Nick slammed open the back door, and he and Sean raced through the kitchen to the living room. Dropping their bags, they threw Final Fantasy IX into the Playstation and started playing. Nick's mother arrived about half an hour later, with his brother Adam and three of Adam's friends in tow.
She walked into the living room and stood to the side of the couch, tapping her fingers until Nick noticed and guiltily paused the game so he could look at her. "I see you brought a friend."
"Um, well, he wanted to see my new game. I told him he couldn't stay that late, but I really wanted to show it to him, and, um,..."
"You know you're supposed to get permission before inviting friends over, Nick. Adam is having a sleepover, and he's been looking forward to it for days. He gets priority."
"Look, they're little kids, Sean and I wouldn't be using the same things anyway. Can he stay over? Please?"
"You told him he could sleep over, didn't you?
"I said he *might* be able to sleep over. I knew I needed your permission first." Nick looked at her with pleading eyes.
"Mm-hmm." She thought for a moment, and then sighed. "Fine. But, three rules. One, Adam made his plans first, so he gets dibs on whatever he wants to do. Anything. Even if he interrupts you in the middle of it. Two, you behave perfectly tonight. And third, I need to go out for part of the evening, and the two of you have to help take care of the four of them while I'm out."
It was a tough bargain, but Nick was in no position to negotiate. He looked at Sean. Sean gave him a look that said, "Maybe they won't bother us too much."
"OK, mom. We'll do it."
Neither of them saw Adam's grin. Otherwise they would have been truly scared about the upcoming night.
Mom had decided to take advantage of her extra help. "I'm going to leave you boys a little earlier then I'd thought, alright? Remember the deal Nick?"
Nick nodded, distracted by FF IX. It wasn't five minutes after she left that Adam said, "I wanna play!"
Nick groaned. "You don't even have any Playstation games!"
"Yeah, well, my friends brought some!"
"Fine! All yours!" Nick turned off the console, not even bothering to save his game, and carefully disconnected some wires. Then he stormed upstairs with Sean in tow.
The younger boys sat down, but, of course, couldn't get the system to work. "NICK!"
No response from upstairs. "NIIICCCKKK!"
Nothing. "I'M GONNA TELL MOM!"
That did it. Nick slunk back downstairs, and helped the boys set up their game. He turned to leave. Adam grinned and winked at his friends. "You have to stay!"
He looked at them. "You can play without me."
Adam just said, "You hafta play, or you'll get in trouble!"
Nick sighed. It was true, of course. Adam would be able to get away with murder, if he wanted. He sat down. "What game is it?"
"Bugs Bunny!"
"Bugs...", Nick stopped short of telling them how stupid that was. He hoped Sean was having fun on his computer upstairs.
Nick played decently, but every one of Adam's friends played better. He told himself it was just because they knew the game. "Not if we could play FF IX", he thought.
Still, beating his older brother was enough to set Adam off. "I beat you! I beat you!". He chanted. Nick just walked upstairs.
Nick got back to his room. Sean was staring at him when he walked in. "Yeah, sorry I took so long...someone insisted I play Bugs Bunny with them."
Sean burst out laughing. "It's none of my business, Nick, but why didn't you wear those pajama's to our last sleepover? You would have been the talk of the party."
Nick looked down, beneath him on the bed were a set of pajamas, sized to fit him, but covered in Sonic and Tails. "I've never seen these before!"
"Sure Nick", more stifled laughter, "That's why they were lying out on your freshly made bed."
"Adam must have put them there as a joke. What a jerk." He picked them up, and felt a jolt as he touched them. He definitely hadn't sen them before, but he realized that he liked how they had characters. After all, he sometimes played Sonic games, why shouldn't he like them? It was one of his favorite characters.
Sean was looking at him oddly as he caressed the pajamas, and he quickly put them back. "I'll give them back to Adam later. I wonder where he got them?" Sean didn't look convinced, but let it pass, and they finally began playing the computer game together.
It took only five minutes before: "NICK!"
Nick tried to ignore it. "COME DOWN OR I'M TELLING MOM!"
He gave Sean a look. "I'll be back, I hope"
Nick went downstairs. All four younger boys were waiting for him, smiling way too much for his liking. "Mom said you have to be perfect tonight, remember?"
"Yes..."
"And that includes keeping us happy, right?"
"Yes...do you want to cream me at Bugs Bunny again?"
"Nope. We want you to wear this." Adam handed Nick a bundle of clothes.
Nick looked at it. The shorts were just shorts, cotton, but fine. The socks were OK, but the t-shirt wasn't. It also was covered in Sonic and Tails. He thought for a second and realized it would be OK. Sonics and Tails were kinda cool after all. Then he saw the pair of briefs. He held them up.
"All of it Nick."
