Matt and Lexi had been friends for many years, going back to their childhood. They spent a few brief years apart during high school after Lexi had moved out of the area, but they would again be going to school together, at Phoenix University. Their friendship had seen many ups and downs. They had even tried dating briefly in 8th grade, but it wasn't meant to be.

One thing was for sure, though, they would be seeing a lot more of each other fairly soon...

Lexi was 5'4, with wavy brown hair and big brown eyes that almost looked child-like when she became surprised or happy. They were usually outlined in dark colors by eye shadow and on occasion she would use lipstick on her full, thick lips. She had a slightly curvy body and was a perennial sci-fi geek.

"Ugh, Matt, I already told you, I don't know my full schedule yet..." Lexi groaned, juggling keeping her phone secured between her face and right shoulder while throwing some things into a gym bag. "...it's been really busy getting everything ready and..."

"...Yeah which is why we should hang out tonight or something, before classes start" Matt retorted, not even letting Lexi finish a sentence, "Cmon... it's been almost a year since we've seen each other"

"I swear, your life would fall apart without me, Matt" Lexi teased, setting the disheveled bag down on the dorm room bed. She sighed, sitting down on the mattress. "Still... I do miss you, twerp"

"Right back at you, shorty" Matt chuckled, "So why don't you let me show you around? I can show you the ropes and everything..."

"So you can do your tour guide voice again? No thanks" Lexi scoffed.

"Okay okay... no voices, I swear" Matt said over the phone.

"I find your whining just oh so charming" Lexi grinned, letting the phone slip into her hands effortlessly and speaking on it like a normal person. "Tell ya what... my new roommate's not moving in until tomorrow... if you want to come over tonight or something.. I suppose you..."

"Okay sounds good, see ya then, bye!" Matt chuckled, quickly terminating their phone conversation. Lexi groaned, tossing her phone onto the nearby desk. She picked her purse up off the ground and set it beside the phone.

"I could've gone to Colorado State but nooooo..." Lexi thought to herself, pacing around the room in her black jeans and blue Star Wars t-shirt. "Well, if he's going to be over soon, I guess I'll have to unpack quickly... good thing I travel lightly"

With that, Lexi lifted 4 small cubes out of her pants pocket and set them down on the ground. She focused her attention on the tiny cubes and watched them expand into full sized boxes, loaded with things for the room.

"Sometimes size changing powers have their benefit..." Lexi thought to herself before shrugging, "then again, when don't they?"

As Lexi unloaded the things from the boxes, she thought to herself about how her powers had come about. It was the weirdest thing but from a very young age, Lexi learned that she could shrink things. Not just things though, she could also shrink people, including herself. She learned this as a little kid when she wandered away from her class on a school hiking trip. After getting lost in the woods she encountered an aggressive bear. Scared out of her mind, she opened her eyes to realize she could shrink the bear to teddy sized and the rest was history. Without even knowing how, Lexi found herself able to shrink all kinds of things and while she rarely used her powers on people, she discovered she could.

"Someday I'll tell Matt..." Lexi muttered to herself, unpacking the things for her room.

Matt was Lexi's best friend and for years they told each other everything. Lexi's years in high school had been... interesting to say the least.

"I'll tell him someday" Lexi said out loud and shrugged, not noticing that Matt was currently standing in the entry way already.

"Tell me what?" Matt said, beaming as he looked in on his friend.

Matt stood at 5'11 with dirty blonde hair and brown eyes. He was a bit slim but extremely awkward and clumsy, not unlike Lexi herself.

"Oh!" Lexi gasped, "Um... nothing, nothing... was just thinking about... homework"

"You're a terrible liar" Matt chuckled, "Cmon, just tell me... you can tell me anything"

"Um..." Lexi said, dragging out her 'um' in a most adorable way, "It's not important"

"Oh sure it isn't..." Matt shrugged, looking around the room at all the boxes. "You sure brought a lot of stuff just to stay here for the semester... you should've told me. I could've helped you carry it up"

"Nah, it was nothing" Lexi said, grinning widely. "I've been working out, yknow"

"Oh and it shows, shorty" Matt laughed, playfully hitting his friend in the arm.

For years, Matt had teased Lexi about their height difference. Lexi was 5'4 but Matt stood at 5'11 and so the nickname "shorty" and several derivatives thereof caught on fast and remained throughout their childhood and beyond. It was always a reason why Lexi was tempted to show her friend just what she was truly capable of.

