Hester Primrose
After the misfire in chemistry, Hester had stood there, bereft of words. Her carefully laid out experiment was in shambles thanks to Scott Turcott. Her face screwed up in a contorted mask of anger and hatred, she glowered at the boy. It had been going perfectly.
She had never been successful with any boy and despite her astonishing intelligence she didn’t know why. She presumed it was because she lacked social graces and didn’t primp and preen like the other empty headed vapid girls.
When Mrs. Dahlgren had assigned Nicholas Tasker as her lab partner, she knew it was a portent, he was to be hers. He was very handsome and it stirred a biological response in her, feelings she knew she couldn’t ignore. Doing some extensive research, she decided to see whether or not she could refine a pheromone extract using her own copulins to make him fall in love with her. While complex, it was of no challenge to her except for the fact not all of the chemical ingredients were available at the school. She was undeterred. It took her all night and much of the morning to plot her solution and prepare and when she arrived in chemistry class she was ready only to be undone by that imbecile Scott Turcott. If she wasn’t so mad, she could just cry. Gathering up the remnants of her failed experiment, she looked at the viscous sludge left in the bottom of the beaker. She contemplated disposing of it, but was curious about its chemical makeup so she carefully dismantled it and stored it in a stoppered test tube with Nick’s help.
As for Scott, he laughed and joked with Roger while she fumed. She knew she could not just simply let this incident pass, but also knew she was too emotionally engaged at the moment to properly communicate with Scott. Right now all she wanted to do was splash a healthy dose of H2SO4 in his smug face and watch it melt.
It took her the rest of the school day for her to feel suitably in control of herself to be able to speak to Scott without losing control of her emotions. Being after school, she knew where to find him, he was out on the school’s baseball diamond. Sitting on the bleachers, she watched him practice. Even after all of the other boys had gone in, he stayed out there, refining his two seam fastball splitter grip.
After another fifteen minutes, Scott doubled over on the mound, placing his hands on his knees. He stayed that way for a couple of moments before straightening up and gathering up the baseballs at the backstop and putting them in the equipment bag before making his way back toward the gymnasium. If he saw her sitting there, he gave no indication. Almost to the gym, he suddenly staggered forward, catching himself at the last moment before falling. He paused again, taking a few deep breaths before resuming his trek to the gym.
She trailed behind him by about forty feet, school books clutched to her chest as she followed him into the gym.
When he turned and went into the boys change room, she paused, frowning. Standing at the door, she shrugged, pushing it open and stepping into the change room where she was instantly greeted by the smell of sweaty boys.
He was seated, hunched over on a wooden bench facing a bank of blue metal lockers, a towel draped over his shoulders.
Face scrunched up, “Scott!” she barked loudly.
Turning back to look over his shoulder, “Nerdgirl,” he addressed, grinning weakly, sweat streaming down his pallid face as he pushed himself to standing and turned to face her.
She frowned, “I wanted to convey my supreme displeasure for your act of sabotage on my experiment in chemistry earlier today, your behavior was reprehensible,” she stated, brows knitted, small hands still holding her books defensively in front of her.
He chuckled, dragging an arm across his brow. “Are you sure that’s the real reason you snuck into the men’s change room?” he asked, arching an eyebrow and grinning.
“Of course,” she assured, nodding once in emphatic fashion.
“You know, lose the goggles, put a little effort in your appearance you might actually be hot enough to bone,” he said, staggering a step back and shaking his head.
She snorted, “You are a licentious cur,” she stated.
He laughed before slumping back against the lockers, “I don’t feel very good,” he mumbled, eyes blinking erratically.
Frowning, she tilted her head to the side, he did not look well. “What’s happening?” she inquired.
“I feel,” he paused, shaking his head, “ill.”
“You are very pale,” she stated, angling her head to the other side.
Looking toward the ceiling, Scott let out a long breath.
Hester narrowed her eyes. She was just a shade over five feet in height, while Scott was more than a foot taller, except now he appeared to less, smaller somehow.
Scott raised his arm and tried to wave her away, “Get out of here Hester,” he slurred, voice like a drawl.
Stepping closer, her already large eyes appeared positively huge behind her thick glasses, brows high on her forehead, mouth opened in a perfect circle as she couldn’t believe what she was witnessing. Scott was shrinking, diminishing right before her very eyes.
Scott’s eyes rolled into the back of his head as he slid sideways across the face of the lockers and fell to the ground all the while still getting smaller and smaller.
Moving closer, she set her books on the wooden bench and crouched down beside Scott.
“Amazing,” she breathed, eyes alight as she watched in wonder.
He lay unconscious amidst his clothing, no more than two to three inches in height.
Reaching down, she scooped him into the palm of her right hand. Tilting her head to the right, she regarded the tiny life she held as she rose back to standing. Immediately Kleiber’s Law crossed her mind as she considered how shrinking might affect his metabolic rate.
From a scientific point of view she was very excited, but there was also something else there, something deep inside her awakening.
Looking for someplace to stash her precious find, a slow smile spread across her face as she tucked his tiny form into the right hand side of her B cup bra.
Picking up her books, she exited the locker room.