His good spirits took an immediate hit once he stepped into his second period class and promptly received detention for being 15 minutes late.  He couldn’t believe it; his second-period teacher was usually a pushover!  But all it took was an extra word of protest from Nick, and he found himself being led by the arm out the door, with a note about his detention the next morning slapped into his hand to be delivered “straight to the front office … and don’t dawdle, young man!  You’re in enough trouble as it is.”

Nick left the room cursing under his breath, wondering why even the teachers were now treating him like an inferior.  Even the girl at the front office felt the need to scold him.  He may have been only as tall as a typical sixth-grader, but that didn’t mean he ought to be treated like one, for God’s sake.

As he returned to class and sulked in the back for the rest of the period, it occurred to him that people would never have treated him like this if he had been a normal, nice kid.  It certainly didn’t help that he had gotten to the top by being, well, an arrogant prick.  There just might have been a shred of poetic justice in it all …

Nick scowled in disgust at this notion.  ‘Screw that,’ he thought.  ‘I’m Nick Avery, dammit.  I’ll just have to …’  He frowned.  ‘Well …  I’ll just tell Michelle to get everyone off my back!  She owes me after I was nice enough to let her grow again.  And she seems nicer now …’  He settled on this idea, preferring to ignore the ever-present sinking feeling in his gut.

He spotted Michelle quickly after class – it was easy, since in her heels she towered at least a foot above most of the students.  To his surprise, however, she was simply waiting outside her second-period door.  He approached quickly and saw her book bag sitting on the ground next to her, propped against the wall.  With arms folded across her chest, she leaned against the wall casually and nodded in reply to the many passersby who said hello.

Hoping to cash in on her recent friendliness toward him, Nick strolled up to her and asked confidently, “Hey, Michelle, could you do me a favor?  I—“

Her eyes flitted down and gave him a brief, haughty glare.  Then she stepped forward without a word and headed toward her locker.  Nick gave a miserable frown, realizing she was back to treating him like crap again, as if that little episode earlier had never happened.  He had gotten his hopes up so high, and now he didn’t know how to react.

He quickly snapped out of it, realizing she had left her bag for him to take.  With considerable effort he hoisted it onto his shoulder and bumbled after her, doing his best to catch up to her long strides.

When he reached her at her locker, he decided to try his luck again.  He asked up to her, short on breath but trying to sound amicable, “Hey, Michelle, I was kinda hopin’ maybe you could …”

“Hold my bag up,” she said flatly, not even looking his direction.

“Oh … uh, sure, Michelle.”  He grunted as he wrapped both arms around her book bag and hoisted it as high as he could, struggling as much as one of those World’s Strongest Man competitors lifting an Atlas Stone.

His grip inevitably began to slip.  Michelle, seeing this, rolled her eyes derisively and lifted the bag with one arm, straining only a little bit to hold it aloft.  She shot him a victorious little smirk at her show of strength before reaching into her locker for another folder.

“Um, as I was saying …” Nick began awkwardly, disheartened by her demeanor towards him, “… maybe you could, like, tell people to stop harassing me so much?”  He hated having to resort to asking her this, but he had little choice.

Michelle just kept moving things around in her locker, ignoring his request altogether.  Nick just couldn’t understand her at all – what had he done wrong?  Things had been going so much better just one period ago.

As soon as she shut the locker and lowered the book bag to him again, he said in an increasingly hurt voice, “M-Michelle?  Please?  I just thought … I dunno … maybe you’d do something nice for me in return for …”  His voice trailed off, his head drooping down in sadness as he fought off the sudden urge to cry.

Michelle made a ‘tsk’ sound and pushed the bag into his chest, telling him he was supposed to take it.  He grabbed the bag then looked up into her green eyes and made one more effort to persuade her, saying sadly, “But … wh-what’s it matter to you?  Can’t you just—“

Michelle sighed a loud, exaggerated sigh of annoyance.  “OK, new rule,” she said snappishly.  “When we’re at school, just … don’t speak, OK?  Thanks.”  She rolled her eyes in annoyance and strutted forward to her next class, leaving the proud and mighty Nick Avery on the verge of tears as he watched her go.

