I could be wrong. But, I think Ms. Evans is independently having the same dream.

Author's Response:

Very very possibly, though she wouldn't ever dare admit it even to herself.

Sounds like tom doesn't exactly hate the situation, besides the discomfort anyway. 

I wonder what will happen if he starts regrowing while under her.

By the way, is she being careful not to hurt him too bad or is she too angry with him to care?

First postscript: "Stretching" is a shrunken man's favorite exercise. ;-)

Second postscript: How much you want to bet that when she asks him if he learned his lesson, he lies and says "no?"

Author's Response:

Assuming he gets the chance to speak again, that's a decent possibility.

Love it. I hope he shrinks more for Ms.Evans.
Later,
Diesel

Author's Response:

Definitely a possibility, if he gets the chance to talk again.

Well, since this whole story takes place in this one day, we have no idea what happened last night that makes Tom so nervous about telling his teacher.

He also said it couldn't be made known, does he not want to let her know that he was just a few inches tall or something? That doesn't sound that bad to tell her. Much better than lying and shrinking in front of her.

He could also say he was spending time with his family. Then again, I don't know what happened last night, but that could be the case.

When I began reading this chapter, I thought I skipped something. I was surprised to seem Tom full sized again. I thought the growth process took a lot longer than that and since you mentioned that this story will happen in one day, I thought that meant that Tom won't be full sized in this story because there is too little time.

If my teacher saw me chewing gum, I would have to spit it out. These kids are lucky. Just do your homework, and you're good.

He panicked and swallowed the gum before she yelled "Baker"? Shouldn't that be switched? It seemed like he panicked from something else instead.

What's more important than the work in this course? Um, survival, obeying parents, doing the right thing, spending time with friends and family, making sure everyone is safe, working on a job, helping parents out. I felt like Tom could've made some shit up and it doesn't have to be a lie. I don't know why this question is so difficult.

Then Tom blew his chance by asking "what do you mean?" and then his teacher asked him about last night which now makes it personal. Therefore the 2nd question became harder, but the first question wasnt that bad.

I totally agree with your racecar crash analogy. I too find the crashes a pleasure to watch even though it's downright awful to hope for. In any car race, I find the crashes the most entertaining. Guilty pleasures.

Hmm. I guess we will find out what happened last night soon.

I can't wait for the next chapter!

Author's Response:

We'll learn later why it's so important for Tom not to explain himself. The growth process speed changes depending on the speed at which the shrinking happened; try not to think about it too hard, it's not really something the story will address closely enough to make it worth analyzing. He panicked because he suddenly realized he still had the gum in his mouth, which grossed him out. And yeah, he may have dug his own grave with that question. He's an awkward kid.

That's why I never became a professional school teacher. Even the ones who start out all altruistic, like the ones on TV dramas, seem to become more concerned with not being seen as failures in the classroom (for any reason) by their peers.

Which, to me, is one of the worst forms of vocational narcissism.

Author's Response:

Definitely a fair criticism to have against this teacher, though you won't see her being penalized for it in the least.

short but sweet. 

Again, he could have simplified matters by just saying something like: "You better believe I want first dibs on that second piece of used gum!"

Presto! He's back to a less cramped size.

On a more positive note; I appreciate the frequent updates. :-)

Author's Response:

It might be temporarily convenient to fit better, but ultimately he wants to grow enough to leave for class. Thanks!

Emma still the playful one I see. I agree that Tom could've fit if Emma just asked him a simple question. At this rate, he is bound to lie to anything.

I bet that is one big gumball in his mouth. Will he be able to spit it out? Or will it stick to his mouth forever and he can't talk, meaning that he can't lie, and boom, problem solved. Nah, that would be too easy.

Hmm. She stores him in her backpack? Some people might bump or sit on her backpack and they can crush Tom. I think might like that. Could provide her with a cushion.

The whole 'brush teeth' thing just seemed like an excuse for Emma to put some use with her gum. I said she was probably careless and lazy and this time, I think she was lazy to throw her gum away so she stuck it into Tom's mouth and at the end of the chapter she said "I guess it yours now" meaning that now she doesn't have to throw it away.

Can't wait to see what Emma has in store for Tom and I can't wait for the next chapter!

Author's Response:

Yep, Emma's definitely the most playful one. Spitting it out may be difficult until he's regrown a little. And that's probably an accurate guess about her wanting to get rid of the gum.

I hated this.

*shrinks 10 inches*

Is that a big enough shrink?