Chuxi awoke with a start, and not for the first time that night. Sitting up, he looked down at himself and then at his surroundings. He was still tiny.

Sighing, he looked at Haley’s clock and saw that it read five o’ clock. Swiveling his head back left, he saw his gigantic bunkmate sleeping soundly, her arms tight to her side. Evidently, Haley hadn’t budged since last night – she really did sleep like a mummy. If she was careful about getting up in the morning, making her bed would be a cinch.

Meanwhile, Chuxi’s bed was quite the opposite. He had kicked his “blanket” and “sheets” every which way over the course of his fitful, dream-filled night. His latest nightmare was one in which he had somehow gotten trapped in Julie’s running sock. He had snapped awake just as she was inserting her foot into his stinky prison. Chuxi smiled ruefully. Of course that didn’t make any sense: who would go running in a used sock?

Realizing that he had no shot at falling back asleep, Chuxi took a deep breath and thought about his next move. Thanks to Haley’s extreme generosity, he had at least a week of relative security. She had done such a fantastic job of taking care of him so far, he quite frankly looked forward to spending more time with her. He also had the help of Dr. Turner, who presumably would run every test known to mankind on him – surely that would yield something. Given these circumstances, it seemed obvious that his best action would be to take no action at all and simply bide his time. While this frustrated him, he figured he’d at least have plenty of time to think over alternatives.

Chuxi caught himself staring at Haley. Since she was lying on her back, he had an excellent view of her profile. Her nose sloped gracefully down from her blemish-free forehead, and her lips looked as soft as pillows. He wondered what it would be like to walk across her face. Fleetingly, he wished she would open her eyes so that he could appreciate those too.

He got his wish.

Her eyelids fluttered slightly before opening fully. Chuxi immediately twisted around so that he was facing the foot of the bed, his face burning with embarrassment. He fervently hoped that she hadn’t seen him staring at her like some goon.

“Oh, you’re awake,” she said in a raspy, just-woke-up voice. “Wow, it’s not even six yet.”

Trying to seem casual, Chuxi stretched his arms out over his head and looked over at her as if he’d just noticed her. “I guess that’s what happens when you pass out at nine.”

“I should do that more often,” she said as she carefully slipped out of bed. As Chuxi had predicted, it took her a flick of her wrist to return her bed to its originally pristine state. “I’ll be right back,” she said as she headed out the door. Chuxi heard a toilet flush, and moments later she returned for him. “Do you need to go #1 or #2?” she asked with a completely straight face.

“Uhh… just #1,” he blushed.

“Okay,” she said with a small smile. She took him on a short ride to the bathroom where she rested her hand on the toilet seat. “Do your thing. I’ll be back in a bit.”

He did as he was told.

When she returned, she wore a bright orange blouse and a pair of white shorts, both of which nicely complimented her sunny disposition. Without wasting any time, she scooped him up from the toilet seat and set him down beside the sink where the surprisingly useful contact lens case already waited, filled with toothpaste and water. Chuxi washed his face and brushed his teeth while Haley did the same above. When he was finished, he watched her apply some make-up, happy for an excuse to openly appreciate her beauty.

“Done,” she said, clicking the top of her mascara shut. “You’ve been waiting patiently,” she observed, glancing down at him through the mirror. “How about I go scrounge up some food?” She brought him out to their living room where she set him down on the table and began bustling about the kitchen. “Do you like your eggs scrambled?” she asked.

“Of course,” he replied.

In no time, Haley returned with a bowl of grapes, some toast, and a veritable mountain of scrambled eggs. She made a second trip for his miniature furniture as well as a tiny meal that she had once again portioned off with astounding precision. “Let me know if you want seconds,” she said. This time, a piece of bread acted as his plate, which was piled high with eggs, a single grape sliced into smaller pieces, and a hunk of bread smothered in butter. This time, the same pen cap from earlier was filled with orange juice. He could get used to this.

“So what’s the plan for today?” asked Haley between bites.

“I sort of figured I would just stay here while you went to school. It would probably be a bit hectic out there, and anyway I don’t want to be seen like this.”

“Make sense,” she nodded. “You won’t get bored just sitting on my bed all day?”

“Well, everything hinges on whether or not my iPad can recognize my hand. I think it should be sensitive enough. What are your plans for today?”

“I’ve got lab in the morning and then class in the afternoon.” She gave him an apologetic look. “It’ll be tough for me to get back to make you lunch.”

Chuxi waved it off. “Just leave me some leftovers from breakfast and I’ll be fine. I usually only eat twice a day anyways.”

“That’s bad for you,” scolded Haley. “If you only eat two big meals a day you tend to overeat.”

