When The Tables Turn Again? - Part 4

*-Saturday, December 14th, 11:30 a.m.-*
After about half an hour of climbing down the endless stairs, Jeremy finally made it to the bottom. He sprinted over to the living room while the two talked.

"I accidentally fell asleep in history on Thursday," Andrew admitted to Sam, writing his history report.

Sam giggled,"Everyone does. All Ms.Janson ever talks about are the exact same things over and over again. No wonder she's single," They both laughed in unison, making Jeremy hot with jealousy. He looked around the corner of the couch, and saw two huge pairs of blue and white socked feet. Looking up, he was relieved neither had noticed him.

His devilish grin reappeared, remembering how ticklish Andrew's feet were. Jeremy quietly walked over to his brother's right foot, careful not to stay in plain sight. He was now behind Andrew's heel, ready to get his revenge. Swiftly moving to the side of his foot, he tickled it hard, causing it to flinch up. Jeremy ran back to the couch, sliding underneath it.

Sam gave him a smile,"What was that?"

Andrew shrugged,"I could've sworn something," He paused, looking down and not noticing any sign of Jeremy.

"You're acting weird today, like you're trying to hide something. You sure everything's fine?" Sam asked, fixing her glasses and tilting her head slightly.

The blonde brother nodded,"Yeah, I'm fine."

She rolled her eyes, looking down at her report again. She wrote something, then put her hand by her lips,"I'm kinda thirsty, you mind getting-?"

"Iced tea?" Andrew guessed.

"How'd you know?" Sam asked, her brown eyes shining with hope.

He shrugged,"I dunno, maybe cause that's what you always get?" Getting up, Andrew walked over to the kitchen, his footsteps shaking the ground. As soon as it got further and further away, Jeremy slipped out from underneath the couch. Sam was writing her report, unaware of Jeremy's presence. He decided to climb up her sweatpants, then slip into the pocket of her hoodie. It wouldn't be easy; he'd have to make sure to only climb her pants and make sure she didn't feel him. He could climb pretty fast, and judging by the size of her legs, it would take him about three or four minutes. Andrew took about eight minutes to make iced tea, so Jeremy began right away.

The little brother heaved himself onto the bottom of her left leg's sweatpants and began to climb fast. He took care to only climb her pants, and so far it had worked. She hadn't noticed him, and he was nearly three-quarters there. That's when he heard Andrew's annoyingly loud voice boom,"You want anything else?"

"Nah, I'm good," Sam answered, shifting her left leg only inches. Jeremy held on for his life, then after the moving had stopped, he reached the couch cushion. Making his way over to her pocket, he heard Andrew's footsteps draw nearer every second. Jeremy desperately flung himself inside her pocket a little too hard, causing her to look down,"What was-?"

"Sam," Andrew sat down on the couch, saving his little brother from being caught without knowing it,"Do you really think I'll make the basketball team if I try out? I got lucky last year."

She snickered, reaching for her phone in her pocket,"You were the best freshman on the team last year. You'll make it," She reassured him, Jeremy backing away from her hand. She grabbed her phone, causing him to let out a tiny sigh of relief.

"You're just saying that. You're the real superstar here," He smiled, slightly flirting with her,"You almost made every one of your three-pointers last year!"

Sam blushed, making Jeremy even more mad. He began to climb the left side of her hoodie, and into the hood. Then, Andrew put his arm around her shoulders, cutting Jeremy off from her. Now he was really jealous, his cheeks burning with hatred for his brother.

She looked in his direction, smiling and grabbing her iced tea,"You're a great friend, Andrew. I'm glad I met you," Her words burned into Jeremy's mind. 'Friends'. He was overjoyed that they weren't boyfriend girlfriend yet! He squirmed a bit, Sam obviously feeling his movement. Andrew moved his arm and she flicked her hood up, then set it back down. Jeremy flew through the air and, just as luck would have it, right on the right side of her glasses. She couldn't see him, but Andrew saw him and his eyes widened.

"What's wrong?" Sam asked, fixing her glasses and shaking Jeremy, who was hanging from the right arm.

Andrew made a 'you're dead' face at his brother for a second, then smiled at Sam with another nervous grin,"Oh, you just got a little something on your face. Here- I'll get it," He moved his hand and brushed it across her face, but couldn't grab Jeremy in time. He fell from her glasses, but luckily caught one of the strings on her hoodie. Now Jeremy dangled back and forth, and Sam was just about to look down.