He turned and walked to the bathroom. The boys followed him, but he locked the door. He stripped, and decided to leave his clothes in the bathroom. Then he slid the briefs on. They did fit, amazingly. Nick felt really weird; it had to have been 5 years since he'd worn briefs, and they were snug in strange places. The shorts and socks were next, but they weren't that different then a gym uniform. The t-shirt was last. He put it on, then looked in the mirror. For a second he imagined what it would like to be Tails. Then he could...A loud knock interrupted.
"Come on out Nickie! We want to see you!"
Nick glared, then walked out. The boys burst out laughing.
"Why are you laughing? Sonic's cooler then you!"
Adam giggled. "But not you!" He grabbed Nick shorts and pulled then down. "Good job, Nickie! You put it on all by yourself!"
The other boys were in hysterical. One was on the floor rolling around, he was laughing so hard.
Nick yanked his shorts up, and turned around to see Sean, laughing so hard that tears were running down his face.
With saying a word to any of them, Nick walked back to his room. He really didn't have a clue as to how he should feel. Embarrased out of his mind? Furious at his brother? Excited that he was finally back in clothes that now seemed strangely right? Sean came back into the room stll giggling.
"So, Nickie? How often to you let your kid brother choose your fashions? I could call mine and get some advice, if you like."
Nick ignored him.
"Really though. Next time we have a sleepover, I'll bring my old stuffed dog."
Nick looked up, hopeful that there might still be some connection between himself and Sean.
"Yeah. He'd be a nice addition to your collection!" Sean gestured behind Nick, then turned back to the computer stifiling laughter. Nick turned around. The bed was covered in animals he hadn't seen in years. Dogs, Dragons, Lions, Raccoons...some were his brothers, some were new. And, he was happy to see them. And almost excited that Sean had promised a new one, however jokingly. He got up and went to his closet, where he started rummaging for something he'd set his mind on.
"What's wrong Nickie? Lose your blankie?"
Nick stuck his head out
"I'm looking my Sega."
"Sega?!" Sean looked ready to burst out laughing again, "How long has it been since you've played that?"
Nick went back to digging and was soon rewarded. He hooked it up to the old B & W TV in his room and soon had Sonic the Hedgehog up and running. Sean started at him, and Adam's crew came by and giggled at him, but Nick didn't seem to care. He just kept picking up the rings and imagining what it would be like to fly like Tails.
And then Adam turned off the game.
"Hey! I was playing that!"
"Yeah, and it was boring. We're going to bed now."
"Fine, good riddance." Nick turned the Sega back on. Adam turned it off again.
"If you don't come with me, I'm telling mom."
Nick hesitated, glaring angrily at Adam, before reluctantly agreeing. In the living room were five, not four sleeping bags. And Nick recognized that one of them had one of his stuffed animals.
"Wait here." Adam instructed. He grabbed his sleep clothes and went into the bathroom to change. One by one, each of his friends changed into pajamas. Finally, Adam tossed a set of pajamas to Nick.
"Your turn. Change."
"I have my own friend over. I'm not sleeping out here with you guys."
Adam grinned. "Yes you are. Or else."
And so Nick took the pajama set and went into the bathroom to change.
It was even worse then the set that had been on his bed. That had characters on it, sure. This one was a character. The pants were bright orange, as were the shirt sleeves. The stomach was white with the word "Tails" in big black letters, and a big picture of the aforementioned kitsune. He put them on, and found them to be strangely comfortable. Sure, Tails was cool, but this was ridiculous. He stuck his head in his bedroom. "Guess I'm sleeping with the cretins for now. Enjoy yourself."
Sean pulled him in for a look and doubled over laughing.
Nick sulked out to the living room, where the four boys were waiting for him.
"You get in first!"
Nick seemed to obey, then suddenly he tackled one of Adam's friends. They started wrestling, and Nick felt a wave of disorientation, followed by the boy's weight on top of him.
"GOTCHA!"
Nick tried to push him off, and found it was amazingly hard. He stood up...and realized his was eye level with Adam, who was grinning like a madman. Confused and tired, Nick got in the sleeping bag, hoping his mom would get home soon. The younger boys crowded around the Tails bag that Nick had never seen before. He fit way too well, all of a sudden.
"Get comfy, little Nickie!"
"Here's Tails to keep you company!"
"Hug him tight! He's your best friend!"
"You're such a cute little guy!"
"YEAH! Hug Tails some more!"
"You should suck your thumb, too!"
Blushing, Nick shifter further into the bag, pulling it over his head and hiding from the mockery.
Adam pulled it open. "I don't think so, Nick. You have to play with us more."
One of Adam's friends turned off the lights, and all five boys ended up sitting on top of their sleeping bags. Sean sat in the corner, smiling like he found everything extremely funny. Nick glanced at him once, but after he saw Sean's grin, tried to avoid looking at him.
