Things had really changed, a lot. As time went by, Kate´s visits became more and more often, to the point that she was having diner with them every Sunday. Mike didn´t mind, in fact, he liked it. Having Kate on his house, well his grandma´s house, made his heart beat faster; and he also felt really shy when she turned at him.

Kate seemed as a kind woman, always smiling at him, asking how his week was, mostly caring. He enjoyed her visits as he enjoyed the tight tops she wore; her body was mesmerizing. Mike turned bright red every time he thought she caught him glaring at her. But she will just giggle and pat his head. She ignored the type of thoughts he could have.

On the other hand, Mike now spent two hours on the library every day, from Monday to Friday. Diana had turned into his tutor as far as he´s concerned. His grandma said it was the closest thing to being in college. Although he wouldn´t have the same experiences as a regular college student. But he didn´t mind much. He could spend some time with a pretty woman such as Diana. Spending more time with her allowed him to get to know her better, and he realized, she was shy, really shy.

You´d think that a woman standing as tall as her, which is 5´11” plus the heels she wears every now and then, would be more self-ensured. But she just didn´t seem that way, at least not anymore. It´s true that she always did a great job and gave an amazing costumer service, but besides work, it seemed as if she couldn´t stablish a much regular conversation.

Whenever she was talking to him about the topics on books, she seemed as an expert, a professional; but whenever Mike asked her about her personal life, well, it was a whole different thing. She spent most of her time at home reading, which seems logical, but there was something else on her.

She wanted to improve Mike´s reading comprehension, so she asked him to read a paragraph of a certain book and then he´ll explain her what he read, making sure to catch all the main details. As he read, he realized she was looking at him, not in a lewd way but for some reason she was giving him sort of a tender look. When he turned at her, she always turned away, he could see a minor blush on her cheeks. He knew that reaction because it was the same as the ones he´s had with Kate.

Diana seemed as a gentle soul, she was kind with him and always made sure he kept up with whatever they were doing. After a couple weeks, he decided to ask her something, he said:

“Uhmm, D-diana, you know, you seem very smart and… you know everything there is to know…” he started.

“Well, thank you, but I don´t know everything in the world.” She said with a proud smile as she looked at him.

“Ok but… may I… ask you something?” he said.

“Of course, what is it?” she replied seeming a bit concerned.

“Well, it´s a little personal so I would appreciate if this can stay between you and me…” Mike was now looking up to her with a beam of hope in his eyes.

“Sure, just you and me.” She replied as she placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Ok, so…” he took a deep breath before speaking, and then, he let it all out. “Do you think I can still grow?” he asked.

Diana was shocked by his question, she wasn´t prepared for that. But it seemed logical. It´s not normal for a man his age to be so small, she found him cute, but she knew he must have questions about it. She really didn´t know what to say, so she told him she was no expert, and that he could ask for a professional to check on that.

Mike felt sad because of the response he got, maybe a little lie would´ve been better. But her response unsettled him more than he already was. He was in the hopes that there may be a late growth spurt coming, but it just didn´t seem that way. To make things worse, Diana told his grandma about it. It seems that wasn´t very much kept between the two of them.

Mike´s grandma didn´t know what to say, his question seemed reasonable, but she knew that his grandson will remain that height for the rest of his life. But there´s somewhere they can go. Beatrice decided to get some assistance for his grandson, so they started visiting a therapist. That way, even if he won´t get taller, he won´t feel so bad about it; at least that´s what Beatrice thought.

Then a beeping sound took him off from his thoughts, returning him to reality. “The laundry´s ready” he thought. He took the clean laundry out of the dryer and started folding it as the laundry on the washing machine was still spinning. He had a lot of laundry to do, and most of it wasn´t even his; this will take hours, he felt tired just by thinking about it.

But it has it´s benefits, for his 22-year-old mind, being close to woman´s clothes can be arousing. But since everyone knew he was a man, they didn´t gave him any thongs.

As he was folding the clothes, he thought: “Haha, it´s funny, to think that I met Tessa thru clothes…” and so, he drifted back to his memories. Turns out, the therapist recommended for Mike to have more independency, they could start with small things. His first thought was that he wanted to buy his own clothes. But he just wasn´t sure where. And then, the therapist, whose name was Martha, said she had a niece who worked on a nice clothing store on the mall.