“I don’t know about you, but I feel like I could use a little extra weight,” he panned. A piece of egg flew out of her mouth as she laughed, and both of them saw it, plain as day. Haley’s face became bright crimson before she quickly brushed the offending morsel off of the table. “Don’t worry, I’ve been doing that constantly,” grinned Chuxi. “You just can’t see it.”

“Ew!” Haley scrunched her nose at him while clearing the table.

It wasn’t even six by the time the pair returned to Haley’s room. She set him down on her bed and began rooting around in his backpack for his iPad. “How do you want to set this up?” she asked.

Chuxi thought about it for a moment. “Just leave it flat, I guess.” At 9.5 inches tall, the device was more than twice his height; leaving it flat would make it so he could reach every part of the screen if he needed to.

“You’re gonna be able to just watch all the lectures on this?” asked Haley dubiously.

“Let’s find out.” Chuxi walked over to the device and pushed the unlock button at the top. That worked fine, but now came the important part. He walked down to where the screen said, “Swipe to unlock,” bent down, and dragged his hand across the screen. Haley clapped gleefully when the home screen appeared. “Well, at least something is going my way.”

“Okay, well I should head over to lab and start prepping. Let me get you a few things for your day first, though.”

Chuxi nodded and began bringing up his lecture recordings.

…

The clock read 11AM and Chuxi had been able to get through several lectures since Haley had left for lab. He had set up a command center on her bed consisting of his iPad and a little desk (which was actually his table). He used a piece of lead to write, and he had a practically limitless supply of paper in the form of post-it notes. All-in-all, his situation wasn’t too bad.

Presently, he heard someone enter the apartment. Probably Julie, he thought to himself. Sure enough, he heard her voice through the door. “Haley? You in here?” Chuxi debated whether or not to respond, but the question was made moot when Julie opened the door and looked in. “Haley?” She spotted him almost immediately. “Oh, hey Sushi.”

The blonde walked in and took a seat on Haley’s desk chair. He paused the current lecture. “Hey, Julie. What have you been up to?”

“Oh, I just got back from a run,” she said, stating the obvious. While sweat didn’t exactly drip down her face, her skin looked flushed, and dark splotches showed in the armpits of her gray T-shirt. “Have you been studying since this morning?”

“Yeah, it’s been a – ” Chuxi stopped mid-sentence when Julie suddenly raised her feet onto the bed and placed them uncomfortably close to where he sat at his desk. The effect was instantaneous: not only did the noxious stench of her freshly worn socks taint the air, but the temperature also rose perceptibly from the heat.

“It’s been a what?” Julie asked, lounging comfortably in Haley’s chair. Her long, toned legs stretched away from the edge of the bed like some gigantic, tan bridge.

“Uh… it’s been a bit of a drag,” he said finally. Inwardly, he wondered if he should say something about Julie’s aggressive feet positioning. Already, his eyes began to water from the acrid smell of her socks.

“Yeah, school sucks,” agreed Julie. She leaned forward and began to peel off her sopping-wet socks before dropping them on the bed beside her glistening feet. Her pink soles rose up more than twice his height directly in front of him, ending in ten toes, each bigger than his head. They wiggled at him, as if they knew he was looking at them. “If I didn’t run every day, I’d go crazy.”

“Exercise is important,” said Chuxi weakly. He didn’t think it was possible, but the odor perceptibly worsened.

“I know. It feels great to just run – even in this heat.” Julie reached forward again and began to stretch back her toes and knead the flesh of her feet. This served to amplify the scent yet further. “Ah, that feels amazing.”

“Stretching is important, too,” he mumbled, literally dizzy from the smell. He badly wanted to say something, but he just as badly didn’t want to make things awkward. Frozen by indecision, he continued to endure.

“I like you, Sushi,” Julie said, her blue eyes twinkling. While his head swam in the pungent aroma of her feet, it was impossible to deny that Julie had the classic, blond-hair-blue-eyes look that any guy would swoon for. “This weekend we definitely have to get drunk together!”

Abruptly, she crinkled her nose in disgust. “Oh my God, what’s that smell? Is that my feet?” There was absolutely zero chance she just now noticed her foot stink, Chuxi thought to himself. Julie removed them from the bed and stood up. “Oh God – I left them right by you this whole time. Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I – ” began Chuxi, but Julie talked right over him.

“I guess you’ve spent so much time with them you’re used to it by now. Maybe you actually like the smell?” By this time, she was halfway out the door. “No, that would be crazy,” she said, seemingly talking to herself more than him. “Anyway, I’m gonna hop in the shower. Good luck with the studying, Sushi!” Julie shut the door, but her giggles continued as she walked down the hall.

She left behind a thoroughly uncomfortable and confused graduate student; and to his dismay, she also left her socks.