Amy was bored. Living in a small city in the Midwest, there wasn't much for a girl to on a Saturday in the winter. At 15, she wasn't old enough to drive yet, and that's why she was currently at the mall. Back in the early 90's when the mall had been built, it was a big deal, and even though it still looked nice, with it's many skylights, wide open spaces, and white walls, most of it's storefronts were closed now, as many people now shopped online rather than be bothered with leaving their homes to go to an actual store.
About the only reason to go to the mall anymore was the movie theater, which was why she was here, but the movie she had wanted to see was currently sold out, and she was now forced to wait two hours to go see it. So she was now walking about, passing the time.
Amy was a little taller than average, on the slender side, with small breasts and narrow hips. Every day she looked in the mirror, hoping she'd fill out more, like her mother and older sister, but in her mind, she still looked like a really tall 13 year old. Instead of inheriting her mother's blond hair, she had light brown hair that refused to be managed, so she wore it short, with a white hairband to keep it out of her eyes. While not unattractive, she wasn't gorgeous like the other girls in her family. Her best feature, her mist green eyes, often eluded notice (ironically, because of her glasses, which should have done the opposite).
She didn't bother with jewelry or makeup, because what was the point? This attitude extended to her clothes; today she was just wearing jeans, tennis shoes, and a t-shirt that said "my other car is a TARDIS" under an oversized coat and her Hufflepuff scarf. Amy was, you see, a geek on top of everything else. Her room was decorated with anime characters and sci fi and fantasy movie posters. She loved books more than people, and spent a lot of time reading.
As a result, she didn't have many local friends, but instead knew lots of people on the internet. Her family kept trying to get her into therapy, thinking she was depressed. And she was, but not for any reason they thought.
She hated that there was no magic in the world.
Just then, she found herself in front of a store she'd never seen before. Thirteen O' Clock. The front display had bizarre paintings of melting clocks and what looked like the covers of old Sci Fi novels. Curious, she wandered in.
The store seemed to sell timepieces of every shape and size, from fancy wrist watches to a grandfather clock. A girl younger than she was waved and welcomed her with a cheery "Good afternoon!"
The girl looked like an anime character brought to life, with hair dyed pink, with long bangs, bright blue eyes, and a red blazer over a white shirt. She had a gold pendant around her neck, which, as she got closer, was actually a watch.
"Hi. Um, so you sell clocks here?"
The girl grinned. "You betcha. It's about time, it's about space, about strange people in the strangest place. I'm Paige, by the way." The girl stuck her hand across the counter.
Amy shook the girl's tiny hand (she was fairly short, and was actually seated on a stool). She was a little taken aback by how cute the girl was. She noticed Paige was wearing a red pleated skirt, white bobby socks, and red Mary Janes. "Are you into cosplay by chance?"
"Oh, well I admit, this outfit is inspired by an anime character, but the show's a little old now. Hikaru has read hair though. Anyways, the owner lets me wear whatever I want, which is one of the perks of the job."
"Huh. Can I ask a weird question?"
"Sure I'd love to, after I get off work." Paige grinned.
"Wha, huh?!" Amy blinked.
Paige laughed. "Sorry, it's a private joke. I know you wouldn't want to ask me out. So let me guess...you're wondering if I'm old enough to work here?"
"I, uh, yeah. Sorry." Amy felt her anxiety starting to kick in.
"No no, it's ok. The answer might surprise you. You see, I'm 23."
Amy gaped at her. "What?!"
Paige laughed. "What, it's not impossible. I mean there's that one girl who hasn't grown since she was 8, who has that super cringe reality show."
"I'm sorry, it's a little hard to believe, that's all."
Paige nodded. "See I was once like you. A non-believer. Then I walked into a store a lot like this one, and bought this here." She held up her pendant. "Of course, I didn't listen to the warning, and paid the price."
"I don't...what are you saying?"
"I'm saying, my young Padawan, that magic is real, and everything in this store is enchanted in some way. And if you want, you can purchase any one thing that strikes your fancy for a special discount. But you better be careful, or your life can change forever."
"You're saying these clocks are magical? Like...what, they let you time travel?"
"Oh no, outright time travel is bad. You could end up altering the timestream or creating a paradox. I see you're a Doctor Who fan, you know what that means. Now, you CAN change history with some of these items, but usually in limited ways that don't create huge impacts. But there are items that slow down time, speed it up, let you skip forward in time, make things older or newer..."
"Older or newer...wait, so what you said before..."