He trudged off to his next class, finding some small comfort knowing he had at least partially gotten what he had wished for anyway: he hadn’t been touched or spat on in the hallways ever since Michelle had made her declaration – which technically had only pertained to her book bag, but fortunately no one dared lay a finger on the person carrying it, either.

And at least he had lunch with Michelle’s friends to look forward to – they would soon be his friends again, thanks to their agreement.  This thought was enough to get him through the next two periods, anyway.

Michelle strutted into the cafeteria, followed by Nick, and she happened to run into her friends, all seven of them, by the doorway.  They all greeted her enthusiastically.  “Hey, Michelle!  How’s it goin’?”  No one seemed to even notice Nick.

“Hey, guys, pretty good,” Michelle replied.  “See an empty table anywhere?”

“We were looking, but I think they’re all taken already.”

“Hmph.  We’ll see about that,” Michelle replied confidently.  She strolled up to the nearest table, where four nerds had their chess boards out and were intensely plotting their next moves.  They didn’t even notice the hottest chick in school looming over them.

Michelle rolled her eyes.  Only they could be so oblivious.  She took a quick glance at the board and declared, “Checkmate in 2.  Bishop to d3, then rook to b8.  Now get up; this table’s mine.”

The four of them looked up in astonishment as the hottest girl in school was actually speaking to them in person.  They froze.  Only one of them managed to glance down and realize her moves were spot-on.  “H-How d-d-did …” he stammered in awe at both her mind and body.

“Get lost!” she exclaimed impatiently, snapping them out of their trances.  And just like that they cleared off their boards and scampered off, mumbling apologies and averting their gaze as if her beauty would turn them to stone.

“Haha, you’re awesome, Michelle!” Kyle told her, reaching up to pat her shoulder before sliding his backpack under the table.  As his friends followed suit, Nick too stepped forward to set Michelle’s book bag next to her on the floor.

Finally, they noticed his presence.  “Hey, uh, Nick?  What are you doing here?” Kyle asked with marked disdain, his tone much different than the embarrassed voice he had used the day before.  The seven of them turned to face the unwelcome intruder, looking down on him with scorn in their eyes.  They loomed around him on all sides, seeming freakishly tall next to him.  Kyle was 6’2” and the other three guys – Jeff, Ted, and Andy – were also around that height, while the three girls – Tracy, Hillary, and Steph – ranged from around 5’11” to 6’3” in their heels.  All of them were tall, statuesque, and attractive, and right now they all intimidated the shit out of Nick as they encircled his diminutive frame.  From their body language it was abundantly clear that he was not welcome.

He was starting to fear the very real possibility of being made an example of by these cool kids, his former friends.  His memory flashed to one instance where these very same guys (spearheaded by Nick, of course) had poured chocolate milk in some little brat’s hair, and another time when they had sent out this girl’s confession of love for Nick to the whole school for them to laugh at – oh wait … that had been Michelle, this same girl now towering over him with the rest of his friends …

He also remembered a time when, for no other reason than sheer boredom, they duct taped an annoying little guy to the bench in front of school when no one was looking.  And now Nick was the annoying little guy.  This was not good.

“Uhhh … I was just leaving.”  Nick took a step back but two heavy hands fell on his shoulders, locking him in place.  He almost wet his pants.

But then Michelle, of all people, spoke up for him.  She was the one holding his shoulders, and now she gave them a gentle, almost friendly squeeze as she told the others, “Actually, I told Nicky he could join us today at lunch.  Hope that’s OK with everyone.”

Tracy gave a disgusted look and said, “Seriously?  HIM?”  Nick wanted to shout back at her, ‘I’m standing right here, you bitch,’ but he wisely kept quiet.

Michelle nodded. “I know, I know.  It sounds ridiculous.  But he and I have a little … arrangement.  For what it’s worth, he’s promised not to act like such a dick today.  Right, Nicky?”