"Wait!" Andrew moved her face with his hand, looking straight into her eyes.

She gave a small smile, shoving him a bit,"Sometimes you can be really hard to figure out-"

It was too late, she saw Jeremy hanging from her hoodie.

"Jeremy?" She asked, grabbing him off her hoodie,"I don't remember you being this much shorter than Andrew," She giggled, looking over at Andrew's shocked face.

Andrew rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed,"Yeah, it's a long story. We don't know how it happened, but it happened last night. Why aren't you that surprised? How can you take this so lightly?"

"Seriously, Andrew?" She started, putting Jeremy down on her shoulder,"Sure-it's kinda weird and all-but it's pretty sweet, right? It's not like it's gonna last forever!"

Jeremy stuck out his tongue at Andrew, sitting on Sam's shoulder with a cute smile.

"Well, I guess if you don't think it's weird, you don't have to leave because of him," Andrew finished up his report, then took a sip from his iced tea.

Sam looked across her shoulder at Jeremy, smiling,"Aw, he's so cute! I could just hug him all day long!"

The jealousy seeped away from Jeremy's mind, happiness taking it's place. He looked up with his hazel-brown eyes,"I wouldn't mind a hug, as long as it's not from Andrew," the little brother said with a smile, Sam putting him in her hand.

Andrew, on the other hand, felt replaced. He straightened up and thought of a way to teach Jeremy a lesson.

"Hey, Sam, I got a club basketball game in about an hour. Maybe you and short stuff could come?" He looked at Jeremy with a smile, then his eyes focused on Sam's again.

"Yeah, we could come and watch. I think Jeremy'd like that," The huge brunette said, looking down at the shrunken brother in the palm of her hand. He was looking up at her with love in his gaze. He had fallen for her the moment her and his brother had become friends, and wanted to be more than friends. Jeremy laid down in her hand, crossing his legs and putting his arms up behind his head.

Standing up, Andrew dashed towards the stairs,"I just gotta get my stuff on, be about five minutes. We taking your car?"

"Yep," Sam said, standing up and gently emptying Jeremy into her pocket, grabbing her keys. Once Andrew went upstairs, she put on her shoes and her winter jacket, covering Jeremy from the icy coldness of winter.

About five minutes of waiting later, Andrew came down with his basketball stuff on already, wearing his winter jacket and hat.

"Ready, princess?" Sam teased him, knowing he combed his hair before coming downstairs.

"Hey," He smiled, smoothing his hands over the top of his head,"I like to look good for the cameras."

Sam shot him a challenging smile,"What cameras?"

*-Saturday, December 14th, 12:30 a.m.-*
After a few minutes of driving, Jeremy climbed out of Sam's pocket and into her winter jacket, knowing he couldn't be easily squashed there. He looked over and up at Andrew, who even towered over him in the car. Andrew spun a basketball on his finger for most of the ride there, dropping it once or twice.

"How did this even happen?" Sam asked, looking down at Jeremy for a second, then back on the road.

Andrew glanced at his brother, then back at Sam,"No idea. It happened to me before, on Friday the 13th at about the same time."

"I bet you looked cute, too," Sam was flirting with him now, her focus still on the road ahead.

Andrew blushed, looking out the window,"Heh heh. Well, I wouldn't say THAT cute, but-"

"We're here!" Sam shot him a satisfied smile, then unbuckled her seat belt.

"Good, I'm starving!" Jeremy squeaked, sounding younger than he actually was.

Both got out of the car, Sam locking it and Andrew, carrying his basketball bag. They walked into one of the best high schools in the city, next their own, Jefferson high. It was one of the newer and better schools, including three floors. Of course, the inside looked even bigger in Jeremy's point of view. Sam looked at Jeremy with a small polite smile,"You might wanna, you know, hide a bit more than usual? We probably shouldn't let anyone else know about your size."

Nodding, Jeremy stuck his head back in her pocket. A few quarters and a stick of gum were inside, that would last him until after the game.

"Wish me luck," Andrew said, turning to go with the rest of his team into the locker room.

Sam stopped him with her hand, turning his body towards her. He got the message and hugged her, snagging Jeremy in the process. He clenched him in his fist, his voice inaudible to Sam as she wished him luck,"Good luck, Andrew."

He ran off in the direction of the change room while Sam made her way into the gym. She sat in the front row of the bleachers with a few of her friends, forgetting about Jeremy.

