“Maybe the library?” Sam suggested.
“Why there? Such a boring place to go,” Stinky countered.
“Like school isn’t already boring on its own?”
“…Alright, good point,” Stinky relented. “Guess if they’re already bored enough to come to school, they might as well go all-out and head there.”
Sam chuckled. “Not much of a reader, huh?”
“Nope. Not unless it involves robots or aliens,” Stinky answered. Stinky was a fan of science-fiction, so she was willing to read a book if it had those elements present in it. Most of the books she read during class, however, had no such elements, so she was interested. If anything, she only disliked them more simply because she was forced to read them.
Sam then looked around. “I think the library is this way,” he said, pointing off in some vague direction deeper into the school halls. “Let’s go.”
Stinky nodded and the two continued their walk side-by-side. After a minute or so of silence, Sam asked, “How are you feeling?”
“Hmm? What do you mean?”
“Just wondering if you’re feeling bloated at all,” Sam clarified.
“Pff, no, I feel just fine. I can hold my farts in for a little bit, Sam, it’s not that hard.”
“Oh. Yeah, I know. I guess I just figured, maybe you ate something that’s giving you gas.”
“Trust me, it wouldn’t be that much.”
“Only if it was soda, right?” Sam asked.
Stinky nodded. “Bingo!”
As a Stinker, Stinky was susceptible to certain food and drinks that would cause her body to produce natural gas at a rapid rate, essentially causing her to lose all control of her flatulence. It was a common thing with Stinkers: one thing they all had in common was that each one had at least one food or drink that caused this spike in gas. Stinky dubbed them her “Fart-Starters,” and she had two that she was aware of: soda and meatloaf. So long as she didn’t consume either, she had near-total control of her farts.
“You’d know if I was bloated, because you would see it,” Stinky added.
“Oh. Right, that stretchy thing you can do.”
Sam was referring to another strange abnormality Stinky’s body possessed: that being her skin’s rather elastic qualities. The extra organ she and other Stinkers were born with - the same one that produced and stored copious amounts of natural gas - was often referred to as the “Expandix.” A play on the word appendix, the Expandix got its name because the organ had the ability to stretch out and swell up the more full of gas it was. If a Stinker had a huge amount of gas built up in their system, they would likely start to inflate like a balloon.
This was largely possible as a result of a Stinker’s stretchy skin, as their torsos would expand without any pain or tearing. Stinkers, at their biggest, could (supposedly) be walking parade floats. Though, Stinky herself never saw a Stinker who ever got that big. Stinky herself never really got that big at all, seeing as how she didn’t often hold her gas in to begin with. Except for now, of course.
“Honestly, I forget you can even do that,” Sam continued.
“Same,” Stinky replied.
“How’d you even know you could do that, anyway?”
Stinky shrugged. “I was just told it was something Stinkers could do. I think the first time I tried it out was whenever I first heard I could do it.”
“Pff, sounds like you,” Sam joked.
“What, you wouldn’t try and blow up like a balloon if you could?”
“Not if it meant I would pop!” Sam replied with a laugh. “That didn’t freak you out?”
“Not really,” Stinky answered with a shake of her head. “I just prefer my gas be out than in.”
“I would have never guessed.”
Stinky smirked and playfully nudged Sam with her elbow as they walked.
With that, the two arrived at the entrance to the school library, closed and locked just like the front entrance. Sam could tell as soon as he grabbed hold and tried to pull it open, only for it to be stopped short.
“Gotta blast it open again?” Stinky asked.
Sam shook his head. “Nah, I don’t think that’s a good idea. We should try and look for the key.”
“Where would that be?”
Sam stared off, looking for an answer. That's when he looked to the top of the door frame and had an epiphany. With a point, he replied, “My guess is that it’s up there.”
Stinky’s gaze followed the direction of Sam’s finger, and she smiled. “Alright, lemme get on top of ya!”
Sam blinked, then whipped his head towards Stinky, befuddled. “Wh—Huh?”
“Lemme sit on your shoulders, I can reach up there with you giving me a boost.”
Sam looked back up to the top of the door frame, then back at Stinky. “Uhh… alright, I guess.” Sam then walked up to the door and crouched down slightly, holding both his arms back behind him. “Just try and do it quickly.”
Stinky pumped her fist, then stepped up behind Sam, as she proceeded to climb on top of his back. Once she had shuffled and settled into place, her eyesight was just over the frame, and she said down to Sam, “Sorry if I’m heavy.”
Sam let out a deep breath. “N-No, you’re OK… honestly, you’re lighter than I thought you’d be.”
Stinky laughed. “Hey, you saying you think I’m fat?”
“Hey, fat and heavy aren’t always the same,” Sam shot back.
Stinky rolled her eyes and scanned the top of the frame in search of the key for the door just below. She quickly found it, grabbed hold with one of her hands, then quickly climbed back down. “I got it!”
Sam stood straight back up, and added, “Great! Honestly, that was just sort of a shot in the dark.”
“Then you got bullseye!” Stinky exclaimed. “Alright, let’s get in there.”
Stinky then stepped up to the library door, and swiftly unlocked it with the key in hand. With a slide and click, the door slowly drifted open before her and Sam. The two shot each other a look.
“Whoa…” Sam said under his breath. “Almost got chills.”
“Geez, it’s just a door, Sam,” Stinky said as she put the key in her pocket. “I just wanna see what’s inside.”
Sam nodded, and led the way into the library without much deliberation. With Stinky following closely behind him, the two scanned the seemingly-empty library, looking past bookshelves and barren seats and tables. The lack of lighting coming from the ceiling added an extra eerie layer to the atmosphere of the large room. The lights to the school building had been off the whole time, but the darkness could truly be felt as the only light that broke through peered through the windows, sparsely illuminating random spots throughout.
As the two stepped slowly through the library, they spoke quietly to each other, almost whispering. “What do you think we’ll find?” Stinky asked.
“Not sure,” Sam whispered back. “Probably nothing. It’s… quiet. Really quiet.”
Stinky stifled a chuckle. “Almost too quie—“
…Bbbrraaaaaappppppphhht…
Both kids stopped in place at the sound of a quiet, echoing fart that reverberated throughout the room.
Sam turned to Stinky, looking vaguely annoyed. “Stinky, seriously? I told you to try and keep it in…”
Stinky raised an eyebrow and gave a confused smile. “Heh, uuuhhh, you kidding me? That was obviously you,” said as she feigned waving her hand in front of her face, as if to clear up Sam’s supposed waft.
Sam replied back, “Are you kidding me? Since when do I ever fart like tha—“
…Brrrrraaaaaaa…
Once again, the sound of a fart could be heard in the distance, and both Sam and Stinky knew that it was neither of them this time.
Stinky’s eyes widened slightly. “…Holy crap. Sam, someone is here…!”
“Shh!” Sam tried to quiet her down. He then whispered very quietly, “…I dunno if they heard us or not. Let’s try and see if we can find them.”
Stinky nodded silently.
The two then tried walking as slowly as they could, so as to not make as much noise.
Stinky leaned up to Sam’s side and whispered, “They might have heard us open the door, Sam…”
“I don’t think so. They would have run away, we’d hear something.”
That’s a good point, Stinky said to herself. So then, who’s here? Or maybe… WHAT is here?
Sam and Stinky came up close to a nearby bookshelf, and stopped. They looked at each other, as if telepathically asked each other “let’s check behind here, OK?” They then exchanged a nod, then turned the corner to see if there was anyone - or anything - standing before them.
Surprisingly, there was! And in front of them was—
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