Chapter 3:
James and Arlia didn’t remain at the beach for long after their make out session. They went in the water for a while, then lay on the sand. Both had an idea of what the other actually wanted, and eventually, they realized they were just delaying their desires. He, still too shy to openly stare at her, would sneak a glance every fifteen seconds or so. And every time he got a glimpse of her necklace, a pang of guilt struck his stomach. The copy to that very key on her necklace was in his pocket, and with the help of Calvin, he was deceiving her.
She had no trouble disrupting his guilty conscience though.
“Let’s get a hotel room,” she said as they were walking back to the car, leaning down to pepper his neck with short, but passionate kisses.
James was stunned at how forward she was being with him. He couldn’t figure out why she was jumping into this thing with two feet.
“You…want…a hotel room?” he asked in disbelief.
“Well, not if that’s not what you want,” Arlia backed off. “If you want to wait, it doesn’t matter to me. I just thought I’d, you know, put it out there.”
He wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling his head into the crevice between her abs and the underside of her breast.
“I’m glad you put it out there. Because I want the same thing as you.”
Arlia stopped walking and maneuvered James in front of her so she could see him. Her face displayed relief and happiness, as if a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders.
“Wait, how long have you felt this way about me?” James asked, desperate to know if she was as crazy about him as he was for her.
“How long have we been friends?”
“Since freshman year. So, four years,” he said.
“OK. Then that’s how long,” Arlia said.
His hands involuntarily clutched his temples. He couldn’t believe this. She had a crush on him for the entirety of high school, and he had absolutely no idea.
“But, but, but,” he sputtered, unable to collect his thoughts.
“But, but, but shut up,” she giggled, covering his mouth with her hand. It easily covered more than half of his face. “We’ll talk about ‘us’ later. Right now, we have to stop at the convenience store.”
“For what?”
She smiled and said, “Condoms.”
***
After a brief stop at a Seven-Eleven, Arlia drove to the ritziest hotel in town. The revolving doors, the echoey lobby with reflective tile flooring, and the giant chandelier that hung above—all of it was stressing James out a bit. What first date, or whatever this was, ended at a place so fancy that there was caviar just sitting out on coffee tables? He honestly would have been more comfortable and felt less pressure if they’d chosen a drive-by motel.
But Arlia wanted this night to be special. She’d said so in the drive over. What she didn’t say was that this was likely the last time they would be able to indulge in each other’s bodies without the risk of James getting squashed by a stray breast or ass cheek. But it was understood.
Without a hint of nervousness on her face, she sauntered up to the front desk with her hand engulfing his. She slammed down her credit card and said, “Is the penthouse available?”
The lady behind the desk seemed to recognize Arlia and responded, “Of course! I’ll get you and your man up there right away!”
Minutes later, the pair were zooming up to the top floor in a private elevator. Upon arrival, there was a ding and the doors parted to what could only be described as a spectacular room. A furry white carpet spanned the entire living area. Surrounding a dark wooden coffee table were plush white couches, one with a chaise and one without.
James wasn’t really concerned with the couches or the coffee table. What piqued his interest far more was the shiny black grand piano that was sitting on an elevated platform behind the living area. He’d been learning how to play for close to two years. Part of him didn’t know why he continued to play when if he was lucky, he’d be the size of a single piano key. But part of him knew exactly why. For a moment like this.
Without saying a word, he walked over to the piano and sat down in front of it.
“James, you play piano? I had no idea—”
He played a long B flat, the first note to Chopin’s Nocturne Opus 9, number 2. He hoped he remembered it. He didn’t have his trusty sheet music with him. But to his surprise, the over 200-year-old masterpiece poured out of him. She joined him, sliding in to sit on the piano bench with him. He hit every eighth note arpeggio and sixteenth note run. He had the most fun with the trill, looking up at her and smiling as alternated back and forth between two keys. She was still stunned by his proficiency and was unable to a muster a reaction to his gorgeous melodies.
“This, this is amazing,” she finally said as he continued with the piece. Not knowing what to do with herself since he was silently focused on the music, she stroked his wavy hair, slightly mussing it up in the back. Then she leaned her head on the top of his. Being a head taller than him sitting down, this was the most comfortable way to lean on him. This made it a bit difficult for James to focus, since her breasts were creeping into his peripheral vision. But he was determined to finish the song properly.