"Let's tell ghost stories!" proposed one of Adam's friends.
"That's a great idea." Adam answered. "Nick, why don't you start."
Hesitantly, Nick told the first story that came to mind, a rather mild one about a kid making a new friend near a cemetary and later learning that he were actually dead.
"That was a stupid story." Adam snapped. "I'll tell a real one."
"Once upon a time, there was a boy. He..."
"How old was he?"
"Let's say nine. Anyway, he was a normal nine year old boy until, one day, he was woken up in the middle of the night by a strange noise. He sat up and looked around, but in the dark he couldn't see anything. He got out of bed and looked around the room, but still didn't see anything. Then he heard a scraping noise coming from his bed. As quietly as possible, he crept back towards his bed, and, taking a deep breath, looked under the bed."
The boys all leaned it.
"Nothing. He breathed a sigh of relief, figuring it was just the floor creaking. He breathed a sigh of relief; he was just being silly. And then he turned around, and saw a huge green monster, and screamed!"
At the end, Adam switched suddenly from a calm voice to practically screaming, making Nick jump.
"Scared, Nick?"
"No! You yelled a little, but it's not a very good story."
"Wait, I didn't tell it quite right. Why did I say he was nine? He was eight. And he head the noise, and didn't see anything, so he got out of bed. He got out of bed and looked around the room. And then he heard the scraping noise, and he was terrified, so afraid he couldn't move. And then he saw a shadow moving, and a huge green monster rose up in front of him!"
Again Adam yelled the ending, and again Nick was startled, but wasn't going to admit it. "That still wasn't scary."
Adam grinned. "Let me try again. So, there's this seven year old boy. He's sleeping in bed one night when he hears a strange noise. He sits up, but doesn't see anything. He's really scared, but he looks around and doesn't see anything. He sits in his bed watching the walls, and then he hears a scraping noise, and clutches his blankets close, even more scared. And for a while nothing happens, and then a huge green monster comes out of the floor!
Scared yet, Nick?"
Even though he had known what was coming, Nick found that telling a little scary. But he wasn't going to admit that to Adam. "No!"
"Okay, let me give it another try. Maybe I'll get it right this time. So, it's about this little six year old, and he's sleeping in bed, and he hears a strange noise. He pulls the covers over his head, but then he hears another noise. He's really scared, so he starts crying. And then, he feels the covers ripped out of his hands, and looks up, and sees a huge monster!"
This time Nick was really scared. "No more! I'm sick of ghost stories!"
Adam grinned, everything was working out perfectly. "Nah, you're just scared! But that's OK, Nickie. Little boys can be scared!"
"I'm not little!"
"Yes you are!"
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"AM NOT!"
"ARE TOO! What grade are you in?"
"1st!" with that Nick stuck his tongue out.
Silence. Nick realized what he had just said. And then the laughter began. Not from Adam, or any of his gang, but Sean, who had watched Nickie get smaller with each story. He really couldn't help himself now, his laughs got louder and louder until /she/ walked into the room.
"All of you, out. Now. You can wait in the kitchen and I'll drive you home, but first I need to deal with Adam." It was Nick's mom, and she looked absolutely furious.
Sean looked stunned, then grabbed his bag and ran out of the house. Adam's friends hesitantly gathered up their things and took them to the kitchen."
Mom glared at Adam. "May I ask what is going on here?"
Adam looked shocked. "Nothing's wrong mom."
Mom glared at Adam so strongly that his friends scurried away from him. "Adam, I had a twelve year old son this morning. Now, he's six, and scared of ghost stories...care to explain that?"
Adam looked shocked...apparently everything was not going to plan. "I...uh...um...well..."
Mom nodded. "That's what I thought. Help your brother to bed."
Adam went over, coaxed Nickie up and let him upstairs to a room now covered in Sonic, Tails, and othe kiddish characters. Nick curled up in bed, hugged several of his animals close, and went to sleep.
Adam walked to his room. He flicked the light switch and his heart sank. His room was a nursery. Knowing that his mom had done this somehow, he walked over to the crib. As he walked over, he felt a thickness between his legs, and looking down, he saw that he was now wearing a sleeper. Worse, there was a diaper under it. Hearing his mother coming up the stairs, he quickly hopped into the crib, even though he could barely fit.
His mother came in and looked at him for a moment, shaking her head, then pulled a pacifier out of her pocked and stuck it in Adam's mouth. With each suck the crib got bigger and bigger, and soon, Adam was happily asleep.
Mom walked into Nick's room and bent down next to his bed. She ruffled his hair a bit. "It won't be all bad, Nickie. You're gonna be a real bright kid. I made sure of that. And I made sure you'll make a lot of good friends. Sweet dreams, little guy."