Paige nodded. "Here, I'll show you." She hopped off her stool and came around the counter. She gripped the pendant in her hand and a blue glow surrounded her. At first nothing seemed to happen, then she started to shrink, her clothing growing loose on her body. Amy watched in amazement as the girl became younger before her very eyes. Within moments, she was a girl of 9 or 10. "Taa-daa, pretty neat, huh?" She chirped, her voice higher pitched.
Amy couldn't find words for a moment, until Paige's skirt suddenly slid off her now slender hips, revealing a pair of pink panties with a cute red bow on the front. They were also looser and ill-fitting, but the elastic kept them mostly on. Despite herself, she let out a nervous giggle.
Paige blushed slightly and reached down to pull up her skirt. "Ahem, sorry about that."
Amy placed her hand on the smaller girl's head, as if to prove to herself this was really happening. "Oh my God, you really shrank!"
"Yep! I can make myself as young as I want, though, for obvious reasons, if I become too young, there are problems. Unfortunately, I can only go back to 13, not get any older."
"...ever?"
Paige shrugged, which caused her skirt to slip again. "Oops!" She pulled it back up. "Well, not ever, I do age, but slower than normal people. It's not too bad, the owner gives me a job, I have money, a place to stay. And I'm cute as hell."
Amy had to agree. "So is there another clock like yours?"
Paige smiled. "Ohhh, you like the idea of changing people's ages, huh? Well, there IS an item, but..." Kicking off her now oversized shoes, and holding up her skirt, she made her way to a shelf.
"Wouldn't it be easier if you aged back?" Amy asked.
"Yes, but it takes the pendant a little while to recharge. I'll probably be this age for at least the rest of my shift. Fortunately, you're my only customer for the day." The girl replied.
"How do you know that?" Amy blinked.
"There's a clock in the back that predicts the future, sort of. All it really does is let me know how many customers will show up. Usually it's none- not everyone is able to believe in magic to begin with. You are my second." Paige stood up on her tip toes, trying to reach a high shelf. "Ugh, short girl problems. It's that thing that looks like an 80's calculator watch."
Amy reached for it. It was made of plastic, with a cheap band made of rubber. "This?"
"Yep. The Retro. You do have to be careful with it- it can only make things younger or newer."
"Oh. That's...limited." She frowned, looking at it.
"It does have a few other features though. It can switch the ages of two things, so one person can get older by making something else younger. In addition, it has an early version of REALTECH. That is, the changes can impact reality so everyone besides yourself will think it's always been that way. Well you, or people who have special protection. It can be temporarily disabled, but since it is first generation, there are some bugs." The younger girl explained.
"Like, what kind of bugs?" Amy asked, frowning.
"Well, for example, let's say you switched the ages of a mother and daughter. With REALTECH enabled, the daughter would now be the mother, and vice versa. But since the daughter has a different personality, her marriage and parenting style could be different as well. Plus, there'd be some tinkering with genetics to make it work right. Easy peasy, but what if the daughter had a sister or brother?"
"Um...oh. So they'd change because they had a completely different parent." Amy tried to imagine her older sister Kate becoming her mother. She didn't care for that idea very much.
"There is one last important feature though. There is a recall, so that no matter what goes wrong, you and the watch will be returned to the store. Then technical support can try to fix whatever mess you've accidentally made. I have personal experience with this." Paige rolled her eyes.
"What did you do, exactly?"
"Mm. It's a long story, but I could tell it over dinner." The smaller girl waggled her eyebrows.
"Dinner...wait...like a date?!" Amy's eyes widened.
"Would that be so horrible?"
Amy blushed. In truth, she did find Paige intriguing and attractive, but her young appearance (and the fact she was afraid to reveal to anyone that she was attracted to girls) made her reluctant to come out and admit it. "N..no. It wouldn't."
"Well then. You'll probably be too busy tonight, but anytime you want, you can find me here most days." The girl then smiled impishly. "Now, what should I have you pay for the watch?"
"Aren't there set prices?" Amy was surprised.
"Not really. The owner doesn't need money, but always makes sure to charge people something important. As his top salesperson, I have some discretion. How about I give you the watch, in exchange for a kiss?"
Amy blushed but she could swear she felt her heart thumping. "N...now?"
"Yeah, I guess asking you to kiss a child is a bit much. I will accept a signed IOU." Paige grinned.
Inwardly, Amy realized she had been prepared to kiss the girl regardless. Was it because Paige wasn't really a child? Or was she actually more perverted than she'd thought?
"Uh, deal!" She quickly agreed.
Within minutes, she'd signed the paperwork, and was given the watch to wear. It fit her wrist snugly, and one of it's powers would keep people from noticing it unless she brought it to their attention. After saying goodbye to Paige, she left the store, all thoughts of the movie forgotten.