At first Jim thought there couldn't be anything worse than being trapped in a 13 year old body.
Then he thought that it couldn't get any worse than sitting next to his girlfriend in the car, listening to her go on and on about how crazy she was for another guy. She spoke openly about it because Jim wasn't quite himself thanks to Mei swapping races with him. Obviously Becky wouldn't ever think that her boyfriend, or ex-boyfriend now as far as he was concerned, would be the tiny asian boy scrunched up in between her and her sister Rachel.
But then it did get worse. Much much worse: the mall on the Friday night before Christmas. Rachel led him by the hand through the crowds, and he felt like a midget. Jim was never an extremely tall guy, but now, at under 5 feet tall, he couldn't see over anyone except maybe young children.
While Mei, Amanda and Karen went to stand in the long line to get them a table at Chili's, Michelle and Rachel took him over to Old Navy to get him outfitted with some better fitting clothes. If nothing else, he wanted to get some new shoes because the sneakers he borrowed from Rachel were even too big for his feet!
Jim started looking through some of the jeans at the front of the store. Michelle helped him out by looking on the uppermost shelves. She really seemed to be enjoying playing the adult, but seemed a bit put off because guys weren't paying more attention to her.
She pulled the smallest pair of jeans down and held them up next to Jim's body--they came up to where his nipples were. "I don't think we're going to find anything to fit you up here. I think we're going to have to go to the back of the store."
Jim sighed. The back of the store? He had never been to that section before. Michelle picked him up with both hands and carried him easily.
"Hey! Stop it! I can walk, ok?" he complained. She laughed and set him down on his feet again. "Geez, it's bad enough you did this to me, you don't have to embarass me in in public too."
Rachel had already started looking in the children's section and brought a pair of jeans, some boxers and a long sleeved shirt for him. Pretty generic stuff and nothing that looked child-like. Rachel at least was treating him with some respect.
"I can't believe I have to wear kid sized clothes again. I wish Amanda hadn't taken my size. I'm small even for a 13 year old!"
Michelle shot back, "You mean an 11 year old."
Jim did a double take, looking at Amanda with a smug look on her face and then back at Rachel who shrugged her shoulders.
"Michelle is... I mean was... 11 years old. Her parents home schooled her until Middle School, so she was ahead of other kids her age." Rachel said.
Now a lot more made sense to Jim. He remembered having raging hormones at 13, but when he was sitting next to his girlfriend in the car, he had felt nothing at all. He chalked it up to anger, but when he was mad at her in the past, it just seemed to make him want her more. Now he was probably physically incapable of being aroused. At least without some major work.
"So I'm not even a teenager?" he asked.
"Not for another year and a half." Michelle mocked.
"You mean not for another few hours." Jim pretended to play along, but was a little concerned.
Michelle just smiled and said "We'll see..." Rachel tossed him the clothes and Jim went into the changing room to try them on.
Jim took a few minutes to look at his pre-pubescent body in the mirror after he got undressed. Not a bit of hair was on his body except on his head. His privates were small and unresponsive. He was skinny and had very little muscle mass. He'd probably have a hard time lifting 20 pounds now, much less the 200 pounds he was able to bench press just a couple of hours ago.
Still, it WAS interesting, and it wasn't permanent. So he took a deep breath and decided to make the most of it. He put on the clothes. The shirt fit perfectly, but the pants were a little big on him. No big deal, he picked up a belt along with some small slippers for his feet on the way to the checkout counter.
"I'm going to wear these out of the store." he told the clerk, a cute blonde who didn't seem to be enjoying her job. He handed her the tags for the clothes and she scanned them in.
"That will be $22.50"
Well, there's one bonus, Jim thought to himself, clothes are cheaper! He pulled out his Visa card from his wallet and handed it to her.
"I'm sorry, I can't take that" the clerk said in a snotty voice.
"You don't take Visa?" Jim asked, more than a little confused.
"Not from you we don't. You can't use your parents' card. They have to sign for it."
"But I don't have any cash..." Jim whined, sounding more childish than he intended to.
"I'll take care of it for him." Jim turned around to see Michelle pulling out some bills from her purse while Rachel stood beside her. "It's the least I can do for my little sister's boyfriend." She winked at Rachel, who blushed a little.
Jim flashed a glance at Rachel and she could tell by the look in his eye that he was on to their consipracy now...
To be continued