Nick winced at her word choice but nodded.  The rest of them weren’t pleased with this arrangement, and they surely would have refused if it was anyone but Michelle asking.  But, only for her, they went along with it.  “Fine, whatever,” Tracy grumbled, and the rest shrugged.

“Cool, thanks guys,” Michelle replied.  “Now let’s get some food, eh?  Nicky, watch our table for us while we’re gone.”  She nudged him towards the table before releasing his shoulders and walking with the rest of them toward the lunch counter.  With a forlorn expression, Nick watched his ‘friends’ go, excluding him from the group yet again.  But at least this time they were willing to give him a chance – well, sort of.  Maybe it was more like he was being forced upon them, but in any case he resolved to try his hardest to change their minds about him while he still could.

They weren’t gone long; Michelle and her friends had had no trouble cutting to the front of the line.  One by one, they slid into the seats around Nick, with Nick moving to the end to give them space.  But it would have been a tight squeeze to fit in the ninth person, Hillary – tight, although certainly manageable.  At least, that’s what Nick thought.

Michelle, sitting directly across from Nick, chimed in, “Oh geez, looks like we can’t really fit nine people.  Someone’s gonna have to stand.”

Nick didn’t necessarily agree, but, to be honest, he never particularly liked Hillary, so he didn’t feel too sorry that she didn’t have a seat.  He looked up at her and shrugged his shoulders by way of an insincere apology.

But an awkward silence ensued as the eight of them slowly turned their gaze to Nick.  Michelle repeated, more forcefully this time, “I said, SOMEONE’s gonna have to GET UP.”  She stared directly at Nick.

Nick finally got the picture.  “Wh-What?  Oh, come on, guys!” he protested.  “There’s plenty of room for one more.”  He scooted all the way over to give Hillary as much room as possible.  Their faces remained impassive, though.  “Hey,” Nick added pleadingly, “you remember when Arthur used to sit here with us, right?  There were nine of us and it wasn’t a problem then.  Plus, I mean, now I don’t take up nearly as much space as he did.”

They were quickly getting annoyed at Nick.  Hillary began tapping her heel impatiently.  “Get up!  Let’s go!” she said in a bitchy tone.

Nick tried scooting even closer to Tracy sitting next to him, making plenty of room for Hillary to sit.  But Tracy, bigger and stronger than him, used her elbow to push him away from her.

“You sure he needs to be here, Michelle?” Kyle asked disdainfully.

Michelle sighed and replied, “You’re right, Kyle.  I think the deal’s off.”  She turned her gaze down to Nick and said coldly, “Get lost.”  When he didn’t move, she snapped her fingers and pointed angrily away from the table.

This was not going as Nick had hoped.  He had to salvage what he could of the situation.  So he quickly stood up to give Hillary his seat, but instead of leaving he turned back to the table and addressed his friends earnestly, saying “I’m sorry, guys.  Don’t worry about it; I felt like standing anyways, hehe.”  His attempt to lighten the mood failed miserably.  The silence in the air was palpable.  “Seriously, though, I’ll be cool from now on – the same old Nick you guys always liked.”  He forced a thin smile.

Ted snorted and said flatly, “I always thought you were a douche bag.”  Andy and Steph snickered at this.

Nick grimaced but kept his composure.  He tried to laugh it off by saying, “Haha, I don’t mind you guys making fun of me.  That’s what buddies do, right?  And I know you’re just joking.”

“No, actually, I really do think you’re a fucking douche bag,” Ted replied coldly.

The rest of them nodded and agreed.  “Yeah,” Tracy added, “and, like, you would just NEVER shut up about how great you thought you were!”

“Oh my God, I know!  What an arrogant prick!”

The rest of them agreed wholeheartedly.  They continued like this for several minutes, saying the meanest possible things about him even while he was standing right there.  At first, Nick tried to laugh along with them and play it off, but it wasn’t long before he fell into a sullen silence, his eyes welling up with tears.  They eventually moved on to other topics, though they frequently threw in more degrading remarks about Nick whenever they got the chance, always breaking out in uproarious laughter when they did so. 

