As Jeff stood at the bus stop the next morning, he wearily thought back on the events of the last 24 hours: the arrival of the Chronivac, testing it out on his sister, the malfunction, his botched attempts to fix his situation, culminating in his computer frying, stranding him as a 16-year-old boy with the body of an 8-year-old and his sister as a 10-year-old girl with the body of a 20-year-old. Then, there was his sister’s new attitude…
He shuddered. Jamie had always been such a sweet little girl. It was hard to believe how a simple change in her relative stature to him had altered her disposition so much. Jamie had become a real bully to him now that she was more than twice his size physically and 12 years older than him in body development. Besides smothering him with her breasts yesterday, she had played keep away with his shoes this morning, and then, when he had given up trying to jump up and grab his shoes that she held out of reach, she mashed his head into her ass and farted in his face. He had gagged and just barely kept himself from throwing up. Meanwhile, Jamie found the whole experience to be hilarious. Jeff had considered telling on her to his parents, but he had too much pride to admit that his little sister had been picking on him.
He tried to take his mind off of Jamie by looking around himself. Several other students were waiting for a school bus with him. All of them were taller than him by at least a head, which was a bit depressing. He felt even more depressed when he realized that they were all middle school kids at least 3 years younger than his true age. A high school freshman girl that he barely knew walked up just then. He knew he had been taller than her before, now the top of his head was at her breast level.
So much for looking around to feel better...
The bus arrived, and the middle school students lined up to get on it, leaving Jeff and the freshman girl alone to wait for the high school bus.
After a minute, she spoke. “How’s it going, Jeff?”
“F-fine, I guess,” he said. He was still not used to his little kid voice. He felt like such a baby every time he opened his mouth.
“People treating you well?” she asked cautiously.
“Yeah,” he said. He tried to figure out what she was talking about. He had always been, well, if not popular, at least he wasn’t picked on. Had that changed with his body?
“That’s good. I always felt like… you know… you deserve to be treated like other students, even if you’re…” She blushed and muttered something that sounded like “I’m sorry.”
“Oh” was all he could think to say in response.
After a minute of awkward silence, a male high school student ran up just as the next bus arrived. The late arrival climbed up the steps first followed by the girl. When it was Jeff’s turn, he took hold of the handle of his backpack and wheeled it to the bus. He discovered his new backpack this morning and realized that his high school books would be too heavy to carry with his 2nd-grader body. Thus, the wheels. The steps to the bus seemed gigantic and his bag felt like a lead weight to his weak muscles, but somehow he managed to drag it up the steps. Only one student sighed in frustration at how long it took.
Jeff found a seat and rode to school alone. As he sat there with his feet dangling far above the floor, he pondered what to do next to get himself turned back to normal. He would have to contact the makers of the Chronivac. That was the obvious next step. He just hoped that they could help him fast.
The bus arrived at school, and Jeff followed the other students into the building. He was immediately greeted by a forest of bellies, legs, crotches, and asses. As he wheeled his bag through the halls crowded with giant teens, he found himself saying “Excuse me” a lot as most students barely noticed him below them and were often standing in his way. Someone bumped into Jeff hard enough to knock him over. When Jeff looked up, he saw that it was some varsity football player. “Watch it, kid” was all the football player said when he noticed Jeff on the ground. Then, the football player walked off without even helping Jeff up.
“Are you okay,” said a girl’s voice from above him. Jeff looked up. It was Katie! Jeff and Katie had dated for a little while during freshman year, but after they broke up, they still remained friends.
“Katie,” he said. “Man, am I glad to see you.” She offered him her hand. He took it and she literally lifted him off his feet.
She looked down at him dispassionately, as if she barely knew him. “Sure,” she said. “It’s nice to see you too, um, Jeffy, right?”
“Yeah, it’s Jeff, actually. Thanks,” was all he could think to say. It was clear to him now that he and Katie had never dated in this new reality. And, why would she? He was just some kid now.
“Okay,” she said. “You be careful out there, kid.” She gave him a kind smile, patted his head, and walked off, leaving him standing there feeling miserable. His ex-girlfriend had just called him “kid.”
“I have to fix this soon,” he said as he wheeled his bag to his first class.
***
Few things can make someone feel small like being in the body of a little kid sitting at a desk made for a teenager. The chair was too big and too high, making him have to climb up onto it, and the desk was at chest level when he finally sat down. Still, the desk was at a good level for him to rest his chin on it without being noticed. Jeff’s feet swung lazily as he leaned his crossed arms forward onto the desk in front of him and tried not to sleep through a history lecture.
Just then, something hit him in the back of the head. Jeff sat up and picked up a paper airplane that had landed on the seat behind him after hitting him. When he opened it, he heard a couple of guys behind him snicker. They had written “Does Baby need a nap?” inside of it.
“Cute,” said Jeff.
He crumpled up the plane and waited for class to be over.
***
In Trigonometry, Jeff started kneeling on his chair to better reach his desk. Class ran smoothly, even if he struggled a bit with his graphing calculator, his fingers being a bit too small to operate it quickly. He only ran into a problem when it was his turn to write an answer on the board. He walked up to the front of class and found that most of the blackboard was out of reach.
