Over the next couple of weeks, we met several times to work on the project, trading off between my house and Sydney's. As we spent more time together, I felt less nervous around her, and we became good friends. In fact, she had chosen to work with me on a project for AP Bio, another class that we both shared. Sydney had been given the first choice from a list of human biology topics. She had picked the digestive system for us to cover. As such, we were also working on a PowerPoint presentation for AP Bio.

Now, we were in my room, putting the final touches on our shrinking project. I worked on the diagram at a card table while Sydney sat cross-legged on my bed, reviewing the paper on her computer. It was stupid, but I found myself turned on by the fact that she was on my bed. "Okay," Sydney closed the laptop, "The paper is ready to go." She looked up. "Oh, and the diagram looks amazing. We, but especially you, really outdid ourselves. I never knew that you were so artistic."

"I have always liked art, but this is the biggest project I've ever worked on." I smiled, enjoying receiving a compliment from Sydney. "The last thing we need to do is paint on the titles and our names. Would you mind holding the stencils steady while I fill in?" She hopped off my bed and came right next to me. Anytime I got this close to me, I had a hard time concentrating. Her sweet peach shampoo and vanilla lotion made my knees weak, and it made my brain foggy. Just as I was filling in the last stencil with our names, I accidentally brushed some black paint on her finger. "Oops, sorry."

"Oh, this is not okay," Sydney said in a mock annoyed tone with a grin. "I am so getting back at you." She dragged her paint-covered finger across my nose. I could not resist the urge to dab her cheek with a wet paintbrush. We went back and forth, laughing until our arms and face were covered in a rainbow of colors. "Well, I guess we got a little carried away." She was still giggling.

"I guess so," I responded with a smirk. "Here, let me help clean you up." I grabbed some wet wipes and began dabbing the paint off. She was so beautiful, with soft facial features and the best smile I had ever seen. I ran the wipe over her cheek. The urge to kiss her was powerful. Sydney grabbed some wipes and returned the favor. Her small hands moved the wipe across my face.

Once we were both clean, there was a bit of an awkward pause. Both our faces were red again. "What..." Sydney began but hesitated. She looked at her feet. Then seemingly to get her courage up, she said, "What would you say if I told you there was actually shrink technology in existence today?"

"I... umm...I...are you serious?" I asked, still a little flustered and also taken aback by the question."

"Yes! Not only is there a real shrink ray, but it just so happens that it resides in my granddad's lab." My mouth dropped open in surprise. "I have wanted to tell you for a long time, but all his work is supposed to be top secret. I hope you are not too mad that I never told you until now. You should know that keeping my mouth shut has been hard for me" Sydney nervously twirled her hair. "I like you a lot, and I know I can trust you. If you promise not to tell another soul, I can show it to you."

"First off, I am not mad. I understand why you couldn't tell me. Second, of course, I would not tell anyone. I like you too, you've become a good friend. For me, this means I would be willing to go to great lengths to protect your interests. Plus, I am a good secret keeper, and this is too cool not to see," I said excitedly.

"You don't know what a relief it is to hear that and get the secret off my chest," Sydney grinned. "If you are up to it, we could go there right now. Granddad is out of town, so we have free reign on the lab."

"How could I say no!" After cleaning up, I followed her outside. She had ridden to my place on her bike. Unfortunately, mine was still out of commission with a flat tire.

"I can give you a ride," Sydney indicated the spokes on the back wheel. "Hop on." I did so a little clumsily but managed to grab onto her shoulder for support. The wind blew Sydney's hair, tickling my face. Surprisingly, she was able to go pretty fast, considering she was pedaling for two. The bike could cut the travel time down to 6 minutes compared to the 15 it would have taken to walk to her place. I assumed Sydney was grabbing the key to the lab or something, but then she parked the bike in the garage. She walked into the house, and I followed. In the library, Sydney played a tune on the piano. I was about to ask her what she was doing when I hear a click. Then she reached for a dusty book. There was another click, and one of the bookshelves swung open. Lights blinked to life, revealing stairs leading down into a passageway.

"No way," I exclaimed, "A secret passageway!"

Sydney smiled at my amazement. "My granddad has always been very eccentric and had a flair for the dramatic. His house and lab are at the other end of the property. I believe this tunnel has been here since 1850, connecting the main house to the servant's quarters. Granddad added the secret entrance part when he fixed the place up." She headed towards the door and then paused. "You better leave your phone and any other devices you have here. Granddad says they interfere with his equipment. He has security measures in place that will fry them." She pulled out her phone, which she had tucked into her bra on the bike ride. I reached into my pocket to retrieve mine and then took off my watch just to be safe.

Then we walked into the passage. Sydney pulled a rope on the back of the door to close it. A loud click rang out in the silence as it locked. Our footsteps also echoed as we climbed down the stairs. Wooden support beams held the earthy corridor up. The air was slightly damp. After about five minutes, we reached a fork in the passage. The one on the right looked much newer and was covered with concrete. Sydney walked to this portion. "This is the direct connection to the lab. My granddad added it in later."