It felt like an eternity by the time the bell rang.  But, now that the lunch period had ended, Nick suddenly realized that he hadn’t eaten anything, and it was too late now to get his own food.

The eight of them filed out of the booth and put their backpacks on.  “Take care of my trash, won’t you?” Steph said imperiously, giving Nick her messy tray.

“Mine too,” said Kyle, plopping his tray on top of Steph’s.  The rest of them followed suit until Nick was left with a wobbly stack of sloppy trays and half-eaten food.

Michelle added hers to the pile last and told him, “Remember my bag.  And don’t take too long.”  She caught up to the rest of them and the eight friends high-fived each other and had a good laugh, no doubt celebrating their viciousness towards Nick that lunch period.

All he could find to eat was a few fries and an unopened applesauce to sate his appetite.  But then the bell rang, and he scurried off to find Michelle before she got pissed at him again.

* * *

Out of breath, he burst into Michelle’s fifth period class, trudged over to her desk, and dropped her bag next to her chair.  At least this time, the teacher, Mr. Allen, had only just started class, though he was still quite displeased with the intrusion.  But Nick found his disapproving look nowhere near as off-putting as the look Michelle gave him – there was something in her eyes that he couldn’t quite place, an intensity that he had never noticed before.  It gave him chills.

He got the hell out of there and the teacher didn’t bother to detain him.  But his own fifth period teacher proved much more problematic: Mr. Henry, the same teacher Nick had barged in on earlier to deposit Michelle’s bag.  Needless to say, he was none too pleased to see Nick Avery entering his class late for the second time that day.  He chewed him out in front of the whole class and, while the rest of the class sat back and watched a documentary on the Civil War, Nick was forced to sit in front of Mr. Henry and work diligently on some bullshit busywork handouts for the entire period.

That is, until a call on the intercom interrupted class.  “Mr. Henry, please send Nick Avery to the front office immediately.”

Mr. Henry’s eyes squinted angrily.  He looked down in disdain at his new least favorite student sitting next to his desk.  “We’re in the middle of class.  Can’t it wait?” he shot back through the intercom.

“The note from Mr. Allen said ‘immediately,’” she repeated before clicking off her microphone.

Mr. Henry gave a low growl of annoyance.  “Well?” he snarled down at Nick.  “Get going, then.”

He didn’t have to tell Nick twice.  Nick hightailed out of there, thankful for this unexpected reprieve from class.  But as he was about to round the corner to the front office, he began to wonder what on earth Mr. Allen wanted with him – Nick wasn’t even one of his students.  Wait – wasn’t Michelle in Mr. Allen’s class right now?  I wonder if she w—

“Hiya, Nicky,” an all-too-familiar voice boomed sultrily above his head.  Her towering figure stepped out in front of him just as he was rounding the corner.  He ran right into her, his momentum halted instantly as his face bounced off her firm abs.  All he could see was purple fabric.

“What the…Mi—“  But his voice was cut off as she deftly swooped down, engulfed his tiny hand in hers, and took a long stride forward, jerking his body almost off his feet.

She was walking fast, even for her.  As a result, Nick was forced into an awkward half jog/half run, the pull of her hand constantly threatening to topple him over.  “M-Michelle, what are you d-d… Slow down! I can’t—“

“We don’t have a lot of time,” she replied anxiously, pulling him faster and faster.  Thankfully their destination was nearby; Michelle swung open the door to the girls’ bathroom and pulled Nick inside.

She let go of his hand and he stumbled forward into the middle of the room.  Regaining his balance, he spun around to see Michelle, with her back to him, turning the lock on the door.  She spun her head around, flipping her golden hair in the process, and looked back at Nick out of the corner of her eye for just an instant.  But the image stuck in Nick’s mind: her brief but intense sidelong glance, her lips pulling back slightly in a devilish smirk, sexy yet terrifying.  A moment later, after the door was locked, she swiftly turned and stepped over to the mirror, opening up her purse on the sink.

“Michelle, I-I have to return to class …” he pleaded nervously, eyeing her and then the door, gauging the distance.