Realizing his predicament, the teacher said, “Oh, I’m sorry Jeff.” She headed to a corner of the room and returned with a step stool in her hand. “Here you go,” she said, after she placed the stool next to him. Jeff climbed up on it and tried to ignore the chuckles and giggles from behind him as he wrote out his answer. When he finished, he was embarrassed by how childish his handwriting looked in comparison to the other students’ writing on the board.
After he returned to his desk, the teacher went over their answers. And, wouldn’t you know it? Jeff had made a mistake. He had known the correct answer, but between using his too big calculator and having to climb that damn stool, he had messed up the answer when he wrote it out.
“Nice try, Jeffy,” his teacher said.
“Yes,” said a sardonic male voice from behind him. “Nice try, Jeffy.”
***
At lunch, Jeff sat alone with his lunch bag. He had walked by the table he usually shared with his friends to find that there was no space at it saved for him. They didn’t even look at him as he passed by.
Just as he was about to take his sandwich out, a group of three upper classmen sat down on both sides of him and across from him.
“Hey, Jeffy,” said the chubby one in front of him. “What’s for lunch today?”
Jeff didn’t like the chubby teen’s tone of voice or the smiling faces of the guys around him. “Um,” he said. “It’s a sandwich, I think.”
“Mommy made you a sandwich,” said chubby. “How nice of her.”
Jeff was getting really nervous. “Um, if this is your table, I can move,” he said and started to stand up, but the guys next to him each put a hand on his shoulders to hold him in place.
“Jeffy,” said chubby. “This is our table. All of ours,” he said gesturing to the four of them. “No need to get up.”
Jeff relaxed. He had no chance of getting away from them even if fought them with all of his strength. He just hoped that whatever they had planned for him wouldn’t be too bad.
“Of course,” the chubby one continued. “If you are going to sit with us, you will have to share with us.”
“Share?”
“Yep,” said chubby. Jeff offered him his sandwich, but the chubby teen just shook his head and said, “I don’t want your stinking turkey sandwich, kid. I want your money. You know the deal. Hand over the toll or else.”
“Toll?”
“Five bucks, kiddo,” said the guy next to Jeff. His breath stank.
Jeff was too outraged to be scared. “Five bucks,” he said, incredulously. “That’s ridiculous!”
“You’re not going to pay?” said chubby.
“No way,” said Jeff.
Chubby smiled. “Good,” he said. “I was kind of hoping you might give us something fun to do today.” He looked at the other boys and said, “Let’s go.”
The three of them stood up. The two boys next to Jeff each took one of his arms and lifted him out of his seat and put him on the floor between them. They then frog-walked him to a nearby bathroom as he helplessly struggled against them.
In the bathroom, they shoved him into a stall.
“Can I do it this time?” said the one with bad breath.
“Sure,” said chubby.
“Wait,” said Jeff as he realized what they had in mind. He pulled out his wallet, took out a five dollar bill, and held it out to them. “Here,” he said. “I’ll pay. Take it.”
Bad breath just smiled and shook his head. “Too late for that,” he said and then yanked the five out of his hand. “I will take your money,” he said as he crumpled up Jeff’s five and put it in his pocket. “But, you’re going to have to pay a penalty for refusing before.”
“Wait,” said Jeff, but bad breath had already grabbed him by the ankles and lifted Jeff into the air hanging upside down above the toilet. “No!” he cried as he dangled there helpless, but they just laughed in his worried face. The third kid positioned himself by the flush lever as bad breath lowered him head first into the toilet bowl. Jeff’s hands braced himself against the toilet seat until chubby grabbed them, leaving nothing to stop Jeff’s head from hitting the cold toilet water.
Flush… and the water swirled around his head. All the while, Jeff was screaming and crying in humiliation. He felt completely powerless and terrified. Another flush. Then, a third flush. Cold toilet water was up his nose and in his mouth at that point, making him cough and sputter. The three torturers just laughed at his pitiful cries and weak struggling.
And then, it was over. They unceremoniously laid him out on the dirty tiles, like a freshly caught fish, and high-fived each other.
“See you tomorrow, Jeffy,” said chubby.
As they left Jeff in the bathroom alone, Jeff heard bad breath say, “Man, we got to do that one again soon. I love watching the kid squirm.”
Jeff sat up and took stock of his situation. His body was soaked from the waist up, and he had no towel to dry himself off with. He just wanted to crawl into a hole and cry. Yes, he wanted to cry, but he fought back his tears. He was humiliated enough already without feeling like a crybaby. He walked over to the hot air hand dryer and started drying off his head and shirt as he fought to stand in the strong breeze coming from the dryer. He didn’t even want to think about how dirty the water on him was. Just then, the bell rang.
“Shit,” he said. He was only half dry, and even if he ran he might just barely make it to his next class. He decided he would rather be late than wet and stayed under the dryer for a little longer.
Thankfully, his bag was still at the table where he left it. As he rejoiced at this little mercy, a sad realization hit him. He remembered what his next class was.