As Lexi looked around the room and thought about what she had left to do, Matt had already discovered something peculiar. One ice cube sized box on the ground.

"What's this?" Matt asked curiously, picking it up.

Shit, Lexi thought to herself, I forgot to unshrink that box!

"Is this some kind of toy?" Matt asked, looking it over, "Who would have a toy box? Heh... toy box... see what I did there?"

"Y-Yes... very clever, now give it here" Lexi snapped, wasting no time getting at her friend who held the box over her head between two fingers.

"What's the big deal?" Matt asked, squishing down on the box with his fingers.

"H-hey careful... I've got some clothes in there" Lexi yelled out before covering her mouth. Oops.

"Clothes? In here?" Matt asked, skeptically, prying open the tiny cardboard tab as it flopped open in his hands. He tried to examine the contents. "You couldn't fit a thimble of yarn in this thing let alone..."

Matt stood there, mouth agape as he stared into the tiny box and saw a pile of neatly folded clothes. He looked back at Lexi shocked.

"This is some kind of a joke, right?" Matt asked, "or are you one of those weirdos who dresses their Barbie dolls?"

"I don't play with Barbie dolls, you know that... I never did" Lexi replied.

"Well then what is this?" Matt asked, curious as he held the box before her.

"It's nothing, okay? Just put it down on the bed or something" Lexi said. "Now how about that tour you were going to give me?"

"Oh we can go on a nice tour, but first, you should probably explain this..." Matt joked, "do you have some kind of shrink ray or something?"

At that moment, Lexi turned bright red.

Matt leaned in closer to his friend, seeing the fear in her eyes as they fluttered every which way except in his direction. He looked down at her with a smirk. She has to be yanking my chain, he thought.

"You mean you have a shrink ray?" Matt said, playing along, "And you never told me? Why didn't you tell me, Lexi? That's awesome, it's like something out of the movies..."

"I-I-I..." Lexi stammered, "I don't have a shrink ray, don't be ridiculous..."

Matt paced around her, trying to get the truth out of her. She may not have had a shrink ray but there was something going on with her and he had struck a nerve by even implying it.

"So then what's the story, little missy?" Matt teased, "looks like you're keeping a secret from me... and I thought we agreed no more secrets"

"We-we did..." Lexi frowned, "it's just..."

"It's just what?" Matt asked

"It's just... I don't think you're ready to hear this one" Lexi said, "and I don't think I'm ready to tell you..."

"Oh. Okay" Matt said, dropping his interrogation. "I mean, if you say so... I won't pressure you"

"Thanks, Matt ... I really appreciate --"

"So where's the shrink ray? Is it in your desk? Is it on the floor?" Matt said, looking around before looking down at Lexi's clothes. "Is it in your bra or something?"

"Matt!" Lexi sighed.

"You can tell me, not like I'm going to look there..." Matt teased, "well maybe just a peek"

Lexi let out a low growl.

"Matt... the shrink ray is not in this room, okay?" Lexi sighed, growing impatient.

"So then there IS a shrink ray" Matt said.

"Even if there was, what does it matter?" Lexi sighed, rolling her eyes. She was trying desperately to contain her emotions. Sometimes gettimng emotional could trigger brief shrinking episodes and she didn't want that.

Matt paused before making his next move.

"Y'know what?" he said, sounding disinterested and backing away, "You're right... there's no such thing as a shrink ray, and even if there were, you wouldn't have one"

"Why wouldn't I?" Lexi asked, her hands on her hips as she appeared defensive.

"Because" Matt said, matter of factly, "why give somebody so short a shrink ray? That would be extremely dangerous... what if something happened and you became even shorter than you are now?"

"Stop it" Lexi groaned, watching her friend burst into laughter.

"...I mean god forbid you got any shorter, Lex" Matt laughed

"...I'm warning you..." Lexi groaned, the power rushing to her head as she tried to divert her thoughts.

"...oh don't worry Lexi, I'll leave you and your shrink ray alone..." Matt laughed, "hey you got any other mad scientist weapons like a death ray or something?"

"...Matt, this isn't a joke..." Lexi sighed, positively steaming now.

