Saturday morning, I woke up after a great night's sleep. I decided to let Annie sleep late. I was sitting at the table in the kitchen, eating breakfast and checking my e-mail. There was one from Gary. He was just checking on Annie. He also went on briefly about the job he was doing in Brazil. He promised to tell me all about it when he got back over some caipirinhas. There was something else, which caught my interest. At the end of the e-mail, he mentioned that he had heard from a friend who was involved in a video game start-up, that they were looking for some programmers. At the time, I wasn't interested, feeling that I had a good, secure job already, but I saved the e-mail anyway. I sent Gary a reply, telling him Annie was fine, and not too much trouble. I felt that summed up my feelings about the preceding week, without having to go into too much detail. I was still pretty sure Gary was unaware of the "extraordinariness" of his daughter.

  Reading Gary's e-mail reminded me that he had entrusted me with his home and daughter. I resolved not to let him down. Suddenly, Annie walked into the kitchen.

  "Good morning, Annie."
  "Good morning..." she replied, still a little groggy.

  I enjoyed talking with her, but I decided to wait until she had finished making breakfast to start a conversation. She made some waffles in the toaster. She brought her plate to the table and sat next to me. She took her time eating, foregoing the "food bomb" that she had shown me earlier that week. I figured she was still tired and wanted to take the time to enjoy her breakfast. Besides, it probably wasn't a pleasant sensation to feel a mass of chewed-up waffles and syrup suddenly expanding in one's stomach.

  "So," I said. "Did you have fun last night?"
  "Yeah..."

  She smeared the last piece of waffle around in syrup with her fork, before making it disappear. She got up and put her plate in the dishwasher. Suddenly I heard an electronic jingle, and Annie took out her cell-phone. She read the message, and a smile lit up on her face.

  "Will, is it all right if my friend Liz comes to visit?"
  "Sure, I guess that's fine."

  She quickly typed a response, then shoved her phone back into her pocket. She looked at me, grinning.

  "Liz knows about my powers, too."

  I had a feeling it was going to be an interesting day.

  Twenty minutes later, the doorbell rang, and Annie ran to answer it. Liz was a Korean girl, who wore a black tank top, shorts and sneakers. Her black hair came down to her shoulders, and she wore a pair of black-rimmed glasses. Her dark eyes looked out two rounded rectangle lenses. She had just a slight bit of extra weight on her. Annie introduced us. She eagerly shook my hand, introducing herself as Li-Na Kim, adding that she went by "Liz." My immediate impression was that she was a down-to-earth and friendly girl, eager to meet new people. I was surprised to hear her say that Annie had told her all about me.

  Annie and Liz talked for a bit - school, gossip, this and that. They ran through some ideas for plans for the day, before finally settling on going to the mall.

  "Be back in a couple hours, okay?" Annie said to me.
  "Now, wait a minute," I replied. "I think I should go with you."
  Annie pursed her lips together and knitted her brows.
  "We'll be careful, Will. It's not a dangerous part of town."
  "I still think I should go with you."
  "Will..." she nagged. "Come on, please?"
  "Annie, I think I'd like to go to the mall, too. Or am I suddenly not cool enough to be seen with you?"

  Annie put her arms akimbo, and looked at me with a devilish grin. I started to shrink. Liz looked on with a somewhat embarrassed smile.

  "Fine, Will, you can come with us."

***

  I was watching a pink, hippie flower key-chain dangling from the ignition. I was sitting at the bottom of a valley formed by Liz and Annie's legs, in the cup-holder of Liz's neon green VW beetle. I must have been about three inches tall. Looking up out the car windows, all I could see was the aqua blue sky, punctuated by wisps of clouds. Liz and Annie chatted among themselves, seeming to ignore my presence, though Annie did look down and smile at me occasionally. I was a bit upset that Annie hadn't listened to me, and had used her powers to get her way. How was I supposed to look after her now? But when I saw her smiling down at me, I realized that it was I who was being looked after, and that a girl like Annie could probably take care of herself.

  When we arrived, the girls got out of the car. Annie scooped me up in her hand. She held me against her chest, so that I leaned against the fabric of her pink T-shirt. Looking ahead, I saw the front of Liz's car in the mall parking lot, and the mall itself off in the distance. I saw Liz walk around the car and approach Annie. She was holding a purse that was decorated by large, multi-color polka dots in a grid pattern. A light wind ruffled her hair, and she brushed it out of her face.

  "Are you gonna leave him shrunk like that?"
  I felt Annie's chest vibrate, as she answered, "yep."
  "Oh, that's not nice," Liz replied, giggling at me in sympathy. "Well... you can't just carry him around in the mall like that."
  "Hmm... you're right. Here, open your purse."

