"I'm home!" Jacob called out as he pulled the front door closed. He stumbled as the almost five inches of empty shoe in front of his toes folded against the linoleum floor and he quickly grabbed onto the coat rack for dear life.
[click]
"Mom!" He yelped indignantly as he awkwardly got his feet back under himself.
"Sorry, hon. Just wanted a photo of the big strong athlete after he bought his first pair of shoes all by himself." Jacob's mom grinned from behind her cell phone.
Jacob blushed and chucked his REAL shoes onto the mat before slipping out of the clown slippers that dumb Funko's store had given him. Or at least, he tried to. Geez, that sales guy had tied the laces really tight around his ankles. Groaning, Jacob slid down to sit on the floor and started tugging at the knots.
Wait...
"Um, mom, don't you think these shoes are a bit...big?" Jacob asked as he finally undid his laces.
"Hmm?" His mother glanced down. Her stare was strangely...blank. It kind of creeped Jacob out. "Well, I suppose they are at least one size too big..."
"ONE?" Jacob yelled, staring up.
"But," she continued, "I'm sure the shoe store knew what they were doing. I mean, your last pair only lasted three months."
"My last pair still fits fine," Jacob argued as he scrambled to his feet, kicking off the last shoe.
His mother raised an eyebrow and stared patronizingly down at him. Jacob's mom was 5'7", barely on the tall side for a woman, but she still had an inch on him. Her name was Helen, and she was the nurse at the local middle school. Jacob never admitted it, but he'd been sort of relieved two years ago when he started high school and didn't have to share his school with his mom anymore. With school starting in three days on Monday, she'd been super busy for the last week getting ready and he'd barely seen her.
He'd thought his dad was the only one going crazy about his shoes.
"Your father is working second shifts until Monday, so I'll be taking care of dinner. How about microwave burritos?"
Jacob's mother could burn water. This is not an exaggeration. She tried making egg salad once. There was an actual fire.
"Sounds fine," Jacob sighed, completely done with this conversation. "I'll be in the living room."
"Dinner in two hours, then."
Jacob wandered into the living room and plopped down on the couch. He didn't get it. First the sales guy at Funko's. Now his own mother. Nobody who'd seen the pair of Hoops had thought they looked more like swim fins than shoes. Frowning, he idly tugged at the toes of his socks where they'd bunched up a bit slipping around in those dumb shoes. Jacob grabbed a controller and booted up his game system.
He paused. Looked left, right, and over his shoulder. The coast was clear.
Jacob leaned back and dropped his feet on the coffee table. His dad didn't care, but his mother HATED that. Reaching under the coffee table, he grabbed his stash of gaming snacks; peanuts and m&ms. His mother didn't care so much about eating on the couch; she'd probably wander out with burritos and join him later. Grinning, Jacob scrolled through his game library. Maybe it was the cartoon he saw on the shoe box, but for some reason he wanted to play a basketball game. And so, for two hours, Jacob thrashed his way through the 2015 NBA roster (the older games were cheaper and almost as good).
"Feet. Table. Off."
Rolling his eyes, Jacob switched off the game and slid his feet to the floor. Almost immediately he winced as he felt pins and needles. He hadn't moved enough while gaming, and his legs had fallen asleep! Urgh! Jacob flexed his toes and rubbed along his calves to force some circulation while his mother dropped a plate of burritos on the table.
Three burritos and a can of soda later, dinner was done and Jacob was ordered to toss the paper plates and take the trash out for pickup. (His mother also did not do dishes.) Snagging a few other bits of trash, Jacob quickly bagged it all up and headed toward the front door. Dropping the bag, he quickly grabbed his regular shoes and slipped them on.
He paused. Frowning, Jacob poked at the sides of his shoes, and wiggled his toes a bit.
His size sevens were pinching his feet.