My Friend, The Shifter (G/T)

CH4- Into Light

"To Make People Become Friends Again"

This is what comes up if you look up the word 'reconciliation'.

But that's something we didn't need: we haven't met for years, yes, but that didn't decrease our friendship.

"Well, you got the next best thing!"

"Awww, and I have you to thank for that!" Nat cooed.

After that we ate mostly in silence, with a few interruptions here and there. Nat kept insisting that we eat some more, and it took the better of thirty minutes to explain to her that shrinking down twenty times normal size means everything is practically 20 times bigger. After constantly trying to explain Nat that it was impossible for her to become a shifter (while we're trying to cope up with staying normal), I realized that she was maintaining her distance. But now? It was like she was slowly inching away.

"So, what to do now? I can't just leave you guys here." Natalie said, probably realizing that it was 3 AM in the morning.

"Yeah, you can't. We're still ditching school right?"

"Mm-hmn. I'll call in sick leave for the three of us." As Nat stood up to exit the room.

"Alright then. Also, could you bring my med kit up here?"

"Sure." She said and exited. It was then that I finally noticed that Mia had been trembling. Wait, what? First she's all fearless and brave and now she's just timid? What on Earth?

"You okay Mia?"

"Y-yeah I'm... fine. It's just that I haven't shifted for such a long time in months. You can attribute that to Sarah, though."

"How come?"

"Well let's just say she isn't keen to see me shifted down or up. Kinda gets freaked, agitated or mischievous depending on her mood and temperament."

"Wait, you shift up too?"

"Yeah! It's mostly by accident, but it rarely happens."

"Neat. I only shift down for now, I can shift up to but I tend not to- it's much more difficult to hide anyways."

"Oh yes, it's near impossible to. Once I grew about 60 feet, and you should have looked at Sarah's face! Oh that was timeless, minus the fact that I had to go deeper into the woods to hide. Though it was a nice change as Sarah was supposed to look after me anyways; and let me tell you something- she did not enjoy the role reversal."

"Heh, I maxed out at 20 feet or so before collapsing. But I was in control so I just shifted back to normal on the first sign of trouble."

Right then Nat came back inside, this time with my med kit in her hand which she placed down near us. She smiled and confirmed that she'd applied for sick leave for all of us.

"Sooo guys it's almost 4 AM and none of us has gotten any sleep. There isn't much point in that anyways as we'll be leaving by 4:30 sharp to avoid eyes everywhere."

"That's okay, just let me call Sarah and tell her to expect us within the hour."

"And please don't tell her that I also know?"

"It's okay, though I guess it'd be better if we said that in person."

---

So barely minutes later we were supposed to leave. See why I chose to wear those tactical clothes? Preparation is an antidote to trouble. Preparation overcomes obstacles, and it's cool to be smart. Mia was in a same-same but different outfit, while Natalie changed to another hoodie.