"S-stay the fuck away from me Zoey!" I stammered, unable to even remotely hide my fear of her.  "Keira will be back in a minute and I swear to God she will beat the shit out of you if I tell her about you!" I threatened.

"You mean. . . . You didn't tell her about me?!" Zoey asked, in disbelief.  "I guess obviously not, but why, is the question!" She said, stroking her chin.

"It doesn't matter.  Just. . . . Stay the fuck back!" I said again, glancing towards the open door.

"Yeah, I heard you twice the first time, shithead!" Zoey replied rudely.  "Are you really that afraid of me, right now?" She questioned, raising an eyebrow and her grin widening. 

"I mean. . . . I could just grab you, and run out, couldn't I?" She asked, looking over her shoulder to see if Keira was coming back yet. ". . . . . But I won't!  Not yet, anyway.  Now that I know where you live, I kind of like the idea that you know that!  Like I could just sneak in here, and get you back any time I like!" 

Honestly, the only thing that kept me from a mental breakdown was the solice in knowing I was going home tomorrow, and as long as she didn't snatch me right this moment, I would be literally home free. 

"I would like to know,  where all that attitude you had in your little video went though?" She asked, moving her face even closer to mine, daring me to mouth off to her now.  "Apparently you grew a set of balls living in this rich girls penthouse, huh?"

I had nothing to say to her.  My fear wouldn't allow it.  

"That's what I thought!  Same old bitchy little Preston!  More attitude than his scrawny little ass can back up! God I'd love to tear you up one last time!" She exclaimed, looking over my quivering body as her face came within an inch of mine, cranking the tension in the room to a fever pitch.  I was barely even conscious now from it all.

Luckily, I could hear Keira walking down the stairs in the appartment side, still on the phone, but coming back to us.  Unfortunately, Zoey wasn't about to let me leave this encounter unscathed.

Without warning, her huge, slimy, disgusting tongue flopped out of her mouth and she licked the entire side of my face from bottom to top, covering my entire head in her saliva before she quickly stood back up, and resumed the last position Keira had seen her in.  To her amusement, her repulsive action had the desired effect.  She knew I was a germaphobe, and she had done this to me countless times when I was living with her. Seemingly, nothing had changed in that regard.

My knees buckled, and I fell to my hands and knees.  I wretched violently, and a moment later, I puked my guts out onto the studio floor in a "large to me" puddle.  Zoey had to aggressively stifle her laughter, and convert it into immediate and perfectly executed concern just as Keira walked back in.  

"Oh my god!  Are you- Is he alright?!" Zoey asked, recoiling away from me, as she pointed me out to the now panicked Keira.  She rushed to me, crouching down and awkwardly hovering there, unsure of if she should pick me up and or leave me down.

"What the fuck, Preston?!" She asked, freaking out.

"He. . Just got quiet and then threw up out of nowhere!" Zoey chimed in, covering her mouth nervously with her hands. 

"I'm-I'm gonna pick you up, ok?' Keira said, trying to decide where to grab me safely.

"I'm fine!" I wheezed, waving her off.  "I don't know what happened, but I'm ok now." I lied as I stood up.

Keira looked at me apprehensively, but let me be. I stole a glance at Zoey, and she gave me a sickening wink and silently blew me a kiss while Keira wasn't looking. By the time she did look back, the concerned look had returned to Zoey's face.  

"Uhhh. . . . Ok!  I'm. . . . Going to run Zoey back to art center quick, then I'll be right back, alright?" Keira explained, holding her hands up, like she knew she shouldn't leave me, but decided to anyway. 

"I said I'm fine!" I assured her.

"You say that, but you're also a stubborn little asshole, who would refuse help even when you need it!" Keira replied, cocking her hip with her hand on it.

"Right?" Zoey agreed, chuckling.

"Huh?" Keira questioned, her mind picking up on the fact that Zoey didn't (or claimed to not) know me, so her agreeing with that statement was a bit inappropriate or something.

"I- I just mean that puking out of nowhere is nothing to just shrug off, you know? Like being all tough and manly isn't worth it sometimes." Zoey explained, realizing her mistake and coming up with a cover nearly flawlessly.

"True!  I don't understand why men can't just accept help!"  Keira reiterated.  "But whatever. . . If it makes you feel like a big man. . . . Then you can just stay in here and throw up!" Keira said to me, as she grabbed some paper towels and quickly wiped up my puke, tossing it and leading Zoey out.

As soon as they were out the door I sprinted across the hall back to the apartment side, and found Cadence awake now and watching TV. 

"Zo-" I shouted, out of breath from the minimal physical activity.  "Zoey was just here!" I exclaimed, bumping into Cadence's legs as I ran, and falling over. 

