Although Riley was the one who actually chose the restaurant where the trio went to for their late lunch, Tom was more than happy with her decision. Crave Explorers was an eatery that had an admittedly childish aesthetic, but drew adults in with a great menu and cheap bar in comparison to places with similarly priced food. There were benefits to going mid afternoon too; a lack of families allowing their kids to run rampant. In fact, only a few of the dozens of tables were in use so they were seated rather quickly.

“It's been so long since I've eaten at a restaurant! I feel spoilt for choice.” Riley exclaimed, her eyes moving at a mile a minute searching the menu for a meal that would satisfy her hunger.

“Mom told me that the academy treated you students to a trip out every now and again, did you not go to restaurants then?”

“Yeah, I suppose that in reality it has only been a month or two. But it just feels like a long time, y'know? Like when you have a week off of work, then when inevitably return it feels like you haven't been there for ages.”

“Please, don't remind me.” Michelle chuckled. “I'm already beginning to dread having to go back to work next week.”

“I'm sure it'll be fine mom.” Riley was quick to reassure her mother. “I bet they've all missed you.”

“That's almost certainly true.” Michelle agreed with an amused smile.

Tom let himself take a back seat in the conversation, appreciating the atmosphere that was building. No talk of feet, no mention of SCOs. Right now, he felt like he was part of a normal family in what felt like forever. The journey here had been quiet and devoid of any negative emotions between them. Tom had excused himself to the bathroom as soon as possible of course, washing the scent of his mother's feet from his body hastily. Walking through the streets with Riley was quite strange. People had been pointing and whispering, nowhere near as subtly as they tried to be. He had seen SCOs in public places before and he didn't realise how obvious his weary stares must have been; because actually standing next to one all he was aware of were the many stares. Some were fearful, some were respectful. Riley seemed to bask in the attention however, a trait that she always had possessed and a trait that Tom never shared. She strode around with her back straighter and her head held high.

Upon entering the restaurant, they had been approached by one of the two waitresses manning the floor of Crave Explorers. She wore the uniform which some people found a little ridiculous: a white t-shirt with the logo printed on the front, smart black trousers with orange suspenders and a silly orange mining helmet with a torch built into it. The torch was used for when it was a customers birthday; the lights would dim and a group of servers would exit the kitchen with a cake, finding the way to the table using the lights on their heads. Kids loved it.

Michelle, Riley and Tom were taken to a C shaped booth and left alone with menus after having their drinks taken, which is when the discussion about what they intended to order began. Michelle sat on the curve of the seat and her offspring sat to either side of her. After several minutes the second waitress brought their drinks over and when Tom saw her his eyes widened in surprise. The black haired beauty with light tan skin was one that he recognised, a girl that he knew back in high school, Ashley. Still wearing her hair in a single long braid like she had when Tom was familiar with her. She'd been one of the popular girls without a chip on her shoulder and had been someone who always made an effort to speak to him. Truth be told, Tom used to have a bit of a crush on her because of that. Not only was she pretty, but she was kind too.

Standing before their table she smiled, asking whose drink belonged to who and placing them on the correct coasters, Ashley's brown eyes met with Tom's blues. Her stare held for a few moments before mutual recognition flooded them.

“Tom Levin? Is that you?”

“Hi Ashley, long time no see.” Tom managed a lame grin. His cheeks had turned a little red from the surprise he felt when she actually remembered him.

“Hold on.” Ashley looked at the other waitress who was returning to the kitchen with the empty plates from another table. “Hey, Katie! I'll take this table. You can have the Garrett table.” She turned back to Tom and his family to offer a brief explanation. “She won't mind, they're regulars and tip well.”

“So I'm guessing these are your sisters?” Ashley asked, gesturing at his mother and actual sister.

Michelle gave a low chuckle as a large grin caused her lips to curl upwards. “It's kind of you to say so, but I am in fact Tom's mother. This is his younger sister, Riley.”

