Tim caught up with Pete before Pete got too far away, "Hey you, do you know Blake?"
Pete said, "I know who he is."
Tim said, "He's the one who invented the shrink ray and shrunk your friend but he left with the shrink ray. I've got responsibilities here and can't go looking for Blake. Could you take your friend and go find him?"
Pete said, "I have some things to do myself but if he doesn't mind coming with me, yea I could take him to Blake."
I sat there listening to them and wishing it wasn't Pete. Pete was my friend but I didn't trust him to look after me in my shrunken condition. I was even more worried about why Blake ran off like that. I realized what I told him may have sounded harsh but I'm not Blake's property. I needed Blake to restore me to normal but what did I need to say or do to clarify my relationship to Blake?
Pete came back and picked me up but Tim stopped him and told him to carry me by my tail. Pete asked, "Do you prefer being carried by your tail?"
I said, "I don't know if I prefer it but I'm fine with it."
Pete picked me up and put me on his shoulder. I was scared at first but then I realized the advantage of having a tail. It helped me maintain my balance and I could grab things with it. Pete wore a small chain around his neck so if I did fall off, I could just hang from that chain.
It was also annoying because I didn't have a stitch of clothing but Pete kept showing me off. "He's the first human lab rat."
One of the first people he showed me to taught me it was best to act like an animal. The girl said, "I saw the documentary. The poor fellow must have suffered terribly. Are you giving him a good home?"
Pete played along and said, "Naw, I'm just watching him for a friend. Would you like to pet him?"
PEte held me out for the girl and she hesitated. She said, "He is rather cute." Then she pet me.
Most of the people we met just saw me as another animal and it seemed to go easier if I played along. One guy was petting me and then suddenly realized, "Hey, you're not an animal. You're a dude pretending to be an animal." Then I had to explain and re-explain. The guy finally said, "I don't care. You're a freak."
Then we saw some of our friends. Troy said, "You're a lab rat again. Are you still demonstrating?"
Pete explained that I was hired by the biology lab to be a lab rat. Troy asked if I was letting them treat me like they did in the documentary and I told them, "As long as they don't do any of the cruel stuff."
Troy said, "Cool, I've always wanted a pet. Maybe I'll come by the biology department sometimes. Do you do any tricks? Roll over. Roll over."
I laughed and rolled over. Troy said, "Good boy" and patted me on the head. "Wish I had some treats for you. I'll make sure to get some."
Troy decided to accompany us to find Blake. When we passed by a pet store, Troy stopped and took me inside. He found a collar my size. Remembering being dragged around by a collar I protested.
Troy said, "There's a leash law. I don't want you running in the street and getting run over. I won't drag you around like they did."
Troy was insistent and he was paying for it so I gave in. He bought one of those leash reels so he could give me lot's of slack or reel me in as appropriate. He also bought be a dog tag that had my name on it and some other pet supplies.
We walked out of the store but I asked if I could ride his shoulder as it would be easier.
We finally caught up with Blake. He had gone home as we expected. I told my friends I needed to talk to Blake alone so after he answered the door, my friends handed me off to Blake and left. Blake took me to his desk and stuck his nose back in his notebook.
I wasn't sure what to say. Finally I said, "Sorry for the way I sounded earlier. I didn't mean to sound so dismissive."
Blake asked, "So are you my lab rat?"
I said, "It's complicated. I don't even understand my feelings here. I guess I need to lay all the cards on the table. I crave your attention. I want your attention more than I want attention from anyone else. I've wanted your attention for a long time but you shut people out and isolate yourself. Then I started to figure you out. You want me to be your lab rat. The more I am your lab rat, the more you let me in instead of shutting me out. So I became your lab rat BUT I was hesitant at first. I didn't know if I wanted to be a lab rat or not. Some of it has been enjoyable and some of it has not been pleasant at all. I don't want to be owned like a piece of property but I still would rather be with you than with anyone else."
Blake relaxed his shoulders. "Alright, if we're laying our cards on the table, you should probably know something about me. The reason I isolate myself is not because of any mental defect. I've had relationships before, relationships no one knows about. But they left me. I thought they cared about me but they wanted something from me. The more I gave them, the more they demanded. When they demanded more than I could give, they left me. So I feel possessive but it's really just fear that you'll abandon me. I was afraid that you were going to give yourself to Tim."
I moved in and kissed Blake. "No, but I can't be your only friend. You need to become friends with Tim also. You need to come out of your shell and hang out with people. Why would you hang out in the biology department if you didn't want to be friends with them. And you need to hang out with my friends like Pete and Troy. I've been trying to get you to hang out with us for months."
Blake said, "I don't know how to relate to any of them. I try but then I say the wrong thing. I feel like there's a wall keeping me out and I know I'm the one who built that wall but I don't know how to tear it down."
I said, "Just relax. They all like you. They see how much you struggle and they've all decided to be patient. So you don't have to be afraid anymore."
Blake started kissing me. I asked, "So are you feeling better?"
He said, "Yes, thank you."
I said, "Alright, unfortunately I have to leave. I've already missed several classes lately and my grades will start to drop if I don't start doing some homework. But I will keep coming back to you."
Blake restored me to normal size. I got dressed. Then I kissed him passionately as a promise to return.