Walking down the campus halls was every bit as horrible as Arthur imagined it would be. At first Beth appeared at his side, slowing her pace to match his. She did this not to rub anything in, but only to show him support.

Arthur knew this, but couldn’t get past the fact that if not for her none of this would be happening. So when Arthur had had enough of her walking next to him, he snuck down another hallway, hoping for fewer students.

But unfortunately for him, he headed in the direction that was much busier and crowded than that one he just left.

Arthur lowered his head; trying not to attract any attention upon himself, but students, dozens of them, seemed to take immediate notice. All sorts of faces, some Caucasian, others Asian, Middle Eastern and others, stared at Arthur. Their eyes lit up and their mouths hung open in amazement, as if fully realizing what they had read and seen in pictures about the Lotto was actually true. There was a shrinking man in their midst.

Arthur decided that rather than retreat, that he would march right through the swarm of students and take the long way to class. This would both boost his own confidence and send out a loud message that he was sure would spread through the grounds – that message was that he was dealing with his reduction in size just fine.

Arthur swallowed and began to walk forward at a brash speed. But rather than scurry away, like many of them had done during his previous encounters, many of the female students seemed to gravitate towards him.

Arthur looked up as a swarm of happy, delighted faces suddenly surrounded him from all sides. Most were grinning, while others snickered quietly.

One even laughed out loud at the sight of him…indeed, the wide array of expressions that his appearance seemed to bring forth seemed endless.

Arthur began to feel dizzy. He looked up at the bigger than life girls, some he recognized, while others he didn’t. Most were younger students who seemed to approach him with a complete lack of fear, as if his dwindling size somehow reduced his authority over them. Their height, or rather, his lack of height, made the girls seem like taller than life, like hormone injecting athletes from another planet. And the difference in his height in proportion to theirs, caused them to looked down at him like he was a spectacle of some kind. Arthur swayed under the happy female forms, his knees buckling as everywhere he looked, genial faces happily looked dow at him.

“Hi, Mr. Spence” one girl, a dirty blonde with books in her hands said.

“Hello, Mr. Spence” another girl, a shorter one (still a great deal taller than he) said. “Good Morning, down there, Mr. Spence” a tall red haired girl chimed in, sending the others into a gale of high pitched laughter.

It was all Arthur could do but stare up at them. Because of his size, Arthur stood roughly the same height as their chests, a fact he could not easily ignore, as every direction he turned, bosoms pointed out towards him, pushing out from against t-shirts, dress tops and from underneath sweaters. He stared at their breasts. He couldn’t help it. Only now, none of them even seemed to notice. They were too busy taking in the sight of him, standing there like a helpless lost puppy. It was like a cruel joke you’d see on late night television, only Arthur was the only one not laughing.

“Are you still going to teach here?” someone asked.

Arthur turned to see where the voice came from.

“Just how small will you get?” another asked.

Arthur couldn’t take it anymore. He pushed past the circle of girls and strode, as quickly as he could, down the hall.

* * *

In class was no better. Arthur had to stand on a small box that elevated his height enough so that everyone could see him. The only other choice was to walk through the class as he spoke. That was something he used to do, but not any more. Being out in the room, exposed like that for all the peering eyes to see wasn’t something he wanted. As he taught his lesson, he became aware that none of the grinning faces that stared at him like a piece of candy were likely to remember anything he was talking about.

Finally the class ended. Arthur found himself coated in nervous sweat.

Clare, a student of his, approached him, waiting for the rest of the students to leave. It took a while, since many of them seemed to linger by the doorway, anxious for some one on one time with their new diminutive professor.

When they were finally alone, Clare offered him an apple, like she always did. It was an out of date habit, but one that he appreciated just the same. Arthur took the apple in his hands, noticing its size in comparison to his hands. Clare seemed fascinated by this and by him in general. Try as she might, she couldn’t take her big eyes off of him.

“Clare?”

“Yes?”

“It’s not polite to stare at people smaller than you”

“Oh. Sorry. You’re right”

“I’m not a science experiment”

Clare hurried from the room, slightly embarrassed. Arthur wanted to call her back. He didn’t mean to offend her, but it seemed that others needed a reminder what it felt like to be the object of so many curious glances.

It was between classes and Arthur found himself standing just inside the door of the empty lounge reserved for faculty. His eyes were trained on the door outside. The exit. Now was the time, he thought. I’m only going to get smaller. If I don’t make a break for it, I’ll be doomed.

“You need a change of clothes, Mr. Spence” a voice uttered from down the hall.

Arthur turned to see Shawna staring at him. She was looking him up and down, at his small size. She began to approach, forcing Arthur to listen to the click clack of her approaching high heel shoes. She seemed to walk deliberately slow, as if she enjoyed the sound her shoes made on the cold hard floor.

She noticed what Arthur was staring at.

“Don’t even think about it, Mr. Spence”

Arthur looked at her as she continued to get closer to him. He didn’t want her to stand too close since he could already see that she was far taller than he was.

“Don’t think about what?”

“Don’t think about leaving. You wouldn’t make it”

“You don’t think so?”

“No. I don’t”

Arthur looked at Shawna. She had a small smile on her face, as if she partially wanted him to run so that she could chase him and catch him personally.

“Don’t come any closer” he warned.

“Why not?” she asked, slowing down.

“Just don’t”

Shawna stared at Arthur a second longer, then began to walk back down the hall, flashing him a grin as she walked away. Arthur watched her for a moment. She was wearing a white blouse and a grey skirt cut at the knee.

Nylons and black shoes.

Arthur waited until she was a few steps away. Was he going to do it? What if she caught him? She couldn’t, could she? What would he do if he actually got outside?

He pondered all these questions.

That’s when Arthur decided to go for it.

His first few steps seemed to be in slow motion. He saw the door. It was fifty feet or so in the distance. All he had to do was run towards it.

He was faster than he thought he would be, but then he remembered that no one ran faster than when in fear. And that he was exactly his state of mind.

“Mr. Spence!” he heard from behind him.

Shawna quickly pulled off her high heels and began to run after him, her comparatively long legs propelling her down the hall as her shoes dangled from her hand.

As Arthur continued to run at his full speed, he couldn’t help but begin to grin. There was no way she would possibly catch him. He was too fast.

“Come back here!” Shawna yelled at him, as if he were a little boy.

But that only made Arthur run harder. He saw the door approaching and envisioned pushing the lever and escaping out into the fresh air…

But that’s when a hand fell on his shoulder. Arthur started to look back, but was pushed to the side, where he collided with a locker. He twisted to maintain his balance, but his speed was lost.

And so was his chance of escape.

Shawna stepped in front of him, getting between him and the door. She was breathing heavily down on him, right in his face. Her breath smelled of coffee.

“You’re faster than I thought, Mr. Spence”

Arthur was panting. He’d given it everything he had and she had still beaten him.

Shawna had caught her breath and was grinning down at him. She took a step closer and reached both of her long arms so that each rested against the lockers with Arthur trapped in between them.

“Don’t like when people stand so close, Mr. Spence?”

Arthur looked up at the lofty woman, still panting. He shook his head.

“That’s too bad” she said, moving closer again so that her chest was practically in his face. Arthur was conscious of her breasts. He even stared at them for a second. He had little choice in the matter since they practically filled his range of vision.

“Look up at me, Mr. Spence”

Arthur continued to stare straight ahead, but Shawna put her first finger underneath his chin and raised in so that he was looking up into her eyes.

My gosh, he thought. She’s huge.

“If you try that again, she said, I won’t be so gentle”