After some time thinking about his options for Dustin, Ty had decided on something simple. The first step would be some questions asked, then Ty could work from there. He didn´t want for Dustin to be hurt, or for him to vanish, just being nicer. Therefore, Ty needed to know why Dustin was as he was.
Dustin laid on his bed, trying to understand what had happened to him. Somehow his development had been taken from him, making him look years younger by being smaller. He was sure that was Ty´s doing, but how? And why had his parents acted as if everything was normal?
Suddenly he felt the strong need to see Ty in his room. While he had no idea where that came from, and didn´t want to leave his bed, his body stood up on its own and just walked over. As he crossed Ty´s door he carefully closed it, and only after it was closed, that he could ask: “What´s happening with me? Ty, what have you done? I didn´t want to come over.” While he felt like screaming, his questions had been asked in a normal volume.
Ty waited until Dustin plopped down on his bed before he replied: “I thought we needed to talk, and in a more civil manner. I would have come over to ask, but you came over here on your own.” That wasn´t the whole truth, but Dustin didn´t need to know what all Ty could do now. He wished for Dustin to come over, close the door and take a seat on his bed. And as long as Dustin was in this room now, he couldn´t lie to Ty, couldn´t be speaking too loudly and wasn´t able to harm Ty in any way. Like Ty said, Dustin was forced to be civil to him.
Dustin looked confused while still angry. If Ty had not somehow forced him to come over, why did he do so? Like he said, he didn´t want to come. But as he tried, he couldn´t get up from Ty´s bed, he was stuck here. “Why can´t I leave then? I don´t want to talk with you right now.”
Ty looked hurt by Dustin´s comment. “Maybe you feel compelled to talk to me, even if you don´t want to. What have I done to you that you hate me so much?”
Dustin had shaken his head at the first part, but somehow felt the need to answer Ty´s question. “I wouldn´t call it hate, I just don´t like you. You are an intruder to the family, at least to me. Maybe that wouldn´t be a problem if we were more similar. But where I´m more in sports, a jock, you are more into other, boring stuff, like a nerd. And I can´t stand nerds. And whatever you did to me this morning isn´t helping, either.”
Ty looked sad at that. “So, you don´t like me for being me, and not more like your friends. I know I´m not as interested in sports as you´re, but not everyone needs to be. To me, school stuff isn´t boring, and I don´t think I´m really that nerdy, Dustin. But if you think I´m, maybe we define nerd differently. And if I did anything to you this morning, I´m sorry, but I don´t know what I could have done.”
Dustin looked disbelievingly at Ty. “You starred at me while I somehow turned into a little kid like you, and now you say you don´t realize that? I don´t believe you with that.”
Ty looked annoyed at the remark. “I´m not a little kid, and you aren´t, either. If either of us was a little kid, we would look like maybe a five-year-old. I don´t really know why I starred at you. I think I felt something was different with you, but I couldn´t place it. You look normal to me right now.” Ty had to hide his grin. Maybe Dustin wouldn´t exactly return to his old size, he wasn´t sure right now.
Dustin still looked unbelieving, but mixed with a hint of fear. “What if it really wasn´t Ty who did this? If he can´t fix it for me, what can I do? He must be lying.” Dustin thought before saying out loud: “I think you are lying, Ty. You know exactly what happened to me, don´t you? I know I´m not really nice with you, but please, whatever you did, can you take it back? I don´t want to look like this.”
Ty laughed at him. “Okay, maybe I know what happened, but I don´t know how it happened. Maybe something was hearing me think about you don´t knowing how it is to be a late bloomer, but that wouldn´t have been my intention. I´m sorry. I will try if I can make the opposite adjustment, but I can´t promise it, okay?”
Dustin nodded at him. He didn´t believe in such a higher power, something unseen. If Ty wasn´t lying about not doing anything intentional to him, maybe he really wasn´t to blame. And he said he would try to correct it. “I can only hope he isn´t making this worse.”
Ty thought about Dustin´s answer why he didn´t like him. What could he do to change that, without changing to much else? “Okay, let´s first be fair and help him back, if possible. I wish for Dustin to be in his old, normal body again.”
Before his eyes, Dustin slowly grew back what he had lost that morning. At least his size looked right in seconds, filling the shirt he wore out again. Ty didn´t want to know if all the hair has grown back in. “I think it worked somehow, Dustin.”
Dustin looked surprised at Ty, then down his body. Seeing how his clothes were more filled again, he sighed relieved. But Dustin still couldn´t leave Ty´s bed. “Okay, thanks Ty. Can I go now?”
But Ty had an idea what he could do that wouldn´t rely on his powers the whole time. So, he thought his wish for Dustin: “I wish for Dustin´s mind to be as programmable as a computer for me.” Ty waited a few seconds before he tried something. “Dustin, erase your hate for nerds from your mind. Also delete the dislike in me.”
It was a quite simple command, but also direct. If it didn´t work, he would need to reword it. But as he looked in the confused eyes of Dustin, he realized something had changed in his posture towards him. It wasn´t as turned to run away as before. “What … what have you done now? I feel weird.”
Ty smiled at him. “Why do you hate me, Dustin?” he asked again, wanting to hear the difference.
Dustin looked confused. Hadn´t Ty asked that before? But, as he was still compelled to answer honestly, he said: “I don´t hate you. I don´t even dislike you, we are just a bit different, okay?”
“So, it worked” Ty thought, his smile widening. Maybe he and Dustin would become friends over time without changing much more. He hoped so. For now, there was only a small part left. “Okay, thank you, Dustin for your time. You can go now. And if you enter your own room, you will delete this whole little conversation and the problem from this morning from your mind, you never left your room and never looked younger today.”
Dustin looked at Ty, still confused. But as he was dismissed, he slowly stood up and turned to leave. “Okay, see you later.” His unasked question went with him. And just when Dustin entered his own room, it was like a light breeze went through his head. Shaking his head, Dustin laid back down on his bed, no idea why he had stood up. It was just a normal day in the house.