Chloe’s gym class is followed by instruction in mathematics. The equations under study are simple, and the human teacher reminds me of Professor Float. Its voice drones, and I pass most of that time in doze mode. I snap out of it when Chloe stands to gather her baggage. I notice our body has several problems.
“Our stomach is complaining,” I say. “So is our gluteus maximus.”
Chloe doesn’t reply until we’re amidst the throng of juveniles in the hall. Then she raises a hand to cover the lower portion of our face and whispers, “Gluteus maximus? You mean our butt?”
“I mean the large muscle we kept seated on that hard chair. Although it’s feeling better now. Unlike our stomach. It wants more yogurt.”
“Chloe?” I recognize the voice of the Madison human.
Chloe swivels our head toward Madison. “Hey.”
“Itchy nose?” Madison asks.
“Uh, yeah.” Chloe drops our hand. “Mosquito bite.”
Madison wrinkles her nose. “That sucks.” Then she laughs and adds, “Literally.”
I fail to see why Madison laughed as she stated the obvious. Of course the mosquito sucked.
“You have no idea.” Chloe sighs.
“Want to go to the caf for lunch?” Madison asks.
Lunch. A midday meal. Clearly, Madison does have an idea. An excellent idea.
“Sure,” Chloe replies. Then she angles our head away from Madison and into our shoulder. “Mind cloak!” she hisses.
“But I have many questions,” I protest.
She ignores me. I feel frustrated as we make our way through the crowd. Still, I do attempt the mind cloak. I’m getting so much practice at cloaking, I should soon be quite expert.
However, once we enter a large chamber that smells of food, I lose the cloak. Our stomach gurgles in response. It is impossible for me to ignore that. We join a line of juveniles viewing the food, which looks delightful. I would never have imagined that looking at something could be so fascinating. The food comes in all manner of shapes and sizes. There are fluffy green items, pale gooey items, round things, red things…Chloe selects a colorful triangular item and places it on a tray.
Madison chooses a pile of pale golden strips and pops one in her mouth. “Want a fry?” she asks.
Chloe nods, puts a fry in our mouth and chews. It’s magnificent! Warm and crisp on the exterior, yet soft inside. I desperately want more, but we shuffle forward until we reach a human seated before a machine. Chloe opens her bag and withdraws a slip of paper. She hands it to the human. In return, he gives her a few metal discs.
We find a place at a table, and Chloe bites off the tip of the triangle. It is even better than the fry! As we chew, flavors explode inside our mouth. We swallow, and I anticipate the next bite. But instead Chloe reaches into her bag and removes a small box. What is wrong with her? Can’t she feel how much our body wants the triangle?
“How’s the pizza?” Madison asks. “Soggy as usual?”
“Actually,” Chloe says, “it’s pretty good.”
It is! We need more! Chloe takes another bite. Ahhhh. While chewing this one, she fits a slender plastic tube into the box. We swallow the pizza, and then she sucks liquid from the tube. It’s tasty too, I decide. Our body is happy about the liquid, but it’s not pizza.
Several of the other humans we saw on our walk to school join us at the table. They resume their confusing chatter, but I keep my focus on the food. All too soon, the pizza is gone. I truly believe if Chloe was kind to her body, she’d give it more. Instead, she takes a round red item from her bag and bites into that. This tastes entirely different from the pizza. It requires more force from our teeth to mash it. It also seems somehow more alive than the pizza, and it’s quite deli-cious. Our mouth fills with moisture as we chew, and after a few bites, it feels… cleaner? That might be right.
“Be back in a minute,” Chloe tells the others.
“Are you going to the can?” Madison asks. “Do you want me to come?”
“Sure,” Chloe says.
The can turns out to be a chamber offering wash and toilet facilities. Numerous juveniles are gathered there. Their chatter, combined with the sounds of flowing water and a hot-air machine, makes it noisy. When we enter a solitary cubicle, Chloe whispers, “You really like food, eh?”
“Our body likes it,” I tell her.
“Yeah,” Chloe agrees. “But the next time I’m eating, could you try to control yourself? My stomach is fine now, isn’t it?”
I take a moment to consider our stomach. She’s right. It has ceased complaining.
“See?” Chloe says. “All good. But I’m warning you, Welkin, it’s going to start up again. In case you hadn’t noticed, we have to go pee, too.”
She’s right. That uncomfortable pressure is building again. Truly, the body is a demanding vessel. That must go into my report to Float.
“Welks? I have English class next, then art. Then we’ll go home and talk more, okay?”
“Until then—”
She finishes my sentence for me. “You’ll work on the mind cloak. Or maybe doze mode again.”