Incredible Shrinking Haley

To be or not to be a Disney princes

We waited a few more minutes in the bathroom before we made our way back to the living room where Erin was still standing. She was swaying a little bit, almost as if it was hard for her to maintain her balance. I attributed that to her being very drunk, but I had to take this time to ask her why she was wearing such tall heels.
    "Well, I'm one of the shortest girls in my sorority, so whenever we all go out, they also wear heels. I kinda hate the sensation of feeling short. I know too that a lot of tall girls would love to be my height cause they think it's 'cuter' and easier to get boys and all, but I wouldn't mind being this tall naturally!"
"Oh, you must love being near us!" I replied. "How tall are you in those things, anyways?"
"I mean you guys are super cute for sure! It's just a new experience for me to see people that are my age be the size of my legs. It's a different feeling. It's inspiring too, like y'all have to live your regular lives as much as you can after having been reduced to half your entire size! I don't think I could do it if it was me. I feel like I would be too scared or embarrassed. In these heels I'm about 5'8", by the way! I always wear my tallest heels for when I go out. It empowers me a little more."
"To be fair, not everyone lost half their height! All things considered, I was hardly bigger before than I am now.  But to you what you were saying, there really isn't anything to be embarrassed of! You're you, just smaller. Scared, sure, I can see that. But it's refreshing to see how many people are super willing to help. The world didn't stop and neither should you just cause you were affected!"
"I meant embarrassing more so by how people may treat you like a little kid! Especially because most shrunken people are wearing kid clothes. Even if they don't mean to, I've seen people speak to y'all like they are talking to children. I'll be honest, even I caught myself doing it to Haley before I knew it was her. She walked into my ass and fell flat on hers, so I turned around to help and I felt like I did back when I used to babysit kindergartners. I know too there are people who are not sympathetic at all either. I've heard some people talking about how they would straight up be so mean because there is no real way for you guys to defend yourselves." This was sort of ironic coming from Erin. "They don't think you deserve any special care or anything. I've even overheard the president of my sorority saying when rush comes around, if we get any reduced girls rushing that we wouldn't cut them any slack; they would be held to the same standards. I don't think it would be really any fair to not acknowledge that some, if not most, things have to change."
"Well, for the most part we don't actually want special treatment. I know some people might play the victim card, but whatever it's possible I would love for people to treat me the same. I'm still capable of doing a lot of stuff I was prior. Like, I'm still cheering and doing well in all my classes. I might not be able to cook currently but I'm sure there will be housing for miniature people with smaller appliances, and food will probably come in smaller packaging for a lesser cost, and stuff like that. It might take some time, but if this indeed permanent I'm sure things will be more accessible for us. I wouldn't want to be segregated from full sized people like I've read others wanting to do, but there is definitely a balance to strike so people can see we can still be independent." Erin, Dana, and I talked about this for a few more minutes before Taylor called Dana asking what everyone would like to eat. Since I haven't had junk food in years, I went with Dana's recommendation of what to eat. To my surprise, 4 chicken nuggets was apparently hard to finish. Erin, being still very drunk, got a full meal and just the thought of all that food made me sick. Maybe 4 chicken nuggets would be enough after all. Once Dana hung up, we temporarily shifted the conversation back to our costumes.
     I had asked Erin what she plans on doing for her hair if there was no red head doll, and she said she would probably get a wig. I told her I was planning on finding a salon who could dye my hair a lighter blonde since I've been wanting to do so for a while. She mentioned she would love to come with me since she has been wanting to trim her hair again, to shoulder length. Just imagining how good Erin must look made me all flustered. I had to think of a way to go without her. Maybe I could say she only takes miniature clients? But that wouldn't make sense, since there is only a small percentage of affected worldwide, it would alienate a large clientele base. Maybe she was out of appointments? That would be the most plausible one. But at the same time, depending when she actually could squeeze me in, I would have no ride to the salon. I guess I could Uber but I still don't really trust it for some reason. Maybe it wouldn't be all bad if she did come with me. That way too I would have at least someone watch over me. I could go with Liz or another one of my roommates, but I wouldn't want them to just sit there and wait for me. I told Erin I would have to find someone since I wasn't sure if my current stylist could see me, and I would let her know. We all talked for a little bit more until Taylor finally arrived with the food. It was wise of me to trust Dana. I was shocked how little I could eat now. Even when I was full size, I could easily eat more than 8 nuggets (I'm multiplying my size and the amount of nuggets by two, so it's as if I was full size and this was equivalent. I know I ordered 4.). Taylor and Erin were sitting on the counter stools eating and chatting away, while Dana and I were still on the couch. Me and her were talking about how we definitely need to look into some more clothes. I felt like a kid on a play date with how we looked and how all we could eat were 4 chicken nuggets. Once we all finished, we started showing Taylor the costumes. She was a fan of all us matching, but thought the idea of going as our favorite dolls was also really good. We also took this time to ask about any red headed Barbies.