And he did. He didn’t get distracted by her rubbing the back of his head and playing with his hair. He didn’t get distracted by her leaning on him. He didn’t even let her breasts deter him.
He played the last note, letting it linger for a bit longer than normal. Arlia, sensing the song was over, lifted her head off his and went straight in for a kiss.
“That was beautiful,” she briefly broke the kiss to say.
They made out a little longer before he paused to say, “I’m glad you liked it.”
She stood up and said, “I think we’re gonna have to get you one of those mini pianos. We can’t let your talent go to waste.”
“Oh please!” he said while playing an upbeat jazz riff to uplift the mood, “You just want me to be able to serenade you whenever you want!”
“Well, so what if that’s true? I could keep you in my purse and you could play me beautiful love songs on command. I could even pay you!”
Unable to restrain his growing smile, he said, “Oh, you are just diabolical.”
Not wanting to waste another second of their time together talking, the two locked lips and stumbled into the bedroom, not once stopping to take a breath or give their lips a rest. Once inside, Arlia pushed James onto the bed and retrieved a condom. Despite being inexperienced, he knew enough to take off his shirt. Before he could continue undressing himself, she ripped off his shorts, revealing he was naked underneath. Arlia raised her eyebrows in surprise.
“I guess I thought I wouldn’t need underwear,” he muttered.
She kept her eyes locked on him while she disrobed, letting her white dress fall from her slender curves.
“Good guess,” she said. He shivered at the provocative timber of her voice. She seemed so confident, so at ease. He immediately wondered whether this was her first time. It was certainly his.
Arlia joined him on their king bed. He was still on his back from when she pushed him. All James could do was watch as she slowly creeped toward him. Her sly little smile transformed his arms and legs into jelly. He’d never seen this side of her before, and it was giving him butterflies. That was until her hands touched his, reassuring him completely. She then raised his noodly arms above his head, pinning him like he was a scrawny middle school wrestler.
For a while, she just loomed over him and enjoyed his expression of pure wonderment. Her long black hair fell in front of her shoulders and grazed his chest. Sprawled out like this, his ribs were showing. She took a break from holding his arms down to graze one of his ribs with her finger.
“I know…I’m a little bit, well, skinny. Sorry” he said.
Her eyes widened. “Don’t you ever apologize for your body. I think it’s cute how wimpy you are compared to me.”
“Cute?” he said, taking umbrage with her word choice.
“Hot, I mean.”
Wasting no more time, she ceased poking fun at his boniness and re-pinned both of his arms. With James completely subdued and under her control, she lowered her body down onto his. The moment her nude skin combined with his, he squealed.
“You like it when I’m on top, don’t you?” she asked while gently kissing his neck and shoulders.
He moaned in response. Now, the weight of her body was mashing him into the soft mattress. But she wasn’t crushing him, and he wasn’t scared of how immense she was compared to him. Instead, he was safe. Her tits pressing up against his abs brought on other, more visceral sensations. He wanted to touch them, but his arms were still pinned. Arlia seemed to enjoy holding him down and kissing him all over. He didn’t want to get in the way of her desires, but he had desires too.
“Um, Arlia?”
“What?” she asked, clearly way more focused on kissing every inch of his neck.
“Can I, um, touch your, um, you know?”
“My tits? Tits is not a swear word, in case you didn’t know,” she said, giggling at how timid he was.
“Well, can I?”
“Of course, you can!”
She sat up, her ass resting right on his cock. Her soft butt cheeks grinding into his half hard cock quickly got it the rest of the way. And seconds later, when Arlia unfastened the back of her top and exposed her round, perky breasts, his cock was stabbing her in the butt. He was so hard now, it hurt a little.
“Oh boy, you are really excited under there.”
She leaned down, dangling her breasts directly above his face. He hesitated for a moment, but ultimately gave both a tender squeeze. Somehow, it felt different now that she nude. Her tits seemed bigger and firmer. His hands weren’t even big enough to cover half the area of her breasts, which only delighted him more. With every squeeze, she turned her head upwards and moaned. Not satisfied with merely fondling, he reached up and began sucking on her nipple.
Arlia was surprised by James’s sudden initiative, but she welcomed it. He quickly got the hang of it, and soon she was panting and squealing and yelping. She liked it. He could tell. So, he sucked harder. He watched as her eyes briefly rolled into the back of her head.
