Nick regained consciousness, his eyes slowly peeling open and adjusting to the light. He felt around him and quickly realized he was back in the chair in the basement, the same one he had taken the quiz in. A blanket covered his body, and he was actually quite comfortable. But then he noticed that, just like before, his legs weren’t long enough to touch the floor. A beleaguered moan escaped his lips. The potion had failed.
Rubbing his eyes, he looked around the room. He quickly spotted Michelle, working diligently at the lab table. She had dimmed all the lights in the basement except those on her lab table, her body casting a moving shadow on the wall behind him. She had changed into a loose-fitting sleeveless undershirt and a pair of cotton shorts, surprisingly loose on her yet comfortable-looking. Nick guessed that this was what she wore to bed. ‘How long was I out?’ he wondered.
Apparently, she had heard his moan a moment ago, because she quickly wrapped up what she was doing and turned to face him. He was immediately struck by the sad, almost plaintive look in her eye. As she approached, though, he realized there was something definitely off about her appearance. She was just as beautiful as ever, and yet …
She slowly walked up to the chair opposite him and sat down with a sigh, her body language much less confident and energetic than he had seen from her in a long time. “Hey, Nick,” she said resignedly, slouching back against the chair.
That’s when it hit him: she had shrunk. He hadn’t noticed at first, since her body seemed to have scaled down proportionately, disguising her height change from across the room. But now that she was right in front of him, it was obvious. Though certainly still substantially bigger than his, her body no longer instilled in him quite the same sense of awe and intimidation from merely being in her presence. Instead, combined with her subdued demeanor, she seemed surprisingly vulnerable, surprisingly human.
“Y-You … shrank,” Nick stated bluntly.
Michelle sighed again and nodded, looking off to the side.
“So, I guess the potion failed …” he stated self-evidently, not knowing what else to say. When she didn’t reply, he added, “Um … how long was I out, anyway?”
“About an hour,” Michelle replied emotionlessly.
Nick fell silent and just watched her for a while. It almost pained him to see such a beautiful face burdened with regret like this. As he watched her in silence, he found himself softening up towards her. He should have felt victorious, even vindicated by this turn of events, seeing his nemesis knocked down to size like this. But, despite himself, he almost—ALMOST—felt the slightest twinge of something else: sympathy.
After a long pause, Nick told her softly, “Um … thank you for moving me off the floor. And thanks for the blanket.”
He could swear there was kindness in Michelle’s eyes when she looked at him and replied, “I would have carried you upstairs to the couch, but I’m … not really strong enough anymore.” She looked down sadly at her smaller frame and sighed.
This was a different Michelle than Nick had ever seen before. He suddenly felt compelled to comfort her somehow, to help her through this difficult time. “You … You’re still just as beautiful as ever,” he offered kindly. Her eyes thanked him briefly before looking away.
It was true; in the dim light, her sorrowful features looked all the more striking and alluring. He found himself emotionally reaching out to her more and more. “Michelle, I’m … really sorry for messing up the formula. I thought I had it right.” She didn’t reply. “I’m sure it’s not so bad,” Nick added supportively. “How much did you shrink?” Nick slipped the blanket off him and slid off the chair onto his feet.
Michelle paused, then began to rise. “I lost about a foot,” she said plainly, slowly rising to her full height in front of him. Nick watched intently as her head lifted past his eyes, then her neck, and finally her shoulders. Good lord, Nick thought. Even after losing a foot – and taking her heels off, too – her shoulders still cleared the top of his head, though just barely. She made him feel small, but not insurmountably so; at least he felt like an almost full sized person now, not a helpless half-sized weakling. He gained a new rush of confidence – and then he remembered the tantalizing intimation Michelle had given not long before, how she still wanted to be with him once he had changed back …
“Well,” Nick told her, his voice brimming with hopeful excitement, “I know it’s not exactly what we intended, but at least … we kinda almost ended up the same height anyway …” He looked up into her eyes longingly, praying that this would be enough for her.