Her mirthful eyes flitted up to his through the mirror.  “It won’t take long,” she replied, her voice having a bit of an edge to it that he couldn’t quite place.  It definitely captivated his attention, though.

Nick noticed her slip something small into her hand then close the purse, strutting over to him rapidly while keeping the object concealed behind her hand.  Nick watched her hand nervously, and Michelle seemed to notice.

“I just couldn’t wait until tonight,” she told him mysteriously, her voice alive with energy.  And then, in a flash, she stepped to his side and rotated his body effortlessly to face the mirror a few feet away.  His mind was reeling; he couldn’t keep up with the speed of her motions.  Through the mirror he glimpsed his own body standing tiny in front of her immense figure, her huge hand resting lightly on his shoulder.  He heard a small ‘pop’ behind his ear, he saw her hand lift up to her mouth and her head tilt back, taking a swift gulp, and then he watched her hand, through the mirror, descend down towards him, holding a small half-empty vial.

“No!!” he shrieked, his body instinctively jerking away – But it was no use; her hand on his shoulder was immovable, clamping him firmly in place.  She leaned down; her hand released its grip and traced five long fingernails down his shoulder, down his chest, down to his abdomen, at the same time whispering, “Nickyyy…”

His eyes popped, his torso suddenly convulsed in goosebumps, his head jerked backward, and his jaw opened wide.  Michelle wasted no time bringing the vial to his gaping mouth and pouring its contents down his throat.  Nick gagged but gulped instinctively, swallowing all of the red liquid.

“There we go …” Michelle whispered sultrily, her body settling into a more relaxed pose.  Slowly, Michelle dragged her hand back up along his chest, then up to her own ribcage and rubbing gently along the outer swell of her breast, a dreamy look on her face.  Nick stood frozen in horror and dismay, his mind still reeling.  His eyes settled on her breasts, already too big for her bra, swaying gently side to side from the pressure of her hand.

Michelle, too, was admiring her looks in the mirror for a few long moments, anticipating the slight but delicious changes which would take effect over the next few minutes, but which she could already start to feel coming in.  The strain on her bra was ever-so-slowly increasing, the line of cleavage slowly, almost imperceptibly deepening.  Her belt gave the tiniest of groans at the widening of her hips.  The changes were so small, so gradual, that she would never have noticed them without paying careful attention.  Eventually, her eyes drifted down to the reflection of Nick, looking just a tad bit more comical now as his clothes seemed to have grown ever-so-slightly larger and baggier on him.  She noted with delight the stupefied look which was still plastered across his face.  He hadn’t known what had hit him.

Satisfied, Michelle stepped around Nick toward the sink and dropped the empty vial in next to the other one.  She was glad to have brought two vials that day, just in case.

Meanwhile, Nick seemed to be shaking himself out of his stupor.  His face fell into a look of despondency, though his eyes stared accusatorily at Michelle’s.  “Why …” he mumbled, his voice deflated.  “Why did you sh-shrink me again, for no reason?  I thought we were even, after this morning …”  His voice trailed off sadly.

Michelle zipped her purse, turned to him, shrugged, and said lightly, with an infuriating smile, “What’s another inch or so?”  Seeing his wild-eyed expression, she added coyly, “Aww … it’s not all bad, is it?  I bet you could get used to it.”  She stepped toward the door.

Nick was boiling with rage at this point.  With fists clenched, he belted out, “WHAT!??  This is the worst fucking thing you could ever do to me!!  You need to end this now!!  I will never, EVER get ‘used to it’!!”

Michelle, an odd look in her eye, opened her mouth slightly as if to speak, but apparently thought better of it, simply incensing him with another smug smile and stepping through the doorway.  “See you next period, Nicky,” she called out as the door swung shut behind her.

* * *

Sixth period came all too soon for Nick’s liking.  It was the last period of the day, and the only class he shared with Michelle: Mrs. Miller’s chemistry class.  He approached her in the hallway with dread, their previous encounter still all too fresh in his mind.  He tried not to think about his head being just a bit lower on her abdomen than it had been an hour ago.

