Whether it was denial or sheer obliviousness, Jennifer was still unaware that anything was different from normal. Yes, her clothes were ill-fitting, yes, Dawn's car was huge, but her mind had conjured up explanations for both. Her family's maid somehow stretched everything out in the wash, and she absentmindedly purchased the wrong shoe size. It wouldn't be the first time, she mused. And Dawn was simply using a different car than usual.
Dawn herself seemed normal, too. Both of them were 5'4", and when they were in Dawn's car, they seemed the same size when she glanced over at her friend at one point.
Wait, where was Dawn?
As Jennifer opened the front door to the school, she glanced back at the car. No sign of her friend, or at least one that Jennifer would have recognized. In reality, the tiny Dawn was slowly heading across the same parking lot for the same door, but Jennifer's quick look didn't pan down far enough to notice. 'She must be inside already,' Jennifer reasoned to herself. 'And did the school change the doors?' The handles, normally stomach-level to her, were now up to her neck. 'What a weird design decision. I can't wait to graduate from this dump.'
Inside, she headed uninterrupted to the locker room for practice. It wasn't hard to do since cheerleading practice wasn't scheduled during normal learning hours, and in any event she had developed a knack for traveling undetected through the school. That way, she didn't have to mingle with the "common folk". They - most of her classmates, teachers, and underclassmen - weren't worthy of her presence. It took a bit longer than usual, but she successfully reached the locker room without being bothered.
She was running a bit late, so most of the squad was already in the gym. The only other person in the room was Adeline Rose - "Addie" for short - at the other end of the room. "Jennifer!" Addie exclaimed while adjusting her blouse and skirt. "We've been waiting for you and Dawn! Although I can't say much, either. I overslept and just got here myself."
"Yeah, that happens," Jennifer said as she walked to her locker, failing to apologize (of course) for her tardiness. It was a small square shaped cubby on the second-lowest row of similar lockers, meaning she didn't notice anything unusual. "Wait, you said me and Dawn. She's not here yet?"
Addie was the tallest girl on the squad, towering over her teammates at 6'1". Still, she looked puzzled at Jennifer, who seemed shorter than usual. Her choice in clothes wasn't helping, for sure. The comically oversized blouse, skirt, and socks drew even more attention to Jennifer's tiny figure, and why wasn't she wearing shoes? Addie shrugged it all off; everyone seemed small to her anyway, and maybe the clothes were throwing off her perception. "No, she's not. But Coach is getting impatient, so she wants us dressed and in the gym ASAP."
'Dawn must've stopped somewhere,' Jennifer thought before saying, "Well, I'm basically ready."
"Your feet," Addie pointed out as she laced up her own shoes. "You need some sneaks."
Jennifer paused. "Oh, yeah, I had on a pair that was the wrong size. Someone at the shoe store messed up. Who else wears a 7?"
"Not me, that's for sure. They'd fit my hands, maybe," Addie chuckled.
"Funny."
"Look in the lost and found. I'll see you out on the floor," she added before opening the door to the gym.
"Ew, gross." Jennifer abhorred the idea of wearing someone else's shoes, but she knew she didn't really have a choice. She rummaged through the bin and found a pair of size 7 running shoes that, in her eyes, were horribly out of style. "These will have to do, I guess." Although the laces were pulled tight by the previous wearer, they easily slipped on her dainty feet, which barely filled half the shoes. "UGH! Don't tell me these are guys 7s! Gr-oss!" She kicked them off her feet and returned them to the bin, unaware they were the track shoes of one of her 5'5" teammates. "Well, I guess guys and girls shoes are mixed in here." Jennifer tried on shoes of different sizes, finally settling for a plain white pair of tennis shoes labeled 3. They weren't a perfect fit, but would at least stay on when tied tightly. She thought they were mens 3s; however, they actually belonged to her coach's seven-year-old daughter.
'Dawn better hurry up, or she'll be in trouble,' Jennifer thought while closing her locker. After locking it up, she headed into the gym to join her team. 'Even this door has higher handles. Weird.'
"Miss Smith! About time!" Jennifer's coach, Yvonne Davis, bellowed. "Get in line!" Jennifer had contempt for almost anyone in authority, and that included her coach. Instead of hustling, Jennifer deliberately slowed down. "Smith!!" Coach Davis, 5'4" herself, began to approach Jennifer, moving beyond the line formed by Jennifer's squad.
This was not the first time her coach had tried to be intimidating, but it always failed because Jennifer was just as tall as her. However, on this occasion, Coach Davis was getting much taller as she came up to the 4'2" Jennifer. Jennifer noticed and glanced down at her coach's feet, expecting to see sky-high heels; she spotted running shoes instead. Finally, the two came face to face - or more accurately, face to chest. Jennifer was stunned and perplexed at how tall her coach had become, while feeling something she had rarely experienced: fear. "Smith! When I say get in line, you run! Understand?!"
"Y-Yes, Coach," Jennifer meekly sputtered before dashing to the end of the line. There, she stood next to Michaela Thomas, a relative newcomer to the squad. "You know, Michaela, I never knew you were so tall. You must be almost as tall as Addie."
"Huh?" Michaela was caught by surprise as she had to look down - way down - to see Jennifer. "I'm 5'2". I didn't know I was taller than you. At least not by half a foot. Wow, you are tiny!"
"I'm 5'4"!" Jennifer protested. "You must have grown."
"No, I went to the doctor's yesterday. I was measured, and I haven't grown since I was 15. I am definitely only 5'2". You're 4'4", maybe."
That bombshell finally shattered the illusion that Jennifer had been living in for the last half-hour. Michaela and Coach looked like Addie, and now that she thought about it, Addie seemed like she was 8' or 9' when they were together in the locker room. That couldn't be right. And if they didn't grow... "Oh my God!!" Jennifer screamed, drawing the attention of the entire team. The loose clothes, the size 7s that weren't, Dawn's giant car, the higher door handles... it all added up now. They weren't big, she was small! But how... the phone call. 'Transform or Dare.' Kyle's words came back to her: 'Since you think people smaller than you are so worthless, you’re going to shrink.'
"Shit! That dweeb Kyle actually succeeded! He shrunk me!"
The last sentence echoed throughout the gym, causing her teammates to carefully examine Jennifer. "Well, well, well, how the haughty have fallen," Coach Davis said as she approached Jennifer again. "Or should I say, shrunken?" she added while waving her hand over Jennifer's head for effect. The gesture caused several of the girls to begin laughing, leading Jennifer to become flustered with embarrassment. As more girls joined in and the laughter intensified, Jennifer began to silently sob before dashing out of the gym, her clothes and shoes dangerously close to slipping off with every stride.