"What!?" Cadence shouted, her head snapping towards the front door, before she twisted on the couch and peered through the window, but Keira was already driving away. "What do you mean?! Like she tried to get you?!" Cadence asked, panic on her face.

"She was-  She was here with Keira!" I managed to get out as I took in oxygen. 

"What the fuck!" Cadence shouted, her face going from panic to anger in the blink of an eye. "That fucking bitch!  I'm gonna kill her!  I'm gonna-"

"It's ok!  I know she didn't mean to! I think it was really just a fucked up coincidence!" I exclaimed, trying to calm her down.  I had seen her this mad before, and she had a habit of smashing and breaking things.  She was hard enough to stop when I was full height, let alone only a foot tall.  

She did pause for a moment as she tried to comprehend what I was proposing, but after a moment she shook her head and began to rage again.

"Uh-uh!  No fucking way!  The chances of that being a coincidence are pretty much zero, and you know it, Pres!" She said, stepping over me as she rushed to the front door and locked it, peeking out the tall door window again. 

"I. . . . I know it isn't, but I don't think that Keira has anything to do with it.  It was just a desperate attempt by Zoey to get at me, and it actually fucking worked!" I said, in disbelief myself.  "Who knows how many art classes she signed up for on the off chance that she might hear something about me."

"That's so pathetic. . . . And fuckin' creepy, honestly!. . . " Cadence said, as she walked back over to me, double taking as she looked me over.  "Is. . . Is that puke all over your shirt?' She asked, a look of disgust on her face.

"It's not my fault!" I said, defensively.

"I swear to God you're like a toddler or something some days!" She sighed, as she reached down and gently took my shirt off. "Do you have any more clothes to wash?" She asked, taking the shirt over to the laundry room. "You didn't shit your little pants too while you were at it, did you?" She added, grinning.

"Yeah, I'll probably need them all washed before I go. . ." I said, trailing off.

"Go where?" She replied,a puzzled look on her face as she walked up the stairs to my room, before returning with my laundry basket.

"I'm going home Cadence. . . . I need you to take me tomorrow."

I honestly expected more of a reaction out of her, but sometimes she could Be mature I guess.

". . . . Ok.  We'll go first thing tomorrow morning.  Just wake me up." She replied, quietly, before dumping the basket and starting the washing machine.  

"That's it?" I asked, a little disappointed that she didn't make more of a fuss about it.

"Yeah, that's it.  It just makes sense, you know?  Like. . . Zoey could just break in now and get to you. . . . You're safest at home, and your family deserves to see you." She said calmly, as she walked back to the couch, scooping me up in her arms as she passed.

She sat down, pulling me into her lap and cuddling me.  It should have been a little weird, but it felt right somehow.  I decided to just go with it, resting my head on her stomach, as she leaned back and changed channels on the tv.

"Is it crazy to know that this whole thing is just about over?" She asked, as her thumb gently stroked my hair.  

"For sure. . . . It doesn't seem real somehow." I answered, closing my eyes.

"I'm just thinking about how many times we are going to have to explain everything. . . . Like what a pain in the ass!" She complained with a chuckle.

"I know right. . . . Feels like my foreseeable future is. . . Almost gone somehow." 

* I wouldn't know exactly how right that statement was until later.  Because the next day, I did go home. . . . I went home, and the next two months were a blur for me.  Of course it was everything you would expect from parents getting their presumed dead son back.  An emotional tsunami that I knew was coming, but still couldn't have prepared for.  Every family member from oldest to youngest coming to see me, and countless awkward hugs as people tried not to break me in their embrace.  

Not to mention the telling of the story, of which "selective amnesia"played a starring role.  Family members, friends, cops all got the same fabrication, all so I could keep what little dignity Zoey hadn't stomped on. 

Then there was the fact that I was tiny now, which meant near constant supervision from my mom and older sister.  I literally got zero time for myself between them.  I give my mom a pass for the first month for being just that: my mom, but to Janessa I think I was just some new project for her to get her mind off the fact that she had just been dumped by her boyfriend in the big city.

I was the perfect way to keep her mind off of it, and she even moved back to town  "to help with me".  Like I was some huge burden on everyone.  In reality, she sort of naturally fell into the role of my manager when the word got out about me, and the entire world had a sudden and insatiable interest in me and my story, but I will get into that later.

It wasn't entirely bad though.  My parents allowed Cadence and Keira to come over whenever they wanted at least.  My father immediately loved Cadence from the moment he met her.  Her "one of the guys" attitude and previously unbeknownst sports knowledge? The fact that she was a tall, gorgeous, young blonde didn't hurt either I guess and she was never shy about turning on the charm.  My mother more or less just tolerated her for my sake while Janessa seemed jealous that someone else was my dad's favorite now.  