“You wear your years well regardless, Mrs Levin, if you don't mind me saying. My name is Ashley, Tom and I went to high school together. Pleased to meet you!”

“You too!” Riley spoke first, always eager to insert herself into a conversation.

“Likewise.” Michelle followed close behind.

“You been working here long?” Tom said in an effort to make conversation. She seemed happy to see him.

“Going on seven months now. It's nice here. Minus the silly outfit of course. I've waited in a few restaurants and get treated better here for the most part.”

“I like the outfit on you. It looks... nice.” Tom wanted to say more, say that he thinks that she is attractive no matter what she wears but that was a bit much currently.

“Thank you Tom!” It sounded like the compliment worked, even though it sounded lamer than expected when he actually said the toned down version out loud.

“Excuse my brother, he's a terrible flirt.” Riley piped up again, getting a giggle out of Michelle and Ashley to Tom's dismay. Had this been before Riley went away to Hemlock Academy he might have sent a kick her way but now that their mom viewed her as the pride of their family, Riley became untouchable.

“I've heard worse, believe me. Tom is above average.” Ashley said, shooting a smile at Tom. He was grateful that not everyone wanting to join in when his sister decided to poke fun at him. “So, what's the occasion today guys? Is it someone's birthday?”

“I've just graduated.” Riley said loftily, bringing one booted foot up from the floor and putting it up on the table in order to show off her new status to the waitress.

“Oh wow! You're an SCO! I somehow missed the uniform, sorry.” Ashley was genuinely impressed. SCOs had reached an elevated place in society that their opposition resented, so her reaction wasn't entirely unexpected. “You look young for an SCO, how old are you?”

“Nineteen. Soon to be twenty. I went into Hemlock Academy when I was eighteen which is the youngest possible age to be accepted. I think you'd be surprised, there were several others my age who enrolled at the same time as me.” Riley loved to regale other others with her accomplishment, but was clever enough to not come across as a total braggart by downplaying those accomplishments just a little.

“I used to think about applying to Hemlock, the wage for being an SCO makes it soooo tempting as a career choice. But I don't think I'm mean enough to do what you guys do.” Ashley's face suddenly changed, worried that she had said something offensive. “Not to say that you're a mean person or anything!”

“Don't worry about it. I'm plenty mean, just ask Tom.” Riley's light voice failed to properly reflect her meanness, but that didn't mean that it wasn't there.

Ashley looked at Tom with a questioning look but didn't get chance to ask anything. A man who appeared to be her manager walked past nearby and cleared his throat loudly, causing Ashley to jump and almost drop her notepad and pen.

“Sorry! I'm supposed to be getting you guys some food, aren't I?” The manager's interruption put an end to the conversation, something that Tom was glad for since Riley decided to steer it somewhere awkward for him.

Ashley took their order and following that her interactions with them were a lot more professional under the watchful eye of her manager. The time spent eating flew by, the three of them were so hungry that they devoured what they ordered, though no room was left for dessert. Michelle and Riley were eager to get on with their day, they had somewhere to be. Ashley brought the bill over and Riley happily paid as promised, giving the waitress a generous thirty percent tip in order to “Get Tom into her good books.”

Michelle and Riley left after paying, leaving Tom alone to receive the receipt. She handed it straight to him as he was sitting on the edge of the booth seat, waiting to leave.

“Thanks for coming!” Ashley said at a normal volume, followed by a much quieter “And I actually mean that, I'm not just reading from my script.”

Tom laughed. “I'm glad I came, it was great to see you again. I feel like it's been way too long. Sorry about my sister, she can be annoying.”

“It certainly has been too long Tom. From now on, I expect you to come and see me at work frequently! My day is always better when a friendly face pops by. And don't be sorry, I like her.”

“You... like Riley? Really?” Tom asked, flabbergasted. He struggled to understand what people saw in his evil sister.