"You sure... it's kinda funny..." Matt laughed, "I'll give you this, you got me going with that little tiny box you had there... must be some kind of movie prop or something"

"Stop it... please" Lexi sighed, putting her finger on her forehead, feeling her whole body increase in temperature.

"You probably couldn't even use a shrink ray" Matt continued on, ignoring her friends pleas. "I took archery with you in 6th grade... that was a disaster... your aim was terrible, and..."

"I SAID STOP!!" Lexi shouted, her voice reverberating in Matt's head as the room began to spin. The warmth from Lexi's body left her and suddenly transferred to his as he felt his extremities tingle, momentarily paralyzed to watch as Lexi and everything around her grew. Lexi gasped, instantly regretting her action as she watched her friend shrink smaller and smaller. Within no time, he was at her waist, then her thighs, then her ankles. Before either of them could speak he had shrunk down to 4 inches tall where he stood agape, now standing besides the miniature box which no longer appeared so miniature.

Lexi's eyes locked down on tiny Matt on the floor. She felt a million emotions go through her... guilt, sorrow, anger, but then one more. Delight.

"Hey Matt... you wanted to help me unpack, right? Why don't you be a dear and unpack that box behind you?" Lexi chuckled, referring him to the small cube behind him.

Matt turned around in fright to see the regular sized box and then looked at the tip of Lexi's shoe as it stood imposingly in front of him. He couldn't even bear to crane his neck up to see Lexi smiling down at him.

"L-Lexi... what's going on?" he gasped. From her vantage point, his voice sounded like a mouse squeaking.

"Well Matt..." Lexi started, then paused, "Hmm, c-could you say that again maybe? A little louder?"


"Damn it Lexi!" Matt squeaked, looking angry, "what did you do to me?"


"Hehehehe, that's what I thought!" Lexi laughed, "you sound so cute down there... very squeaky. A hilarious side effect if I do say so myself"

"Lexi this isn't funny! What have you done to me? Please! Help me!" Matt squeaked even louder.

"Serves you right..." Lexi smirked, looking straight down at tiny Matt, almost able to make out the fear in his face. "I guess I should've mentioned... I don't have a shrink ray... I AM the shrink ray"



"What?" Matt asked, fearfully

Lexi squatted down before her friend, noticing him start to scoot back.

"Oh c'mon you little baby, I'm not going to hurt you..." Lexi sighed, putting her hand behind him before he could run too far. She coralled her little friend in with her other hand, holding him securely as she lifted him up. She admired her handiwork before her eyes as she looked at scared little Matt in her palm, "Not so much of a handful anymore, are you Matt?"

Matt turned his head and looked up sharply, shrieking as he saw Lexi's giant eyeballs staring down at him.

"Is that any way to greet your best friend?" Lexi said, sounding dissappointed, "I mean, yeah I'm not Halle Berry but I never thought I was ugly either"

"Lexi... please.. undo this... please..." Matt said, getting dizzy from looking up at his giant friend and then looking way down at the ground below him.

"I wish I could..." Lexi frowned.

Matt's heart then skipped a beat.

"What?" he gasped.

"Yeah... I'm sorry... I only know how to shrink people" Lexi sighed, "I never learned how to unshrink them..."

"You're joking..." Matt squeaked.

"Nope. Not joking" Lexi said, shaking her head, "You're going to be stuck that size forever, all because you wouldn't leave me alone about my secret... but it won't be so bad, right? I've got a little cage I can keep you in and I'll take care of you and feed you everyday, like a little pet hamster... of course, we both remember what happened to my last hamster? Hmmm, I'll try to be more careful with you, okay?"

Matt nearly collapsed in his giant friend's hand, tears forming in his eyes. He began blubbering like a baby. "Lexi please... no... there has to be something you can do..."

Lexi nodded, looking him over.

"Okay... um... hold on tight though, okay?" Lexi said, bringing Matt closer.

"Um...okay, for what?" he asked.

"This" Lexi smiled, opening her mouth and blowing some hot air over tiny Matt, he felt himself get flinged back and gasped as he was tossed so easily back from just a simple breath. Lexi began laughing, her giggling resonating in his ears. "I'm just kidding you little twerp! Of course I can unshrink you! It may just take some time!"

"H-How much time?" Matt asked

"I don't know, could be a few hours... definitely not more than a day though" Lexi said, nodding.

"A day?! I've got class in the morning" Matt squeaked.

