By Caleb Hill

Louis took a sip from the cup of tea that Bruce handed him. The tea had an almond flavor to it. Jane and her family were tea drinkers, and they had a whole pantry full of different assortments of tea flavors. Since Louis and Jane started dating, Louis had grown to enjoy tea. 

“Wow this tea tastes pretty good.” Louis remarked, “I think this is the best tea of your’s I have ever tasted.” 

“We knew you’d like it!” Jane said, “You know how my dad is always experimenting with his teas.”

“I’m glad you like it,” said Bruce with a straight face, and walked out of the room. Louis saw this and was a little suspicious. Jane’s mother had been gone for three years and Jane’s father, Bruce, had been left to take care of his one and only daughter. But he had nothing about his daughter to be ashamed of.  At school Louis and Jane were each on the “A” list for couples, and the most popular couple in school. They were now seniors and they had been together since they were sophomores. This year they were crowned homecoming king and queen.

But then he remembered, this was the anniversary of her passing; and thinking back to last night, he saw that same look on Bruce’s face after he brought Jane home from their date last night. Their clothes were ruffled and could give someone the wrong kind of vibes. They were out rock picking, because Jane loved picking rocks. Louis enjoyed it too. He thought those times were a great time to bond. 

Last night they were sliding down an embankment and tripped. They fell to the bottom and wrinkled their clothes. They picked themselves up, and laughed as they brushed the dirt of themselves. There is something magical about couples. They seem at ease more when they are around each other. Neither of them would have laughed at that predicament at another time. They picked a few rocks and carefully climbed up the embankment. 

When they arrived at Jane’s house, Bruce speed-walked out to meet them. They were thirty minutes late, and they didn’t call because their cell phones were dead. They had forgotten to charge them before they left on their date. Convenient, huh? Louis could tell Bruce was very upset. Jane and Louis explained what had happened, and showed him the rocks. Bruce seemed to buy the story, but Louis was skeptical. 

The next morning, Bruce invited Louis over. Bruce told him it was to try out a new blend of tea. Louis thought it was a little weird, but he didn’t think much of it. It was a chance to see Jane, and (as I said before) he was starting to enjoy tea. Little did he know about the impending doom that was upon him.

Later, when it was time for Louis to go home, Jane and Louis made plans with Jane’s dad to go to the lakeside in the morning. Bruce, to Louis’s surprise, agreed to it rather quickly. He was happy they had permission, but with all of the other suspicions he had recently it didn’t make any sense. He shrugged it off on the way home. “Nothing could possibly happen to me. I’m just over reacting over all this. When I wake up in the morning everything will be back to normal.”

Louis woke up late the next morning. He opened his eyes and found himself looking straight up at the ceiling. He tried to move his head, but it was stuck in place.He tried moving his arms, but it felt like they didn’t exist. He started to panic. Thinking he was in a dream, he started moving his whole body around violently. He ended up rolling off the bed and onto the floor feet first with a loud thud, or what seemed to be his feet. He shrieked in pain. His legs seemed very fragile. He looked in the tall standing mirror next to his bed. He screamed again even louder. In the mirror and saw a big long Centipede. 

Suddenly, Louis’s mom called up, “Louis, Jane is here to see you!” And without thinking he replied, “Okay, send here up!” Then realizing his mistake he tried to call back, “No! Wait! Just a minute!” But all that came out were hissing and scratching noises.” His mom only heard his first reply and thought the noises were him scrambling to get spiffed-up in time for Jane to come up. His mom laughed and to tease Louis, send Jane on up.  

Louis panicked and raced under the bed. Jane opened the door and looked around anxiously for her boyfriend. 

“Louis!” Shouted Jane, “You know I don’t like to be scared! Remember how I drilled that through your thick skull last time!” 

Louis remembered. Ever since then he wanted to slap every guy silly who thought girls were not strong. “What am I gonna do? I’m gonna lose her, that’s what! No one wants to cuddle with a bug!” Louis sighed; but he sighed a little too loudly. 

“Louis, is that you?” Jane asked, showing a little concern, but not much. Louis let out a surprised low growl; it sounded like an upset stomach. 

“Louis?” Jane showed a significant more amount of concern. “You don’t have to hide from me.”

“Yes I do!” Louis found himself saying out loud as a growl. Jane looked under the bed and screamed. Louis screamed and her loud scream. Jane fell backwards into a sitting position and Louis raced backwards. He bumped into a desk and knocked some stuff on the floor. Louis was panting so hard he thought he would have a heart attack. He looked over at Jane and they made eye contact. He started to cry thinking about all of the fun times they would never have again. 

“…Louis?” Jane managed to let slip from her lips.  “JaneI’msosorry!” Louis growled. Jane looked bewildered. Louis’s eyes widened. “W-w-w-w-w-w-wait, you can understand me?! Louis gasped. “Louis!” Jane whispered hoarsely as tears filled her eyes. “What happened to you?!” she sobbed. Jane speed-crawled and Louis ran towards each other. Jane didn’t get halfway when they collided into a hug. They sat there and cuddled for what seemed like an eternity. 

“What happened to me?” Luis sobbed, “What will become of me?!” 

Louis’s mom suddenly called up. “Louis, Jane. I’m heading out on an errand, I hope you have fun on your date. And don’t do anything inappropriate!” Jane‘s eyes went wide and looked at Louis. “What do we do?!” she whispered. “Say ok, I love you,” Louis said. Jane said it in the most chill voice possible. Louis’s mom was convinced and she left. They both thought that was a miracle.

Louis, in his new bug form, had started to produce a clear slime from his legs and underside and Jane’s jeans were almost covered in it. “We got to get you back to normal!” she said, “My sexy jeans are ruined!” “I don’t know, I think my slime improves it,” Louis  said, trying to help. Jane gave him a cold stare, “There are so many things wrong with that on a number of levels.” Then she suddenly glared, “MY DAD!” 

Bruce worked at a lab studying animal and human mutation. Louis caught up with her thoughts fast. “Tea that tasted like almonds! It was poisoned!” 

“He was  angry at us for having ruffled clothes the other night, he probably thinks we did it!” At that moment they knew, Bruce was a force to be reckoned with. 

To Be Continued……..