“Her name´s Tessa, I can give her a call if you like.” said the therapist.

His grandma waisted no chance and asked: “Is she single?”

“Grandma!” said Mike.

Both of the women laughed at his reaction. It was really embarrassing for him when she tried to pair him up with every young woman they met.

As soon as they were out of the consulting room, Beatrice asked: “Mike, would you like to go there now?” Mike nodded, for the first time, he could choose his own clothes. It felt nice.

In no time, they were at the mall, and just a couple minutes later, they were right in front of the store. It was huge. For a store that´s inside a mall, which was enormous, it seemed bigger than a regular store.

“Wow!” he thought as he turned everywhere inside the store. It had it all, men´s clothes, woman´s clothes, suits, underwear, jewelry, everything.

“Where would you like to start?” asked Beatrice.

“Uhmm, I… I´m not sure” replied Mike.

“Ok, why don´t we aske the lady over there…” she said as she walked towards one of the employees. The first thing his grandma did whenever they were not sure about something was asking for assistance.

Mike followed her, and for some reason, he was in the hopes that the woman she was about to talk to was Tessa, but when she turned, her badge said “Mary”. He ignored the reason why but he wanted to meet Tessa.

After that, her grandmother started talking about him, as always. She mentioned the clothes were for him, and suddenly she started talking about his condition. Mike was really embarrassed, and the lady seemed to be smiling, but in sort of a forced way, just trying to listen to Beatrice talking. The lady was simply nodding but Mike was already tired of it, he decided to search on his own.

Beatrice was too focused on her talking that she ignored Mike was gone. Meanwhile, he had already started looking for some clothes, looking up at the racks around, full of some nice stuff. He figured out most of the stuff will be too big for him. He wasn´t sure where they put clothes his size, so he kept walking.

He just stretched his hand as he walked, caressing the fabric of the shirts as he moved. He wasn´t sure why, but he focused most of his attention on the clothes, and he ignored where he was going. Suddenly, he bumped into someone, more precisely, someone´s butt.

“Ouch! Ehm…” he didn´t notice at first, but when he took a step back, he realized he had crashed with some woman´s ass. He had to blink a few times before realizing what he was seeing, that butt was big, and not only big, but firm, firm in all it´s perfect roundness. He swallowed as his mind realized how soft it actually was.

But before he could take a mental picture of it, the woman started turning, and when she did, he found out it was another employee. His eyes widened in shock, what will someone do if you crash on her butt? He was about to find out.

She turned, with a look of annoyance on her face, but as she turned straight backwards, she was staring too high to look at Mike; then, she looked down. She was surprised to find him there, her eyebrows rose, then she smiled pretending nothing had happened and said: “May I help you?”

Mike was nervous, before he replied he read the tag on her shirt, and her name was Tessa, finally, he had met his therapist’s niece. A small victory for him. He had to admit, she was pretty, and her butt was something else, he felt really shy standing in front of this woman´s navel, but he had to reply, so he said: “Hey… uhm, yes, I actually need some help.”

“Sure… what can I help you with?” declared Tessa smiling at him with a suspicious look.

“Well, ehm, I… I´d like to buy some t-shirts, you know, something nice and simple… Can you… take me there?” he asked.

She giggled and replied: “Sure, follow me.”

He did as she said and followed her. As he walked behind her, he could only realize that not only her butt was gib, but she also had a pair of thick shapely legs. The tight jeans she wore only made it clear that her lower body was stunning. She could see her butt cheeks swaying as she walked. It was just amazing.

She guided him all the way where she thought there will be shirts on his size. He stood there, looking at all of them, but still, this girl Tessa was waiting right there, but with a certain look on her face. Mike knew she had something in mind, but he couldn´t aske her what it was.

Moments later, Beatrice found them. “Oh, there you are Mike.” She said smiling as she continued, “You know, whenever grandma´s talking with someone, you should at least tell her where you´re going.” She declared. IT was true, but wasn´t this a chance to be more independent?