"Oh. Well no worries, I can always carry you there" Lexi smiled.

Matt did not appear amused.

"Oh c'mon, I'm just messin around..." Lexi teased, hovering a finger over her little friend. As if by instinct, Matt began to scoot back in her hand, trying desperately to avoid the tree trunk of a finger as it closed in. She finally slowed down and bopped him gently with her finger tip watching him fall back.

"S-So... what did you mean when you said YOU were the shrink ray?" Matt asked

With a shrug, Lexi casually answered, "it's what it sounds like... I've had these... powers since I was a kid"

"Th-this is quite a secret to keep from me" Matt stammered

Lexi frowned, looking over her tiny pal, "I know but... how could I have ever told you about this? Would you even have believed me??"

"I'd say this is a pretty convincing way of telling me!" Matt squeaked helplessly. Lexi responded by patting him gently on the back with a single finger.

"I know, and you're taking this MUCH better than the other guys I've shrunk" Lexi grinned.

"O-Other guys?" Matt asked

"Oh yeah, you remember my ex, Justin?" Lexi asked, as the tiny Matt answered with a weak nod, "Yeah... let's just say he won't be coming around anymore..."

"You're not exactly filling me with confidence here..." Matt whimpered.

"Oh calm down" Lexi said in a playful tone, "he had it coming, but you're nice... I'd never hurt you, Matt"

Matt sighed with relief.

"I may tease you and play around a bit, but I'd never HURT you" Lexi added.

"....GREAT." Matt groaned.

"Oh shush up, shorty" Lexi teased, poking Matt again, this time a bit more forcefully. He fell backwards onto Lexi's waiting palm.

Matt stumbled up onto his feet slowly. Lexi sighed

"Well... I suppose for you I could probably unshrink you sooner than..."

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and a female voice from the other side.

"Um, hello? I'm your new roommate, Becky?" the voice said.

Lexi stared at her tiny friend in shock as he stared back.

"I thought you said your roommate didn't move in until tomorrow!" Matt squeaked

"That's what I thought!" Lexi exclaimed.

"Umm, is there somebody in there with you?" Becky asked.

"Um... no... I'm just on the phone... hold on..." Lexi said, putting her phone into her purse. She then lowered Matt inside the open purse.

"Hey wait!" Matt squeaked, dissappearing into the darkness. As he looked straight up at his giant friend, the zipper slowly slid shut, closing him inside with the giant cell phone and makeup within Lexi's purse. Without hesitation, Lexi lifted the purse up off the desk and Matt felt his world going sideways. "Wait!! Let me out of here!"

Matt could hear the 2 ladies socializing briefly as Lexi ended up leaving the room and heading down the hallway. After several turbulent steps, Matt felt himself rolling to a stop. He groaned, looking straight up as the zipper opened again and the room filled with light and the sight of Lexi's smiling face.

"Hey, sorry about that" Lexi sighed, "Couldn't have her seeing you, yknow... you're the only one who knows about this power of mine"

"R-Really? I'm the only one...?" Matt blushed.

"Yeah... well of course..." Lexi smiled, "You're my bestie... now how about that tour?"

"Not sure now is a good time" Matt replied.

"Non-sense!" Lexi exclaimed, "I insist!"

With that, Lexi whisked Matt and her purse back up and continued to walk down the hall.

"Now if you look to your left..." Lexi beamed in her dorkiest tour guide voice, "you'll see the lip gloss I used yesterday... and if you look to your right, you'll see a cell phone which you should never touch unless you wanna get squished by your best friend, Lexi"

Matt rolled his eyes and crossed his arms as he was thrown either which way as the purse dangled from Lexi's shoulder. As he moved around, he could only think one thing.

"This was going to be one crazy semester..."

"We should totally see Dr. Strange tonight!" Matt exclaimed on the phone with Lexi that morning.

"Yeah, I dunno, maybe" Lexi shrugged, getting her things ready for the first week of classes at Phoenix University.

"What do you mean, maybe?" Matt asked, "We've been seeing all the Marvel movies since we were kids"

"Yeah, since we were KIDS" Lexi scoffed, "We're in our 20's now, ain't nobody got time for that!"

"Did you really just use that voice?" Matt said, rolling his eyes, "Yeah, well we're still on to see Rogue One, right?"

"Well yeah, that's a given" Lexi chuckled, "but Dr. Strange? I don't know... sounds kinda strange..."