“Oh my…GOD! Have you…oh yeah…done this before?”
He shook his head, his mouth never leaving her nipple.
“OK, the other side needs some love. Switch!”
He hopped over to the left breast. As soon as he resumed sucking, she rolled over onto her back, flipping him above her in the process. Now that he was on top, her involuntary shows of pleasure only got louder and more exaggerated. Her moans were needier. Her yelps were more frequent. She couldn’t help but squirm underneath him. But little did he know, she was slowly shifting him and her breasts upward. And once she could finally reach, she gripped his cock and began pumping up and down.
James stopped servicing her momentarily and laid his head on her breast, thoroughly enjoying her hand job. That was until she ordered him to resume. Well, she didn’t quite order him. Without saying a word, she took her free hand, grabbed his head, and forced his mouth back onto her nipple. He got the hint rather quickly.
After some hard and fast pumps, Arlia took her hand off his cock to lick it. He glanced upwards to watch her lubricate her palm and her fingers. It was hard to believe that he would soon fit in the very hand she was using to jerk him off. The glimmer in her gorgeous hazel eyes suggested she was aware of and took pleasure in his disbelief. But his disbelief quickly morphed into bliss. He was getting very close to climax, and his body was responding accordingly. His eyes were rolling back into his head, even though he wanted to spend every second looking at the girl of his dreams. His breaths were short and uneven. A thin layer of sweat coated his skin. But all throughout her handjob, his mouth never left her nipple. She too, was panting and hot with passion. And as she got more aroused, her strokes became slower and more haphazard.
“Arlia, I’m gonna. I’m gonna…”
She didn’t let him finish before she once again slammed his face into her breast. The combination of her stroking his cock and his head violently smushing into her wonderfully soft tit caused him to explode all over her belly.
“Oh, GOD! Yes!” he said, muffled by Arlia’s boob.
“Don’t you dare stop again, or I swear, I’ll spank you,” she said.
Instantly, he was back on the beach when she spanked his ass after grabbing her tits. The outrageously painful sting of her hands colliding with his butt was presenting itself. He could feel it. And her threat worked because he began sucking with far more vigor. He worked on the right breast and squeezed the left one with his hand.
Soon enough, she was once again writhing underneath him from sheer pleasure. In between moans, she whimpered his name.
“James, oh James. I love you, I love you, I love you, James. Mmmmm, fuck!”
He never knew that a girl could experience such intense gratification this way. But something in him knew that this wasn’t enough. He needed to go straight to the source. And he wanted to ask her permission to do what he wanted to do, but he was afraid she’d immediately spank him if his mouth left her nipple. So, he surprised her.
James took two fingers and snuck his free arm down the length of her body. He felt around for her pubic hair. The landing strip led him right to her pussy. Not wanting to throw her off too much, he gently steered his fingers inside.
“OH!” she yelped, instantly reacting to his fingers inside her pussy.
He gently explored her, sometimes going deep inside and other times rubbing her clitoris. She screamed every time he got near her clit, and finally, she cut to the chase and commanded him to go to the next step.
“I want you inside me, James. You. In. Me.”
She was speaking in fragments now. He couldn’t believe how much he had riled her up just with his mouth and two fingers. While he continued his routine, Arlia stretched over toward the night table and grabbed a condom.
“Put it. On!” she yelled, shoving it in his face. Not wanting her to get any more impatient, he popped up and slipped the condom onto his still erect (thankfully) cock. He took a deep breath as he shifted position and readied himself. This was it. Sex. He was about to do it. For the first time, and probably for the last. He had to make it count.
He lowered his hips and wrapped his arms around her folded legs. He was literally shivering. With fear, excitement, or shock? He had no idea. And right before he was about to enter her, she said the exact thing he needed to hear in that moment.
“You can do this,” she breathed, “I love you, James.”
“I love you too, Arlia.”
He thrusted, and he watched his cock disappear inside of her. He’d watched pre-shrink porn of men doing this exact thing to women, but that didn’t make that moment any less novel or amazing. Both moaned simultaneously.
“Please keep going, please,” she mumbled as she wiped away sweat from her forehead.