“Oh man,” he said. “Gym class.”
The bell rang again.
***
It was no surprise to Jeff when he was picked last for baseball. Who would want a 2nd-grader on their team, anyway? Jeff asked to sit out the game, but his gym teacher wouldn’t hear it. She was already upset with him for being late. He had to participate now if he wanted to avoid a detention.
Jeff stood alone out in right field, holding a too-large glove with both hands as he waited through the first couple of innings. He felt relieved that no one hit the ball his way. Then, his turn to bat came up. The batting helmet fit his head like a popcorn bowl, and even the smallest bat he could find felt like a log in his little hands. Still, he managed to heft the bat onto his shoulder and stood at the plate. Happily, the pitcher walked him. His little body meant that he had a tiny strike zone, the first benefit he found of being small. He did have to duck one pitch, but besides that, he just waited and then took his base. Even if by some miracle he had hit the ball, he doubted that he could have run to first base fast enough to be safe, what with that huge helmet on his head and his gym uniform being safety pinned up to fit his little body. Even with the pins, his shorts hung down nearly to his ankles, and the short sleeves of his shirt hung to his elbows. On top of that, his little legs would have a hard time running fast enough to get anywhere, which was immediately proven when the next batter up hit a nice single into left field and Jeff was tagged out before he made it to second base.
“Ah, come on,” complained the runner behind Jeff. “Stupid kid,” the runner muttered.
It got worse after that. The next inning, a batter hit a ball out into right field. Jeff had to chase it down. When he tried to throw it in to second, the ball landed far too short.
“Crap,” Jeff said, embarrassed. Two runs scored.
Jeff was walked again but was tagged out along with the runner behind him who had caught up to him when Jeff couldn’t run fast enough to get home. “Unbelievable,” said the runner. “Why did we get stuck with the kid?”
The period ended. Jeff’s team lost, of course, and, sadly, he knew whose fault it was.
***
Somehow he survived the rest of the day. He just kept his head down and tried to be invisible as much as possible, which wasn’t hard to do at his size.
When he got off his bus, the girl that had waited with him that morning got off with him.
“Hi,” she said.
“Hi,” he said. He sounded exhausted.
“You doing alright?” she asked.
He sighed. “Honestly?” he said. “That might have been the worst day of my life.”
“Oh,” she said. “I’m sorry.”
Jeff tried to smile. “Not your fault.”
“Oh, yeah,” she said. “Still, I’m sorry it was so bad.”
“Eh,” he said, putting on a brave face. “I’m tougher than I look. I can take it.”
She gave him a small smile. “That’s good.”
He smiled back a bit, and the two of them started to walk towards Jeff’s house. As they neared his driveway he noticed that she seemed preoccupied, like she had something she wanted to say. “What is it?” he asked.
“Oh,” she said. “It’s nothing. I just…”
“Yeah?”
“I just wanted to ask…” she took a breath. Man, she seemed nervous. “Do you like playing Call of Duty?”
Jeff was surprised. “Yeah,” he said. “I love those games.”
She smiled and continued nervously. “Would you like to… I dunno… maybe come over to play it at my house sometime?”
“Um,” said Jeff. He felt like she was asking him out on a date, which made him a bit uncomfortable, but at the same time, he appreciated having at least one conversation this day that didn’t leave him feeling like a pathetic loser. “Sure,” he said.
She smiled. “Tomorrow afternoon?”
“Sure.”
“Cool,” she said, looking obviously excited. “Well, bye then.” She said and turned to go. But, soon after, she turned back. “Later!” she shouted.
“Later,” he said and waved.
“Cheer up,” she said. “It’ll get better. I’m sure it will.”
“Sure,” Jeff said. He almost believed her.
It was only when she was out of sight and Jeff was entering his house that he realized that he didn’t know the girl’s name. But, he was quickly distracted from that thought by his sister tackling him.
“Jamie!” he cried.
“Welcome home, Jeffy,” she said as she positioned her big ass on his chest.
“Let me up.”
“You got to say ‘please’ first,” she scolded him.
“No way,” he said. “I’m sick of being pushed around by everyone, especially you. Just move your big ass.”
Jamie tilted back her head and made a hocking sound. Then, she leaned forward and let a little drop of spit form on her lips right above his face.
“No,” he said as he struggled in vain to get free.
The spit drop started to drip down from her lips, hanging precariously from a long cord of spit.
“No, stop!” he said as he stared at the spit only inches from his nose. “Please, stop. PLEASE! I said, ‘PLEASE!’”
She sucked up the spit suddenly and smiled. “That’s a good boy,” she said to him as she pinched his cheek.
She stood up and walked off, but he just lay there on the floor. A tear dripped from his eye, but he quickly wiped it away. That last humiliation had been more than he could handle. He wiped away another tear. After everything that had happened today, he wished that he had never even heard of that damn Chronivac. It had brought him nothing but misery. But, he realized that the Chronivac was his only hope for getting his life back to normal now.
“I need to fix this,” he said and sniffled. “I need to fix this right now.”