Now it was Ashley's turn to laugh. “Fear not Tom, I won't take after her and start teasing you at any opportunity.” She shifted her weight and her face flashed with pain. She looked down at her feet, popping the heel of one black flat and exposing the bare, reddened skin inside. “My break can't come soon enough, my feet are killing me today. A foot rub would be ideal, but do you know how hard it is to find a guy who gives a good foot rub these days?”

A light turned flickered on in Tom's mind. Never had be expected to be grateful for the unwanted lessons his mom gave him in the 'art' of massaging feet. “You know, I've been told that I give a pretty decent foot rub.”

Ashley raised an eyebrow, seizing the end of her braid in one hand to play with it thoughtfully, rolling the bundle of black hair in her delicate fingers. “Is that so? In that case, I shall have to call on your services sometimes. You better not be lying to me, because I am going to have great expectations of you Tom.”

Tom smiled, putting his hands up in surrender. “I'm not lying. Go out with me sometime and allow me to prove it.”

“Go out with you? What if I happen to have a boyfriend?”

Resisting the urge to step down, Tom called her bluff. He had become used to teasing. “Do you?”

“No.” Ashley admitted with a grin. “Give me that.” She demanded, referring to his receipt, although she had no intention of waiting for Tom to hand it over. Instead she snatched it and started writing on the back.

“Text me. I'm busy literally all weekend and I'll be way too tired after work on Sunday. Monday however, would be perfect. Just make sure that you bring a peg for your nose.” Handing the piece of paper back, Ashley turned and went back to doing her job, doing a poor job of hiding her huge smile.

“See you Monday then, I guess.” Tom called out after her before rejoining his mom and sister outside.

“Took you long enough!” Riley said, tapping her booted foot impatiently. Then she noticed how happy he looked. “Why are you so pleased? Did the waitress say something nice to you?”

“Something like that.” Tom spoke contently, carefully sliding the precious receipt into his pocket. “So, where are we going now?”

“Your sister and I were discussing it earlier and we decided that the two of us are going to the nail salon. It is going to cost much more when Riley's feet reach the odour levels typical of SCO feet, so this is the best time for her to get some perma-polish on her toes. My toes could use some colourful crowns too, so I'm going to treat myself. Maybe just regular nail polish though, my pockets aren't that deep.”

“So I can go home?” Tom had enjoyed the meal but he didn't really want to sit in a nail salon and wait for his family to get pedicures. He had better things to do. His mom had something else in mind however.

“I was hoping you could go do a little shopping on my behalf whilst I'm busy, to save us all some time once we're done with our pedicures.” Michelle said to her son with a tone of voice that suggested to him that she had an ulterior motive but would likely not mean anything to Riley. She wanted him to do something and she didn't want current company to know about it.

Suppressing a sigh, Tom went along with whatever his mother was planning. “Yeah sure mom, whatever you need. You got a list for me for anything?”

“Here. I'm sure you've got enough money with you, if not it might be a good idea to draw more out of your account. Come to the salon after you've got it, same place as last time.” Michelle handed Tom a scrap of paper from her pocket, smiling. “See you later honey.”

Tom gave a brief wave in parting, taking a look at what his mom had given him. “Really?” He asked aloud to himself after reading it. Michelle had written down instructions for him to go to a jewellers that she'd been browsing and pick up a nice toe ring for Riley. She intended for that to be Tom's graduation gift for his sister. There were also not so subtle hints about her wanting a toe ring of her own to make her feet look prettier. Tom didn't want to buy anyone a toe ring, never mind his younger sister or disciplinarian mother.

But Michelle had set him on a path and he intended to follow it to the end. The alternative was to face the prospect of punishment with her 'new' socks. He was familiar with all the streets of the shopping district in his home town and found the place easy enough.

'Janet's Jewels' had a neon sign out front that looked straight out of a rough 80s neighbourhood. Thankfully it proved to be a simple aesthetic choice because the interior looked much better. A quick glance around showed him that he was the sole customer, alone in the store with a plump middle aged woman who he assumed was Janet.