There was also the fact that Tegan hated her.  Probably because she knew how I always complained about her, and so Cadence knew how to seamlessly fuck with my sister.  Granted, Tegan wasn't one to take it sitting down, and would roast her right back.  

Finally there were the experiments and testing on me. Immediately after the news of my return and/or existence came out, this shady corporation based out of Seattle came out of the woodwork and offered to help me get back to my normal height, at no cost.  The whole thing seemed a bit too good to be true.  They flew me and Janessa out to the west coast for two months, gave us a really nice apartment near the facility, and gave Janessa a brand new Mercedes to drive.

While all of this was completely suspicious to me, Janessa completely shut down my concerns, overpowering me like she always did.  It honestly felt like my childhood all over again, only my parents weren't there to limit how much Janessa could push me.  Every meal was planned out.  She forced me to exercise.  My friends weren't allowed to fly out and stay with us, and I wasn't allowed to go outside after 9 PM. 

On top of that, I was forced to fill out stupid questionnaires from the lab every single day, in spite of the fact that they really weren't making any progress for me. 

"Nessa!  For fuck's sake, I'm not filling it out today!" I shouted at my sister as we drove back to the apartment from the daily appointment at the lab.

"We aren't having this conversation right now, Preston!" She replied, as she focused on Seattle rush hour traffic.

"When we get back, I'm calling mom and dad and going home. . ." I informed her, as I stared out the window.

She sighed more heavily than I thought possible as she got off the main highway.  We were silent until she pulled up in our designated spot in the parking garage under the apartment building.  There, she finally spoke, not allowing me to leave purely because I couldn't open a car door.

"What the hell are you talking about?" She demanded, a look of disbelief and anger on her face.  "You. . . You can't just stay this way forever!  You need help!" She exclaimed, throwing her hands up.

"Nessa. . . They aren't helping me!" I shot back, careful to keep my voice down, unsure of whether or not the car was bugged.  "There is a reason they make you stay out in the waiting room!"

Her eyes narrowed as she comprehended exactly what I was saying. 

"You really think that they would need me around for 2 months for something as simple as bloodwork?" I asked, pointing to my brain to make her think.

"I don't fucking know! I'm not a doctor or a scientist!" She answered, defensively.

"Yeah. . . That much is clear. . . " I replied sarcastically, taking the admittedly easy jab at her.

Her fists clenched around the steering wheel as she no doubt entertained visions of strangling me.  Instead she took a deep breath, fanning her hands out in front of her and closing her eyes.  This was part of her anger management regiment as her anger and lashing out is part of the reason why her fiance left her.  If that was all it would have taken for him to change his mind, I would have saved him a few years and just told him outright how much of a bitch Janessa could be when she wanted too. 

"Don't be an asshole and just tell me what you're talking about. . . " she said, her voice calm but irritated.  "And they wonder why I supposedly have an anger  problem!" She added.

There were a few prime examples I wanted to add to the conversation to that point, but ultimately decided it was wiser to leave it alone. . . 

"Geneticorp. . . . They aren't what they seem. . . I don't even think I'm supposed to be telling you this but. . . . . They have other tiny people at the facility!" I said, nervously looking around for any signs of us being watched.

The look on my sister's face told me she got it, but didn't get it.

"I mean. . . Tiny,  but not exactly like me.  One kid is. . . Like superhuman.  Three inches tall, but superhuman.  Runs fast, jumps high, incredibly strong.  I haven't been able to talk to him, but from what I've heard, if he was normal sized, he could lift an entire car or something!" I tried to explain.

"Do they. . . Know what shrunk him?" Janessa asked, hopefully.

"I think they know, they just don't care.  They are pretty hush hush about him.  I only found out because this other guy Marcus knows everything." I said, begrudgingly.

"Is he. . . . Little, as well?" She asked, trying to be sensitive, but having her mind blown as well.

"That is the fucked up part.  And probably the biggest secret of the whole place. . . . He isn't tiny.  Only shrunk." 

"What's that mean? You are shrunk too, aren't you?" 

"I mean. . . . If they let him, he could be back to his normal size in two seconds." I replied, cryptically.

"Would you stop being so fucking dramatic and just say it!" Janessa exclaimed, leaning toward me intently.

"What I'm saying is that those corporate bastards have a machine that can shrink people to any size and grow them back!  Apparently Marcus exposed them for using it a few years ago, and has been a prisoner here ever since.  They don't even deny it!  They straight up made him and some others disappear.  And before you ask, they say it won't work on me, because I'm tiny, not shrunk.  I guess it's a genetic mutation so if I went into the machine, I would only get smaller, then grow back to this height." I explained, still keeping an eye out for secret agents or something rushing to silence to me. 

