"Nap, huh? Can you check how long of a nap is needed for this thing to work?" Jase asked.
"Lemme see," Danny replied before grabbing the instructions that came with the Pubertaway.
"Okay, you're not actually thinking about using this, right? Didn't you just say you wanted to keep your balls dropped?" Scottie asked, visibly objecting to having his other friend on the wrong side of puberty.
"I did, but look at Danny. He clearly likes being a kid again," Jase explained, "If you ask me, I'd say give it a shot."
Just as Scottie was about to provide some counterarguments, Danny found the page of the instructions that talks about sleep.
"Jase, the good news is that we don't need to wait until nighttime to use it. The bad news is that you gotta sleep for at least an hour for it to work," Danny said while pointing to the page he was on.
"Meh. I'm not worried about that, man," Jase replied, "We still have the entire day. Plus, we've already said we're crashing here for the weekend, so there's no rush."
"So, does that mean you wanna use it?" Danny asked enthusiastically.
"Sure, I'll use it. Seeing you like this makes being a shrimp again not sound too bad," Jase said, ruffling Danny's hair following the response, "What about you, Scottie?"
"I'll pass on this one, guys," Scottie answered, "I'd rather be on THIS side of puberty, thank you very much."
"Don't knock 'till ya try it, Scottie," Danny said, "I was nervous when I used it last night, but it worked like a charm. Besides, it'll be like old times, like when we were really in middle school."
"Please, Scottie? It'll be more fun if all three of us were 11 again."
"No, no, no. Jase, you and Danny can have your fun as kids. Besides, somebody's gotta keep you two in check for when Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs aren't around."
"Suit yourself, man," Jase said, passing by his friends as he headed towards Danny's bed. Due to his reduced size, Danny's mom made the bed for him. Laid down on the bed, Jase set his alarm to go off one hour after his nap started. Danny examined the settings to make sure that Jase would end up the same as him. In other words, Mode 3 with Gender Bender off. Standing by the two friends, Scottie noticed a plastic container on Danny's desk. The container had a label sticker that says 'DANNY'. Scottie figured that Danny had written his name given that it looked like it was written by an 11-year-old.
"Hey Danny," Scottie said, "What's that stuff inside the plastic container, and why is your name on it?"
"That, Scottie, is my maturity. All of this was sucked outta me last night," Danny said while pointing at the liquid inside the container, "The instructions said I should keep it inside a container and out of the device."
"If that's your maturity, then how do ya plan on getting it back in you? I mean, you can't be a preteen forever, and neither can Jase."
"Well, even if I wanna grow back up right now, I gotta wait until tomorrow. It'll turn into a gel, and I can shower with this on my body," Danny said, "But like I said before, I can turn back any time."
"Guys, can you save your chit-chat for later?" Jase asked impatiently, "There's maturity that needs to be sucked out, and I'd like that to happen before Danny's balls drop again!"
"Sorry Jase," Danny said before turning the device on, "It might take a few minutes to take in, but don't feel bad if nothing happens right away."
Danny and Scottie left a napping Jase in the bedroom, knowing that he was about to be deprived of his adolescence like Danny. The two friends decided to play some 2 player versus games while waiting. All that Danny could think about was whether Scottie would beat him most of, if not all, the time. However, Scottie had something else in mind.
"Danny, I know you said you can turn back any time, but have you thought about how long you're gonna be like this for?" Scottie asked.
Taken aback by Scottie's question, Danny scrambled for an honest answer.
"No, I hadn't. I figured that this would just be somethin' fun to do for a day or two, but THIS," Danny said while pointing at his preteen frame, "I'm enjoying a lot more than I thought. It's makin' me wonder if..."
"This is about middle school, right?" Scottie asked solemnly.
"It is. I've always wondered what would happen if I had to go back to, let's say, sixth grade. If I had to go through puberty again."
"Well, I wouldn't get too hasty if I were you, Danny," Scottie said sternly, "At least think about what you'd be losing by staying like this for real and going back to middle school."
Danny nodded lightly before the conversation ended. Though his relationship with Scottie and Jase did not change despite his regression, Danny wondered if going back would cost him those friendships. He figured that two high school juniors hanging out with a sixth grader regularly would be social suicide.
Before they knew it, a little over an hour had passed, meaning that Jase's nap was expected to end soon. Danny and Scottie were about to head to Danny's room when they were blocked by an out of breath boy who was, without a doubt, Jase.
The boy, who had been 16 an hour ago, was wearing the Minecraft t-shirt and green elastic shorts. Jase opted out of wearing socks due to the weather. Danny could tell that Jase was wearing tighty-whities, just like the ones he was called out for wearing earlier.
"Danny, dude, you were right about a lotta things!" Jase excitedly said. His heavy grin proved to be contagious as Danny's heart beat accelerated with excitement.
"Jase, please slow down," Scottie said, "One thing at a time. What was Danny right about?"
"First, these tighty-whities really are comfy! Second, I tried the thing that Danny tried this morning..."
"Wait, did you? And you didn't feel anything?" Danny asked.
"Nope. Nada. Couldn't even get hard, not even to those Instagram models I've been following. Damn thing doesn't even work now!" Jase poked at the miniaturized appendage underneath his shorts before shrugging. Jase then stood back, not realizing the height difference until that very second.
"Scottie's looking really big, right?" Danny asked.
"Yep, and I think you're a bit taller than me now," Jase said before going back to back against Danny. With Scottie as a moderator, their two heights were checked. Jase became one inch shorter than Danny thanks to the Pubertaway.
"Hey, you're even shorter than me now," Danny said, "Now, about you calling me a shrimp..."
With Danny moving towards him, Jase preemptively placed his hands on his friend's shoulders. Seconds later, the two boys were on the ground attempting to overtake the other in a playful manner. Both Danny and Jase were evenly matched, and overcome with laughter as their play wrestling continued. The two got exhausted within minutes, and stopped while Jase was on top of Danny.
"Man, has it really been 5 years since we've been like this?" Jase asked, "Being 11 again, and seeing you at 11 again makes this feel like it was all yesterday,"
Danny shared the same sentiment, and wrapped his arm around Jase's neck. The two boys then looked up at Scottie.
"Ya know Scottie, it's not too late to change your mind," Danny said, "It'll really make this feel complete, like this really is my 11th birthday."
"Please Scottie! As fun as this is, it'll be loads more fun if you join us too! Danny'll even let you wear more of his cousin's old stuff!" Jase added.
"Well..." Scottie said, pausing before making his choice.