But she didn’t seem to be getting his point, or at least she didn’t show it. Nick had to try again, try to win her favor, try to convince her to be with him anyway …
“Michelle,” he told her fervently, a twinge of desperation in his voice, “you may feel short, but to me you’re still … incredible …” His eyes begged, pleaded with hers. But, alas, as Michelle looked him in the eye, he could find no lust, no eagerness to be with him. She found no comfort in his words.
Michelle turned her back on him. “I just don’t feel like myself anymore. Being taller made me feel so wonderful, so confident, so ALIVE. It’s what I always dreamed of – being the center of attention for once, having everyone look up to me, having everyone like me … But now what will people think?”
Nick rushed up to her. “But you’re still so beautiful and—“
“It won’t be the same,” she interjected sadly, turning her back on him again. “I’ll never be happy again. Not like this.” She stepped forward, away from him, resting her palms on the lab table and staring off dejectedly towards the far side of the room.
Nick stared after her tragically, his hopes of fulfilling his wildest dreams quickly fading to nothing. He remembered the sound of her voice as she told him her hopes for the future – so incredibly energetic, laden with arousal and promise – such a far cry from her current state of mind. If only he could give her that passion back …
His eyes widened as he realized how. But … he couldn’t ACTUALLY be seriously considering this, could he?? He told himself this was crazy. He should just let her stay shrunk; what did he care? Serves her right, in fact.
But he looked again at her gut-wrenching beauty, amplified by her sorrow, and he began to think maybe it wouldn’t be so bad after all to make her bigger again – if that’s what she wanted, of course. What’s the harm …
“Well, I’m going to bed,” Michelle announced wearily, trudging towards the stairs.
“Wait!” Nick called out, running to her side and putting his hand to her elbow.
She stopped and turned to face him. “What is it, Nick?”
He couldn’t believe he was about to offer this. “Michelle …” He took a deep breath. “Is there any way I can … help you grow back?? You know, with …”
Michelle stared at him for a moment, and then her face slowly filled with amazement. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
Nick nodded. He felt a rush of pride, knowing he was about to do his good deed for the day. But, before he agreed to drink the potion again, he needed to know that he wouldn’t be losing a whole foot (or more) in the process. She had a lot of inches to gain, after all. So he cleared his throat and told her proudly, “That’s right, I’m willing to do this for you. But on one condition: I can’t—“
“You’ll do this willingly?” Michelle interrupted, a startled look on her face. “You’ll give up your height – for me??” She put one hand to her heart, her eyes fluttering in a look of both gratitude and disbelief.
Nick was taken aback by her reaction; it was so out of character for her, being usually so domineering and assertive. “Uh … yeah …” Nick replied slowly. “I mean, I figure I kinda owe it to you, after—“
“Oh, Nicky …” Michelle interrupted again, her voice soft and sweet. “This would mean so much to me if you did this … I could even modify the formula so you only lose a couple inches. Oh, you’ve just made me so, so happy. Thank you.”
Nick’s heart skipped a beat. A rush of adrenaline coursed through his veins as he saw this tall, incredibly sexy girl smiling and batting her eyes coyly at him, seemingly waiting for him to speak. He had been in this sort of situation with countless girls in the past – though admittedly never one so breathtakingly beautiful as Michelle.
His response was almost instinctive. “No big deal,” he told her with a shrug, playing it cool. He knew this kind of disinterested reaction drove the girls crazy. It had been a while since he had had the chance to act like this, but it was all coming back to him quickly now.
Her eyes fluttered again, predictably. “Oh … well …” she said softly. “Should we get started now, or …”
“Now’s fine,” Nick replied casually. She was deferring to him just as intended, and it was boosting his confidence more and more. “Just let me know when it’s ready. I’ll be over there.” He strode confidently to his usual chair across the room, and Michelle turned towards the lab table to get to work.
As he sat down, he felt another momentary rush of adrenaline. As calm and disinterested as he had made himself seem just now, Nick on the inside was thrilled with having possibly the hottest chick he had ever seen right where he wanted her. He had had many conquests in his day … but Michelle would be his ultimate prize. It was so totally worth losing just a mere inch or two …
Of course, he hid his inner excitement by maintaining his outward poise, sitting on the couch and watching her coolly, feeling free to check her out in the process. Michelle glanced his way a few times, not seeming to mind in the least that he was staring.