He did as he was told and kept going. He looked her up and down as he fucked her. Her warm olive skin was glowing. Her dark hair was strewn all about across the bed in the hottest, messiest way possible. With every thrust into her, she beamed and closed her eyes. Her gorgeous white smile complimented her full red lips perfectly, and that alone was almost enough for James to cum again. But he resisted the ease of letting go once again. He wanted her to cum too.
He slowed down his thrusts and soaked in the moment. He was having sex with the hottest girl in school, in the nicest hotel in town, in the penthouse apartment. And better yet, he was in love with her too. This moment was perfect. Almost too perfect. But he didn’t dwell on that. He accepted how perfect his life was in this moment. Arlia screamed his name and accepted the perfection too. She reached up and grabbed his chin so she could look at him when it happened. And sure enough, they came together while staring deeply into one another’s eyes.
James collapsed into the warm embrace of his lover, and she hugged him tightly to her body.
“You…were amazing,” she purred. This was several moments after their souls combined, and she was still recovering the ability to speak.
“No, you were,” he said.
The two laid side by side and just studied each other’s faces. All thoughts of shrinking and gambling and graduation all fell by the wayside. It was all about James and Arlia. All they’d focus on that night was each other.
***
James’s night with Arlia was magical. She made him a man. And now, he felt like he could shrink with dignity. He wouldn’t be a nine-inch-tall virgin, and that was a comfort to him.
James’s mom wasn’t as pleased though. She specifically told him to come home at a reasonable time, and he didn’t even come home that night. She laid into him, screaming for approximately ten minutes. All he could do was sit there and take it on the chin. Even though it was unpleasant, he didn’t regret anything he did with Arlia.
Over the next few days, he and Arlia had several talks about their relationship. They decided it would be best to hold off on calling each other boyfriend and girlfriend until after he shrunk down to his final size. Her reasoning was that making a commitment before a huge life change like shrinking could mess up a relationship. James didn’t see it that way, but he respected her wishes.
He was also juggling his plan to destroy as many shrinking machines as possible. Calvin frequently gave him updates on their plan. Each day, more boys from more schools hopped on board to destroy their shrinking machines. Three days before graduation, boys from almost 40 schools had acquired access to their shrinking machines. Two days before, there were 60 schools.
“Can you believe it?!” Calvin said, pulling James aside in the hallway, “60 other schools!”
“I can’t, honestly. You pulled off something really amazing, Calvin,” James said, trying to keep his voice down.
Calvin quieted down abruptly, and then put his hand on James’s shoulder. “Hey man, do you think you could help me out with something?”
“Yeah, of course! Anything. Getting all those schools on board must have been a lot of work.”
“Ok, well, I know it’s late, but I’ve got a thing for your friend Mia. Could you introduce me?”
Just then, James saw Principal Driscoll approaching from the opposite direction. She was still about thirty feet away, but her distinct navy-blue pantsuit and neat, pulled back brown hair was unmistakable. There wasn’t a chance she overheard Calvin or James discussing their plans. Even still, her eyes narrowed at the two boys. She was suspicious.
Once she was in range of her comparatively smaller pupils, she stopped them before they could turn a corner. James wasn’t sure, but Principal Driscoll looked taller than ever. She was approaching 6’8” in her heels, which meant the boys really had to crane their necks to meet her gaze.
“Hello, boys. Funny seeing you two together. Did you just recently become friends?” she said in smooth, self-assured tone.
James cleared his throat and attempted to make up a lie. Calvin was of no help. He was paralyzed with fear.
“Good afternoon, Principal Driscoll,” he began, “And yeah, Calvin and I did just kinda become friends. I actually saw his protest out in front of the school a few days ago, and that’s how we got closer.”
“Hmmm,” she purred while scratching her chin. This briefly threw James off.
“Um, uh, just to be clear Ms. Driscoll—”
“Principal. Principal Driscoll,” she said with a stern look.
“Yes, yes, I am so sorry! Principal Driscoll. To be clear, I don’t support what Calvin was doing at all. The 18% doctrine is necessary with the climate crisis still ongoing.”
Still confused, the principal then asked, “So then why are you choosing to associate with him? Need I remind you James that you’re a good boy? You’re close with Arlia, I’m sure she spilled the beans on how tall you’re going to be, right?”
She was so perceptive. It was like she was reading his mind. But James knew he couldn’t let her intimidate him.
