Max pulled the squealing old shop door open and stepped inside. Bells above his head rang and the sharp smell of must and mildew filled his nostrils. Around him, he was greeted with dimly lit shelves of bizarrely shaped glass containers and jars. Some were filled with powders, others liquid.
His eyes wandered around the room and glanced over the soft glow of glass pipes and tubing twirled around the room. Some of these rose into the ceiling, bubbling and churning. Multi-colored substances flowed through the network, bathing the entire atmosphere in scientific neon and bright primary colors.
Max was so awed by the sight that he barely took notice of the gray haired woman smiling at him from the old wooden counter.
"It's been so long since we've had such a wide eyed visitor."
Max suddenly jumped from his thoughts and eyed the old lady with alarm. "Huh? Oh, hello!" The 16 year old blushed.
"Yes, hello!" The old lady swept her hand over the counter excitedly. "Hello and welcome to our little shop of wonders, my lad. I'm glad you've found us!"
Max nodded politely at the woman and smirked a little as he realized she looked like a stereotypical hippie right out of the 60's, complete with a fur lined vest and tinted shades below her faded polka dot headband.
"Hmm?" A voice called from the back. "What's that, dear?"
"We have a customer!" The lady called back. She waved her hand dismissively and giggled. "You'll have to forgive us. Very few people manage to find the store these days."
"Oh." Max nodded politely. Nervously. "I see."
The woman eyed him up and down with a smirk and turned to the side as her equally old husband emerged from the back of the shop and peeled off a heavy set of rubber gloves. Just like his wife, the old man had his hair in a long ponytail and wore a fringed vest and a tie-dyed shirt. They both looked incredibly out of their era but somehow endearingly nice to the younger boy.
"Oh, hey little man!" The man smiled warmly. "Welcome to, uh, like, you know, your local all natural medicine shop!" He punctuated the last part with a hearty laugh. A knowing laugh.
"Ah, yeah." Max blushed a little red. "So I've heard. Or... seen, rather."
The husband and wife looked at each other and shared a conspiratorial smile before the old lady stepped out from behind the counter and slipped past Max to quickly flip the open sign outside the door to its closed position before deftly closing and locking the entrance. She slapped her hands together excitedly and laughed evilly.
Max smiled. He knew he was in no danger.
"So lay it on me, buddy." The old man grinned, excitedly pulling at his scruffy white mustache. "How did we blow your mind?"
"It wasn't a young lady friend, was it?" The wife grinned, pausing to kiss her husband's cheek as she leaned over the counter next to him.
"It was." Max smiled deviously. "It... was."
The two adults chuckled knowingly and each nodded with a grin of amusement.
"Kind of a boring request, you know?" The man began. "Make me the hottest cheerleader in school. Easy! Kid's stuff, even!"
The wife leaned further into the counter and put her hands under her chin, still smiling. "Tell us how you found out. I love these stories."
"Oh, well, I mean..." Max chuckled nervously.
"Hey, we're cool, man. Whatever freaky or kinky thing happened I'll guarantee we've made freakier and kinkier happen. It's all good."
"Well, I mean, it was hard not to notice, you know?" Max laughed. "This shy and nerdy girl I've been friends with for years suddenly grows into this tall and busty wet dream over a few weeks. Totally changes her life. And her body. That... that doesn't happen naturally. So, I mean, I grilled her. And... yeah."
The couple snickered and embraced.
"Is she still like, a good kid?" The woman stood up fully and put her arm around her husband's back. "Or is she like a square now?"
"Oh, no, she's still my best friend! We still like to hang out and watch movies and stuff. It's just... well, she's in with the 'in' crowd now. So... I... I guess she's different inside, too, now. Just a little."
"See, and that's what you gotta get your head around, little dude." The man pondered and rubbed his chin. His wife turned away and rolled her eyes a little. She had heard this many times before.
"Around what?" Max blinked.
"Well, like, if you get us to do something to change you on the outside, sometimes it changes you on the inside too. One day, see, she'll turn back to the way she was. We can't make anything last for, like, forever, you know? So either she'll come screaming back here for more of the good stuff or, like, be who she's supposed to be, get it? Or maybe she isn't herself anymore. She's somebody else. That's the way it works."
"I see." Max nodded agreeably. "No, I get it. She wanted something for maybe the wrong reasons."
"Exactly." The man nodded, like that was meant to be really deep.
There was an awkward pause. The old woman shook her head finally and laughed as her husband spaced out in his pondering. "So, what can we do for you, my main man?"
"Ah!" Max grinned deviously. He looked at the ground nervously and looked up at the patiently waiting couple with sheepish eyes.
The old man grinned. "Hey, all that happens here stays here, you know? We're cool."
"Nothing can shock us." The woman added.
Max thought for a moment more and sighed. He laughed once and looked up from the floor, still beat red.
"Can you..."