He followed her as usual.  Michelle was stopped just outside Mrs. Miller’s door by a pretty brunette from the cheerleading squad.  She introduced herself to Michelle and seemed eager to talk to her, but apparently had nothing in particular to talk about.  Funny how everyone just seemed to want to talk to Michelle these days.

Nick stood awkwardly by and grunted under the heavy load of Michelle’s book bag.  After some mindless chit-chat with the girl, Michelle’s eyes flitted down to Nick and she made a small but decisive gesture toward the open doorway before returning her attention to the cheerleader, smiling as she listened.  Nick sighed under his breath, thanklessly trudging to the far side of the room to drop Michelle’s bag off at her desk before walking back across the room to his own seat near the door.  He sat with his head lowered wearily, his hands rubbing his temples to alleviate his throbbing headache which had been growing all day long.  He wasn’t looking forward to this class period; just having her on the other side of the room, he knew, would be enough to remind him of the endless misery she had been causing him.

He tried to ignore the sound of her voice in the hallway but failed, her all-too-familiar youthful yet exquisitely feminine voice ringing in his ears.  Nor could he take his mind off the sound of her high heels clacking on the floor behind him, closer and closer and – seeming to stop directly behind his chair.  ‘Oh God, just leave me alone …’ he thought miserably, burying his head in his hands.

He heard the click of a pen above his head, then a pause.  What was she going to do – write something humiliating on his neck?  Maybe stab him with it, just for kicks?  He wouldn’t have put it past her.  She was capable of anything.

His narrow field of vision below his hands darkened.  He heard the soft rustling of her blouse as she leaned down over him.  He braced himself for abuse … But he was left unharmed.  Instead, he watched her long, slender arm reach down to the desk, snaking through the space between his curled arm and his head to deposit a small slip of paper on the desk below.  Her arm retracted, her fingertips lightly grazing his biceps as she raised it up out of sight, and a moment later he heard the steady ‘click, clack’ of her heels continuing on, leaving nothing but a faint scent of delicious perfume – and the paper.

“What the hell…” he muttered softly, in a voice strained with tension.  He turned his head slowly to find her curvy body squeezing into her undersized desk across the room.  Then his gaze dropped again to the small rectangle of paper on his desk.

‘Fuck … what does she want me to do now…’  He sighed and flipped the note over in his hands, bracing himself for what it would say.

The note contained just two sentences, written in beautiful cursive:

“When we drank that potion, Nicky, it made me feel wonderful. –M”

The note fell out of his hands and onto the desk.  His eyes blinked, went wide with bewilderment, and stared over at Michelle.  She was looking towards the front of the class, making no indication of any kind to him.  Nick looked down and reread the note.  It made no sense; it was so out of the blue, so unlike Michelle.  His head began spinning with an endless stream of thoughts: ‘What was the point of this??  Is she trying to rub salt in my wound, to make me remember how awful the shrinking was??  Could she be this senselessly heartless??’  He read the note a third time.  ‘Made me feel wonderful.’  The words played over and over again in his mind.

Another piece of paper landed on his desk.  “Gah!” he exclaimed in surprise.  But it was just his teacher, handing out a pop quiz, giving him a stern look for his outburst as she walked by.  A few of the kids turned their heads to stare at him … but not Michelle.  She didn’t move her head an inch – but was that a faint smirk on her lips??

He picked his pencil up and looked at the quiz.  But he only read halfway through the instructions before his eyes returned to Michelle’s note.  ‘Maybe she’s not just toying with me … What if she really wanted to share how she felt?  But … But why?  What could that mean …??’

His mind suddenly flashed back to them standing before the mirror … it was all such a blur in his mind.  His hand lay across his chest, remembering the tingling sensation brought by the touch of her fingernails.  He imagined her leaning down again, cleavage spilling forth from her unbuttoned chest, her voice, low and hoarse, echoing in his ears: “Nicky … Nickyyy …” then adding, “I feel so wonderful … Nickyyy …”

He snapped out of his reverie with a jolt.  Then he noticed with chagrin the obvious bulge pressing up through his shorts; he embarrassedly shifted his position in a lousy attempt at concealing it.  He prayed no one would notice.