Janessa looked like she was struggling with this all.  She was always the type of person who just believed whatever she was told and never put any thought into conspiracy theories or anything like that.  

"Ok. . . So if all that is true. . . Then what?" She asked, confused by it all.

"It means that they are shady as fuck, Nessa!  Marcus. . . . He thinks that they may have had something to do with me getting this way!  Me and that other kid!" I exclaimed, pounding my fist on the dash.

Her eyes were fully wide now.

"And that is why they offered to help you? To cover up their involvement in it?!" She added, finally putting it all together, as she sat back in her seat and just stared blankly out the windshield, her mind blown.

"Look. . . All I know for sure is that they seem to be interested in my ability to heal myself and my durability.  They. . . "Test" me, but it's really just them hurting me in various ways to study how I heal!" 

Janessa studied me. . . Looking in my eyes for the truth.  She could tell I was telling her the truth.

"Ok. . . . We'll. . . We'll get our shit. . . And get a bus ticket." She said finally, opening her car door and offering me her hand.

In a rush and looking over our shoulders, we made our exit from the apartment we had been supplied.  Leaving the Mercedes in the parking structure, my sister called an uber and from there we took a bus two cities over until we thought it was safe to book a flight.  We never did see anyone following us, but I did get a call from the lab right before we got on the plane.

I didn't answer, but they left a message.  Checking it later revealed just about the extent of how controlling they were.  We had been gone for less than a day, and already they were calling "just to see if everything was alright." We both found it suspicious and decided not to respond until we were safely at home.  

Their response, as well as my parents was not thrilled to say the least, but at least Janessa was able to take the heat off of me with my parents.  It took hours of explaining mixed with lies etc but I think we finally got through to them.  Geneticorp on the other hand was less willing to give up, as evident by the offers to pay me to come back, followed by invoices for the "wear and tear" on the Mercedes and apartment and finally a visit from one of the head advisors in the company, Bridgette.

Luckily for me and unfortunately for her, Marcus had warned me about her, sighting her as the main reason he would likely never see the outside of the lab walls again, and I was able to act accordingly.  Without letting her know that I knew Marcus, for fear of her retaliating against him, I made up reasons for why I didn't want to continue with the lab work.  It did come down to lawyers, but luckily we had hired one before even agreeing to their help in the first place, so making my exit was about as trouble free as it could be.

Which catches you up to where I'm at now. An entire year after coming home.  Currently waiting on a cure, but now, samples of my blood were wide spread and companies all over the world and they were making progress.  Things with my family had begun to actually look up for me.  I don't know how it happened, but I had actually managed to bond with my father and brother for the first time in my life over my accommodations at home.  

My bedroom in the basement had essentially been turned into a fully functioning mansion for me to live in that my brother had designed with my ideas and recommendations and my father's construction company had helped to the build.  Couple that with interior design skills I didn't know I had, along with my paintings decorating the entire thing, and by the time we were done, we had actually managed to kindle a type of semi-healthy relationship amongst the 3 of us. 

It was a source of pride for all of us, and managed to make it into magazines of all descriptions from engineering marvels to home decor.  My mom was constantly giving tours of it when we first finished it, and all my artist friends made me miniature pieces for my mansion, including an origami lined walkway on the entrance and Cadence's sculptures as well.  

My relationship with Janessa had even come to. . . An understanding I would say.  She had become my  "talent agent" now, booking appearances on TV shows, cameos in movies, meet and greets and my day to day.  This time though, I made sure I was granted time with my friends, and to myself.  Overall things were ok. Sure we were making money hand over fist, and that eased a lot of old tension, but after hearing what the lab was up to, she had also eased up on me if only a little.  Now at least she was getting payed to boss me around and it wasn't in her best interest to kick my ass anymore.

Finally there was Tegan, who was back from college and living at home.  Beyond the initial reaction of me being alive after having been presumed dead, things had been uneventful with her.  Probably because she was under the threat of death by my mom, older sister, Cadence and Keira if she fucked with me in any way.  Even with all that security, I still made it a point to stay well out of her way when we did cross paths, and this seemed to please her, to see me pin myself against the cupboards or against the walls when she came stomping into the room.  That bitchy, smug smirk was ever present, though she never made any comments or anything.