“Hi! Can I help you at all?” She asked. A bead of sweat ran down her forehead. There was no air conditioning in here, Tom noticed this only seconds after entering. A beat up old desk fan whirred pathetically on the counter where the till was located but all it was doing was blowing hot air over the glass displays.

Tom was glad that the owner was the only person present. Buying toe rings wasn't exactly something that he usually did and he believed that it might be easy for people to get the wrong impression of him. The fact that it was just some woman running a jewellery store that he would never visit again made things much easier.

“You probably can actually. I'm, uhhh, looking for a couple toe rings for my girlfriend.” Tom lied. No point in telling the embarrassing truth.

“Ah! You'll want to be over here.” Janet led the way through the array of display cases on a rather inefficient route, likely hoping that something else would catch his eye. Regardless, Tom found him looking at a variety of toe rings.

“We don't sell a great deal of toe rings, but we do have a small selection. Any catch your eye?”

Tom picked out the ones that, in his opinion, were both decorative and a reasonable price. A thick silver band for Riley and a trio of slim gold bands for his mom that were conveniently the same price as one larger ring. There were rings with gemstones in but they lingered a little out of his price range. The pair of rings that he had picked were sufficient.

Afterwards they went over to the counter where Tom paid using the cash in his wallet and Janet began putting both rings into the same jewellery box but Tom stopped her.

“Sorry, but could you put them in separate boxes. They're... gifts for two different occasions.”

Janet smiled. “Buying in advance? Smart move young man. Just keep the second well hidden.” She happily obliged.

“Thanks very much, have a nice day!” Janet said after handing Tom his purchases.

“And yourself!” Tom replied, exiting the unpleasantly warm climate of the jewellery store.

Having accompanied his mother to the nail salon previously, Tom knew where he was going. It was only a few blocks away from the jewellers, which was probably why his mom had sent him to that particular store. His entrance into the salon was signalled by the ringing of a bell above the door which summoned an Asian woman to greet him in mere seconds.

“Hello, welcome to Fresh Feet, how can I be of service?” She had a much more welcoming presence that Janet, who had clearly been feeling the effects of the heat in her store. By comparison, the nail salon was a lovely, cool environment.

“Oh I don't need anything.” Tom explained. “I'm with them over there, is it okay if I sit in your waiting area?”

Taking a second to look for who Tom was pointing at, the salon attendant told him it was fine for him to wait and asked if he would like anything to drink. He politely declined, not wanting to inconvenience the lady and took a seat, setting the brown paper bag containing the rings on the adjacent seat. Settling into the comfortable seat, he skipped on the girly magazines and instead chose to watch the television set up in the waiting area. Music blared from the surround sound system as a video that just barely matched the beat and lyrics played on the screen. Chart music. Chart music that the staff here seemed to enjoy, judging by the bobbing of their heads along with the song. Tom didn't outright hate the song playing, it wasn't terrible but he wouldn't have ever chosen to listen to it.

However, he stiffened up the moment that the next song began. “Oh I love this song!” Someone exclaimed somewhere in the salon. Tom didn't love this song. He hated it. But he didn't hate it because of the music, he hated the singer.

“Candy J we have a selection of potential candidates lined up.”

“Bring them out. Let them strut their stuff. Let's see if any of them are worthy to worship these tasty cheeks.”

The music video for this had a storyline, vaguely. The artist, a pink haired pop star called Candy J, was in a club seated in a fancy chair, talking to a woman in a suit. The camera was positioned on a table in facing Candy J, making her look huge with a low angle shot. After being given her instructions, the woman in the suit left the frame and the music kicked in.

A shrunken man hesitantly walked into frame on the surface of the table and took his place before Candy J. “Beg.” She commanded, letting the full weight of her gaze settle on the tiny. He fell to his knees and started begging as Candy J's lyrics started. The main scene was intercut with the singer on a stage in what looked like the same club, singing the song to a crowd of people. Lyrically the song was about how sexy Candy J was, how everyone loved her and how she had men begging to serve her. Silently, the Candy J that was sat down held up a hand to stop the tiny's begging and reached out of frame to grab a sneaker. Grabbing the little man in her hand she but him into the sneaker and hands it back to whoever it belonged to. A brief cut later and there was now a woman dancing behind the enthroned pop star, wearing a pair of sneakers identical to the one that Candy J put the tiny inside.

