****Alyson****

I couldn’t help but feel a little bad for leaving Jacen in my room. It’s not that I wanted to be mean. I just didn’t want to lose him. If I took him along he could fall out of my pocket, or get knocked out as I walk down the halls. It would just be too difficult at his size to keep track of him. I guess this is what it’s like to be the responsible sibling. You have to make decisions you know the other won’t appreciate.

I was sitting in math class just staring at the clock. I wanted to just dart out of here and find the new girl; I think her name is Kristen. She gave me the stuff she must know how it works. Hopefully she knows how to reverse the process. I know Jacen really wants to get back to his old size. I hope he does, I really do. It is just that part of me wants him to stay like this. I like having a little Jace around. I get to tease him, and humiliate him from time to time as opposed to the other way around. The best of all there is now no way he could beat me at basketball or any sport for that matter now.

The clock finally hit 11:30 and I darted out of the class room towards the lunch room. I stopped off at my locker tossing my books in and grabbed some cash from my backpack before heading towards the lunchroom. I waited just outside the tray line until I saw the new girl approach.

“Hey New Girl, Kristen!!” I shouted as she headed towards me.

“Ummm hi Alyson. What’s going on?” Kristen asked. I could tell she suspected something, but it’s not like she has any reason not to help me? I haven’t done anything to mean to her, and it’s not like I gave her the nickname new girl.

“What do you mean?” I asked trying to play it cool. I really didn’t want to just blurt out. Hey guess what my brother’s shrunk so how about you come over and fix him.

“Well you’re popular, funny, and a great athlete. I’m not any of those things. So if you are talking to me, you obviously want something. We aren’t exactly on the same level.”

“Oh, I guess I never looked at it that way. I guess we will have to hang out more, but anyway you are right. I did initially come here to talk to you about something. Do you remember what we talked about awhile ago? You know the prank thing.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot about that. I’m really sorry about your brother. It must be hard knowing the last thing you did to him was prank him before he left. Sorry, I kind of say things without thinking sometimes.”

“Nah it’s totally okay. Well that’s kind of what I wanted to talk to you about. He didn’t so much as disappear but he kind of shrunk, and I don’t mean just a couple of inches.” I nervously looked at Kristen, wondering how she was going to react.

“You mixed it with a carbonated beverage didn’t you? That’s why I said use milk.” Blurted out Kristen as she started directing me towards a quiet corner

“Well you never said don’t use soda. I didn’t think it could harm anything. So is there a cure?”

“Of course, once the substance has left his body, your brother should start to revert back. In this case he will probably grow a few inches. That’s when you will know that the substance is out of his body. Then just give me a call and I will bring over the cure.”

“Wow is that all? This whole thing seems so easy. I pictured it being a difficult process.”

“Well I should tell you. That the fix isn’t some overnight wonder drug, the duration is a variable dependent upon the person. Once your brother's system is clear of the drug, and we give him the fix. It may take a few minutes to kick in, but it could take hours, days, or even weeks to years.”

“Years!”

“Yeah, each person’s system treats the antibodies that are in the fix a little different. However, usually it takes just as long to reverse as it took to make him that way”

“Oh, well that’s good. So are you hungry?”

“Yeah, I could eat.”

“Let’s go meet my friends”

****Jacen****

I had spent my time waiting through what seemed like a hundred classes. I would watch her hair sweep near me but just out of my reach. I was beginning to wonder if just going onto her desk wouldn’t have been a better choice. It was now almost lunch and I was hungry. I was really starting to regret not just listening to Al. I would never tell her this but I think she was right. I would have been a lot safer not to mention better off if I had just stayed at home in her room.

I finally saw my chance though. I heard a boy whisper something to Emma. As Emma turned her head I watched her blonde hair flow towards me, and finally draping over of the top of the pocket I was being held in. I reached out and grasped onto her hair as she talked to one of her friends. I secured my grip on the gigantic strands of hair. She turned her head back to the front and returned to listening to the lecture.

I started to climb up towards her shoulder when a shadow appeared over me. I looked behind me to see Emma’s hand reaching towards me. I couldn’t believe how perfect this was turning out to be. She must have spotted me and now I can just get her take me to Al and this nightmare will be over.

My thoughts were unfortunately misguided. I watched her hand grab her hair all around me. She started wrapping her hair around her finger. I started climbing faster and faster as more and more of Emma’s hair was being wrapped around her finger. I finally reached her shoulder and leapt off of her hair strands. I felt myself slip slightly off her shoulder but I managed to pull myself up onto her shoulder.

I looked forward at the sea of hair strands all around me; I then looked at her ear behind me. I was almost there. I thought to myself as I felt Emma start to move. I tried to grab onto her hair for support but I found myself free falling from her shoulder. The world was a sea of colors as I tumbled end over end. Everything was a complete blur. I couldn’t see anything until I crashed into a canvas wall. I tried to grab onto something but my hands slipped over the threading of a Adidas logo. I continued sliding down the purple wall of the book bag as I watched Emma rise from her desk. I could see a couple of other girls grouped around her chatting with her. They were all oblivious to my plight.

I continued tumbling end over end, finally I fall over the edge of her book bag. I cringed expecting to smack the hard tile floor but instead I landed softly. I looked around and saw that I had landed in a Kleenex pouch she had stored in the small front pouch of her book bag. To the left of me was a giant graphing calculator and behind me was several pencils and pens held to the wall by a strap of material well above my head.

My eyes bulged wide open as I saw a pen speeding towards me like a javelin. I dove out of the way as the pen tip crashed into the floor. I looked at it stunned for a moment that one of my sisters little friends could do this. She simply tossed her pen into her backpack and it could have killed me.

“Oh shit” was all I could get out of my mouth as I saw the pen start to fall towards me, I curled into a ball fearing the worst but I heard it slam into the side of the graphing calculator and remain standing at a seventy degree angle above my head. I sighed in relief as a tearing sound erupted throughout the pouch. I looked up to see Emma zipping the pouch tightly. I pleaded with her but my voice fell on deaf ears as I was soon sealed in total darkness.