Ty wobbled his way off the bus and into the Mall. Between his bad balance, gangly limbs, and big hands and feet, he probably looked like the goofiest kid in the world. He bit his lip, wondering if he should try to wish away the awkwardness. Then again, he'd already de-aged from being really beefy, so if he changed now would he be... more? Ty liked how he'd looked at seventeen and he didn't want to mess with that too much.
He grinned as he looked around, easily able to peer over most people's heads. Well... being a LITTLE taller already wasn't so bad.
Ty picked at his shirt; it was tight on his shoulders now. Between wishing himself so bulky in his late teens and then ADDING to that with his growth spurt wish and arguing with June, he had some really wide shoulders for how skinny he felt. His collarbones shot way out, giving him a V shape without much muscle, his long arms dangling down past the visible gap of skin between his shirt and shorts.
At least arguing with June gave him some abs, Ty thought with a careful flex. The shirt might be tight up top, but at least it didn't billow like a circus tent. Ty could only handle looking so goofy, even if he'd SEEN that he'd grow into himself.
First thing's first, Ty was NOT going to let his friends see him dressed like this (again). So, he had about an hour to find some clothes that fit well and looked good. And if he was about to grow like crazy again, he probably shouldn't spend a fortune on clothes. Mark and June might be cheap, but Ty wasn't THAT evil.
On the other hand, Ty did want to have clothes he liked. But he was broke.
Ty flopped down on a public bench (yikes his knees popped way up there; oof, and they're boney too). Did he want to just... wish for clothes? Nah. If he wished for everything as soon as he wanted it, he'd probably get pretty bored or crazy, like, fast. Wishing for money was the same problem with extra steps.
The 'ting' sound of a flicked coin made Ty perk up. He'd sat next to the mall's fountain. Some random kid, looked maybe thirteen, and flicked a quarter in and started slouching off.
Ty. Had. An idea.
"I wish that I could grant wishes made at this fountain, for... a dollar a wish."
There. Part time job. AWESOME part time job. As fast as he'd wished it, a clipboard popped into existence and fell in Ty's lap. It had a bunch of paper with writing on the left and checkboxes on the right. Above the boxes were the words "YES" and "NO". The top line of writing said "I wish Becka would go out with me."
"Huh." Ty blinked. "Actually, I like this. I CAN grant the wishes, but I don't HAVE to. And I know I don't want to go to crazy with them since there's consequences and stuff... Okay. Um, probably that kid wished for Becka to date him or whatever."
Ty looked the kid over as he passed him, and tapped himself on the chin. Having Becka decide to go on ONE date with him didn't seem too serious, and after that they could figure it out. Yeah, that works. Ty poked the checkbox under "YES".
A phone rang. The kid fumbled it out of his pocket and flicked it open.
"Uh, yes? BECKA?" His voice cracked. Ty winced. "Uh... yeah! Yeah that sounds great! I'll take you for ice cream after class tomorrow?"
Ty grinned as the kid rushed off to go buy... whatever he thought he needed for a date. Meh, not Ty's problem anymore. That was pretty cool!
With a quiet pop, a dollar bill appeared on the clipboard. Excellent.
For the next twenty minutes, Ty looked over the wish list and grabbed a few more to grant. A few other teenagers wished to have dates; granted. A wish for a million dollars... nah. If Ty wasn't cheating for money, nobody was. A husband and wife BOTH wished for the other to ask for a divorce. Well, that's two dollars with zero guilt. Eventually, Ty had a stack of almost a hundred bucks!
Pocketing the money, Ty held up the clipboard and watched it vanish with another pop. He wasn't SURE, but he thought if he wanted it back it'd just appear now. It really was kind of a part time job! He had a job!
With a bounce to his step that was NOT good for his poor tiny sandals, Ty headed off to buy nicer clothes with money he'd earned himself! Well, he'd top it off and use the credit card. He wasn't evil, but he wasn't THAT nice either.
It took the entire next forty minutes to find clothes that fit right. He found a new pair of sandals at a plus size store; he was rocking a pair of size twenties now, up four from just that morning, and stupidly big for his height according to the girl that helped him find them. She was a bit taller than he was, even after his fight with June stretched him back over six feet. He got her number and she asked him to give her a call 'when he grew into those stompers'. She'd stuck her hand a few inches above her head and waved it back and forth; Ty was pretty sure he'd manage that.
The shirts were a lot trickier. Everything that fit well at the shoulders DID actually billow a bit at his waist. Eventually he gave up and grabbed the nicest options he could find, and even got them a bit long to help with his goofy-long arms and get ahead of the next few inches he had coming. Shorts, socks, underwear, done! And just in time, too!
Ty grabbed his phone as it rang. Jake and Pete were at the food court!