A few hours later the bus arrived back at the school and the team said their goodbyes. Alex walked to the back of the school parking lot and pulled the door of her car open, still tired despite her nap on the bus ride home. She chucked her bag into the back seat before starting the old car up and beginning her drive home. As she mashed on the gas peddle her felt the small lump under her foot and was reminded of her tiny companion.
“Having fun in there? I’d almost forgot about you; don’t worry we’ll have tons of fun once I’m home twerp!” She laughed, calling out to her shoe. There was no response to her taunt.
After a short drive she arrived at her home, her parents had beaten her back from the game and were already inside. She took a deep breath and got out of the car, looking forward to finally relaxing. She stepped up onto the porch and popped the door open, to see her mother standing in the kitchen finishing up dinner.
“Look hun, the champ is home!” She called out to Alex’s father who was in the living room, her mom stopped what she was doing to grab Alex up in a hug. “I’m so proud of you! I mean, state champ? I always knew you would win!” Her mother’s eyes beamed with pride while looking at her sweaty daughter.
“Thanks mom” Alex chuckled “what ya cooking?”
“Hamburgers, you’re favorite!” her mom replied, causing Alex’s face to light up
“That was your best game ever kiddo, you really went all out.” Her dad praised her as he entered into the kitchen, giving her a slap on the back.
“Yeah, I had some extra motivation tonight I guess” She snickered to herself, giving Jake’s limp body another squeeze between her toes.
Alex ate dinner and chatted with her parents for the rest of the night, and after devouring a fourth hamburger finally retired to her room after wishing her parents a goodnight. She entered the bedroom and shut the door behind her, locking it. Her parents weren’t fans of tinies either, but she still might be in trouble for her little prank from today if they found out. The bedroom was a mess, dirty clothes and old water bottles lined the floor. The walls and shelves were covered in years’ worth of different trophies and awards from the various sports she had played, most of them first place trophies. She plopped down on her unmade bed and reached down for her shoe, a smirk formed on her lips as she pulled the stuffy sneaker off with a wet squelch. The rancid odor immediately filled the room and wafted up to her nose, it was worse than it had ever been. Her socks were sopping wet as she freed them from their stuffy confines. Next, she began working on peeling the socks off, which clung to her sweaty skin. After finally getting them off she began to shake the one Jake was in, excited to retrieve her toy.
“Come on out dude, game is over” she said as she violently shook the sock, her palm laid out underneath it to catch him, he never came out though. She shook harder. “I get that you’re loving it in there but come out!” She commanded, though he still was nowhere to be seen. She then realized what had happened as she felt something stuck to her foot. Turning her sole over she saw his body plastered against her sole, his face buried in between her toes. She burst out laughing. “Oh my god there you are twerp! God you’re a fucking loser” She continued to laugh as she reached down and began to peel him off her sole, before lifting him up to her face to see him better. When she saw him though she noticed his state. His body had been partially flattened from his time in the shoe, his skin rubbed red from the friction and abuse he faced during her game. A permanent look of horror was frozen on his face, and his whole body was smeared in sweat and toe grime. He laid limp in between her fingers; he had died in the shoe.
A frown formed on her face as the realization set in, “Really dude, you couldn’t survive one measly game for me, God you suck!” she said, upset her toy had broken so easily. She flicked his corpse to the ground which landed with a soft wet thud. “I mean, really?! We were gonna have so much fun! It was just a few hours! And we’re supposed to respect you guys, yeah right” she laughed, looking down at his broken state. “If your parents could see you now maybe they’d realize you tinies should stay in your place, you should have never been at school to begin with. Guess I’ll have to get a new toy, a better one hopefully” She laid back on the bed with this remark, leaving Jake’s body on the dirty floor beside her damp socks. She began to think of who could replace him, there were the other tinies at school, but she hardly ever saw them. She had heard the school was getting a new tiny substitute teacher as part of the integration program, but no telling when that would be. Then it hit her, she knew of the perfect replacement, a smile formed across her face as she thought of all the possibilities. She’d have to get started on her plan soon, but for now, she was going to bed.