  Liz opened the purse, and I was gently deposited inside. I settled in among her cell phone, keys, and other things. It was actually not very full, and it was relatively comfortable. Some dim light leaked in from the opening above. Looking through the opening of the purse, I could see Liz's black shirt. I trusted Annie, and if Liz was her friend, I trusted her, too.

  I could hear the muffled noises outside the purse as we entered the mall. I heard the sliding of an automatic door, some light Muzak, shoppers chattering. The girls walked for a while. Liz's purse swayed gently as I patiently waited, hoping my day wouldn't be too boring. Soon enough, something happened. It got a bit darker, and I heard the music change. We had entered a store. I heard the giant girls start chatting, saying things like "I like this one" and I surmised that we were in a clothing store. Suddenly the purse shook with a thump. Liz had set it down.

  I was still just tall enough to get out of the purse by myself, so I poked my head out to examine my surroundings. I saw Annie's legs in front of me. The girls were looking in a mirror, holding up shirts in front of themselves. Sure enough, we were in some hip, teen clothing store. I still remember high school, and how seriously some girls took the clothing they wore. But some of the clothes Annie and Liz picked out were ridiculous. One of them would go into the dressing room, and when she came out, the other started laughing. They didn't seem to take it seriously at all. They were having fun. Some of the outfits seemed totally out of character for them, such as a goth or punk outfit. Other things were clearly just for laughs, like cheap, colorful, sunglasses, or a white T-shirt with a necktie. They struck poses in front of the mirror, and took pictures with their phones. I felt like one of the guys on those safari shows, hiding in the bush. I was observing the social behavior of the elusive, giant teenage girl. I realized it was probably better that Annie had shrunk me. I would have felt awkward standing there while they had fun. I certainly wasn't going to join them in trying any of these clothes on.

  We left the store, and were walking again. I heard the sound of rushing water. The purse was set down, and when I poked my head out, I saw that Annie and Liz were resting by a water fountain. The girls above me were talking about what to do next. Liz asked if Annie had ever thrown a penny in the fountain.

  "Let's throw Will in," she responded. "Quick, make a wish."
  I shot her an icy glare.
  "Kidding."

  Thankfully, they decided not to send me diving for pennies, and instead suggested getting a bite to eat. Since I was hungry, too, I shouted for Annie to unshrink me. They brought me to a narrow corridor leading to an emergency exit. Annie took me out of the bag and put me on the floor. This location provided enough cover to unshrink me, without the risk of someone walking by, and wondering what mischievous deeds these two young witches had in store for the poor little man at their feet. I soon returned to my original height, which, over the past week, had strangely begun to feel a little less familiar.

  We started walking towards the food court, but when I passed a familiar store, I remembered an errand I needed to attend to. We got to the food court, and quickly were seated at a table, with fast food. I chatted a bit with Liz, getting to know her. I felt a little silly about the fact that I had just spent the last half hour or so in this girl's purse, and here we were, having lunch and chatting as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. I learned that Liz's family had moved here from South Korea when she was very young. She therefore spoke perfect English, and she was semi-fluent in Korean. She had been friends with Annie since middle school. She did well in school, and played volleyball.

  They decided to visit a few more stores, and then go home. I told them I would meet them at that spot in twenty minutes, and I set off to fulfill my errand. The Swiss Chocolate store. Linda loved these. I always made a point of getting something for her when I came to the mall. After some perusing, I selected a small box of dark chocolate, hazelnut truffles. The cashier put the chocolates into a small, fancy paper bag, which I held onto, with care, as I walked back to meet the girls.

  When we got back home, Annie asked if Liz could stay a bit longer, and I agreed. They hung out in the living room. I decided they might enjoy some time by themselves, so I went to my bedroom and watched some TV. I was still thinking about our trip to the mall. The whole clothing store experience struck a chord with me. The girls seemed more concerned with having fun then with having the latest clothes. They were probably not that concerned with social status. They reminded me of this girl I knew in high school, who had a similar personality. We became friends, and she was always making jokes, and asking me for help with school work. I later came to believe that she was asking for help just to spend time with me, and that she probably liked me. I might have asked her out, but by that time, Linda had already walked headstrong into my life.

  I wondered what kind of friendship the girls had. Liz knew about Annie's powers, so I was pretty sure she was also familiar with the sort of games Annie played with me. Apparently, I had drifted off into a nap, and when I woke up, I discovered that Liz had left. I was glad to have met her, as she seemed nice. I figured I would be seeing her again during the month, but I had no idea at the time of the role she would play in helping me carry out a life-changing decision.