On his way to the change room, Andrew opened his hand, Jeremy gasping for air,"What......what did you....do that.....for?" He wheezed a bit, taking in oxygen like it was food.

"You are so gonna pay," Andrew started, his body looming over his tiny brother.

"Oh, um..... you wouldn't hurt your little brother, wouldja?" Jeremy stammered, trying not to lose hope.

"Course not!" Andrew smiled, his blonde hair moving back and forth as he walked,"You're gonna play a little game of basketball with me."

Jeremy raised an eyebrow, confused,"What do you mean-"

Stuffing him in his gym bag, Andrew entered the locker room and told the others he would be out in a few minutes. Once the last teammate left, Andrew began to tie his left shoe. He unzipped the gym bag, giving Jeremy some fresh air.

"First you squeeze the air outta me, then you stuff me in your nasty gym bag?" Jeremy complained, shouting up at his smug brother, only to be picked up in embarrassment.

"Well things aren't gonna get any better for you today. Sorry, bud." He placed Jeremy in between the shoelace and the tongue, tying his shoe a little less tightly to give him some air. Jeremy began to panic, begging for mercy.

"Andrew, please! Please don't do this! I-I'm your brother, remember?" He tried, squirming around. He couldn't free his arms or legs, and only his head was visible. The little brother looked up with pleading eyes, praying he would let him go. Andrew put his foot on the ground, staring down at Jeremy with a warm smile, glad to see his ego shrunk with him,"I'm sorry, okay? I love you more than I'll ever love her! Please! I'm begging you, lemme go!"

The worried gaze his little brother held was unbearable, but he ignored it. Jeremy needed to learn one way or another that life wasn't fair, and that Andrew wasn't gonna listen to his pretty lies.

He kept shouting, which nobody could hear in the loud gym. Basketballs bounced and both teams ran around doing drills, shaking the ground like an earthquake. At least, that's what it felt like to Jeremy. he was stuck to Andrew's shoe like gum. Only he could release Jeremy.

"Ready, coach," Andrew high-fived the coach and the ref blew the whistle, signalling it was game time. Jeremy was getting ready for one hell of a game.

The coach's voice boomed like thunder, calling out the names of the first shift,"Jackson, Chris, Jordan, Liam, and Oliver, you're the first shift. Remember, you'll be subbed out if you aren't playing your asses off!"

Looking up with worry, Jeremy laid back and met his older brother's gaze. He knew that nobody could see him or hear him, only Andrew knew he was there. He would protect him from anything and anyone, and he knew Andrew would never kill him; he would only try.

The game almost seemed unfair; Andrew's team had the tallest players, Chris and Oliver, on along with one of the fastest players, Jackson. Andrew scanned the bench and noticed Bennett wasn't there.

"Coach, where's Bennett?" He asked, the coach smiling for once.

"Oh, rapunzel? he's in the change room. Decided to come late, so I took him off the first shift," The couch explained, some of his gray hair showing at the tips of his black hair,"That guy's gotta get a haircut."

Kevin, 5'4", was only inches taller than Andrew. He smiled at the coach from beside Andrew,"Yeah, and you gotta get some hair dye for your gray hairs!"

"Watch it, Kev, or you'll be running lines at practice," The coach warned, running his fingers through his gray-black hair.

Already through the first two minutes, the score was 19-2, Liam getting one of his foul shots for a change. Bennett decided to show up three minutes into the game, plopping down beside Andrew. His left foot slammed beside Andrew's right shoe, the one Jeremy was tied to. He flinched, the ground shaking like a violent earthquake.

"Well," Andrew said with a start, trying not to laugh,"Look who decided to show up!"

Bennett shook his hair around, the smell of axe reeking from him,"Hey, it was a long morning, okay? I only woke up at like, twelve."

Everyone on the bench laughed. Even Jeremy uttered a snicker, making him forget about the hell he was about to face in the next thirty seconds.

"Hey coach, maybe his new name should be sleeping beauty," Adam called from the other side of Kevin. He was 5'2", the fastest on the team. He could handle a ball like nobody's business. His long light-brown hair and hazel-brown eyes reminded Andrew of Jeremy, except for his face. He had a bigger nose and mouth, and thicker eyebrows. He was even a little more tanned than Jeremy.

The whole bench laughed again, taking caution not to laugh during Liam's second foul shots. Three seconds after, the ref tweeted the whistle for subs. The whole team stood up, high-fiving the guys who just played. The score was unbelievable; 34-6.