"Af far as I'm aware, there was Midge who was an old school red head but she's from the 60s. They make red headed Barbies, but they're not their own character. They might have has another red head character at some other point in time. Honestly, even Barbie's family gets re-written and changed it's hard to keep track. They just like do dolls and then diversify them by making them different colored hair or skin tone."
"Well if we all do a certain doll, I wouldn't want to be left out! It might be best if we do matching outfits then. I like Haley's idea of the white top, pink skirt, and white booties!"
     "Yeah, that's cute! The ones with the Barbie logo printed on it?" Taylor was asking. "I think I like Dana's idea more. Just because Barbie doesn't really ever wear anything that has her name on her own clothes! So just doing something all pink would be more accurate I suppose, but at the same time it might be hard to tell we are all Barbies. Kind of unrelated, but if we can't come to a decision when everyone gets caught up, as a back up plan I was thinking maybe we could do Disney princesses? There's Ariel for Erin! We could all likely be a unique character. Plus costumes for the little ones would be easier! They already make child size costumes for Disney princesses whereas an outfit meant for full sized people might be harder for them to match at that size." As good as a point as Taylor brings up on both ends, I'm surprised she suggested not going as Barbie after what Dana told me. Maybe because she was relegated to being Skipper since Isabella had my back.
     "We might have found someone who can solve that problem!" Dana replied.
     "Yeah! I mean, I'm not sure if she can make the printed text like the logo work now that I think about it, but we'll see what we can do. If anything, I call Aurora though!" I added. We looked started looking at back up costume ideas while we waited for Liz to arrive. It was getting to be late, and I was getting tired again. I think Dana might have noticed cause she told Taylor that they should get going. There wasn't much more we could do without Liz and Isabella present, and we still had to ask Hannah, Savannah, and Jessie if they wanted to join us. Erin as starting to sober up, and decided she would leave at the same time. It was good timing since we had done almost all we could do. I was fighting my sleep to see either Liz and Annie or my other roommates, Maddie and Alexis arrive. I was able to stay up for maybe another half hour or so. At around 11:30, I went to my room to sleep, since I couldn't fight it anymore. I texted my sister and Liz to let them know I was going to be bed and to be safe!
     It took me a little bit to fall asleep. I think moving around, getting up to go brush my teeth, change clothes, and all woke me up enough to were I had time to think about Taylor's suggestion. Doing Disney princesses might be easier. We could even ask Maddie if she would like to join us. Alexis too of course. But Maddie actually works at a company where she dresses up as some Disney characters for children's birthday parties. Even if she wouldn't want to join, since he does it for work, she could probably help a lot with costumes. My mind quickly transitioned how I haven't even told them I got reduced. I have a class with Maddie tomorrow, so I guess I would deal with that then, although it might be embarrassing if she freaks out in class. Maddie is the cutest. She's this gorgeous 5' tall, perky little blonde who is always so friendly and energetic. I've known her for a few years, so I'm glad she and I got to room together. She's always been a little more excitable than most, and a little more dramatic. But always cracks me up, and I think she would have the funniest reaction out of everyone to finding out. Alexis is probably the one I'm least closest too, but she's also a big sweetheart I've been starting to bond with this semester since we moved in. She is a 5'7" brunette who is in Maddie's sorority. Before my mind could wander any more, I passed out.