Yeah, you're not going through this again. Not after you transferred to a special school for the disabled just to avoid it. Acting on instinct, you shove Emi and knock the bottle out of her hand. Grabbing it with your quick reflexes honed from years of living with your condition, you pop the bottle open and swallow a pill in one practiced, fluid motion. You sigh with relief, knowing you'll be back to normal size within the hour. You look at your would-be tormentor, prepared to run at a moment's notice if she looks like she'll hurt you in retaliation, though given how fast she is, that might be a futile effort.
To your surprise, she's not angry. Just upset, looking at you with an expression like a hurt puppy that has just kicked an even smaller puppy.
"Dude... I was just kidding..."
You sigh, and remember you're not in a normal high school anymore. You won't have to deal with bullying here. Everyone has a story, something keeping them out of normal school. Emi was no more likely to judge you for your reduction in size than you were for her legs. She just took her joke too far and hit a sore spot with you, that's all. You owe her an apology.
"I'm sorry," you say. "It's just... this condition brought me a lot of grief when I attended normal school. And not just from missing classes because of shrinking either."
"What do you mean?" Emi asks, hurt giving way to curiosity.
"Well, it didn't take long for word to get out that I shrink. This isn't exactly normal, after all," you say with a grimace. "And high school students can be pretty terrible to people that are different. Especially when you're small enough to throw around like a basketball. Or stuff in a shoe locker. Or tape to the chair of a girl you like when she's not looking..."
You trail off when you see the look of growing horror on Emi's face. You didn't mean to vent at her.
"Sorry, it's just... they'd steal my pills so they could do this stuff to me, so it's kind of scary when I think it's happening, even as a joke. I shouldn't have shoved you, and for that I apologize."
You turn to leave, only for her to run to catch up to you.
"I'm sorry too," she says. "I won't ever joke about that again." She holds out her hand. "Friends?"
You smile, and place your hand in hers, it easily enveloping yours because of your difference in size. "Friends," you agree.
She giggles as she looks at your hand in hers briefly before letting go. Well meaning or not, you're still a novelty to her, so you don't let it bother you.
"For what it's worth," she says, looking serious. "If I went to school with you, I'd have kicked those students' asses."
You smile. "Good to know."
Suddenly she looks at her sports watch. "Oh no, is it that late already? Shit, I gotta go. I always check with the nurse after I run, and if I don't leave now, I'll be late for class."
You sigh. This reminds you. Technically, you're supposed to see the nurse any time you have a shrinking episode. This inevitably means a lecture about taking your medicine that you don't really want to sit through right now. You should be back to normal before class, so you don't think anyone would be the wiser. But then, you'd get to walk there with the first new friend you've made in a while.
Is it worth it?
To your surprise, she's not angry. Just upset, looking at you with an expression like a hurt puppy that has just kicked an even smaller puppy.
"Dude... I was just kidding..."
You sigh, and remember you're not in a normal high school anymore. You won't have to deal with bullying here. Everyone has a story, something keeping them out of normal school. Emi was no more likely to judge you for your reduction in size than you were for her legs. She just took her joke too far and hit a sore spot with you, that's all. You owe her an apology.
"I'm sorry," you say. "It's just... this condition brought me a lot of grief when I attended normal school. And not just from missing classes because of shrinking either."
"What do you mean?" Emi asks, hurt giving way to curiosity.
"Well, it didn't take long for word to get out that I shrink. This isn't exactly normal, after all," you say with a grimace. "And high school students can be pretty terrible to people that are different. Especially when you're small enough to throw around like a basketball. Or stuff in a shoe locker. Or tape to the chair of a girl you like when she's not looking..."
You trail off when you see the look of growing horror on Emi's face. You didn't mean to vent at her.
"Sorry, it's just... they'd steal my pills so they could do this stuff to me, so it's kind of scary when I think it's happening, even as a joke. I shouldn't have shoved you, and for that I apologize."
You turn to leave, only for her to run to catch up to you.
"I'm sorry too," she says. "I won't ever joke about that again." She holds out her hand. "Friends?"
You smile, and place your hand in hers, it easily enveloping yours because of your difference in size. "Friends," you agree.
She giggles as she looks at your hand in hers briefly before letting go. Well meaning or not, you're still a novelty to her, so you don't let it bother you.
"For what it's worth," she says, looking serious. "If I went to school with you, I'd have kicked those students' asses."
You smile. "Good to know."
Suddenly she looks at her sports watch. "Oh no, is it that late already? Shit, I gotta go. I always check with the nurse after I run, and if I don't leave now, I'll be late for class."
You sigh. This reminds you. Technically, you're supposed to see the nurse any time you have a shrinking episode. This inevitably means a lecture about taking your medicine that you don't really want to sit through right now. You should be back to normal before class, so you don't think anyone would be the wiser. But then, you'd get to walk there with the first new friend you've made in a while.
Is it worth it?
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February 17
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