With any luck this will be the first story that I actually get around to finishing in a long time. I’m good at running with ideas while they’re fun and I’m into it, then running out of steam. And with my recent losing battle with writer’s block I’m going to do the weird thing and try to be organized about this. I’m making an outline. I’m going to make several chapters before I upload anything. And with any luck I’ll round out a fairly satisfying storyline with a clear ending.

****

“I’ve done a lot of living this summer, you know?” Summer asked rhetorically.

There was only one other person on the park bench with her, and they weren’t exactly in a position to contribute to conversation.

Summer leaned back against the weathered wood of the bench and gazed out at the city laid out before her. She had looked out on this view for years, first finding the view as a child and loving the solitude that came with it. Central park, not the more famous one, spread out across almost a hundred acres dotted with hills and streams. She’d explored most of it on her own over the course of her life.

Among its many paths and scenic overlooks Summer had informally claimed this one as her own. Not that she particularly needed to; it was a far corner of the park not many made their way to. It was a bit of a hike to get to the area, and a surprising chunk of that hike was weirdly vertical for a city park. In fact, most traffic to the area she brought there herself. Although it was debatable if some of the traffic should have counted.

Even from her ‘lofty perch’ on an old wooden bench there were still buildings as tall as she was. Sometimes she wondered if someone ever looked out at the park and was unknowingly looking back at her.

During the summer one could see waves of heat baking off the city. In the winter it was a lovely white view of a hidden metropolis. At night it lit up like a scene from a movie.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of this view,” she mused.

Her company would have had something nice to say if she’d been listening. And if he hadn’t been panicking about his situation.

“It really is too bad,” Summer said, finally directing her attention to the tiny she held in her hand, “If you had walked just a little slower you’d be sitting here next to me, trying to get into my pants. I probably would have turned you down.”

He probably would have succeeded, she admitted to herself with an internal giggle. Summer had no issues admitting he was good looking and he’d walked in on a pretty charged situation. And she’d changed a lot since this summer had started. Of course, another two minutes earlier and he definitely would have ended up there.

That’s because her observer had walked in at an awkward in-between time. Too late to join in her fun, too late for her to pretend she hadn’t just masturbated, but just in time to see her swallow her latest toy alive.

In other words, too late for anyone to pretend he hadn’t seen her in action.

He’d been confused at first, and distracted by her jeans still being around her ankles. Dazed in the weird way that people tended to be when Summer’s actions were too obvious to be ignored. But that hadn’t stopped Summer from grabbing his wrist after a little dancing-distraction and shrinking him down to a stomach-cozy three inches tall.

“I’d apologize, but I think I outgrew that over the summer too.”

With that said, Summer leaned her head back, letting her long red hair hang past her shoulders. Her pale complexion and blue eyes rounded out the gorgeous stereotype ginger girl that she was. Not that long ago she’d felt she was too pale to be pretty, and didn’t fit with the modern idea of beauty. Now she had the confidence to not care, and wore it all like armor.

Not that Michael appreciated her beauty as he was raised far above her head by pinching fingers. It didn’t occur to him to ask what happened to his clothes when he shrank, and it was too obvious to wonder what she had planned when she opened her mouth wide. Giant pearly white teeth greeted him in a horrifying smile, along with a red tongue and a throat that looked like the gateway to hell.

“Don’t forget to wriggle!” she told him with another giggle as she lowered the stranger down into her mouth.

With practiced tongue movements she pushed him toward the back of her mouth where he dutifully tickled her throat. Just several months ago this would have thrown her for a loop but today the three-inch tiny was swallowed down with as much effort as a mint.

“Ahhhh….” Summer sighed as she looked out across the city. She tapped her toned stomach and leaned back as she enjoyed her nice squirming surprise. Michael had been a runner and was doing his best to run his way to freedom. Her earlier masturbation toy had been too tired after playing with her to give her much stomach satisfaction.

“A lot of living this summer,” she said again as she waited for another beautiful sunset.

By the time the sun was setting her meal had stopped squirming, but that was okay. Summer had already forgotten about him as she texted her best friend about what a great afternoon she’d just had.