A couple minutes later, she walked over to him with a vial of the red liquid. “It’s finished. Like I said, it’ll only make you shrink an inch or two like normal, while restoring my same height from earlier. I realized that I could take advantage of an increased pituitary sensitivity after recent shrinking by triggering an enhanced hormonal response with–“ But she stopped herself, blushing slightly and adding quickly, almost nervously, “Oh gosh, sorry, I get carried away sometimes … I’m sure you don’t want to hear all that. I’ll just … um … tell you that I also kept in the modification to make you smarter again. Figured you’d like that.”
Nick was more than pleased with this. But he just shrugged again and replied, “Whatever, that’s fine.” He got off the couch and rose up in front of her – he suddenly felt a lump in his throat as he remembered she was still considerably taller than him. She still intimidated him a bit without even trying to. But, he realized, she wasn’t THAT much bigger than him at the moment, and he had little trouble falling back into character again.
Michelle drank her half and extended the vial to him. “Really, Nick,” she told him earnestly, “I’m SO grateful for this.”
He took the vial without hesitation, giving a suave smile. Not wanting to show weakness, he brought it right up to his lips and gulped down its bitter contents, calmly handing her the empty vial while secretly anticipating the coming changes.
But nothing happened. “Umm …” he uttered, with doubt beginning to creep into his voice.
“Huh. I was wondering if this might happen,” Michelle said slowly, explaining, “That last potion we took might have, uh … changed a few things.” But she gave a quick, dismissive wave of the hand. “Ah, it’s nothing to worry about, though. It just might not work quite the same now.”
But Nick was worried. “Wh-What? What changed?? Michelle …” His tone became suspicious as he looked up at her nervously.
“Hmm?” she said, looking down. “Oh, nothing. Just a guess, really. I was just thinking … well, you know the potion has these mental effects now, not just physical? So, I dunno, maybe you won’t start shrinking again until it gets triggered somehow. Like, with your thoughts or something.”
He blinked up at her. His thoughts? Like, what did she mean? The whole thing just kind of struck him as odd. What would give her that idea?
But, upon seeing his confused frown, Michelle quickly blushed in embarrassment. “Oh, it was a silly idea,” she said. “Forget I said anything.”
She returned her gaze to him, and a long, awkward silence ensued as neither of them seemed to know what to say. He felt a little unsettled by all this, but wondered if maybe she might be right. Just for the hell of it, he closed his eyes for a second and tried to make something happen – but nothing happened and he ended up just feeling silly about it.
He opened his eyes again, feeling the awkwardness set in. All he could think to do was look up at her, up into her eyes which weren’t all that far above his. Damn, she still had the looks, but it was almost weird seeing her this close to him in height.
Slowly, she began to smile – a shy, almost embarrassed smile. “What is it?” Nick asked, blinking up at her.
She batted her long eyelashes at him and replied, “Oh, nothing … it’s just, well, I was really looking forward to growing for you, because …” Her voice trailed off for a moment, as her cheeks turned rosy pink in embarrassment. “Gosh, I can’t believe I’m about to tell you this, but I … I just love the look in your eyes when you watch me grow. I can tell you like it when I get bigger, and … it makes me feel pretty.”
Nick’s heart began to pound. Holy cow … she had said something similar to him earlier in that note she wrote him in class – but at the time he had thought she enjoyed being taller and prettier just because. But no – it was all because she wanted to look pretty for him. Wow … oh man … was she really that obsessed with what he thought of her?? There was something about a girl as hot as her saying that to him, seeing her so dependent on him like that. So intoxicating …
As he looked up in amazement at her, he realized – to his own surprise – that he really did want to see her taller. He was almost embarrassed of that fact, since normally he liked being taller than girls. But now, even though she was already taller than him, he found himself imagining her growing taller, bigger, bustier … God, just the thought of it was getting him hard …
At some point, he realized the changes were already beginning – he must have been too distracted by his dirty thoughts to realize it. He watched her body started rising abruptly, kick-started by some unseen force. “It’s happening!” she exclaimed suddenly, sounding as surprised as he was. She grinned wider and wider as her shoulders shot up past his head in mere seconds, followed by her chest, then her ribcage – god, she was rising so, so fast, quickly stretching outward against the outfit that wasn’t so loose anymore – and finally coming to a halt once her belly button was about level with his eyes.