"Kevin, Adam, Justin, Andrew, and sleeping beauty, you're on," The coach said, the five guys from the earlier shift laughing at the new nickname.

"I'm gonna call you that from now on," Andrew muttered with a smile to Bennett,"Sleeping beauty."

Bennett shook his head in a circle, the smell of axe spreading,"You like the smell?"

Andrew covered his nose, looking down at Jeremy for a split second,"Yeah, try using that to our advantage instead of trying to make everyone on OUR team fall over and die from the smell, okay?"

The five walked on to the court after the score keepers got their jersey numbers. It was their ball.
"You throw it in since you're so awake today, beauty!" Andrew called to Bennett as he nodded and ran over to the ref holding the ball in place. Andrew made a quick dash to the right then ran back to the left, Bennett passing him the ball. Jeremy looked up at his brother, who was hanging onto the ball in triple threat. As soon as the ball hit the floor, Jeremy held onto his shoelaces. Dribbling between his legs, he faked left and ran in for the layup. Nobody could stop him as he sprang into the air and, for the first time this year, barely dunked it. The whole team cheered for him, even the coach showed respect for him by cheering the loudest.

Pride and energy surged through him, and through the rest of the game, he played like never before. He scored 15 baskets and 2 foul shots, the final score ended up 87-23, Jeremy shaken up on the top of Andrew's shoe. The ball had almost landed on him a few times, Andrew saved him every time by moving his foot out of the way. Grateful that his brother was quick to react during sports, he let out a small sigh of relief. Andrew sat on the bench, untying his right basketball sneaker and releasing Jeremy. slowly getting up, Jeremy stumbled the first few steps and fell off his shoe. Fortunately, Andrew caught him in time and shoved him in his jacket pocket.

"Don't move. And this time, I mean it," He whispered with gritted teeth, turning back to the team after he untied his other shoe. He stuffed them in his basketball bag, standing up and grabbing his water bottle. For once, Jeremy was more than eager to listen to his older brother.

After talking with everyone, Andrew put on his jacket and carried his bag and basketball over to Sam. She was panicking, her eyes widened and her face drained of happiness,"Andrew! Oh my god, I'm so sorry I-I lost-"

Jeremy popped his head out of Andrew's left pocket, waving up at her,"I'm down here," He grinned up at her, happy he wasn't tied to Andrew's shoe anymore. Sam smiled and sighed with sudden relief. She got her keys out of her pocket as they made their way out to her blue car once again.

"So, what now?" Sam looked at Andrew and Jeremy, unsure of what to do. The brothers looked at each other, then back at Sam.

"I guess we go back to my house and try to find out how to get Jeremy back to normal," Andrew's gaze fell down on his tiny brother, who was thankful that he lived through the game.

Jeremy felt gratified that Andrew and him got even again. Without any thought, he climbed out of his pocket and up his jacket. Andrew didn't question it and tried not to laugh when he almost fell off. Reaching his big brother's shoulder, he sat on it and looked straight into his hazel-green eyes. Andrew looked into his eyes and his gaze said,"Thank you."

*-Saturday, December 14th, 1:15 p.m.-*
Sam had parked in the driveway, and looked over at the two,"Wow, what happened between you two?" She asked, noticing their exchanged glances.

"Well, I learned MY lesson, and that's all I can say," Jeremy looked at his brother's face, giving him a secret smile that only Andrew and him would know the meaning of.

"Glad to hear it," Andrew gave Jeremy a heartwarming smile, picking him up and gently placing him into his jacket pocket. Sam locked the doors again, following Andrew to the door. Opening the door for Sam, she smiled as he closed the door after her.

Taking off their jackets, Andrew hung them both up on the coat rack and heard a high-pitched yell,"Hey, aren't you forgetting something?"

Reaching into his left jacket pocket, he pulled out his little brother, who seemed slightly pissed at him,"Oh, sorry, bud. I didn't mean to leave you hangin'."

The three entered the kitchen, Andrew placing Jeremy at the table,"So, what do you guys want for eats?" He asked, walking to the fridge.

"Got any pizza?" Sam asked, Jeremy's stomach hoping they did.

"Lucky us, we got a full box from mom's business party on Friday," Andrew pulled out the massive box, Jeremy's mouth watering. He could just imagine shoving his face into a bed-sized pizza slice, enjoying every second of it.

