Most of the morning was spent in a state of fluxed emotions. At first I went on down to the plastic jail cell and hid in it like a panic room. I spent a lot of time in there just thinking this over, and how bad of an idea it was. But eventually I relaxed enough to look at the situation from a more laidback and personal point of view. I’m always at my best whenever I’m around my friends. Most of the time when I’m feeling bad I always want to avoid people for as long as I can. But sometimes I force myself to go out and have a good time with my friends and it usually ends up making me feel better. With a little luck this may turn out to be one of those times.

So I came out of my plastic panic room and began to get ready for everyone’s arrival. Tara was the first one to show up. We sat around in Emily’s room and talked over who was coming and how it would be best to introduce them to me. All of the people coming would be girls we’re all mutually friends with so I’d be comfortable despite being around so many people. Afterwards we chatted for a bit until everyone started showing up. Emily and Tara left the room so that they could keep the guests occupied until everyone had showed up. Once everyone had arrived Emily and Tara would do their best to explain my situation to them. Naturally none of them would believe a word they say until Emily brings them to her room. Once they see me . . . I actually have no idea what will happen.

I sat there on the roof of the Bat Cave in my usual position, with my back against a railing, my staff on my lap, and Joseph by my side.The whole time I kept trying to imagine exactly what everyone’s reaction would be to seeing me.After a while I thought that the only thing that could make this better would be if I had a harmonica with me. That way when they come in I’d be just sitting here playing some blues music on a harmonica with an ant as an audience. I don’t know why but the simple image of that scene in my head made me break out into laughing fits. Come on, how would you react to a two inch man sitting on a Bat Cave playset while playing the harmonica to an ant? If only I knew how to play the harmonica.

“How do you think they’ll react to me Joseph?”

Joseph looked over at me and clicked once.

“Nah, I don’t think any of them will faint. But that would be funny as hell.”

He did nothing.

I nodded. “Yeah, maybe I’m overplaying their reaction. They might not even freak out for all I know.”

Joseph remained silent.

“But then again I’m one of their friends who has now been reduced to a mere two inches tall. Of course they’re going to freak out in some way.”

He clicked a few times.

“God, I hope they don’t scream. They’d probably knock me off the damned Cave if they all screamed. Even if they didn’t I’d still be deaf as a door.”

He remained silent for a minute and then clicked once.

“You’re right Joseph. I suppose the fact that I’m shrunken is overwhelming enough for them. I shouldn’t try to mess with them like that considering they could overreact and accidentally hurt me.” So I went back to zoning out for a good minute. “Hey Joseph, I don’t suppose you have a harmonica on you?” I asked with a grin.

A good while passed before I heard voices coming outside of the door. Normally I wouldn’t have been able to hear the words exactly, but everyone was speaking loud enough this time.

“Seriously this better not be some goddamned prank,” came one voice.

“I swear to God, if Peter is hiding inside waiting to ambush us or something, I’m going to kick him in the balls.” came another. You can tell I was already brimming with anticipation to see everyone again.

Emily knocked a few times on the door, this was her way of signalling that they were about to come in. The knob turned and the door opened to reveal a group of girls standing in the hallway looking in.

It was no surprise that Melanie was in the front of the group. She stands at an even five feet tall making her the shortest of the group. She has brown, wavy hair that reaches past her shoulders, dark eyes, a round face, and olive skin. Melanie’s personality goes perfectly with her appearance as she is one of the kindest and sweetest individuals I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. And when I say sweet, I’m not talking complete sunshine and bubbles either, that’s just sickening. Melanie’s the kind of girl people just enjoy being around. I’m not even joking, this girl can cheer you up just by being herself. Melanie is about two years younger than Tara, Emily, and I which means she’s about to move onto her senior year at high school. She wore a T-shirt she got on a trip to DisneyWorld and a pair of jean shorts.

Next to her was Nicole, who’s about three inches taller than Melanie. Nicole may not be as outgoing as Melanie but she’s no less kind because of it. She’s generally a shy kind of girl but is an all around blast to be around once she comes out of her shell. Nicole’s in eleventh grade, when I met her I spent a lot of time just talking one on one about stuff. She opened up a lot of shit to me that was bothering her in her life. I wish I could have done more than just talk about it but apparently having me listening was enough for her. Eventually I introduced Nicole to the rest of the girls here and they all seemed to hit it off together. She’s also extremely talented, rocking out on a bass guitar with the best players in high school. Nicole has jet black hair, perfectly straight, that runs right to the center of her back. She’s of paler complexion than Melanie, with grey eyes that lie behind a pair of frame glasses, and a slightly smaller face. She wore a black Rise Against T-shirt, and jeans.

