So there I was -- stuffed in her pocket, but who's pocket? Everything had happened so fast, I couldn't believe it. One of them had come up with the admittedly genius idea of dropping their fork to reach under the table, but damn they had quick hands, whoever it was. I was unable to move, scrunched uncomfortably against her thigh within her jeans. The problem was, both girls had been wearing jeans so that did little to clue me in on where I was. I felt so disoriented after a while, it almost didn't matter. I feared I may vomit or faint if I stayed in there much longer.

"May I be excused?" I heard a meek voice call out. I was pretty sure it was Natalie, only because I didn't think Alex had any humility in her. Whoever it was, it was the girl who got up with me inside her pocket. I struggled and squirmed as if I were swimming to the top of a pool, trying to get myself into the small sliver of light I could make out through the pocket of the jeans. Not only did I find myself in some pain, but I also didn't get any answers. I sighed and resigned myself to my fate. It's not like there would've been any benefit to get out of the pocket, other than to maybe plummet to my doom.

I hear a door slide open and I'm re-entered into Natalie's over tacky room. She sits down on the bed and sighs. She then slips a single finger down towards her thigh, attempting to slip me out of the pocket. Instinctively, I grab the finger and she gently tugs me out of the pocket and places me on her hand. I look up at her inquisitively to notice she has a disgusted look on her face.

"Bobby, I'm so sorry..." she said, her eyes unable to make contact with mine.

"Um... well, it's okay..." I said, feeling a bit nervous whenever I saw the giant girl upset. She could be a bit unstable in those situations.

"No, it's not okay" Natalie said, "I let my stupid sister get a hold of you and ugh... I hope she didn't hurt you..."

"Only my pride..." I sighed, trying to laugh off her sister's brutal attack. There was no need to trouble Natalie further.

"I can't talk too long," Natalie frowned, "but I promise I'll be back, okay...?"

She then slid her hand down towards the dresser drawer again, opening it briefly. I decided to speak up for once

"N-Nat??" I said, meekly, hoping my words could reach her, "could you maybe... NOT put me in the drawer?"

"Well I..." she said, her voice fluttering as she spoke.

"It's just... it's kind of dark and... cramped in there and I'll be safe on your dresser all the same, you don't need to worry" I said, trying to plead my case to the giant girl.

"Ok..." Natalie said, a momentarily warmth in her voice as she spoke. "You can stay up here, but only because I feel so terrible about losing you... you deserve a break"

In my mind I thought about how "little" of a break it was to only be held captive on her dresser but I decided not to push my luck. She set me down gently by her massive lamp and stood up to reveal her full height before slinking out of the room to return to dinner. I sighed and laid down, using the lamp as a head rest and happy just to have a peaceful moment.

As I looked around the room, I just let the scenery enter my mind, unsure of where to go or what to do from here. Natalie could be gone for a conceivably long or short time. Hopefully Alex wouldn't realize I was back in the room and try to find me again. As I let everything play out in my head -- the hours that had gone by, how I had shrunken myself and become a victim of Natalie and the other girls, I found myself feeling a bit lightheaded and tired. As I felt my eyes grow heavier, I only wondered how much more of this abuse I could take if my condition were more long term than I had hoped for.

I had been out for probably a few more hours before I finally found myself awaking from the silence. Natalie had been kind enough to leave me atop the dresser, and was actually back in the room. I could hear her typing something on her laptop on the small desk she had in the corner. Unsure of what to do, my head simply moved around the room until I notice Natalie saw me waking up. She walked slowly over to me, sitting down on her bed.

"Hey, have a good nap?" she asked.

"Um... yeah..." I said, slowly nodding and unsure how to feel about what had happened. "Wh-What's going on?"

"Not much" she shrugged, as if this were normal, "I was just working on this paper for school, it's been taking me forever..."

"Oh?" I said, almost relieved to have my mind on something other than my size, "what's the paper on?"

"Psh, I don't even know..." Natalie said, sounding uninterested, "Basically we're supposed to research this great inventor and detail his or her life and all the things they did, I don't know... I chose Thomas Edison"

"Thomas Edison?" I asked, "well, that should be fairly easy"

"Right? That's what I thought, but not really..." Natalie sighed, "See, Mr. Grover said I couldn't use the lightbulb or any of his more prominent inventions in my paper"

"Why not?" I asked.