Things pretty much stayed that way until the day I got back from Los Angeles, from filming a part for a movie.  I was tired and jetlagged when I got home, but had just enough energy to get into an argument  with my mom over me being home for some stupid dinner she was having tonight.  Much to my absolute annoyance, she had taken to parading me around to all of her friends and clients like I was some kind of spectacle.  Whenever I pointed that out to her, she always got embarrassed and defensive.  This time my father had to step in on our yelling match.  I retreated, taking a half hour long shower before heading to my room.

I came trudging into my bedroom only to find Tegan laying on my old bed, rubbing her bare feet all over my pillow absentmindedly as she played on her phone.  My mom was now down the hall vacuuming so I knew I was in no real danger, but seeing my sister in my personal sanctuary was still pretty unnerving.  

It didn't appear she had noticed me yet as she rolled onto her back and took a selfie, so I quietly made a B-line for my front door.  Unfortunately, having seemingly never taken her eyes off of her phone, Tegan slid off of my bed, and in 3 strides, blocked the front door with her enormous feet.  What pissed me off even more than even having to deal with her, is that she had stepped on my origami Swan in the process, absolutely flattening it.  It was now stuck pathetically to the bottom of her foot as still her eyes were glued to her phone all the while she blocked my path.  To top it off, she casually leaned up against house with her ass, practically sitting on it.  While there absolutely no threat of her damaging it, considering it was literally built to withstand the real house collapsing on it, and was state of the art fireproof as well, it still made me instantly furious because it was the one thing me and dad had, and here she was,  treating it like a seat.  

I clenched my fists, ready to explode on her as she casually finished her text before looking down at her foot with a confused expression, before she peeled the crumpled bird from her sole, and dropped it back into its place on the walkway.

"Oops! I accidentally squashed your duck or whatever!" She said with a fake frown, her voice highlighting the fact that she really gave zero fucks about it.

"Tegan!  Get your fat ass off my fucking house!" I screamed at her, loud enough so mom would hopefully hear me, but to no avail, although Tegan froze as she too listened for angry footsteps.

"Jesus Christ, Calm the fuck down!  It's fine.  Dad said it's pretty much indestructible, didn't he?" She replied, lifting her ass from the roof of it anyway.

"I don't care!  Just get the fuck out of here!" I shouted, pointing to the door and not even bothering to ask her what she wanted. 

''I will, I just came to ask you for two more tickets for Jimmy Fallon next week! My friends want to go." She replied, focusing again on her phone.

I sighed a massive sigh.

"I don't handle that shit!" I answered, finally having to set down my luggage from the weight of it.  "Ask Jane if there are any more.  There are already 6 people coming and quite frankly, I don't want you and your annoying friends there."

"First of all, I tried calling her and it went to straight to voicemail, and second of all, fuck you!  We never even bother you when we come with!" She exclaimed, her voice dripping with the standard Tegan attitude as she cocked her hip and towered over me.

"I don't care Tegan!  I'm honestly too tired to have to deal with you, ok?  Will you please just let me in?" I begged, just short of clasping my hands together.

She stood, just looking down on me for a long moment with a scowl, before she spoke.

"When do you plan on telling everyone the truth, anyway?" She asked, out of nowhere. 

"What the fuck are you talking about?" I asked, sitting down on my suitcase from exhaustion, knowing there was physically nothing I could do to make her leave.

"The truth. . . About where you were all the while you were gone." She elaborated.

I was honestly surprised and taken aback by this question.

"I've told the story a million times, Tegan.  Pay attention." I shot back, irritated.

"I mean the real story, dickhead!" She snapped, her voice full of contempt.  "Not the bullshit you have been feeding the world for the past year. 

"I-I don't know what you're talking about!" I stammered pathetically.

"You forget. . . . We were best friends once!  You may be fooling mom and dad and the rest of those idiots, but I know when you're lying.  You really expect me to believe that you had "6 months worth of amnesia" and then suddenly showed up at your obnoxious blonde friends house?  Bullshit!" She explained, eyes on her phone.

"What do you even care, Tegan? You were probably happy I was gone!" I snapped, not really thinking about what I was saying.

"Happy. . . Happy you were gone?!" She demanded, a sour look of disgust on her face.  She even set her phone down on the roof of the house.  "You're my fucking brother! We may fight, but at the end of the day, you're the only one I've been able to stand in this family! I was out there every fucking day looking for you, asshole!  I was devastated!" She exclaimed, and just like she could tell I was lying, I could tell she was telling the truth.

"Cool, ok? Whatever. Sister of the year. . . . Just get out of my room!" I replied, having been successfully guilt tripped. 

"Get me the tickets!" She insisted, her mood instantly calm and annoying again as she picked up her phone again.

"MOM! TEGAN WON'T GET OUT OF MY ROOM!" I screamed, knowing my mom was just down the hall.