The scenario of a shrunken man begging Candy J repeated four times in total, each ending with the shrunken man failing to please the singer and her putting them into a shoe, only for the shoe to be worn by another dancer who started doing her thing in the background. After the second and fourth time, the chorus of the song interrupted the story, cutting back to Candy J singing.

Want the squeeze, Want the squeeze?

Want the pressure, Want the pressure?

They wanna please,

Cause I'm a lady of leisure.

Tom tried to ignore the song, hating how it shamelessly advocated for shrinking to the large audience that Candy J had acquired during her career. He wondered if those tiny men were actually still in those shoes whilst the dancers danced. They probably were, since they were still being rehabilitated like most of the shrunken people in society. Once, Tom had watched an interview with Candy J on a talk show and she had spoke about how she had a deal with the Shrink Correctional Association where they gave her tinies to use in her music and to build her image. This benefited the Association by giving them essentially free exposure to a large, young audience.

The second chorus finished and a fifth tiny walked onto the tabletop before Candy J. This time however, when he started begging, the singer smiled and slowly nodded her head. When the verse came to an end, the music came to a stop. “You'll do. Feel free to do a dance of your own whilst you're back there!” She said, standing up and picking up the little guy. Turning around, Candy J showed off her big, toned butt in pink latex miniskirt to the camera. A free hand, topped by impractically long pink fingernails, pulled the back of her waistband forwards and put the tiny inside her tight shorts, fiddling around and putting him into his place. It didn't take long, the dominant pop star likely had experience, the hand retracted and she released the waistband, letting the skirt snap back into place. Shaking her ass for the camera, Tom couldn't even see the outline of the tiny because he was so deep between her butt cheeks. Tom shivered.

The music video cut to a different scene for a finale, the music returning as it did. Candy J was dancing in front of the same four dancers, singing the chorus over and over as the music faded, bringing the song to a close.

“That was Candy J with her new hit single 'Lady of leisure'. Before that was Watermark by SD. We actually have Candy J coming into the Radio 72 studio next week, Wednesday afternoon if you're interested in seeing what she's up to, where she's touring and all that cool stuff. Up next is--” The DJ's voice was a refreshing change from the atrocious song touting an implied pro-shrinking political stance.

“Oh my god, Candy J is so cool. She's like a goddess to those tiny men.” A couple of the salon attendants, one of them being the woman who greeted Tom, had been watching the video and were chatting about it.

“You see that girl over there? She's an SCO. You can tell by those boots next to her chair. She actually gets to play with tiny people, just like Candy J. How cool is that?” She nodded towards Riley and Michelle who had a woman each at their feet, tending to their toenails. Tom sighed into his hand. The fact that ordinary people had become so accepting of shrinking followed by extreme punishment as a method of 'rehabilitation'. The kind of crimes that netted someone a sentence under the feet of an SCO were only the minor ones too, and although the rates of crime punishable by shrinking were down, was it really worth the ethical sacrifice?

“Excuse me? You are Tom, yes?” An attendant that Tom hadn't seen before stood over the young man who had been deep in thought.

“I am.” He confirmed.

“Your mother and sister want to see you.”

Tom followed the slim woman sporting a heavy tan, paper bag in hand. Since she was wearing yoga pants he couldn't help but notice that she had an ass rivalling Candy J. At least this woman didn't have a shrinkee being crushed between those buns. She led the way past a few women in reclining salon chairs having pedicures done, either making conversation with their attendant or a seated neighbour.