"Since when has THAT ever stopped us?" Matt retorted.

"I don't know..." Lexi replied, rolling her eyes a bit.

"Well, hey, how about I buy your ticket since you're being such a party pooper? I'll even drive" Matt offered.

"Throw in some popcorn and we have a deal..." Lexi smiled, only half paying attention at this point.

"You drive a hard bargain..." Matt sighed with a wince, "but okay... there's a 7:30 showing if you're down?"

"Alright fine... I suppose I could use a night out" Lexi shrugged.

"Gee, don't sound so excited" Matt teased, realizing he was running late, "so hey, I'll see you later, okay?"

"Whatever you say, Mr. Strange" Lexi replied, ending the phone call.

Matt hurriedly headed out the door, bringing his usual disheveled collection of books and flawed ways to hold them along for the ride. He stumbled down the hallway, nearly bumping into several of his fellow students on the way to class. Finally he slid through the door with just seconds to spare and sat down with a thud in a seat towards the back room. From there, he could hear a girlish giggle.

He glanced back but as soon as he did, the girl behind the giggle quickly averted her glance. The girl was very skinny with brownish eyes. She had short black hair and appeared very shy as she slid back in her seat, acting like she hadn't just giggled.

"Oh, I suppose you've never been late to class before?" Matt asked in a dulled whisper.

"Not while dropping everything I owned" the girl said quietly, directing her eyes towards the trail of papers and textbook that had hit the floor on Matt's journey into the room.

"Oh. Right" Matt sighed, sliding out of his chair to get his lost belongings.

"Well looks like any perceptions about my being a klutz aren't going away this year either" Matt thought to himself.

While the two waited for their professor to show up, they got to talking.

"I'm Matt"

"Ellen" the girl replied, weakly offering a hand to shake. She somehow seemed even more socially awkward than Matt.

"You um... always laugh at strangers?" Matt asked

"No, actually... I'm not all that friendly around strangers" Ellen shrugged, "...or people I know, or people I don't know, or relatives..."

"Okay I get it, you're generally unpleasant" Matt joked which was thankfully met with a laugh by the pretty shy girl.

"It's not that" Ellen said, recovering from her laughing fit, "It's just.... I don't know, I just got here and I don't really know anyone, y'know? I feel lost sometimes... sorry... that's a bit much to throw on someone I just met, I know"

"N-No, it's cool" Matt said nodding his head in understanding, "It can suck coming to a new school for the first time, especially one as big as this"

"Yeah..." Ellen said, her voice trailing off as the professor entered the room.

As class began its session, the two continued to exchange pleasantries here and there before finally being dismissed.

After having talked to this girl for only 20-30 minutes, Matt already knew he had to make a move. He had been too shy himself in the past, so he tailed Ellen after class and got to talking.

"So um... hey... if you ever need someone to show you around... maybe I could be your guy?" Matt asked, before quickly backtracking, "I mean like... your guy to show you around, not like YOUR guy... not like... I mean, unless you wanted... like a tour guy, not YOUR guy... but kinda..."

"Y-Yeah, yeah" Ellen said awkwardly, "I um.. think I know what you're going for"

"Do you?" Matt asked sheepishly, "because I'm not even sure"

"Yeah, I think you want to show me around, right?" Ellen asked

"Um... yes! Yes! Show you around and nothing more" Matt said, secretly hating himself, "...well maybe a little more"

"Oh?" Ellen asked, turning noticeably red.

"Um... yeah... but I mean, only if you want to... that is... um..." Matt stammered. 'Get it together, man!' he snapped at himself before returning to reality. "...um... how about tonight? We could uh meet in the food court and I could um... show you around and maybe... buy you dinner?"

"Hmmmm I don't know..." Ellen said, seemingly hugging her books extra tight to signify her nerves.

"Well think about it, okay?" Matt asked, beginning to walk away. He didn't get too far before he could hear Ellen's voice following him.

"Hey, Matt" she said. Matt turned around.

"I'd like that... let's meet up tonight... if you wanted" Ellen said.

"Oh yes, I mean, if YOU wanted" Matt said, trying to play it cool.

"Yeah, that would be fun..." Ellen said and then added, "Oh and Matt? I really like seafood"

"Good to know, good to know" Matt grinned, and after taking down her number, he was off to plan for this unexpected date. At least he thought it was a date... it was definitely a get together of some kind. All he had to do was agree to buy her dinner and suddenly she was all smiles.