***

Summer’s summer vacation started just like most of them had. She got to sleep in, and by the time she was stumbling into the kitchen to find breakfast her parents were already off to work. The house was calm and quiet just like she wanted. The redhead had no siblings to worry about, the old family cat ignored her, and she had no real plans for the day.

Until she gathered her supplies for a cereal binge and sat down at the dinner table.

The first of this summer’s surprises awaited her.

“Guys, really?” she said with a sigh.

Laying in her spot at the table was a stack of printouts and newspaper cuttings. All job listings. Several had been highlighted or underlined by her mother’s meticulous hand. Their ancient wireless phone was sitting on the stack as well, as though she didn’t have a cell phone. And as though any of these places wanted a phone call instead of an online application.

“Can’t I even get one day to relax?”

Summer only had vague, general plans about what she wanted to do with her life after high school. In big general terms she knew she was going to move out, go to college across town, and be wildly successful. In more specific terms she knew her savings from previous summer jobs would only cover two months of rent. If one didn’t consider any of the other bills that existed for adults.

She’d been accepted to college already and just had to last until the semester started in August. Her parents, who she loved very much, had made it pretty clear they wanted to turn her bedroom into a hot tub room. Or a workout room. Or a minibar.

They weren’t exactly kicking her out, nor was she planning on running away. But even though she was an only child it was the family tradition to move out as fast as the world could move. Independence was a big deal and her still-in-their-thirties parents were going to enjoy their own newfound independence as well.

The second surprise of the day fell out of her cereal box when she opened it and poured out the first of the sugar-bombs inside.

There was a strange ‘clink’ sound that drew her attention to the bowl. It didn’t match the bouncing sound of colorful carbohydrate balls that she had expected.

Summer let out another sigh as she used her spoon to fish out a pink plastic ring.

“I thought they quit giving out toys for cereal,” she said aloud as she plucked it off her spoon.

“Ow!”

As her finger approached it a visible spark had shot toward her finger, causing her to draw back from the pain. Summer jerked the spoon to the side and the ring dropped to the tile floor. It bounced once and promptly fell onto its side, clattering like it were made of metal.

“What the hell?”

Carefully she bent down and reached toward it again. This time it didn’t shock her as she picked it up and placed it in her palm. It also felt just like a cheap plastic toy would: it was light, probably easily breakable but resisted her brief attempted to squeeze it.

“Plastic can’t shock someone?” she asked rhetorically.

There was no response from the ring. But to Summer’s eyes it appeared to grow, then shrink in her very palm. It was strangely warm for a moment. She could only blink and tell herself that she wasn’t fully awake yet.

“Just a plastic ring,” she told herself, holding it in front of her eyes.

It really was the most plain, simple, basic pink ring she could think of. It had a beveled edge and nothing else to speak of. What she’d initially took for plastic seemed slightly softer, almost like silicon. To her fingers it was soft, but a second attempt to squeeze it was ineffective.

“Kid’s toy,” Summer said aloud, rolling her eyes. “Wonder if it fits?”

Her curiosity won and she slipped it over her left middle finger. It slid on perfectly and Summer held out her hand. If she wasn’t looking directly at the ring her gaze seemed to slide off it. Her eyes narrowed at the ring; she had the sudden sense that something titanic was happening just out of sight.

A wave of anxiety rolled through her body.

Half awake she could’ve sworn she heard a distance voice speaking from all directions.

For a moment the ring seemed searingly hot and she moved to take it off just as her phone rang.

Summer jumped in surprise at the vibration, then laughed at herself. A look back at the ring showed nothing out of place and even the sensation of heat was gone. Her phone buzzed again.

“Hello?” she asked, answering the unknown number. It was most likely a scam but since her phone didn’t block it, there was a chance it was legitimate.

“Summer Glasco?” the voice asked, a friendly older woman from the sound of it.

“This is her.”

“I’m Della Odom, Los Adventuras adventure parks?”

Summer paused as her brain tried to process why this should seem important.

“Um, okay?” was the best she came up with.

“You put in an application for our summer program a few weeks ago, right?” Della asked.

“Oh, right!” Summer said, mentally hitting herself on the forehead. There had been a career fair she’d attended mostly to get her parents off her back, and she’d filled out some paperwork at several booths.