“Yes, she did tell me actually, but please, let me explain, I—”
Amid him stumbling over his words, the principal leaned down. She did so slowly, to emphasize that she wasn’t listening to his babble. Finally, when her mouth was inches from his ear, she whispered, “Nine inches is awfully tall for a guy like you. Wouldn’t want to screw that up, now, would we?”
James cleared his throat yet again and fussed with his collar. “No ma’am.”
“Fantastic! Now get to class, you two!” She popped back up to her full height and pushed her way through James and Calvin, nearly knocking Calvin over.
The two boys shot each other a grave look. Calvin mouthed, “Does she know?”
James shushed him with a finger, then looked over his shoulder to make sure the principal was indeed gone and not listening to them from around a corner.
“I’ll talk to you later,” he whispered. “Do not come up to me for the rest of the day.”
“What about Mia?” Calvin quickly asked.
“I’ll introduce you two later! Now, go away!
James jogged away from his miscreant friend. By now the hallways were emptying. The period was about to start, and their altercation with Principal Driscoll had taken up quite a bit of the time they were supposed to use to get to class.
Luckily, James arrived at his final class, “Home Etiquette,” right as the bell rang. Home Etiquette was often shortened to Home-Et, and it was one of the most important classes for young men and women. It taught females how to safely handle shrunken men. Every year, their teacher Mrs. Dempsey brought in her husband and her adult sons to pass around to the girls in the class. The girls would practice safely lifting the tiny men, while the boys in the class awkwardly watched, knowing they’d soon be in the shoes of the men getting lifted.
To his surprise, everyone was in attendance, and on-time. It was the day before graduation, so he briefly tried to remember what could possibly be important enough for everyone to be present.
“Nice of you to join us, James. Go sit down, we’re about to start,” said Mrs. Dempsey.
He was about to ask what was going on, until he glanced at the board.
Final Exam TODAY! Pink exam booklets are for the girls. Blue exam booklets are for the boys.
He couldn’t believe he forgot about the Home-Et final exam. It was the most crucial test of his senior year, and his scheming with Calvin caused him to completely forget about it.
As she passed out the test, Mrs. Dempsey reminded the class about some key things.
“I hope all you boys studied for this test because if you don’t pass, it means your shrinking will be delayed and depending on how many retries you need, that will affect how big you end up. With each retry, you lose an inch off your original shrunken height.”
“What happens to the girls if they don’t pass?” one boy asked.
“It will negatively affect their final grade of course. But more profoundly, if a girl is unable to pass the test, it will mean that she’ll never be allowed to have a shrunken man in her care. Now, if there aren’t any more questions, you may start your test. You have until the end of the period.”
James leafed through the test booklet. There were 50 multiple choice questions and two essay questions. He really had to zoom through if he was going to finish on time.
He flipped back to the first page and not surprisingly, the very first question offended him. Though it was quite easy to tell what answer Mrs. Dempsey was looking for.
If your female guardian commands you to step into her palm, what do you do?
A. Willingly step into her palm.
B. Refuse her command.
C. Calmly explain why you’d rather not go into her palm.
D. Run away and hide.
After scoffing at the question, James begrudgingly circled ‘A’. The questions went on like that, most of them not getting much harder. A few posed some difficulty. For instance, one that had him scratching his head was whether it was better for a tiny man to be held around his chest or around his waist. It didn’t seem like much of a difference, and honestly, it was a stupid question because women pick up tiny men whichever way they want. He didn’t have control over whether they held him up by his chest or by his waist. He just picked ‘waist’ on a whim.
As he was scribbling his answer to the second essay question, Mrs. Dempsey said, “Pencils down. Time to hand in your tests.”
Just in the nick of time, James finished the test. The last question asked how he, as a soon-to-be shrunken man, would go about choosing a female guardian. And after a four-year friendship with Arlia culminating in hot sex, he was fairly confident he’d answered the question satisfactorily. Of course, he left out that hot sex part. He talked more about his friendship with Arlia, and how they trusted each other.
He handed in the test and was confident he’d done well enough to pass. As he walked out of the classroom, he texted Calvin to meet him out in front of the parking lot so he could introduce him to Mia. Several minutes later, James and Calvin were walking side by side toward his trio of female friends. They were standing by Arlia’s car and each of them had a different expression. Juliana was confused to see James with Calvin. Arlia appeared indifferent, almost as if she didn’t even see Calvin and was focused completely on her new boy toy. Mia was smiling, as she often did. Better yet, she was smiling at Calvin.
