Brian did not question why the clothes he was pulling on fit, even though he could clearly see and knew that they would fit somebody of about four to six years of age. Nor did he question when he went out into the main hall and was lined up with all the other five years old girls, right next to Brittany, who his mind was telling him was his best friend and had been his best friend since they had met in preschool.
Jodie's father came out shortly after Brian had joined the line and after the main hall had quieted down, he began instructing the group in warm-up exercises. After which, he paired them off to work together on their techniques and forms. Brian found himself paired with a girl that he knew to be named Monica and silently wished that he had been paired with Brittany, but dismissed the notion when his best friend's father told him, "Don't want to be showing favouritism," and then strolled off to help a nearby group.
Afterward, they were once again regrouped back into a line and Jodie's father called each of them forward and had them perform a couple dance moves. When Brian's turn came, he fumbled on a couple moves, but managed to get through what Mr Patroski was asking of him.
Rejoining the line, he thought that something felt off, but the moment Brittany whispered, "Good job, Abey," he felt the feeling slip away from him and found himself once again enjoying himself as he watched a couple other girls go and then whispering, "Good luck," when Brittany's father called her out, knowing that his best friend would have no problem doing a lot of what Mr Patroski was asking for.
When class was finally let out for the evening, Brian, or as Brittany kept calling him, Abey, followed the rest of the girls back to the changing rooms and joining the four to six year old girls, he headed for the locker he thought was his. Next to him, Brittany opened her locker and started taking clothes out, chatting away as if nothing was the matter. Opening his locker, Brian felt that feeling of being conflicted returning and talking to Brittany without giving second thought to what was being said, Brian began to undress, sure that something was off.
Following Brittany out, he barely heard when Jodie greeted her boyfriend and brushing a long strand of brown hair from his face, he thought that there was something that looked off about his cousin, but what it was, he could not figure it out.
Instead, he thought, "Boyfriends are icky," and turning away from the two, he started once again talking with Brittany about a varying degree of things.
When Jodie's boyfriend returned from the lavatory, kissing Brittany's oldest sister as he did so, Jodie commented, "Well, let's get these squirts fed," and taking her sister's hand, Brian found his hand being taken by his cousin, who's hand felt different, not quite as soft as he remember, but a little coarser.
Led from the dance hall, Brian glanced at his cousin from the corner of his eye, noting that Arnold wasn't paying the least bit of attention to him and was for the most part focusing on Jodie or continuously looking ahead. But there was other things Brian noticed that he thought were off, including that Arnold was now a couple inches taller than him and when his cousin did say anything to him, it was usually to address him as squirt or Abey.
Listening to the conversation, he overheard that apparently his parents were out of town and that he was spending the weekend with Brittany, much to Jodie's displeasure as she announced that she would have to watch both her own two sisters and Abey when her own mother was at work.
"Look on the bright side," Arnold offered. With Abey about, Brittany will practically watch herself," to which Jodie laughed at in response, started to nod, but instead took her boyfriend's hand.
Again, Brian thought, "Boyfriends are icky," as he found himself led into a restaurant and toward a booth as Jodie commented, "I'll get them something to eat. Do you want anything?" and then began fishing around in her purse as Arnold told her what it was he wanted.
As Jodie went to go place the order, Brian decided that what he needed was to find a bathroom and shifting about, he was prepared to go find one when his cousin demanded, "So where are you going, squirt?"
Unsure what to say, suddenly feeling intimidated by his cousin, Brian mumbled, "I hafta go to the bathroom," unaware that his vocabulary had shifted and he sounded more like a five year old child than a sixteen year old young adult.
"Wait till Jodie gets back," Arnold told him in a dismissive tone.
Shifting tactics, Brian began to shift around in the booth, telling his cousin, "But I hafta really go," as he did so.
Sighing in frustration, Arnold stood and announced, "Fine. But I am not coming in with you," and glancing at Brittany, he asked her, "Do you have to use the bathroom?" to which she shook her head, clearly intimidated by her oldest sister's boyfriend.
"Go wait with your sister then," Arnold told her as he led Brian away from the table and toward the toilets.
Inside the woman's restroom, barely paying attention to what lavatory he had just entered and when his cousin had told him, "Don't take too long," Brian hurried to the mirror, wanting only to look at his reflection and see if his thoughts on the fact that he was physically changing as well as mentally were correct.
Gazing into the mirror, he muttered, "Just great," as he ran a hand through his hair, which he saw now came down past his shoulders and that his face was also different, "Rounder and more feminine in appearance," he thought, attempting to venture a guess and also noting that it had a certain youthful quality about it that he had seen only in children and his own baby pictures.
And then it came to him that it wasn't just his cousin who was a couple inches taller, but it was him, Brian, who was also a couple inches shorter.
Muttering, "Just great," he leaned his face against the cool, reflective surface, finding himself almost standing on the tips of his toes as he did so, and wondered what it was he was going to do and if he even wanted to really get out of the situation he was currently in as he figured that some of his behaviours were suggesting that he didn't.
"One thing I don't need is the amulet," Abey decided, forgetting for the moment it was the one thing that had caused his change, deciding that instead that it was nothing but trouble.
And turning away from the row of sinks, he headed for the nearest stall, suddenly deciding that he really did need to use the bathroom. As he sat down on the toilet, he began to mentally go over, as best as he could, all that was clearly happening and what he could do to stop it, but finding himself constantly coming back to the question of whether or not he did want to stop his transformation and return to his former life.