“Sorry, my brain isn’t working I’m just -” her eyes saw the clock on the wall, which stated it was 10:30, “Just um-”

“Could you come in to finalize the paperwork? We’re having a group hiring event today you may remember from the email?”

“Uh, sure!” was Summer’s reply. She vaguely remembered an email.

Della said something else quickly, then hung up.

Summer only half paid attention, but luckily her phone buzzed again with an email from the company. It included their main office address, documents she needed to bring, and an annoyingly cheerful tagline. Along with a reminder that this was the third and final email they’d send.

It also had a date and time that was in one hour, which she’d apparently agreed to attend at some point.

“How did I forget about that one?” she wondered aloud as she rushed upstairs.

Hurriedly she threw on what she hoped was a respectable enough outfit of black leggings and a t-shirt. Once dressed she hurried to her car and hopped in, eager to be on the road.

It took half an hour to drive part of the way across town to the office. This was lucky; had she tried that same drive earlier in the day it would have taken twice as long due to traffic. Somehow she caught every green light on the way as well. The parking lot was packed at the office building, forcing her to park as far away from the building as possible and to walk in.

Which was how she ran into Sarah, a friend from high school. They weren’t ‘best friends,’ but they’d hung out a few times and Sarah seemed pretty level headed for a fellow teenage girl. Summer’s own friend group was by and large spending the next couple of weeks vacationing with their families before college. They had all scoffed at the idea of getting summer jobs.

“Hey stranger!” Sarah said, jogging a little to meet Summer as they walked toward the Los Adventuras office building.

Summer smiled at her friend and suppressed a twinge of jealousy. Sarah was a lot of things that Summer was not. That included tan, long dark hair, and boobs that actually bounced when she moved fast. Summer was several inches shorter, her hair curled so hard it looked six inches shorter than it actually was, and her B-cups were unaffected by gravity and movement. Not to mention she was pale enough to almost glow in the dark.

“Hey Sarah!” she replied, “They got you too? Aren’t you hot in that?”

Summer felt toasty in her leggings and could only imagine what Sarah felt in her baggy pants. On the bright side if her friend was wearing those pants then the boys couldn’t check out her butt, and would be checking out Summer’s instead. Summer was toned from lots of jogging and lunges at the gym. She’d never actually seen Sarah at the gym but it was fair to assume her but physique wasn’t from donuts and inactivity.

Sarah shrugged as they approached the building. Summer didn’t notice Sarah’s appraising glance either.

“Yeah a little, but I don’t like how leggings feel.” She wrapped her arms around her torso and fake shivered. “Everyone looking at my butt gets old.”

Summer didn’t respond to that and instead used the excuse of opening the door to cover her silence. She worked hard in the gym to have a butt worth looking at. But then again, she didn’t have Sarah’s other assets to balance things out.

“So what did you apply for?” Summer asked as Sarah went in front of her.

“Floater gig, but I’d taken anything. How about you?”

“Same,” Summer said as they let the air conditioning flow over them. The door shut loudly behind them. There were several signs pointing them down the hallway to the right, which they followed into a surprisingly large room filled with other high schoolers and a few ‘adults’ who were clearly there to help wrangle.

They checked in with a harried looking man who had a long list of names that were almost all checked off.

“I didn’t like any of the options so I picked all of them.”

Both girls snickered as they joined the crowd. Sarah had a clear view, at five-ten she was tall enough to see about everything. At five-six Summer just rolled her eyes as she stood behind a sweaty boy who probably played basketball and smelled like he’d slept in a garbage can.

Someone bumped her from behind and she automatically swiped at them with her left hand. Her hand pushed on a hot t-shirt, fresh from the hot sun.

“Watch it!” she said, turning to tell whoever it was off.

“Watch what?” Sarah asked, looking at Summer.

“I got-” she paused and looked at the empty space next to her. “I thought someone pushed me,” she said with a confused look on her face.

Sarah shrugged and started to say something.

“Okay everybody!” a woman’s voice called out from up front, sounding familiar and stopping Sarah from speaking. “I’m Della Odom and I’m the hiring manager for L.A. here in LA!”

There was a spattering of laughter.

“Glad she called me this morning,” Summer whispered to Sarah, “I forgot all about this thing.”

“She called you?” Sarah asked, but Della continued talking in front of the crowd.