My sister's eyes bolted to the doorway, expecting our mother to come bursting in to chew her ass, but the sound of the vacuum continued.  She looked down at me and glared.

"Shut the hell up!" She whispered at me through clenched teeth.

"MOM!" I yelled again.

"Fine!" Tegan relented. "Great to see you're still an asshole, Preston!" She spat at me, angrily.  I had to dive out of the way as her giant foot swung passed me, before completely squashing the origami Lamborghini that sat in the driveway flat, this time definitely on purpose.  "Oopsie!" She called over her shoulder as she left, the car sticking to her foot for a few steps  before falling limply to the ground.

She slammed the door behind her, hoping to trap me inside my room, I'm sure.  I heard her stomp up the stairs, and it wasn't until I was sure she was gone that I noticed that was shaking and covered in sweat.  Somehow seeing my younger sister like this was almost as nerve racking as seeing Zoey towering over me and pissed off. 

The difference is, I liked to believe that Tegan wouldn't seriously hurt me.  In her defense, she had pretty much left me alone since I got home.  She had stated that I wasn't worth the very little effort it would take to kick my tiny ass.  She said if she was going to do it, she wanted it to be "the big one".  When I was full sized and capable.  

It was sort of a fucked up inside joke we had.  "The big one." We called it.  A hypothetical fight we sometimes talked about where the gloves came off and we actually beat the shit out of each other.  Complete with grizzle descriptions of what we would do to the other.  Taking it as far as you dared to take it.  My mom absolutely hated when we talked about it.

Officially done with the encounter, I was finally able to go inside and get some rest.  It was much needed seeing as how my sister was running me ragged with tours and acting roles.  Granted, my bank account had never been mid 6 figures before. . . Or 6 figures at all for that matter, but I definitely needed a break.  

I threw my luggage on the floor in the entryway and went upstairs to lay down. It seemed as though I had barely closed my eyes when I heard the door open and somebody come in.

"Seriously Tegan!  GET THE FUCK OUT!" I screamed at the literal top of my lungs. 

"Relax! Jesus!  It's Janessa!" The voice from outside my window shouted back.  "Wait. . . . Tegan was in here?!  Are you ok? Did she fuck with you?!" Janessa exclaimed, her mind moving a mile a minute. 

"No. . . . It's fine.  She just wanted tickets to Jimmy Fallon.  I told her to ask you." I explained as I rolled out of my bed and came to my bedroom window. 

"So she didn't have anything to do with these flattened origami pieces?" Nessa questioned, and I felt the ground tremble as she sat down outside.

"It was an accident." I lied.

"Hmm.  I guess I did see that she called, but I was in a meeting.  I do have a couple extra tickets, if you are ok with her coming?" She asked, knowing that I might have objections.

"It's fine. . . " I lied a second time, yawning.

"Ok, I'll let her know.  But first, I have huge news!" She exclaimed, clapping her hands together. 

"What?" I asked, unenthusiasticly as I leaned on the window sill.

"You've been invited to host snl!" She shouted, probably expecting me to be as excited as she was.

I only sighed, hanging my head in exhaustion.

"What's that reaction for?" She asked, disappointment and irritation on her face.  "You love Snl!" 

"I do. . . It's just. . . You're doing it again." I replied, like a boss explaining flaws to an incompetent employee. 

"Doing what?!" She demanded, defensively.

"Running me ragged. . . " I said, somewhat quietly.  "I just got done doing that movie. . . I need some time, Nessa."

"It's not for 2 weeks.  That's plenty of time to rest." She said, checking the schedule on her phone.

"I haven't seen my friends in a month and a half!  I'm taking at least a month off!" I declared, matter-of-factly.

My sister laughed an involuntary laugh as she stood up and put her hands on her hips.

"That is not happening!  Even without Snl, you have engagements the week after next that can't be put off!" She replied, looming over my mansion and blocking out the light.

"You're towering!" I said, my voice coming out more timidly than I would have liked. 

"Towering" is what my quality psychiatrist determined was a trigger of high anxiety and stress in my condition.  I couldn't possibly imagine why.  Either way, my entire family was discouraged from standing over me when asking me to do anything or arguing with me in order to consciously or subconsciously intimidate me and my mom enforced this rule with an iron fist, although she was guilty of it as well when things got heated.  At this point, I had had entire lifetime of people bigger than me imposing their will on me, so being able to call them out and guilt trip them was admittedly nice.

"I'm. . Sorry." She replied, sitting back down on the floor.  "Look. . . I'll make you a deal.  You finish off this month, then you can have next month off!" She offered, adjusting something on her iPad.