"What is it with the women in my life? I gotta buy em stuff just to keep them at the table" Matt thought to himself, continuing his walk back to the dorms. "First Lexi and now... oh shit! Lexi! I told her I'd see Dr. Strange with her tonight... Ugh!!"

In his absentminded love fest, Matt had forgotten about the plans he had made prior. But he couldn't cancel on Ellen, not after the socially awkward journey that led him there... what was a 20 something to do?

He decided to wait until Lexi's classes got out for the day and give her a call.

"Lexi's my bud, she'll understand" Matt said to himself before dwelling on it a bit more, "She WILL understand, right?"

Matt was about to find out, as later that night he dialed her number and waited. The wait seemed to go on unusually long before hearing her voice pick up.

"Oh, hey Matt" Lexi said.

"Hey"

"So, actually I thought about it and I'm kind of looking forward to seeing that movie" Lexi said.

"....oh?" Matt asked, feeling the nerves bubble up inside him. "I'm such a lousy friend" he thought.

"Yeah, it's been kind of a long day and you know... I could use sort of an escape" Lexi replied, "plus with just us hanging out, it'll kinda be like the old days, y'know?"

"Um... yeah... hey L-Lexi... about that..." Matt groaned.

"Yes?"

"...I um... may have to take a raincheck on the whole movie thing" Matt said.

"Oh? Something come up?" Lexi asked, not used to having Matt cancel on her for anything.

"Well um... it's kind of a ...." Matt droned on, thinking of the best way to explain this. "....a....."

"Girl?" Lexi asked, after a long and awkward delay.

"Yes! One of those! A girl!" Matt said, chuckling nervously as each passing moment of Lexi's silence worried him, "but I mean, you're not mad, are you?"

"No... I mean, a little disappointed maybe but... not mad, no" Lexi said, the smile leaving her face, "I um... yeah, go on your date"

"Well it's not really a date..." Matt stammered, "we're not really sure what it is... kind of a hanging out? Maybe even a tour? She's making me buy her dinner"

"Sounds like your type" Lexi said, rolling her eyes.

"What do you mean by that?" Matt asked.

"Nothing, just don't let her use you like the others" Lexi said.

"Oh it's not like that... she's really shy. I just had to offer her dinner to sweeten the pot" Matt said with a confidence in his voice before realizing how silly that sounded. "....that didn't really make me sound very cool, did it?"

"Not at all" Lexi said, seemingly growing colder by the second.

"So hey... I'm really sorry but we could always see the movie tomorrow or something, right?" Matt asked

"Actually no, I've got a late night chem lab tomorrow" Lexi answered,

"Really? But it's only the first day..." Matt said

"Yeah and my chem teacher is being a real hardass" Lexi sighed, "He says this is going to be a very tough class and the lab portion starts tomorrow... it could go until midnight"

"Geez"

"Yeah, so anyway... have fun with your girlfriend or whatever..." Lexi sighed, "...we'll talk again soon, I'm sure"

"Y-Yeah and..." Matt started before being hit with the cold sound of a phone hanging up on him. "Ugh great..."

So Matt sighed, exhaling as the worst was hopefully over and went into the other room to get changed. What does one wear to a 'not a date, but kind of a getting to know you' type of thing? In situations like this, Matt would pull out his trusty laptop and do a google search but there wasn't enough time.

As Matt walked towards his closet he felt a bit woozy.

"T-That was weird..." Matt sighed, a tingly feeling hitting his body. He reached for the closet door handle and pulled it open. "Oh geez..."

Matt cringed as he watched the room starting to grow around him.

Oh shit! Not again! Matt thought, watching his clothes get higher and higher from him as if somebody were pulling the closet bar up and up away from him like a fishing rod.

Frantic, he dialed Lexi.

"What do you want?" she said, with a dejected sigh.

"Lexi... very funny..." Matt scowled.

"What do you mean?" Lexi asked.

"You can't get what you want so you shrink me?" Matt asked, currently standing at only 3 feet tall.

"What are you talking about?" Lexi asked.

"You know what I'm talking about!" Matt yelled out, seeming to have stablized at 3 feet tall but still feeling odd. "I'm slowly shrinking over here!"

"You are?" Lexi asked.

