy Hicks, a C-average student who spent more time twiddling his thumbs than actually paying attention. He wasn't the type to ask questions, so the fact he was staying after class meant he needed something badly.

She turned around to find Tommy not in his assigned seat in the fourth row but in the front middle seat. Her lips sank into a scowl, her eyes hidden behind her always-present sunglasses. Whenever somebody asked about wearing those glasses indoors, she never answered. She was, to put it lightly, unapproachable. "What is it, Tommy?"

Tommy tugged at his pant legs before getting his tongue-tied. Holly was unamused. She folded her arms and awaited this teenage boy to get his mind straight. "Uh, yeah, so I had a question." That was when she started tapping her foot. He was already on thin ice with her and barely said anything. "You said you'd built a machine during class. Can I see it?"

Now, this was interesting. Holly spoke about her pet project when discussing how particles travel. Out of all the students to ask about that, why Tommy? Again, he uncomfortably tugged at his pant legs as she studied him. "This is the first time you've shown this much interest in class, Tommy."

Expecting her to say more, Tommy sat in silence for a few seconds, During which his eyes drifted down before he shrugged. "Thought I could maybe….uh, write about it for extra credit."

Holly leaned against her desk with her arms and legs crossing for good measure. Tommy crossed his legs immediately after. "So," she said. "Extra credit?"

He nodded as his two index fingers rhythmically tapped the rim of the desk.

"You could use it," she acknowledged. She then jotted something down on a notecard. "Okay, meet me at my house in an hour. Here's my address."

"Oh yeah, that's perfect."

"Then I'll see you then." Holly was returning to the blackboard when she heard a pencil hit the tile floor and slide beneath her green dress.

"Sorry, I dropped my pencil."

She didn't need to turn to him to know exactly how his face looked. She bent down, retrieved the pencil, and returned it to him. He stuttered a 'thank you,' with his eyes glancing at her breasts before leaving the room. The stench of Axe body spray hung around just a bit longer, much to Holly's disgust.

She turned back to her blackboard, her nose twitching irritably. She erased her intricately laid out lesson in slow strokes to savor as much as possible before it was gone forever. So few things in life presented more clarity than enforcing her lesson plans. Her students, in their current state, were useless. She smiled. Tommy had allowed her to change that.

Holly's house was her little paradise away from the outside world. She wasn't yet married, so a beautiful silence was all that accompanied her. And so far, she'd been given no reason to change that. But for now, she had a student to take care of.

She opened her door and was struck with another strong dosage of Axe. This time, she coughed. "Tommy, come on in."

Tommy smiled anxiously. "Do you wear those glasses all the time, Ms. Phylanski?"

She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "Follow me."

"Is this going to take long?"

"That depends on you, Tommy," she said as she opened the basement door.

"What do you mean?"

"What I'm about to show you is important to me," she said. "I've spent months working on this machine, so I want you to tell me the truth." She slid her glasses off her face, folded them, and hung them over her breasts. Tommy's eyes widened as he witnessed it all unfold. He couldn't keep his mind straight as his eyes shifted between Holly's face and where she placed her glasses. "Do you seriously want to see my machine?"

"W-what?" He finally uttered. "Y-yeah, of course."

If Holly was bothered by her student's odd behavior, she didn't say. She led him down the creaky wooden steps into her lab. In the center stood two cylindrical pods of identical design. Surrounding them were tables covered in papers and equipment haphazardly thrown over each other. The lack of organization must've surprised Tommy because he whispered a soft but audible "Jesus."

Yeah, there was no excuse for the mess. If someone of importance had been there, Holly would've felt embarrassed. At least the floor was clear of junk, which was great for her. The last thing she needed was to slice her foot open……again.

Next to the pod closest to the wall was a panel Holly used to power it on. The smooth metallic door slid open, basking Tommy in a heavenly light. Finding the words to express himself proved difficult.

"These are teleportation pods," Holly explained. "And you are the first person I've ever allowed to see them."

"Wow."

"Shouldn't you be taking notes, Tommy?"

"Hm? Oh, right." As Tommy fished a notebook and pen from his backpack, Holly stared at her machine, awestruck. 

So many years of work had led to this moment. Holly even bit her lip like a child on Christmas Eve. Perhaps this was why marriage didn't compel her. How could some guy ever satisfy her the same way her machines could? One gleeful look at her student gave her the answer. "Actually, you can take notes later. Would you like to see inside the pod?"

"Sure?" Tommy was clearly apprehensive. But Holly saw that apprehension turn to excitement. It didn't matter to her what was on his mind as long as the end result was the same.

As he walked toward her, she noticed his eyes flash a peek at her chest before the lights of the pod overtook his vision. "This, uh, looks cool."

"Thank you." Holly pressed a button that closed the pod door, trapping Tommy inside. His face went as white as the light, and the uncharacteristic smile from his teacher offered no comfort. His lips started moving, but alas, no words. The pods were airtight and completely soundproof. 

He resorted to banging his fists against the door, begging Holly to let him out. Her smile expanded as his silent cries intensified. She almost wanted this moment to last forever. There'd be opportunities in the future; she'd make sure of it.

A blinding flash from within the pod broke Holly out of her trance. She turned toward the other pod, her smile gone, but her excitement still ever-present. The door slid open, followed by the most ear-deafening scream she'd heard. As the mist dissipated, Tommy's mangled, twisted form lay in a pathetic state. A mesmerized Holly stepped closer to her test subject.

His pain was understandable. Not only was his skin inside-out, which also meant his clothes were now in him, but his body was mixed-matched beyond recognition. Calling him a lump of flesh with limbs jutting out randomly was more accurate. A grotesque mockery of the human form, just begging for death. "You'll die soon enough," Holly assured him as she grabbed his notebook and pen. "For now, I need to jot these results down."

What started out as a straightforward teleporter, Holly now saw as a machine capable of reducing people to helpless forms. But she couldn't have more Tommys. There was vulnerable, and then there was utterly useless. Tommy didn't care that she was superior, not when he was too busy writhing in pain. And the screaming was seriously getting on her nerves. So what to do?

A fly then landed on the notebook. "Perfect."