Ashley stood at an even height with Nicole, only Nicole was rail thin and Ashley was husky. I cannot stress to you enough how this did not at all take away from her looks. I’ve known Ashley since we were in eighth grade and, to be perfectly honest, she’s one of the most attractive girls I know. When I say attractive I’m talking about her entire being. Yes she is very pretty, but her physical looks combined with her personality and attitude are what make her one of the best people I know. Ashley is an amazing person to have as a friend, not only is she kind but she’s also tough. It’s very easy to become friends with her, but if you hurt one of her friends she will rip you a new one. Whenever a girl friend of hers gets dumped by some asshole Ashley rushes in with compassion in one eye and vengeance in the other. Then, once she find the guy, she will verbally castrate him in front of any and all of his friends. But she’s also quirky and loves things like anime. She has dark blonde hair, blue eyes, and a great smile. She wore a pink T-shirt with the breast cancer ribbon on it and sweat pants.

Last, but definitely not least, was Jessica. Jess has got to be, without a doubt, one of the strongest willed people I’ve ever met. After her parents divorced Jess’s dad married a pasty white, rich woman because that’s easier than supporting your child on your own. The woman he married isn’t a really terrible person but she doesn’t give two shits about being a mother. So Jess has to get herself through college since her parents refuse to offer any financial support. And don’t even get me started on the drama that goes on between her real mom and dad, they’ve had to go to court quite a few times. But despite she refuses to bitch and cry about it, rather she’s just grateful she was able to get into the college she wanted. Jess stands about as tall as Ashley, with skin the shade of hot chocolate. She wore a green and white plaid shirt with buttons down the front and jean shorts.

As they came in I propped my quarterstaff against my left shoulder and took out my plastic knife, just for a cool first impression. At first all the girls did was just look around the room until they settled on the Bat Cave playset. I saw Jess and Ashley squint to get a better look, where as Melanie and Nicole didn’t need to. It took a moment for their minds to fully comprehend what it was they were seeing. But eventually everyone’s jaw dropped as hands lifted to cover mouths in silent shock. Nicole was the first one to walk over to me, the sounds of her bare feet on the hardwood floor were the only noises in the room. Tara and Emily promised not to tell them about my fetishes but apparently they still told them about my fear of being stepped on. I don’t care how much those girls enjoy teasing me, at the end of the day they’re amazing people.

Nicole slowly walked over until she was right in front of the Bat Cave. She knelt down to get a better look at me, her hand was still over her mouth.

“Peter!” she whispered in a high pitched voice.

I smiled faintly at her though I remained seated. “Hey kid.”

Her eyes widened further than before, I always called her kid because of our age difference. “Oh. My. God. What happened to you!” she exclaimed while still keeping her voice at a whisper.

I chuckled a bit. “As you can see I’m doing very well for myself. I’ve carved out a knife, taught myself to use a quarterstaff, and I live in the Bat Cave.” I shrugged. “Other than that nothing’s changed for me. What about you kid? You seemed to have grown a few inches since I’ve last seen you. How does it feel?”

That made her sputter out a laugh which brought everyone else over.

“What the hell happened to you?” Melanie asked in a soft voice.

“How long have you been like this?” Ashley asked.

“How long have you been living here?” Jess asked.

“Woah Woah Woah!” I exclaimed while waving my hands as I stood up. “One question at a time. I’ll tell you everything from the beginning.”

“Wait.” Nicole said as she raised her hand. “Peter, don’t move.”

I let my hand rest on the hilt of my knife as my other hand tightened its grip on my staff. But other than that I didn’t move an inch. Nicole extended a single finger. “Keep calm,” she warned. “There is an ant right behind you.”

My heart almost stopped. “Nicole wa-!”

Before I could even finish the sentence Nicole jabbed her finger down right behind me. The force of her jab shook the Cave a bit and almost knocked me off my feet. But by now I was used to the ground shaking under me. I used my staff to help stay on my feet.

“I think I got him,” she said.

My heart turned to water as I slowly turned around expecting to see the splattered remains of my pet. I know it’s hard to believe but Joseph has helped me keep sane through all of those days of continuous loneliness. I’ve actually become pretty attached to the little guy. The thought that I had just lost him brought tears to my eyes before I could even turn my head.

“Ugh, how did miss it!” Nicole exclaimed.

As soon as I heard that I realized there was no time for explanation, I just leapt into action. I spun around and dive rolled to where I thought Joseph would be. I was a little off but Joseph closed the rest of the gap himself. I came up on my feet next to him and spun around to face the girls, my staff held out in front of me.

“Nicole stop.” I didn’t really yell but my voice was firm. Then I knelt down to give his antenni a pet. “You ok boy?” I whispered.

Joseph looked up at me with those pitch black eyes and clicked a bunch of times. I smiled. “Don’t mention it buddy.”

Then I stood up and returned my gaze to the girls who now were completely transfixed on me. “Ladies,” I said in a softer voice. “Allow me to introduce my friend Joseph.”

Ashley’s eyebrows shot up as her mouth quirked up at the corners. “Joseph?”

I nodded. “I saved him from a spider about a week ago so I kind of adopted him.”

“You adopted an ant?” Nicole asked.

“You fought a fucking spider!” Melanie exclaimed.

I sighed. This was going to take longer than I thought. “Just relax, I’ll explain everything to you as well as I can.”