He could hardly wrap his head around how quickly she had grown, transforming from tall to utterly gigantic to him in a matter of seconds. He craned his neck up to admire her, realizing she was every bit as tall as she had been before, if not just a bit bigger – and certainly more curvaceous. His knees grew weak just from standing in front of her, his erection now throbbing in his shorts as he gawked up at her.
His gaze finally rose to her face only to find her staring down intently at him with delight – oh no, had she seen his reaction!? He wasn’t sure – but she was smiling though, biting her lip and looking down at him over the large swells of her breasts …
“What do you think?” she asked in the same shy voice as before, though noticeably deeper and sexier after the change.
Nick just stared up at her, his lips still parted but unable to form any words. ‘Come on Nick – say something!’ his mind urged, but to no use. He saw how she was smiling and blushing; he knew she could see the effect her body was having on him, and it made her happy. He felt like he had her right where he wanted her … and yet, he was the one overwhelmed by her presence, unable to speak, unable to stop staring at her curves from down below …
He began to feel dizzy and disoriented -- maybe it had something to do with the potion, or maybe it was just her. Either way, he tried not to show it.
Michelle blushed some more and examined her clothes. “Well, I guess these don’t really fit me anymore …” she said with a note of pride. It was true; her previously loose cotton shirt and shorts were now being stretched farther than they were ever intended to. Her shirt was beginning to ride up under her breasts, exposing a good deal of midriff right before his eyes. She tugged it down modestly but it didn’t help much. Nick, of course, watched intently.
The tension in the air was palpable now. Nick knew he needed to get his act back together. “Y-You look … okay,” he said as casually as possible, forcing his eyes to look off to the side.
Michelle remained silent, no doubt looking down at him. “Thank you, Nick,” she said softly, tenderly, making his heart flutter. She broke the silence a few seconds later by asking, “Oh, uh, just wondering … what were you thinking about when you started to shrink, anyway?” She looked down at him innocently.
Nick’s heart skipped a beat. What had he been thinking about …
“Um … I dunno … nothing, I guess,” he replied dumbly.
“Huh,” she replied with a frown. “Oh well. Maybe I was wrong about the potion anyway.” She shrugged and stepped away from him casually. “So, um … you mind if we record our new heights? It’s been a while, but I’d like to track our progress if that’s OK with you.”
Nick took a deep breath as she stepped away. “Uh … sure, whatever.” Nick watched her set up her camera then step up to the wall, looking over at him expectantly. His heart was still pounding; but, knowing her eyes were on him, Nick stepped forward as casually as possible, moving next to her and turning his back to the wall.
“That’s good right there, thanks,” she said, smiling down at him and scooting her hips just a little bit closer to his shoulders. She looked forward at the camera but Nick’s eyes remained glued to her bare midriff for a moment, taking in the sheer width of her curvy hips propped up so impossibly high by her long legs. Jesus, his shoulders barely reached her waist; everything about her was so huge, so impressive …
“I set it to take in about five seconds,” Michelle informed him, still looking forward. Nick, embarrassed, pulled his eyes off her and stared at the camera.
‘Click.’ Michelle strode gracefully forward and examined the photo on her camera screen. Nick followed silently behind her. “OK, we’ve got … 80 inches and some change for me, and almost 53 for you. Good; you only lost an inch or two, Nick.” She rested her ever-so-slightly larger hand on his shoulder as if to comfort him as she peered down with a warm smile.