He managed to calm his mind a bit, and then remembered the other sheet of paper on his desk.  ‘Oh … the quiz…’  He picked up his pencil and tried to concentrate.

But the words on the page seemed distant, out of focus – until they were replaced by new words: “Made me feel wonderful.”

Suddenly, a brand new thought popped into his head: ‘Wait … does she actually find the process of growth … erotic??  I know she enjoys having her body get bigger, but … is it actually a turn-on for her?  And … wait … Oh my god.  Was she still aroused when she wrote this note?  – Did she just write a special note for no other reason than to share her arousal … with ME??  WHAT COULD THIS MEAN??’

His mind was going berserk with the implications.  His breathing quickened.  Her voice, those words, kept playing over and over again in his head: “Made me feel wonderful … wonderful …”  As her voice continued on and on, his mind tried to replicate exactly how her body had looked, looming over him, her curves bursting against her slightly undersized clothes, the shape of her breasts, thrust outward so prominently – their size, their shape, how they pressed together …

He looked over at her, secretly yearning for another glimpse of the real thing, not just a memory.  Her face was mostly visible above the sea of students, but the rest of her glorious body was blocked by some god-damned classmates, writing with their heads down, their bodies seeming to be intentionally placed just in the perfect positions to obscure his view.  He lowered his gaze in disappointment.  Just then, for a moment, one of the classmates shifted in her seat, and Nick’s eyes darted sideways again to catch a fleeting glimpse of the purple fabric of Michelle’s blouse.

‘Damn it, Nick!  Get it together!’  There was no doubt about it; she had him all hot and bothered, and all because of two sentences on a slip of paper.

“Pencils down!” Mrs. Miller announced.

“Huh?”  Nick looked down sheepishly at his untouched quiz.  “Ah, hell,” he muttered, knowing it was too late to scribble any answers down because Mrs. Miller was already stepping up to his desk.

She lifted his paper, glanced at the pristine whiteness of the page, and clucked in disbelief.  “What on earth have you been doing, young man??” she said with vitriol.

“Huh?” Nick repeated dumbly, his face red and flustered, the backs of his palms damp with sweat.  Mrs. Miller stared daggers at him for another few moments, then shook her head in frustration and continued on past him.  Nick looked sheepishly around the room to find nearly everyone in class staring at him oddly, wondering what his deal was.  Nearly everyone – but not Michelle.  Nick noticed her head looking casually forward, seemingly oblivious – but perhaps cocked ever-so-slightly to one side, faint traces of a smile on her lips.

* * *

The bell rang, snapping Nick out of his reverie.  He had hardly heard a word of what the teacher had been saying all period long.  But now that class was over, Nick packed his things and stood up quickly, knowing Michelle would pass by him any moment.  Why was his heart pounding so loudly in his chest?  He saw her walk towards the front, but for some reason there were a lot of people going up front so he lost her through the crowd.  She may have been far taller than the rest of the class, but he was far shorter than them and couldn’t see around any of the towering seniors walking by, some of them shooting him contemptuous looks, which he had learned to ignore by now.

A space finally opened up in his vision, and he could see Michelle’s dirty blonde hair and sparkling green eyes towering far above even those of her classmates.  ‘Oh no …’ he realized in a sudden panic, ‘what am I going to say to her?  What does she expect me to say??  Shit!!’

He had no idea … but it turned out not to matter.  As she strode towards him, her eyes locked onto his.  But they remained impassive, lacking any allusion to her cryptic note.  Stepping within a yard of Nick, close enough to make him crane his neck uncomfortably up at her, she made no sound and showed nothing on her face.  She merely paused, still staring blankly down at him, until finally raising her eyebrows and gesturing behind her, towards her desk.

“Wh … What …?” he questioned, flustered.  But she stepped forward, and was gone.  Nick watched her go, then looked back at her desk.  It was just her book bag; all she wanted was for him to carry her book bag.  Nothing more.  Nick stared at it, bewildered.