Far sooner than he liked, Tom once more found himself facing his mother and sister. The attendant had done a great job on his mom's feet, a pair that he had unfortunately grown to be very familiar with. The rough skin on her wide soles was gone, those wrinkles restored to their soft glory. “What do you think to my toes, Tom?” Michelle asked, raising one foot and wiggling her toes. They were bright pink. “I was making my decision when that song came on, what's it called? Want the squeeze?”

“It's called Lady of leisure mom.” Riley said.

“Oh that's right, of course! Well anyway, I've seen her on the TV and when her song came on earlier I thought that her hair colour would look simply fantastic on my toes.”

“Yeah, they look great mom.” Tom said so just to appease her.

“And what about me, Tom?” Riley pouted mockingly, waving her feet back and forth. After such a long time, he looked upon the feet of his sister once more, and they looked... surprisingly unchanged by her time at Hemlock Academy. From what she had been saying, he had assumed that her feet had transformed into abhorrent physical manifestations of stench. Yet here they were, as soft and silky as ever. A little smaller than Michelle's feet and much less wide, Riley had high, wrinkly arches but very few wrinkles elsewhere so long as the skin was slack and not scrunched. Discounting the zones of her foot that didn't make much contact with the ground such as the toe stems and aforementioned arches, the bottoms of Riley's feet were a rosy pink colour, areas of high pressure such as the pudgy balls, sturdy heels and rotund toes boasting a darker shade. She had gone for a cherry red colour on her nails and although Tom hated what his sister's feet represented, although they were weapons belonging to the source of much of the humiliation in Tom's life thus far, he had to admit that Riley's feet were aesthetically pleasing. The toenail polish and her complexion were a match made in heaven.

“Yes Riley, I think that colour suits you.” This time, Tom wasn't talking out of his ass to please the subject of his words.

“Aww you're such a kind big brother!” Riley teased, making the women who heard giggle.

“He certainly is, honey. Tom has even bought you a present for graduating, haven't you Tom?” Michelle verbally prodded. She was excited to be receiving a new toe ring of her own.

“Well what are you waiting for Tom? You can even put it on my beautiful toes yourself.” Riley said, loving every part of this moment. Not only was she getting a present but was able to mess with her sibling too.

Pulling the correct ring box out of the bag, Tom took his place crouched down by Riley's feet. Slim toes wiggled inches away from his face, her own looking down on him with a superior smile. As Tom popped open the box to show her what he had bought, he could sense the satisfaction seeping off of her.

“I like it, simple yet stylish. Great choice Tom!” No doubt that if this had happened before Riley became an SCO and thus shackled by regulations, she would have patted him on the head with her foot.

Tom gave a shallow smile and a nod, trying to ignore the amused stares of the women present in the salon. He plucked the ring from its nest and speedily slipped the thick, silver band onto the second toe of Riley's left foot, minimising contact with her foot flesh. Although the odour hadn't been given much chance to take hold of her youthful sole skin, there was still a distinct cheesy aroma detectable in spite of the deodorising agents that the attendants had made use of; he dreaded the thought of how smelly those feet would be within a week. With the ring on, Riley raised her left foot into the air, spreading her toes in order to fully appreciate her new piece of jewellery.

“Don't you think that my toes look positively beautiful with their new present Tom?”

“Yeah. Beautiful.” Tom managed to keep the venom out of his voice.

One side of Riley's lips curled upwards, a telltale half-smirk that appeared whenever she had a 'good' idea. Clamping her pale toes back together Riley extended her foot towards her brother. “Prove to me that you mean that, dear brother. Give my toes a kiss.”

Tom met Riley's eyes and held her stare, trying to work out if she were kidding. She can't do this! What about those regulations that are supposed to protect people like me from people like her? She looked serious. Tom broke the stare, looking to his mom for assistance. Michelle was watching with an amused grin; she wouldn't save him.

Suddenly Riley spluttered and burst into laughter, followed closely by her mother and the two now mostly silent attendants. “You should have seen your face Tom! You actually thought I was serious! Do you not remember that behaviour like that is forbidden?”