"No Janessa!" I said, standing my ground.  "I'm tired this month, next month I'll be dead!" 

"You're gonna be dead if you don't. . . . " Janessa threatened, under her breath and thoroughly annoyed with me now. "FINE!" She exclaimed, fake cheerfully.  "If you want to throw away these amazing opportunities I got you, that's fine by me!" She shouted, standing back up immediately and throwing her hands up.

"You know. . . . If you actually got down to business and put in some work, you could probably make enough money to take time to travel when you grow back!" She added, as she turned to leave.

"You're completely right Nessa!" I called after her in a tone I knew she hated.  She flipped me off before disappearing around the corner only to stick her head back in.

"Don't forget, mom is having a guest over for supper tonight. . . . So you should probably call Cadence and bail if you don't want to have to deal with all the attention.  

How could I possibly forget!? Bailing was a pretty good idea though. I knew if a stayed home, my mom would send my dad to drag me upstairs to be displayed.  

With her gone, I finally had a moment to myself as I climbed back into my bed.  It was so comfortable that I was out like a light.  Unfortunately it barely felt like I had closed my eyes when I heard my mom's voice coming down the stairs.  Not unusual but that voice she was talking to. . . .

I was jolted awake and bolted to my window just in time to see my mom enter and flip on the light followed by. . .

NO. . . . THIS SHOULDN'T BE HAPPENING!

Every shred of safety and sanity I had worked to accumulate over the past year was gone in a heartbeat as my life's greatest obstacle, Zoey, followed my mom into my room.

"Here it is!" My mom exclaimed, holding her hand out in the direction of my house like a game show girl.

"Oh wow!" She said,genuinely wide-eyed and jaw dropped as she kept her distance from it. It was the usual reaction people had to seeing it for the first time and my mom never got sick of it. 

My eyes were glued to Zoey as my mom rattled off her normal schpeel of technical facts about the house.  She looked. . . Different. . . Somehow. . . . And yes, her hair was shorter, cut to shoulder length now, but she also seemed. . . . Taller maybe?  Her attire was completely different than I had ever seen her as well.  She wore a cardigan with some type of logo on it and jeans with vans now.

Maybe I was just Imagining it.  Maybe it was this new found confidence that she seemed to ooze now, but there wasn't time to think about it as my mother approached the house, careful not to step on anything.

"Preston?" She called out, in that falsely sweet voice that mothers use around company.

I ducked away from the window as her gaze moved in my direction, hiding with my back against the wall.

"Preston, you have a visitor!" She said, tapping on my window with a long, manicured nail.

"Ok! Hold on a minute!" I shouted, only half acting like I had been asleep.  The truth was my heart was beating out of my chest and I had began to sweat as I put on a shirt and pants, before making my way to the front door.  I stood behind it for long enough that my mom called for me again, before taking a deep, deep breath and opening it to face the girl who had fucked me up, probably for life.

"There he is!" My mom exclaimed, like I was the birthday boy at a kids birthday party.  

The scowl on my face shown before I had time to check myself and the evil eye from my mom corrected it immediately.  She stepped away, revealing me to Zoey.

"Zoey. . . . This is Preston!" She said, motioning to me.

I didn't honestly know which way Zoey would play this.  Would she admit that she had met me before that Cadence's house, or play the first introduction card?

She went with the latter, acting as though her heart was melting as she clutched her hands to her chest and let out an obnoxious "awwwww!" Like I was the cutest thing she had ever seen.

Not even the threat of my mother's glare could keep my disdain from showing as Zoey crouched to get a better look at me. 

"This. . . This is so crazy!" Zoey exclaimed as her eyes took me in with an obvious practice like she had ran through this scenario a thousand times. "I saw you on tv and in the movies but they don't do you any justice!" She said, her hands covering her mouth now.  

I didn't reply and it irritated my mom.

"You think maybe you could reply when someone speaks to you, Preston?" She asked like she was prompting a toddler.

My gaze shifted from Zoey to her, then back to Zoey.  

Zoey chuckled nervously, feeling the tension between us 

"Oh, that's alright!  I'm sure he gets introduced to new people all the time and it must get exhausting.  His sister did say he was down here napping." Zoey said, trying to cool the room.

"Oh he knows how to deal with it.  He's just upset with me because I'm making him eat dinner with the family for once instead of hiding out in here or ditching us to go with his friends!" My mother explained, examining her nails nonchalantly.

"Well. . . A person with as busy a schedule as I imagine he has does need some time for himself, and far be it for me to deny him that." Zoey answered, partially defending me as she stood up and stepped away.  

"Do you happen to have a bathroom down here?" Zoey asked, biting her lower lip.