“Oh, hi young lady.” She said waving at Tessa, who waved back. Mike´s grandma wasted no chance and she read the name tag on her, when she realized who she was she said: “Are you Martha´s niece?”

She blinked a couple times, but then replied: “Yeah, do you know her?” and that´s when Beatrice started talking all about her relationship with her aunt, well, more like “their” relationship. She explained to her that Mike was one of her patients, that he needed some “help” to gain more confidence. She wasted no time and also explained to her his condition, pointing out the fact that he was 19 years old and they recommended for him to try and be more independent.

Mike turned red in embarrassment, again his grandmother had talked about him, maybe too much. But at least, she didn´t as her…

“Are you single, honey?” Crap, she just did. Mike just sank his head into the shirts as he realized what she was doing. But Tessa didn´t seem to mind, she just laughed a little.

Eventually, Beatrice stopped talking and said: “Well, all this talking´s got me thirsty, I´ll go get a drink… Mike, would you like something?” she asked as he just moved his hands to the side, expressing denial. “Ok then… Tessa, so nice to meet you. I´ll be right back, but, do you mind keeping an eye on him while I´m gone?”

“S-sure” she replied.

“Excellent, see you in a moment.” And so, Beatrice was gone, leaving them alone once again, but this time, Tessa had more information about him, maybe more that she needed.

Mike kept searching thru the clothes when suddenly, a shadow covered him, followed by a voice. “Sooo, you´re nineteen?” asked Tessa.

Mike swallowed, then he turned and looked up to her.

“Yes.” He said plainly, feeling some regret.

“I knew it, you know, when I saw you, I knew there was something in you, but I just couldn´t make what it was.” She declared.

Mike was just waiting for her to bully him for his height, make fun of him or even call some other coworkers and spread the word. He started feeling down. But the, he felt a hand on his shoulder, he turned up to her and she said:

“It must be really hard; I get it if you´re a little shy about it. But trust me, as long as you´re with me, I´ll give you the best customer service you need, ok?” she blinked at him, making him smile again.

“Also, I won´t lecture you for the butt bump you previously gave me, but make sure to see where you´re going.” He thought she had forgotten about it, but apparently, she didn´t.

It was his first-time buying clothes “on his own”, Beatrice didn´t came back until he was done picking up everything. He just realized it but, he had actually done it alone. But with some help from Tessa. His Grandma met him at the register and they paid for everything, when they left, Tessa waved at him and said: “Come back soon.” He smiled and waved back, but he thought, “soon… I´d love to.”

He took that as an invitation, and eventually, made it a reality. Now, he was visiting the store every time he could. He tried not to make it too obvious, so he always told his grandma he needed some other thing. Like a shirt, or even a sweater.

Months went by, and just like that, he became friends with Tessa. She was a pure soul, always kind and attentive. Spontaneous. He liked being around her. They even shared about their personal lives. She told him she dropped out from college on her senior year. She just found out the career she picked wasn´t her thing. She started working there, to earn some money until she finds something to do with her life. So far, it´s been nearly a year, but she´s still not sure what to do.

The same way, Mike told her about his life, how he was really shy and due to his condition, a little insecure sometimes. He shared with her about his “studies” on the library and that her grandma became friends with Kate, only that he didn´t said Kate but “a bank woman”. Little by little, Mike realized everyone´s got their own problems, not just him. And even if people´s “regular” height, the world´s still too big for them too.

“MIKE!” yelled Abby from above, pulling Mike away from his memories and back to reality, where he was folding a hoodie, he thought: “What will Abby want? And what´s with this hoodie? Aren´t we in the middle of the summer?” He let everything as it was and headed upstairs to meet Abby.

He rushed thru the stairs and went to where he thought she was, the living room. To his surprise, she was there, only that he wasn´t expecting to find her the way he did. When he spotted her, she was stretching, touching the floor with her hands.

Mike´s heart started beating fast, he swallowed as well, not fully prepared to what he was witnessing. Abby was wearing tight and really tiny shorts, displaying in full her long smooth legs. She was barefoot and those legs were almost as tall as Mike, who was looking at her from behind. What turned him on the most was that he could see how the shorts were pulled all the way to her butt, sinking in the middle of her butt cheeks.