"I don't know, because apparently a lot of students would pick him for this and just use that as their paper and he wanted me to research deeper and find some other things he did" Natalie said, "but this is just so stupid, who cares about this shit? Y'know..."

I sat there in awkward silence, not really sure what to say.

"Yeah, never mind" Natalie sighed, shaking her head. "But anyway... I don't know if you heard but I'm watching my friend Katie's pet shop tomorrow"

"Yeah, I think I overheard some of that" I replied, "By the way, thanks for saving me back there"

"Oh, no problem" Natalie replied, "it was the least I could do... especially since I lost you..."

"I wouldn't say that..." I sighed, "But actually... well, never mind"

"What?" Natalie asked.

"Well, I hate to even ask" I said

"What? What is it?" Natalie asked, "you can talk to me, Bobby, I'm not like my sister"

"Heh, yeah... I know" I chuckled nervously, "It's just... I... I kind of need to get back to normal... you know?"

"Of course I know" Natalie replied, "I wasn't going to keep you this way"

"I know, but it's just... the longer I stay here, or there, or whereever, the less likely that's going to become" I said.

"What do you mean?" Natalie asked.

"Well... the thing is, and I do appreciate your help, but... the way to restore me to normal is to get me back to the high school... that's where the stupid thing is that shrunk me and I understand if you don't want to take me back there but..." I explained

"I'll take you back, Bobby" Natalie said, "but it probably won't be until after this weekend"

"Oh... ok" I said, my reaction noticeably showing.

"What?" Natalie asked, "look, I just got a lot on my plate"

"I...I know, I never said anything" I said.

"Yeah, but you seemed all dissapointed" Natalie said, almost sounding a bit angered again, which I wanted to avoid.

"No, it's not that..." I said, "I'm just worried about something happening to me and plus..."

"I won't let anything happen to you" Natalie said, all too quick to cut me off

"...and I was supposed to meet my friend Ashley literally..." I said, continuing.

Instantly, Natalie seized me off the dresser, startling me.

"Oh, so this is what this is all about?" Natalie said, her voice seeming a bit more upset than it had been.

"Wh-What?" I squeaked.

"This is about meeting some girl, isn't it?" Natalie said, her voice almost sounding condescending.

"No, wait, what?" I exclaimed, confused as to what was going on. "Ashley's just my friend but..."

"No, I see how it is" Natalie tsked, "and to think I was trying to be so nice to you"

"Natalie, please... let me explain!" I said, my pitiful attempts to be listened to being ignored.

"Nah, it's fine, I see how it is" Natalie said.

"I...I... just ..." I stuttered, my face growing red, both from fear and embarassment. I felt the sweat quickly form on my body as I turned into a sobbing mess in her hand. I prayed she wouldn't hurt me, but almost wouldn't blame her if she did. I wasn't trying to offend her. I just needed some help. After a few seconds of tense silence, Natalie did something I didn't expect. She actually tried talking to me like a normal human being. She set me down on her dresser and gently patted me on the back.

"I'm sorry Bobby..." she said, and then asked "so what's the deal with this Ashley girl? Someone you're trying to date?"

"N-No... I mean... not really..." I stuttered, "she's just a friend of mine and she... she was the one I was going to meet today and... I... never showed up to see her... she probably hates me... or she's worried about me... and I... ugh, this is so ridiculous... but..."

"Bobby, it's okay, really" Natalie sighed. "Do you want me to tell her...?"

"No!" I gasped, "I don't want her to know that I'm..."

"So then you DO like her..." Natalie smiled.

"I... I don't know... maybe" I admitted, "but this is so embarassing and..."

"Okay, okay..." Natalie sighed, "Look, I'll tell you what, I can stop by the high school and we can look for that shrinking thing, okay? You said it was some kind of stone?"

"Yeah..." I replied.

"Ok, well before I head to the pet store tomorrow, we can look for it, okay?" Natalie said, "and we'll see if we can get you back to normal size, okay?"

"Th-Thank you..." I said and took a deep breath and sighed with relief, "thank you..."

"Sure thing" Natalie smiled, "now will you please relax? I'm so sorry if I upset you this much..."

"It's not you, honest" I said, surprised at how nice the giant Natalie was being to me.

"I know" Natalie said. "but don't worry, we're going to get this straightened out"