“I-I-I...” Tom flushed red. Their laughter was drawing looks from more people in the salon, wondering what was going on. The worst thing is, Tom knew Riley well. He knew when she was joking around and when she was serious and though the two frequently interweave, in the moment where Riley commanded Tom to kiss her toes, she had been serious. Deadly serious. The one thing stopping her were SCO regulations.

Michelle calmed down, wiping a tear from her eye. “Come on Tom. I want to see how my new toe ring looks on my freshly pedicured feet. Riley's is so gorgeous that I'm starting to feel jealous.”

Moving horizontally over to the chair neighbouring Riley, Tom popped open the second box and showed his mother the three golden rings inside. He felt his throat dry up, scared that maybe she wouldn't be happy with it.

“Excellent choice. I think the gold will go nice near the pink of my toenails. Put it on for me Tom, we don't have all day.” Tom exhaled with relief. Are all twenty-two year old men this afraid of their mother? He thought to himself, suspecting the answer to be 'no'.

Michelle's toes were thicker than her daughter's but the rings went onto her more mature toes without a struggle and as soon as they were on the second toe of her right foot, she flexed them comfortably.

“Very nice.” She mused. Then, just as Riley had done moments ago, Michelle extended her foot towards Tom. “Kiss my toes to show me just how lovely you think they are. And, unlike your sweet sister, I'm not joking.”

When Tom looked into his mom's eyes, he found her to be smiling. “Don't look at me son. My toes are down there. Now get kissing, all five of them.”

Riley was sat spectating, wide-eyed and giggly. At least the attendants had the decency to hide their grins behind their hands out of sympathetic embarrassment. To Tom's dismay, the other patrons and staff who had reacted to the laughter before were glancing over with interest, keeping an eye on the situation.

“Don't make us have a repeat of your second ever punishment when we get home. You don't want that, do you Tom?” Michelle threatened, and when she did, she saw Tom's resistance break. He did not want that.

Putting aside his dignity, Tom leaned forward and gave his mother's big toe a kiss in the middle of a semi-busy salon. The attendants had to turn fully away to hide their laughter. Riley made no such effort.

“Hahahahaha! No way! You've really trained him well mom.” Riley was howling with laughter. Her phone was in hand, recording her brother's humiliation. He had become all too aware of the other women in the salon all staring and having a giggle of their own.

Raising a hand, Tom tried to block his face from the sight of Riley's phone camera but Michelle's free foot stopped his hand and pushed it back down. “Four more to go, honey.” She announced smugly. Tom closed his eyes, as if to hide from the onlookers, continuing on with a second kiss for his mom's second toe.

Later that day, after they had left the salon and returned home, Tom retired to the peace and quiet provided by his bedroom. Riley had been back in his life for less than a day and already she had publicly humiliated him twice. He had been hoping that his little sister would have changed her ways during the year spent away. But it seemed that shrink correctional training had only served to feed her cruel side. Tom hoped that she was acting like this because he was the sole potential victim in her life currently and that the trends set by her today would come to an end once she got her first shrinkee to play with.

He was streaming a movie that had been in cinemas a few months prior, one that he had intended to go see before his mom made him stay home with her and spend several nights rubbing feet and waiting on her whilst she relaxed after work. She had only made this decision after he told her of his intentions to meet up with some old friends and see the movie, suspiciously enough. After multiple cancellations they ended up going without him. Tom tried not to dwell on what had happened at both the graduation ceremony and the salon, both situations where he had to leave with his eyes on the ground to avoid meeting any stares and funnily enough both situations that Riley took great pleasure in causing. Thankfully his mom had shown some degree of mercy by telling his sister that she wasn't allowed to share the video she took with anyone.

A knock on his door broke Tom from his immersion to the movie. His mom would have barged in without warning, a habit that greatly restricted the periods where Tom could have some 'alone time' without fear of being interrupted. He had been caught my his mom a few times which was horrible enough, yet she had seen fit to impose punishments which were immediate and denied him the opportunity to finish. Tom never suspected that his mom would go as far as to make him smell both of her feet whilst he still had an erection. Since the person on the other side was knocking, it had to be the demon herself.