Summer felt something on her sandal clad foot and kicked sideways. Quickly she looked down and saw just a small smear of something on the ground.

Ewww, spider.

“Everyone has done their preliminary paperwork,” Della called out to the crowd, “So we’ve got you all spots at our various locations, and yes, this includes WetWorld-” everyone cheered, Summer included, “-but there’s a lot of spots and-”

Summer listened as intently as she could, but her mind was stuck on summer – the season – already. She couldn’t remember what position she’d even put down as her preferences. Working at the water park would be a lot of fun but she knew her complexion wasn’t great to be in the sun all day, nor was she a certified lifeguard. There were times she’d get sunburned just driving to school toward the end of the school year.

I hope I get something with air conditioning, she thought as the crowd started to disperse.

“Again, each table is alphabetical so go to the one that matches-”

Summer fell in line, losing track of Sarah in the crowd but promising she’d wait by the door if she was done first. The line moved quickly, and she saw that each table had two staff members who were doing the absolute bare minimum of checking out documents before stamping papers and handing out what she assumed were schedules.

When it was her turn she produced her driver’s license and her social security card. The tired woman handing everything barely glanced at them before wrapping up Summer’s forms and handing her a schedule.

“Floater, huh?” she said rhetorically, already motioning the next person forward, “Weirdly that’s probably the best choice.”

“Uh, thanks,” Summer said, taking the paper and leaving the line.

As she walked back toward the front of the building she looked at her schedule and winced.

Why did I pick this? What was I thinking?

“So what did you get?” Sarah asked as she approached. The brunette had been leaning on the wall and reading through her own schedule, which included a handout of some kind. “I’m gonna be working a combo Taco-Hut and Burger Barn all summer.”

“I think I’d rather do that than float around,” Summer told her, “It looks like I won’t be at the same place back to back for at least this first two weeks.”

She produced her schedule and her friend took it with wide eyes.

“You know, this might actually be more interesting,” she said, “At least you’ll get to see a lot. See?” She pointed out Monday’s location. “Monday at WetWorld and then Tuesday the jump park.”

Summer groaned. “That means I gotta do like twice the driving.”

“It also means if you’re always the low girl on the totem pole you won’t have any real responsibility,” Sarah added helpfully.

They nudged open the door and this time both of them groaned as the summer heat washed over them.

“Wanna get some lunch?” Summer asked Sarah as they walked out toward their cars.

“Hey girls!” someone called from behind them, and both girls turned to look.

It was Della, holding a clip board and looking around. There were a lot of people leaving, as expected, but clearly she wasn’t looking at that.

“If you see anybody wandering around can you point them this way?”

Sarah and Summer shrugged and nodded.

“We counted fifty-two coming in but someone must’ve gotten lost.”

With that said, Della went back inside. The girls looked at each other and burst out laughing.

“They’re probably getting high in a closet somewhere!” Sarah said, and Summer realized she should’ve hung out with Sarah a lot more during high school.

“Sounds like they decided to work the corner!” she giggled, “Lunch sounds great but nothing fancy, I still gotta find an apartment.”

The girls took Summer’s car to a nearby sandwich shop. To her relief it started on the first try and the air conditioning seemed unusually strong. Sarah didn’t comment on the pile of trash in the backseat, which wasn’t as large as usual.

“I was thinking about moving out too,” Sarah admitted as they drove, “But if they’re gonna make me move into the dorms when ULA starts this fall I’d probably get screwed on rent for the summer.”

“That is really annoying, but my parents pretty much want me to move out as fast as I can,” Summer said.

Sarah gave her a look that said she wasn’t sure if she should be mad or angry.

“They’re great, they’re not literally kicking me out,” Summer said, “But they had me at eighteen and they’re like rabbits still.”

Sarah gave a disgusted groan when she realized what that meant.

“Yeah.”

Summer had walked in on her parents doing the deed three times in the past month and heard them almost every night. She’d gotten the sex talk when she was thirteen and even if she hadn’t, just from what she walked in on or saw around the corner she’d have gotten a very thorough education. In short, she was very curious to get her first boyfriend and very eager to stop seeing her parents in compromising situations.

“They pretty much jump each other any time I’m out of the house and pretty often even if I’m not.”