"Yes!"

"So you mean to tell me... if I came over right now, I could see you slowly starting to shrink away?" Lexi asked.

"Well... yes!" Matt snapped.

"Okay I'll be over in 5 minutes!" Lexi grinned, and quickly hung up the phone. Matt sighed in frustration.

Sure enough, true to her word, Lexi knocked on the door in less than 5 minutes. Matt struggled to reach the door knob, barely able to tap it with his hands but he was able to turn it enough so that Lexi could slide the door open, almost bopping Matt in the facr as she let herself in, staring down at her half sized friend.

"Oh wow, you weren't kidding..." Lexi chuckled, "You're little kid sized now..."

"Yeah veeery funny, Lexi!" Matt snapped, pointing up at his growing friend, "You did this to me! Now please undo it!"

"As much as I would love to take credit for this one, it isn't me" Lexi shrugged.

"What do you mean it isn't you?" Matt asked, "Who the hell else could it be?"

As Matt grew angrier, he started to shrink and shrink.

"I don't know... but you may want to start being nicer to me..." Lexi grinned, stepping closer to her shrinking friend and startling him a little.

"Why? What are you going to do to me?" Matt sighed, dejected, "Besides shrink me some more...? You've already humiliated me, Lexi... enough is enough!"

Lexi watched as his friend continue to shrink, eventually becoming ankle height.

"See? It couldn't be me shrinking you" Lexi said, "I would've made you MUCH smaller..."

"Ugh, c'mon Lexi... I know this is you" Matt said, staring up at Lexi.

"You don't believe me, do you?" Lexi frowned.

"No, I don't believe you!" Matt snapped, throwing a mini tantrum, "I piss you off enough and suddenly, I'm only THIS big?"

"You really think I'd do this to you?" Lexi frowned, looking down angrily at little Matt, "Y'know what? Go ahead and call your girlfriend... maybe she could help you..."

Lexi began to make her way towards the exit, much to the dismay of Matt.

"Lexi, wait! Where are you going?" Matt asked nervously, watching her fade out the door.

"I'm going! I'll check up on you later... maybe..." Lexi sighed.

"Lexi wait!! No!!" Matt yelped, watching her leave. "ugh... I don't believe this..."

Matt reached into his pocket and felt for his phone. Thankfully, it had shrunk with him and his clothes.

He dialed Ellen's number and sighed nervously.

"Hi" Ellen said.

"Um,... hi... it's Matt" Matt sighed

"You okay? You sound a little different..." Ellen said.

Matt realized his voice was still a little squeaky. He tried to deepen his voice to compensate.

"Um... yeah I'm fine..." Matt said in a low growl, "well actually... um... I don't think I'll be able to make it tonight"

"Oh? Everything okay?" Ellen asked.

Matt paused a second to deliberate on this question, looking around his giant room. "Um... relatively okay... but I'm not really feeling well unfortunately" Matt sighed, hating to have to cancel.

"Well... that's okay" Ellen said nervously, her voice cracking a little, "Um... hope you feel better, Matt"

"Th-thanks, me too" Matt replied.
"Bye" Ellen said.

"Bye..." Matt sighed, hanging up the phone.

"I hope you're happy, Lexi..." Matt sighed dejectedly, pacing around the room.

As Matt paced around, he realized he was just letting life get him down. He had to go out and get the opportunities being given to him.

"Yeah, y'know what Lexi? I'm not going to take this anymore!" Matt said, standing with confidence. He charged out through the cracked open door and charged down the hallway, making little to no progress at his mousy size. "I'm going to march right up to Lexi, look her straight in the.... ankles... and I'm going to say..."

Just then, a massive foot stomped down beside him.

"Eeek!" Matt squeaked, running away and leaning up against the wall. He ran like a maniac a little further before needing to catch his breath.
He looked around the hallway some more and didn't see anybody approaching. He then scampered further down the hall realizing the door was too massive to open to get to the stairs. He also had nowhere else to go. He then noticed that his roommate had come home and just shut the door to their room. "Oh great."

Matt walked around for a little while longer, the growing exhaustion weakening him. Finally he caved. He dialed Lexis number frantically.

"Yes?" Lexi said, sounding exasperated.

"Lexi! Please help me!" Matt squeaked.

"Well well, if it isn't the man of the hour..." Lexi sighed, rolling her eyes on the other ehd.