He couldn´t bear it, but he needed to ignore it, look somewhere else. It wouldn´t be nice if she catches him staring at her like that. He turned away, and with a really embarrassed tone he said: “Uhm, A-abby, do you… need anything?”

Abby stood up, way above him and said: “Yes, but it´s more like a question.” She replied as she approached.

“A question?” Mike thought as Abby walked towards him, he couldn´t deny it, every time someone approached at him, he felt funny. Maybe a little nervous since he could only reach her navel.

Abby stood right in front of him, making him crane his neck way up to look at her, he smiled, but his smile was washed away when Abby´s face turned into a more concerned one, she made a slight gesture with her mouth, and Mike already knew what was coming.

He tight his lips as he thought: “Ugh, here it comes…” he knew that when Abby wanted to “talk” it mostly meant lecturing him, but more than that, it meant that she wanted to give him advice, in her very own way.

“Ok Mike, yesterday you asked Kate for a phone… and what did she said?” she asked.

“No.” he replied turning to the side.

“Exactly, and what was your answer for that?”

“Ok.” He said.

“Mhmm, I mean, if you wanted to have a cell phone, and Kate tells you no, then why didn´t you insist? I mean, it doesn´t seem to me like you want one.” It was true, Mike had wanted his own phone since the last couple months. He encouraged himself, with a little help from Abby, and yesterday he decided to ask Kate, who always takes the major decisions around the house. He stood in front of her, craned his neck way taller than with Abby and asked.

But when she said no, he didn´t protest much. Something inside him made him stop as he heard a denial from her. He couldn´t help it, deep inside, he was afraid of Kate. Abby wasn´t there last night, but she asked Tessa, and she told her all about it. Now, it´s time for Abby to show Mike that he can and will get a phone.

“Listen Mike, I´m not telling you to yell at her and demand a phone, but you need to be more persuasive… are you listening?” she asked as Mike was looking to the side, he wasn´t ignoring her, but he was too shy in moments like this.

“Y-yes…” he replied, still not turning at her.

Abby wasn´t convinced, so she bent down and, with her fingers, started pulling his ear. “Tell me, what are you going to tell Kate when she denies you your phone?”

Mike could feel her fingers strong grip as she pulled his gaze back to her, but he didn´t spoke, so she pulled harder. “Come on Mike, what are you gonna tell her?” she insisted.

“I… I…” it was all he could think of.

“You… you… you what? Come on, speak up.” She commanded.

“I… want one.” He said finding the right words.

“You want what?” she asked as she kept pulling his ear, she didn´t pull too hard, but it still hurt.

“A phone!” he said, “I want a phone!” he half yelled both annoyed and desperate by her unnecessary use of force.

“Very well.” She said as she let go of his ear. “Was it so hard?” she asked.

Mike didn´t liked it when she did that, but she only did it because she wanted him to stand for himself, to be a man. She had good intentions, but her methods were a little though. She knew that Mike needed to be a man, be prepared for the real world, where most of the people don´t care about you and you need to stand for yourself.

He rubbed his ear, and she knew it hurt, but if she doesn´t show him how to ask for things properly, most likely, he won´t. He will resign on accepting what other people says rather than what he wants. She wanted to show him he had a vote, that he could speak up and get what he wants. At least something reasonable, and the phone was that thing.

Abby didn´t like to hurt him, but she knew that, at 22years old, he wouldn´t learn unless he´s taught the hard way. She felt some regret when she was to rough, but the outside world won´t be soft on anyone. She knew that everyone living with him were carrying souls, that will always look for him, but he must know not all of the people around are good. He can´t live sealed on a bubble, that´s why she needed to “instruct” him, and if she needed to use some force, so be it.

Up until yesterday, she thought he could properly ask for the phone, but she was proved wrong. She just let out a small sigh as she placed a hand over his head. She smiled at him, telling everything was cool, and he smiled back.

“Ok, I´ll go grab some water from the kitchen, do you need anything?” she asked as he just said no. She left him alone. She was sometimes hard on him, but that´s just maybe the way she was. He could now remember that time when he met her.