“Go away.” Tom shouted. He'd had enough of Riley for one day.

Completely ignoring her brother, Riley opened the door and stuck her head in. Tom had not been allowed to have a lock on his door, another commandment of his mother. “Hey there bro. Whatcha watching?”

“I said go away.”

“I heard you.” Riley said as she fully opened the door and entered her brother's room, unperturbed by his demands. “Still sulking then?” She took a seat on the bed next to Tom, kicking her booted feet up. At least they aren't on my pillow. Inside, her feet were brewing up a storm of stink. As soon as she had them back on after the pedicure, Riley had delighted in showing both her mother and brother that she had turned on the built in heaters.

“I'll take that as a yes.” Riley responded to Tom's silence. “What's wrong with you? Cheer up.”

Tom clenched his fists. “Riley, can you not just leave me alone for even a little while? Don't you think that you've done enough today?”

Riley giggled. “You're still upset about my graduation speech? That was hours ago.”

“And the salon.”

“The salon? That was mom, not me silly.”

“You instigated it. That would never had happened had you not decided to do it as a joke.” He looked at his sister accusingly.

“Oh. If that's how you see it, fair enough bro. But in answer to your question, the answer is no.”

“No? To which question?”

“When you asked if I thought that I had done enough to you today. The answer is no.”

“How can you say that? Do you have any idea how small I felt?” Tom asked, shocked that his sister could be so ignorant of his misery.

“I have a good idea. That was my intention Tom. I have so much FUN doing stuff like that to you. I love seeing you turn bright red, drowning in humiliation. I love making people laugh at you, mock you, tease you. Do you have any idea how much I missed making you smell my stinky feet on an almost daily basis Tom?” Riley spoke fast, the passion in her voice inflating with each word uttered.

Tom looked at his sister, speechless. He thought that what she did was just her idea of being playful. In reality, Riley was more evil than he had ever believed. Her pupils had become increasingly dilated as she spoke, the blue of her irises turning into thin rings of colour around giant, black voids by the time she stopped.

“You don't understand how pissed off I was when I found out about the regulations. They're so unfair. When I tell people that you're the reason I became an SCO, I'm serious. All I'm asking is to be able to make you submit beneath my stinky feet, to be able to torment you with foot odour so pungent that it would chase you into even your nightmares.” The scowl that had taken over Riley's face faded, replaced quickly with a smile. “But luckily, there is still a way I can get what I want, have my big brother at my smelly feet once more.”

“How?” Tom asked, fearing any answer that might suggest she'd found a workaround. Knowledge of Riley's restrictions had brought the young man some peace of mind, made him feel safer.

Riley's smile tripled in size. “All I have to do is make you commit a crime. Then you'll be shrunken down and assigned to little old me. Worry not, I intend for you to spend every possible moment at either of my reeking, sweaty feet, so you'll always have some company in the depths of my boots!"

“I wouldn't break the law! Especially not with the possibility of being shrunk and given to you!” Tom said loudly, the outrage thick in his voice. If only she wasn't the favoured offspring, he would have physically removed her from his room to shut her up.

“Don't speak too soon, Tom.” Riley warned, standing up and walking over to the door. “There's a lot of laws. I'm sure I can get you to break at least one of them.”

“I... I... I'll tell mom! Even she won't let you do that to me. I'm still her son.” Tom said as confidently as possible, despite not feeling that confidence within. Although it certainly hurt his pride to make such a threat.

“True, even mom would object to me making you break the law in order to have you shrunken, I'm sure. But who is she gonna believe? Her unruly son, or her angelic daughter. Think about it, little brother.”

With that, Riley left Tom alone once more with a lot to worry about. Having been left with plenty on his mind, Tom doubted that he would get much sleep tonight.