He winced almost imperceptibly upon hearing his height, but then gave a casual shrug and stepped away. He had been so focused on her changes that he hadn’t noticed himself shrinking. Every inch was another inch lost – he almost regretted volunteering to let it happen. But at least it would help him in the end ...
Satisfied with the photo, Michelle set the camera down and turned to him again, giving him another inviting smile, as if waiting for him to speak. When he failed to do so, though, Michelle began, “Well … I guess I’m gonna need new clothes for tomorrow. Wanna … I dunno … help me pick them out??” She ended on a hopeful note and raised her eyebrows slightly.
Oh man, that was tempting. He envisioned them at the store, her trying on the sexiest clothes she could find and posing in them for Nick … he shivered in ecstasy at the thought. But, as he looked down at his own clothes, looking almost comically large on him after the several shrinking episodes that day, his shorts practically falling off his waist now, he decided against it. Especially since they were bound to run into more than a few classmates of his hanging out at the mall; he had endured enough ridicule for one day, he decided. Plus … he didn’t want to seem too eager for her. “No, I’ll … stay here,” he replied, somewhat regretfully.
“Oh … OK. Well, should I pick you up something to wear, too? I mean, you look like you might need it …”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Cool. Oh, you don’t mind if I take your car, do you?” She pulled his keys out of her purse and jingled them. She’d been holding on to them for a while now.
“Sure.”
“Oh … and your credit card?? Pu-wease??” She made an irresistibly cute pouty face.
Nick hesitated at first, but … ah, what the hell. “Yeah, whatever,” he replied casually, pulling out his card and raising it to her welcoming hand.
“Thaaaanks, Nicky …” she said with an especially seductive lilt in her voice as she headed for the stairs, but stopped on the first step. “I’ll see you later, Nick …” The tone of her voice was so sweet, so enticing to Nick’s ears, full of promise of things to come. He watched her ascend the stairs and heard her step out the front door a moment later, and the second she did so he let out a loud sigh, feeling the incredible tension in the air finally dissipating. He couldn’t believe how well that had gone.
Well … he realized it could have gone even better if he hadn’t pussed out on going with her to the mall. Now that she was gone, he cursed himself for being so nervous and timid around her. It wouldn’t happen again, he told himself. That’s not how Nick Avery rolls.
He was about to head upstairs when he noticed, out of the corner of his eye, the camera on the edge of the lab table. Curiosity got the better of him; he ambled over and rose up onto his toes to grab it off the table. Knowing she would have all the photos since the beginning of the ‘experiment’ on there, he searched through the camera’s memory from the beginning.
Sure enough, there was that first photo, taken at the very start when Nick was well over six feet tall and packed with muscle. Good lord, how he towered over that rather unappealing, scrawny girl next to him.
He flipped ahead quickly, seeing the changes frame by frame as he searched for the latest photo. The change across those few photos was startling. God, he looked so puny, so weak now … but his eyes moved quickly to Michelle’s towering form, absolutely dominating the photo with her raw sexuality and size.
He closed his eyes and flipped back to the beginning, only looking again once his former self was back on the screen. He closed his eyes again and flipped ahead, covering the left side of the screen to obscure his image before opening up and beholding Michelle’s full beauty once more.
He began to cycle through in this fashion, covering up the right side then the left, merging the two images in his mind – two tall, sexy bodies standing side by side, absolutely perfect for each other, in their sexual prime. The more he flipped back and forth, the more obsessed he became with the composite image; testosterone began to pump through his veins again as he imagined himself just like in the photo.
He replayed in his mind his interactions with Michelle just now, except this time he remained perfectly cool and composed, bantering flirtatiously with Michelle while always remaining in control of the conversation, with Michelle fawning over him, unable to help herself from laying a hand on his biceps or winking suggestively at him. He became engrossed in this role, began to see himself as the irresistible stud he always knew himself to be.
He looked forward to their next encounter with renewed confidence and eagerness. Things had gone pretty damned well with her tonight as it was, but now that he had truly found himself again he knew it was practically a done deal – Nick Avery never failed when it came to women. Tomorrow, he would make his move and take what was his – and she would accept his advances unquestioningly.