“If you’re going to explain everything maybe it would be better if we moved this downstairs,” Emily interjected.

So at my request the entire Bat Cave was brought downstairs and placed on the floor against a wall. All the girls sat on the surrounding couches as I sat on the Cave roof and told them almost everything that’s happened from the beginning. Of course I left out somethings like the fantasizing, sniffing Emily’s shoes while she was gone, the massages, and the games I played with Tara and Emily. Other than that I told them pretty much everything.

What came next was the same as when I told Tara for the first time. They all had millions of questions, many of which I couldn’t answer due to my own lack of knowledge. Next they tried tried to come up with their own explanation as to what happened to me, and each one was more far fetched than the last. It was like that for about two straight hours. If I continued to describe the whole scene in excruciating detail it would probably bore you to death . . .

*****

So anyway, one thing led to another, and that’s how I ended up stripped down to my jeans and standing on a ruler which was balanced over a bowl of ice cream.

If you think that sentence sounded weird just imagine what it must have been like for me. To make a long story short we spent a good two hours simply talking over my predicament until every girl decided to stop talking and break out the snacks and games. Emily had been stocking up on snacks for a little while and made sure to get plenty of ice cream. One of them, I’ll probably never know who, came up with the bright idea of putting a ton of ice cream into one big bowl and having me dive into it. But apparently that was too easy, so instead Ashley got a ruler and decided that I’d have to walk over the ice cream like a tightrope. But wait! There’s more! Apparently that was still too easy. So they stuck a pencil into the center hole of the ruler and told me they’d be spinning the ruler while I was walking.

If you think this sounds pretty fucking ridiculous just imagine what my guy friends would have done to me. I’d probably already be dead by accident.

So yeah, they just set a giant bowl of ice cream on the coffee table, placed me right in front of it, and told me to strip down to my jeans. I was gently placed on the far left side of the ruler as the pencil was inserted by Ashley. Melanie stood at the other end, enjoying the fact that she could finally look down on me. Melanie is really into drama club and was busy putting all of her acting skills to work trying to look imposing.

“Now my slave,” she said in a very overly solemn voice. “You must cross the deadly valley of ice cream without falling in to earn your freedom! If you fall you will freeze to death instantly!”

“Yeah, can we hurry this up?” I asked. “I’m so cold my nipples could cut diamond.”

Melanie tried in vain to stop herself from breaking character and laughing, everyone else didn’t even try to hide the laughter.

“Very well then,” she said, slipping back into character. “Activate!. . . The Tornado! . . .  Of Doom!”

Jess smiled as she slowly twisted the pencil, causing the whole ruler to spin. I almost fell off right there on that first lurch, but I regained my balance by dropping to one knee. The ruler picked up speed but not by very much. I slowly rose back to my feet and took my first few steps, they were the worst. Each time I lifted a leg up my whole body shook from the G-force. I stumbled my way over to the pencil that marked my halfway point and grabbed onto it for all I was worth. With more difficulty than I can put into words I somehow wormed my way around the pencil. Walking became more and more difficult the farther along I went. I wasn’t even sure how I made it to the edge but somehow I did.

The ruler slowed down until it came to a gentle enough stop. It took the same amount of time for my eyes to also come to a gentle stop. When they did I saw every girl around me smiling down, good God it was scary.

But rather than let it show on my face I just crossed my arms. “There I walked the fucking plank. Can I please put my clothes back on now?”

Ashley leaned in closer to me. “Not yet.” Then she blew and I flew right off the ruler.

I must have fallen a good fifteen feet, so I guess it was lucky that the ice cream was soft. I landed face first into a mound of mint chocolate chip . . . . and it was fucking COLD!

Jump in a lake while it’s 10 degrees outside, that’s what I felt like right now. When I hit the ice cream I sank in a little so I was completely immersed in it. When I lifted my face up I couldn’t even scream in shock, all I could do was breathe deep and fast. My vital organs were constricting themselves to trap in heat so that none of them shut down, which made breathing a serious effort. I guess they’re plan was to just let me wallow in the bowl for a minute and laugh but they must have changed their minds as soon as I started gasping for breath. I was plucked from the bowl by Emily after only a few seconds and held up to her face.

“Hold still,” she said.

Before I could tell he that that was all I could do I saw her tongue come right for me. It touched me softly right at my waist and licked up my bare chest and head. What can I say about it? Her breath warmed me up and her soft, pink tongue felt good against my skin. As she drew her tongue back Emily licked her lusious lips.

“Mmmmm, not bad. What do you think girls? Should I eat him?”

Of course I wasn’t surprised when each girl voiced their own thoughts on eating me . . . they were all for it.

I sighed. “It’s times like these I seriously wonder why I’m friends with most of you.”

Emily just rolled her eyes. “Come on, you know we’re only joking.” Then she smile earnestly. “Here, I’ll take you up stairs so you can wash off and then bring you down to change. After that we can find something else to do that won’t put you in mortal danger.”

I smirked. “Good luck with that.”