"So, do you get to spend much time in the lab?" I asked as I followed her.

"Oh, yes! Granddad shows me everything he is working on and even lets me help sometimes. Growing up with him, I have become pretty good at taking things apart and fixing them. If you ever have a broken toaster oven or something, bring it to me before you get rid of it, and I can see what I can do."

"I'll remember that," I replied as we reached a high-tech door. "I figured that you were pretty clever with such things. I saw you working on Justin Jones's watch in the library a little while back."

Sydney placed her palm on the screen near the handle of the door. It flashed red as it scanned her palm. "Welcome back, Miss Cox," the screen stated pleasantly. There was a whoosh as the lock was released. Sydney pulled the handle, and cool fresh air came flowing out. The lights had automatically come on. I looked around in amazement at the large room. It was somehow both clean and chaotic at the same time. The walls, floor, ceiling, and furnishings were all white. The room was about the size of a basketball court, with tables and shelves attempting to organize everything. However, equipment lay scattered all over the place. Some looked completed, while others were in many pieces. Sydney led me down the hallway on the opposite side and then into a smaller room.

"This," Sydney indicated the large machine in the center of the room, "is the shrink ray. Let me give you a demonstration." As she brought it whirring to life, I examined it in more detail. It had one long end which pointed to the opposite wall. This part was connected to a satellite like dish. The back of it was cone-shaped and made out of glass so that you could see all the electronic components on the inside. Wires of all colors weaved in and out.  After turning some dials, Sydney dragged a big armchair in front of the shrink ray. "Okay, stand back." She turned a key in the interface and pressed the big red button.

Light pulsed through the shrink ray. It started to hum, growing continuously louder, before a beam of purple-ish light shot out, hitting the chair. For a second, the big armchair pulsed in the same color. Then it began rapidly decreasing in size. I watched in amazement as the chair went from being big enough to fit both Sydney and me, to being mouse-sized snuggly. Once it had stopped shrinking, she said, "You can go check it out now."

I walked over and picked it up. "This is so cool," I exclaimed. "I imagine something like this could be extremely useful for shipping cargo."

"Among other things," Sydney proclaimed. "Guess what? It also works safely on living animals." She pulled a sheet off a cage. Inside was a toy-sized horse which whinnied as it was woken up and started to trot around.

"No way! That is so awesome. I still can't believe that there is a real shrink ray. So...umm... does it work on humans," I asked curiously.

"Well, we haven't tested it, but we assume it will. That is probably the next test, but we will need a willing subject. I volunteered, but granddad would not let me do it." Sydney grabbed the shrunken chair from me. "Now, I will show you the reverse process." She placed it on the center of the red X in front of the shrink ray. I watched as she changed some settings and adjusted the ray. A similar process followed as before, except this time a yellow light shot out of it. I helped her push the big chair back into place. Sydney did not want her grandpa to know she had been messing with it. As we headed back to her house, we talked more about the shrink ray. "What would you do if you had a shrink ray?" Sydney asked. "Would you shrink yourself, someone else, or do something totally different?"

"Well, seeing that tiny horse, I think it would be fun to have a whole mini zoo. I also think being shrunken could be fun. An ordinary home could turn into a land of adventure at one inch tall. It would be cool to build a Lego city to live in for a while. What about you, what would you do?"

"Ever since I saw Indian in the Cupboard, I have thought it would be cool to have a tiny person as a pet. They could be carried around in my pocket. If they were smart, they could help me with tests. I might even shrink my older brother just to mess around with him. On the other hand, I also think it would be cool to shrink myself and hang out in someone else's pocket. It would also be fun to sneak into places that I would not normally be allowed. This will sound perverted, but I have always wanted to be a fly on the wall in a boys locker room. I have always been curious about what goes on in there."

I laughed. "I'm sure most boys would not mind if you barged in full size to check it out." Sydney giggled as we reached the door back into her house. I hadn't noticed before, but there was also a dial like those on safes on the door. She turned it a couple of times until there was a loud click. We walked back into the library. Sydney handed me my phone and watch back.

"I should probably get back," I said a little reluctantly, not wanting to leave.

"I was wondering," Sydney started hesitantly. "If you would want to come back over here on Friday night. Not to do any school work, but just to hang out. My parents will be out of town on business, and my older brother is going to New York with his college buddies for spring break. I will have the place to myself and could use the company."

"Sure, that would be cool," I could not help but smile. Sydney was inviting me over to hang out while not working on a school project. "As it turns out, my family will be gone too. My sister has a national soccer tournament in Florida. My parents are both going. They will be staying all spring break and going to Disney World." At the thought of the two of us being alone, my cheeks went red.

"That is a perfect coincidence. Now neither of us has to spend the night all alone. I was thinking we could go swimming and order some pizza. Maybe watch a movie later in the night." Sydney twirled her hair around.

"That sounds fun," I said excitedly, unable to keep myself from grinning

Perfect! Do you want to come over around five?" I nodded, and Sydney took me to the front door. "Oh, you can take my bike home since you will be back here Friday anyway." As I pedaled away, I could not wipe the stupid grin off my face.