Alex stared up at the giant cheerleader staring down at her, gentle waves of warm breath washing over her.

“Yeah, we need to get a few things straight, runt.” Kelsey muttered down to her partially opened hand. “Just because you’re small and cute doesn’t mean shit here. You’re already getting way to much attention, and that’s not something I’ll put up with.” Her eyes glared down at the tiny teen, daring the one inch girl to challenge her. Alex crossed her arms in front of her chest in response, before huffing a reply.

“Look, I’m not here to make a scene, just take me to class like you said, okay?” Alex said, her eyes not breaking away from Kelsey’s as the two stared each other down. She wasn’t trying to make a scene by attending school, but this blonde bimbo sure seemed to think otherwise. The crowd of students around them seemed to pay no attention to the standoff, walking briskly to their classes.

“Take yourself to class, shrimp,” Kelsey murmured, a smirk growing across her lips. Her unoccupied hand rose up level with her palm, and Alex glanced at the moving shape on the edge of her vision. Kelsey’s middle finger quickly curled back, her manicured nail resting against the pad of her thumb, forming an oval. Alex gasped and barely had time to cover her face as Kelsey flicked the tiny girl square in the chest, catapulting her like a tiny projectile down the hallway. Kelsey quickly lost sight of the smaller girl, the inch tall teen hurtling through the air.

“Hmpf, good riddance.” Kelsey’s lip twitched further into a grin as the warning bell from next class clanged. She spun on her heels, and trotted off towards her next class, conveniently in the opposite direction she had just launched Alex.

Alex screamed as she soared through the air, narrowly missing half a dozen students as her tiny form whizzed past their heads. This wasn’t her first time being launched through the sky like this, but it was a jarring experience every time. Gravity finally caught up with her, dragging her down towards the laminate floor. Alex grunted and curled up in a ball, crashing hard into the ground with her left shoulder. The force was enough to make her body skip a couple of times, her limbs flailing in all directions after the first impact. She finally came to a stop, and groaned as she sat up, sore but otherwise unharmed.

In the back of her mind, Alex made a mental note to avoid Kelsey in the future. She obviously had a thing out for tinies, and Alex would rather just avoid the drama altogether if possible. However, the thundering footfalls around her were her immediate concern, then she’d worry about getting to class next. Alex looked up just in time to see a jet black heel careening out of the sky towards her. She yelped and rolled to her right, the thick rubber sole slamming down on the spot she had occupied not two seconds before. Taking a deep breath, Alex pushed herself up to her feet, and glanced around her. Towering legs in all directions shifted like a living forest of shins and shoes, and Alex sprinted to what appeared to be a short break in the stampede.

The nearest wall was only a couple of feet away, but to a one inch tall girl, it was like running the fifty-yard dash, and the penalty for losing was getting stomped on by some random teenager. The myriad of shoes around her crashed back and forth around her, forcing her to change directions several times. A tightly laced sneaker slammed down directly in front of Alex, which she slammed into face first before she had a chance to react. She tumbled backwards onto her butt, stunned by the unexpected collision. The sneaker lifted away before her vision cleared, but Alex couldn’t miss the looming shadow that rolled over her. She looked up just in time to see the textured tread of a boot stomp down on her.

Alex’s face was scrunched against the rough rubber tread. Traces of caked dirt crumbled as she shifted to try and break free, but the repeated steps of her unaware tormentor kept jamming her back into the tread. Alex grunted and pushed, only to be smashed back into the tread a second later. She shouted in frustration, knowing full well it was useless, but she was quickly getting fed up with getting stepped on over and over.

“Hey! Down here!...”

THUD

“Stop stepping on m...”

THUD

“Heeeeeyy...”

THUD

“Ugh! At least slow do...”

THUD

“Slow down you dumbass!”

THUD

Alex yelled in anger, pounding her fists against the firm black tread. Suddenly, the unaware student stopped at a locker, and stood on the tiptoes to reach something inside. The stretching motion was enough to give Alex a reprieve, and she took the opportunity  and gave one hard push. The combination of her exertion and the momentary stall in being stepped on was enough for her to dislodge herself, and Alex quickly scurried on all fours to get out from under the boot. She flinched as it shifted away, buying her a few seconds to stand back up. As soon as she was on her feet though, another pair of shoes came rumbling towards her. Alex dove towards the base of the locker, narrowly avoiding a sneaker that slammed down behind her. A gust of air from the particularly hard footfall blew Alex onto her side, and she skidded into the shadows. Accumulated dust clung to her clothes, and she sneezed a few times as she brushed herself off.

Walking up to the edge of the locker, Alex scanned the hallway for potential stomping threats. The last few stragglers hurried past, their pace further quickened by the dinging bell. She sighed, realizing there was no way she’d make it to her class at all, much less in time. Glancing around, she noticed that her following class was directly across from her. A small improvement, she thought to herself as she hustled across the now empty corridor. Her minuscule footsteps were inaudible, and from a bystander’s view, Alex would have looked more like a bug scurrying from one dark crevice to the next.

She reached the doorframe of her next class, and slipped under the gap along the door jamb. The teacher was in front of the class, an older gentleman wearing a stereotypical striped flannel shirt. Alex shuffled over to the teacher’s desk, reaching it after a minute trying to avoid unnecessary attention from the students. She was sure one of the boys in the front row saw her, but if he did, he kept his attention diverted to the teacher enough to not draw attention. Alex sighed, and leaned against the thick wooden leg of the desk, absently listening to the teacher drone on about ancient history. She was beginning to fade into a bit of a daydream when the bell racked her back into reality, and she jumped a bit at the shrill sound. The students began to quickly filter out the door, a small miracle considering that no two objects can inhabit the same space at once. Alex watched as a few of the students attempted to break that theory, as several shoulders bumped and backpacks were jostled in the ensuing rush to leave.

“Are you in the next class?” A male voice behind her startled Alex, causing her to spin around. The boy from the front row was kneeling beside the desk, one hand extended palm up towards her. “I saw you sneak in, figured you’re in the class after this one.”

Alex nodded, and hesitantly stepped forward. The boy quickly lifted her up, causing her to stagger onto one knee, but she knew he probably had no way of knowing the scale of movement to her is different. The simple act of him standing back up was like a rocket launch to her, especially when it happens without warning.

The boy moved his hand over to the desk he was just sitting at, and tilted his palm to let Alex step onto the top of the desk. She quickly jumped down, and turned to face her unexpected helper.

“Thank you!” She shouted, cupping her hands over her mouth. The boy’s cheeks flushed a bright red, a friendly grin tugging at the edge of his lips.

“A...anytime...” he said, slowly backing away and turning to leave the class.

Alex chuckled to herself. “Boys,” she muttered, recognizing the teen’s reaction to friendly interaction from a girl. “Size didn’t change that”, she snickered at the thought. She sat down and crossed her legs, sitting in the center of the desk as other students came in. Almost all the seats were full, when Lily walked in.

“Hey Alex!” She whisper-shouted towards the seemingly empty desk, save for a small figurine on it. Alex smiled and waved at her friend, watching her take a seat in the desk adjacent to her. Given the circumstances earlier, the day didn’t too bad so far, so long as Alex kept away from blonde cheerleaders with an attitude problem. She glanced up as the teacher began to call roll, raising her hands above her head when her name was called. She hoped the earlier encounter was a fluke, and had all but forgotten about Kelsey by the time the teacher began his lecture.