By the time Nick reached his car in the parking lot several minutes later, he had practically slowed to a crawl, his muscles screaming all over from a full day of overexertion.  He dropped the book bag at Michelle’s feet and nursed his meager shoulder muscles.

Michelle had been watching him, that same infuriatingly impassive look still on her face.  His insides were boiling with anticipation.  As soon as the bag hit the ground, she calmly bent down and lifted it with one hand, showing just a bit of exertion as she tossed it into the passenger’s seat then started walking around to the driver’s side.

Nick wiped his brow and trundled over to her.  “Michelle …” he said expectantly, but not knowing what it was that he expected.

She turned and looked down at him blankly, raising her eyebrows by way of saying, “What is it?”

Nick just stared dumbly up at her.  He wished she would SAY something, or at least give some indication of what she wants to hear!  Did she really not know what was on his mind – or was she just messing with his head on purpose?  God, she was beautiful.

But … oh no.  He had made a terrible mistake.  Looking up into her eyes, seeing not the slightest note of hidden feelings, no moment of mutual understanding, not even any sense of arousal … he knew now that he had read WAY too much into that note.  She had just written it to gloat about his recent shrinking or, at best, casually thank him for the growth.  She simply hadn’t been telling him anything sexual – one look at her face made that clear.

Nick lowered his gaze to the pavement.  ‘How could I have been so stupid??’ he wondered, clenching his fists and squeezing his eyes shut, holding back his emotions.  He was like a stupid girl getting worked up over some guy, like … oh god, like she had been towards him last year …

She finally showed the slightest expression: one of annoyance.  “Well …?” she demanded.

“Uh …”  He looked sadly into her eyes.  “… Nothing,” he finished glumly.

Michelle rolled her eyes, got into his car, and started the ignition.  But then she rolled down the window to talk to him.  Nick pricked his ears up, hoping …

“By the way, Nicky …” she said flatly, “how’d you do on that quiz today?”

“H-Huh?”  It was the last thing he thought she’d say.

“The quiz.  At the beginning of class.  It was pretty easy, right?”

“Oh … uh … yeah, I guess.  Um … why do you ask?”

“Oh, no worries,” she said casually.  “Mrs. Miller just told me she’s been really pissed at you lately.  She said if your behavior and performance doesn’t improve, she’s going to have to dock a whole letter grade off of your project – and that means my project too.  But don’t worry – I’m sure you did just fine on the quiz … right, Nicky?”

He began to shuffle his feet nervously.  “Um … well, I may have been a bit, uh … distracted.”

Michelle peered at him, a look of innocent concern on her face.  “Distracted?  By what, Nicky?”

Nick’s eyes widened a bit, and he quickly looked down in shame.  So he didn’t see the sly smile cross Michelle’s face.  “Uhhh … nothing, Michelle.  Just, uh …”  Think, Nick, think!  “… I was too hot.  … Gah!  I mean, the room was too hot!”

Her smile widened, still unseen by Nick.  “Huh … that’s odd.  I felt fine.  I wonder what got you so hot?”

Nick gulped.  He was walking a very fine line right now.  He decided to keep quiet, just shrugging his shoulders instead.

Michelle laughed.  “Oh well, no big deal.  I’ll see you when you get back from basketball practice.”

Nick jerked his head up.  “Huh?”

“Basketball practice.  Every Tuesday and Thursday.  Don’t you remember?”  A crestfallen look crossed his face as he realized she was right.  He had completely forgotten.  He nodded dejectedly.

Michelle put his car in gear.  “Well, I’ll see you at the house, then.  And don’t forget to bring your homework sheet home.  We’d be screwed if you didn’t turn it in tomorrow.”

“Homework sheet?”

“Yeah, the one she left in the front of class to pick up.”

“Oh … that one …” Nick replied with a nod.  But as soon as she had pulled out and driven off, Nick cursed under his breath.  He hadn’t heard anything about a homework sheet, being far too distracted by thoughts of Michelle to hear the teacher.  ‘Great … something else to look forward to …’ he thought bitterly.