Once Andrew set the box on the table, Jeremy sprinted to the opening. He shoved the top open and squeezed inside, taking in the heavenly smell of the giant pizza. He flopped onto a slice and began gnawing away at it.

"Mmmm...cheese..." His voice muffled through the box as he ate nearly half of one slice already.

Andrew opened the top and smiled at his pig of a brother, who stopped for a minute and smiled back up at him. Grabbing a slice, Andrew sat down beside Sam. She was busy stuffing her face with pizza, too, and Andrew decided to join in.

Jeremy sat in the pizza box, his stomach full after eating the whole slice (which was like three pizzas to him). The two giants finished off the rest of the pizza, leaning back in their chairs.

"How do you even eat that much?" Sam asked Jeremy, who was sprawled out flat on his back in the pizza box.

Sitting up, he burped then clenched his stomach,"I never ate breakfast, so I guess I ate all my meals at once," Jeremy explained, slowly getting up and walking to the edge of the box.

"Oh yeah," Andrew remembered, sitting up straight,"I forgot to give you your pancakes from this morning! Ugh, sorry!"

"It's okay, you just messed up, that's all," Jeremy climbed over the side of the pizza box,"And besides, I got more than enough pizza. I should last a week."

Sam giggled,"So we don't have to feed you anymore?"

Jeremy walked forwards, looking up at her with a grin,"Well, depends. If you wanna deal with an annoying, loud, inch-tall twelve-year old, be my guest."

"No thanks!" Sam answered, her smile getting bigger as she laughed.

Everything was silenced until the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," Andrew ran over to the door, opening it. A man with sleek red hair and slender black glasses. He was only about a head taller than Andrew, and he looked down at him with worry.

"E-excuse me," He began, nervously pushing his glasses up like Sam always did,"But did anything by any chance.... shrink, in your house?"

Andrew's heart began to race,"Well, that depends. Who are you?"

The tall man gave him a friendly smile,"Oh, where are my manners? I'm Mr. Bently, science professor at Carlton University. You see, I live a few blocks away and brought out my shrink ray to test it. Unfortunately, it miss-fired and the beam shot in the direction of your house. I fixed the machine and wanted to know if I could fix anything that shrunk," He brushed off his snow-covered jacket, looking at Andrew and hoping he'd believe him.

"Come in, I got a little brother you need to see," Andrew opened the door fully, letting the professor in. He gave Sam a polite smile and notice the shrunken brother on the table.

"I-I do apologize for all the trouble I put you into," He sat down at the table, looking down at the little brother,"I bet you're exhausted."

Jeremy shot him a look of relief,"Boy, am I glad to see someone who can change me back. Name's Jeremy."

"Nice to meet you, Jeremy. Now, I'm going to have to re-size him on the floor," He started, looking back and Andrew as he picked Jeremy up and put him on the wooden floor,"Okay, now please stand still..."

He aimed a sort of watch at Jeremy, turning the dial as a beam of purple light emitted from the watch. After the light disappeared, Jeremy began to grow again. Now he was half his height, still shooting up. Finally, after the hell of a day he went through, he had finally returned to normal.

Mr. Bently turned, only to be stopped by Jeremy,"Please, just answer one question."

"Anything," The tall man stared down at Jeremy.

"My brother shrunk in September, on Friday the 13th. I shrank on December the 13th. Why did it happen then?"

"Oh," Mr. Bently paused with quick, nervous laugh,"I decided to test it on Friday the 13th, because if it DID happen to miss-fire, people would think it was because of the day itself. They would just think of it as an unexplained phenomenon."

Just as he walked out the door, he stuck his head back in for a moment, throwing a watch at Jeremy,"It can only shrink or re-grow people. I trust you won't make the same mistake twice," He gave the brothers and Sam a wink, as if he knew exactly what happened.

"Weird guy," Sam said after the door closed.

"Cool stuff though," Jeremy said, putting on the watch,"Wonder if it works," He aimed the watch at Andrew.

The older brother backed away,"Hey, watch where you point that thing!"

Jeremy smirked with triumph,"Ha ha! Scared ya!"

Andrew sat on the couch,"I'm just glad this craziness is over!"

"Andrew, it's only the beginning," Jeremy gave him a warm smile,"Think of all the cool things we can do now!"

Sam looked at the two, then gave them a small grin,"Well, you two have fun. I'm gonna go get ready for the Katy Perry concert tonight. I'll be sure to visit tomorrow, though!"

And with that, a whole new story began.

~The End~
(Or is it?)