“Hey, James! You brought a friend! Calvin?” Mia guessed his name as they approached.
“Yup, that’s me!” he responded.
“I felt so bad when the principal tore up your signs the other day. Did she punish you guys?”
Calvin rehashed his story, telling Mia he was going to end up a two incher because his so-called friends ratted on him.
“Oh, no! That’s terrible!” she said. “Arlia, you should really plead his case in front of the principal. I mean, how tall was he going to end up before?”
Arlia sighed. “I’m really not supposed to tell people their post-shrink heights, Mia.”
“Come on! I’m sure he’s dying to know! Aren’t ya?” Mia lightly punched Calvin in the shoulder, making him stagger back into James.
Suddenly, Arlia looked at James, seemingly asking his opinion with her eyes. He nodded, saying it was alright to tell Calvin what his height would have been.
“Well, I guess I can make an exception.”
She pulled up a spreadsheet on her phone with the names, heights, and post-shrink heights of every single boy in school. The group tried to sneak a glance at her phone, but she hid it with her hand.
“Calvin, you were going to be made three inches tall. So, honestly the fact that you only lost one inch with the stunt you pulled is a miracle.”
“Arlia,” James started, “Losing an inch off three inches is a third of his height. That’s a lot. Can’t you talk to the principal about this?”
Looking at the ground, she finally muttered, “Fine.”
Realizing that the conversation had gotten way off track, James tried to veer it back to Calvin’s crush on Mia.
“OK, so Mia. The reason he’s with me is because he has something to ask you. Don’t you, Calvin?”
“Yes, I do,” he said, clearing his throat. “Mia, I know we haven’t really talked before, but I’d like to get to know you before I…”
“Shrink?” Mia finished his sentence.
“Yeah,” Calvin said. “I think you’re cute, and I’d like to take you out. Plus you’re the only girl who doesn’t tower over me. Well, not yet anyway. Am I way out of line, here?”
She stroked her chin and looked off to the side, contemplating Calvin’s offer. A guy she’d definitely given cookies to at some point, but a guy who was practically invisible to her until just a few days ago. James caught on that she wasn’t sold yet, so he jumped in.
“Calvin’s the real deal. I’ve been hanging out with him for the past couple of days, and I wish we were friends a lot earlier.”
After another few moments of hemming and hawing, Mia finally came to a decision.
“OK, why not? I’ll pick you up tonight, and we’ll hang out for a while. I feel bad that we haven’t even talked once. I try to be as friendly as I can be!”
“Oh my god, really? Wow, that’s great!”
“Hehe, don’t get too excited!? We’re just hanging out this time, OK?”
Calvin flushed red, knowing he’d shown a little too much enthusiasm. He nodded, showing he understood that he wasn’t getting anything tonight. He also exchanged numbers with Mia.
“See you tonight!” Calvin said as he walked away.
Juliana, who was conspicuously quiet during Calvin’s visit, finally piped up.
“Quite the matchmaker, huh James?”
“What? He’s my friend. He’s helping me out with something, so I’m doing him a favor. And Mia, if you don’t like him like that, it’s fine. I honestly think he just wants attention from a female before he shrinks forever.”
“Don’t worry,” Mia said, “Honestly, I think he’s kinda cute too. We’ll see how our date goes.”
James couldn’t believe how well everything was going. His plan to destroy every shrink machine in the tri-state area was succeeding beyond his wildest dreams, he successfully set up two of his friends on a date, and he was basically dating the most popular girl in school.
He and the girls got in Arlia’s car, and on the way out of school, they gabbed about Calvin. The girls wanted to know everything about him before Mia went on a date with him. James struggled to answer their questions because all they did together was plan a multi-school conspiracy. How would he know what Calvin’s favorite color was or what his favorite TV show was?
Either way, James tried to enjoy what little time he had left with his friends as a full-sized person. It wasn’t certain that his plans would succeed. Hundreds of people had to execute this perfectly. If even one of them failed, the whole plan could be derailed.
The one thing that gave him solace was that he was doing the absolute best he could to save his friends. He would lay his head on his pillow that night and sleep soundly.