"Yes! Down the hall and the last door on your right." My mother explained.  "You can just meet me back upstairs in the living room when you're ready."

"Thank you!" Zoey replied as she walked around the corner and disappeared. As expected, my mom was on me in a heartbeat.

"Dinner will be ready in 30 minutes.  I expect you at the table with a better attitude!" She whispered quietly but forcefully to me, before turning and leaving the room. I could hear her stomp up the stairs in the distance.

Immediately red flags were going off in my head and I knew Zoey was up to something and sure enough, I heard the toilet, the faucet, towel, door, light switch, footsteps and a second later, she slinked back into my room, glancing around and down the hallway to make sure my mom was truly gone.

I was frozen in place as our eyes locked without the safety of my imposing mother to keep her at bay.

"Well well well, we meet again!" She said with a grin, taking a step in my direction.  Still I couldn't move.

The nightmare of Zoey being in the one place that I was finally supposed to be rid of her was too much to bare.

"Can we finally agree that us being together in some capacity must be fate?  I mean, come on!  What are the chances of this, really?  That your mom would choose my chain of hotels to hold her conference and invite me to dinner on top of that?"  Pretty slim.  Zoey commented, taking another step toward me, looming larger and larger.

"I'll admit though. . . . I thought it was over as well.  When I first saw your news story I couldn't believe it!  I honestly expected the cops to come break in my door at any moment, but they never did. . . . . You never did tell anyone other than your two ogress friends about me, did you?" She asked, taking the third and final step that closed the distance between us. "And even that was only after I learned where you lived the first time!  My only question is why though? Was the tiny shred of dignity that you are clinging on to really worth it? Especially now that that ship has officially sailed?"

I didn't respond, only taking an unconscious step back. I knew she was referencing Cadence and Kiera, who had told me the story countless times in the past year how they had gotten Zoey alone and beat the shit out of her in my name.  My only regret is that I hadn't been there to see it. I muse have formed a smile, because she called me out on it.

"No, laugh it up! It's funny! Your fucking big, dumb, stupid friends did a number on me I admit,  but I owe them a thank you!" She said, turning away from me in thought.  "After I got out of the hospital, I had an epiphany and my life changed from there for the better."

"Well I'm sure they would gladly do it again if you want to take your life to even higher heights." I replied, my first time saying anything to her in an entire year. "I only request that I get to be there this time!"

"Hmmm.  Funny how much you have to say from behind the cover of your freak friends or the safety of a computer screen, but we both know how you stack up when it's just me and you." She shot back, stifling a furious chuckle.  "But like I said. . . I AM thankful."

"I did a lot of reflecting in the past year, you know. Made a lot of changes.  Gave up my clip stores.  Sold all my gear.  Then when it came out that my old boss was having an affair with his assistant, I got his job!  Worked my way up fast and now I'm the regional manager for the entire tri-state area!  They gave me a brand new BMW as a company car and everything! " she explained, as she delicately picked up a piece of origami and inspected it.

"I got a brand new, huge apartment in the city now too. Top floor with a gorgeous view!  Probably nothing compared to this mansion you have here but compared to where we were living. . . .ridiculously nice." She finished, carefully placing the piece down exactly how she found it.

"What's your point, Zoey?  I don't fucking care about your life and besides, I promise I'm doing better than you." I replied, coldly.

"Oh no, totally!  No argument there!  You're world famous. . . But just look at the cost.  Your own mother shows you off like you are some kind of 1950's prized petunia.  You're just a novelty that everyone is making money off of!  You may think you've out grown me, but now your older sister and mom and I'm sure a million other people are profiting off of you just like I was!" She pointed out with a evil giggle.  

With that, she had stuck the biggest, sharpest knife in me.  Hitting me where it hurt the most.

"At least I'm truly independent.  In all truthfulness, my life started to improve the moment I decided that I didn't need you anymore!" She said gleefully.  "Sure. . It's impossible to not notice you, what with you being all over tv and movies, but I really haven't thought about you up until your mom contacted the hotel to hold her conference."  

"And you can tell yourself whatever you want, but deep down I think you know it's fate.  Why else would we keep getting drawn together like this? The world is small, but it's not that small." She continued.  "But I still love it this way, you know?  Just like when Keira brought me right to you!. . . Even right now I could snatch you up, climb out the window, and we would be right back where we started."

Zoey made a lunge for me and on pure instinct I scrambled for my front door, fumbling with the knob before flinging it open and diving inside, ripping my shirt on the handle.  Looking back, I realized that she had just been joking and she was holding back a smirk that said she was embarrassed for me.

"I'll see you at the table Preston!. . . " was all she said as she turned and left.