Summer parked and looked at Sarah, pretending to be shellshocked.

“They’re gonna turn my room into a sex dungeon.”

Both girls gagged, but Sarah didn’t realize Summer had already seen boxes of ‘stuff and things’ being stacked in their garage. Sure, it could’ve been for a hot tub room. Or a lounge. Technically.

They got out of the car and walked into the sandwich shop.

“Jeez, is it crowded everywhere?” Summer asked rhetorically when she saw the line.

They had barely gotten out of the heat before she ran into someone. She looked right as she bumped into someone else, and stumbled forward when Sarah bumped her trying to get out of the way of the door.

“Sorry!” Sarah said, catching Summer before she could fall.

“It’s okay,” Summer said, straightening. She looked around and realized it wasn’t nearly as crowded as she’d thought. There wasn’t even someone there for her to bump into. Her head spun a little from the heat. “I guess the crowd at the hiring thing freaked me out.”

Sarah shrugged, stepping forward with Summer and joining the line that had consolidated considerably. Neither girl noticed a small ‘crunch’ as they walked forward, both assuming it was just mud. By the time the restaurant’s closing crew was mopping the floor the spots were truly indistinguishable from the other things people often dropped on the floor.

They made small talk until they sat down at the only free table.

“You know, I looked around at apartments around here a couple weeks ago,” Summer said, “They do month-to-month and if someone had a roommate to split it with, it might make life a lot easier.”

Sarah unwrapped her sandwich and smiled at Summer.

“You want to be roomies?” she asked, wiggling her eyebrows, “But we just barely met!”

“Scandalous, right?” Summer said, playing along, “I just feel like I’ve known you for years, like we’re meant to be!”

The girls laughed together and pulled out their phones. Yes, they’d known each other for years, but they’d never actually spent much time together. Summer’s crew had been steady since freshman year, while Sarah seemed to float between friend groups.

“Okay, so we’d save money if we just did a one bed…” Summer winked at Sarah playfully.

“You couldn’t handle me,” Sarah said, laughing, but Summer got the feeling there was more to that statement than she actually realized.

“Okay, okay,” she said, backing up, hoping she wasn’t getting into something she wasn’t ready for. She and Sarah got along great, clearly, but she’d never roomed with anyone and maybe her first roommate shouldn’t be a lesbian. Maybe that was why she didn’t have a consistent friend group? It didn’t bother Summer but that’s not to say others wouldn’t be jerks.

“We’ll split a double…”

Half an hour later Summer dropped Sarah back off at her car in the parking lot at the L.A. building. The staff area was full, and there was still one car parked further away near where Summer had been stuck parking earlier.

“Wow, that guy really did get lost,” Sarah laughed, holding up her hand and miming smoking a joint.

“You’re terrible!” Summer laughed as Summer shut her door, “Follow me there!”

With Sarah in tow, Summer drove to the apartment complex they’d agreed on. A glance at a map had shown them this place was within a couple minutes of Sarah’s possibly-permanent summer location, and pretty center of where Summer would be driving between as well. It wasn’t luxurious but they could afford it pretty easily and still be near enough to everything they wanted.

The building was massive and Summer wasn’t looking forward to living in such a place. She’d grown up in the suburbs, where the backyard wasn’t massive but it at least existed. Sarah gave her a nudge as she looked upward nervously. There was at least ten floors worth of apartments here.

“It looks fine to me,” she said, reassuring Summer. She pointed around the area. “No trash on the ground, the windows are clean, and look-”

Summer followed her pointing finger down the street.

“Cop shop, two blocks away.”

An hour later they’d toured a two-bedroom apartment on the fourth floor. The height made Summer nervous but it was the only one available and move-in ready. They would each have their own bedroom and bathroom and share a kitchen and living space. And best of all if they split the rent halfway it would only cost a week’s worth of wages for either of them.

“Okay, I’m in,” Summer said, and Sarah agreed.

They filled out the paperwork and the attendant handed them the keys.

“Move in whenever you’re ready,” the woman said. She pointed with her thumb over her shoulder. “Bigger elevator is around the corner for your furniture.”

Here we go, Summer thought as she took her key.

Her stomach fluttered with nerves, but she felt good overall. Strong.

The first step toward her future had started today.