"Lexi please! I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I'll never cancel our plans again, I swear! Just help me!" Matt squeaked weakly, "Help me!"

"Oh my god, calm down you big baby" Lexi sighed, "I'll be right there.. where are you?"

"I don't know, Lex... I'm helplessly lost! I'm miles from home and I don't know..." Matt cried.

Within seconds, the door opened and Lexi came sliding out from the other side. She looked down at Matt and grinned.

"Really?" Matt sighed, closing his phone, "you were standing there the whole time?"

"Yep"

"So you've been there for 2 hours?" Matt asked.

"2 hours? Matt, it's been like 3 minutes... and you've walked about 10 feet from your room..." Lexi giggled, "Get a clue... plus I wasn't going to just leave my best friend in trouble like that"

"Well... w-wait, where were you when the giant foot almost stomped on me?" Matt asked, his hands on his hips.

"Oh that. I found that kinda funny because it came nowhere near you but you so freaked out... I was watching from behind the door" Lexi giggled.

"Oh very funny..." Matt growled.

"Awwww c'mon Matt, I was just joking..." Lexi said, putting her hand down as a peace offer. Matt stepped onto Lexi's soft palm and she raised him up, taking him away from there and down the stairs. "Now, are you okay?"

"Yeah... th-thanks..." Matt sighed. "and Lexi, I'm so sorry that I cancelled on you and..."

"Hey." Lexi said, stopping him in his tracks, "No more of that, okay?"

"Hmm?"

"I don't want you to be afraid of me because of all... this" Lexi said, pointing to her tiny friend in her hand, "I know you don't believe me but I didn't shrink you... I didn't even WISH for you to be shrunk... I couldn't have even shrunk you anyway, you were too far away from me to shrink..."

"You mean that power of yours doesn't go through walls?" Matt asked.

"I'm not that good, no" Lexi nodded, "I mean it can work about 20 feet away but that's about the limit of it... I mean, as far as I know... I've never really tested the limits of my powers..."

"So you swear you didn't do this?" Matt asked.

"No I didn't do it" Lexi repeated, "but I could easily undo it"

"Oh now you tell me! Why didn't you tell me that before?" Matt squeaked.

"Because it was all too funny to watch you throw a tiny temper tantrum... but I was going to..." Lexi explained, "but then you started accusing me of shrinking you and I... I got upset... not because you cancelled our plans but because you honestly thought I would use my powers to punish you... and you know I'm not like that"

Matt frowned.

"I...I know... I'm sorry..." Matt sighed.

"It's okay" Lexi sighed, petting her tiny friend on the back. "You were scared, you didn't know better... now hold on"

Lexi placed Matt down on the floor and watched him grow back to his full height.

"Thank you so much!" Matt grinned, hugging his best friend in joy.

"Of course, pal" Lexi giggled, "now why don't you go out there and get your woman?"

"Ehh, I already cancelled..." Matt sighed, "think I pissed her off, too"

"Awww, I'm sorry, dude" Lexi replied, patting him on the shoulder. "Well, hey I think Dr. Strange starts soon if you still wanted to go..."

"You really still wanna go with me?" Matt asked

"Sure, why not?" Lexi said, shrugging.

"Thanks Lex... and don't worry I'll still buy your ticket" Matt said.

"Oh that's not nessecary" Lexi smiled.

"Oh?"

"Yeah... in fact I'll buy tickets for both of us" Lexi said.

"Really?" Matt asked, feeling a tingle go through his spine. "H-hey.. not again..."

After a few seconds Matt looked up at Lexis giggling face and gave her a flat stare.

"You ARE doing this, aren't you?"

"This time, yes." Lexi giggled, "but only to save money..."

Matt looked up confused as he became 4 inches tall again.

"You see, I can sneak you into the movie theater this way and nobody will ever know" Lexi said triumphantly, scooping her tiny friend up again.

"Oh, I get it! And then you'll re-enlarge me once we're inside. Great plan!" Matt squeaked.

"Y-Yeah.... that's what I'll do...." Lexi said, putting her friend into her purse before mumbling, "....maybe...."

"What'd you say?" Matt asked, as Lexi walked them outside.

"I said, 'can't wait'!" Lexi said, giggling under her breath.

"Well I know who's not going to hog the popcorn this time!" Lexi thought to herself in glee.
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