The Shrink Program

Chapter 5

Nine years ago-

"Come on Vain!" I called, running along the edge of the lake. "Let's go to the island!"

Vain stood panting next to the willow tree, physically and mentally exhausted.

Enduring a four-hour car trip with the Tramph family, only to be immediately dragged off into the wilderness will do that to a person.

I ran back to him, near vibrating with enthusiasm, only to be treated with a weak glare from the pale boy

"Swimming across a freezing cold lake," he muttered, voice flat with sarcasm. "Sounds like great fun."

I rolled my eyes, pouting disappointedly at his grumpy attitude.

The only water too cold to swim in is ice.

"The island isn't even that far, we'll be fine," I said with an encouraging smile, pulling on his arm.

Vain was very small for an eight-year-old boy, a head shorter than myself. He got sick often and had all the athletism of a wet blanket.

At my insistent tugging, Vain stumbled forward, his fragile body nowhere near as stubborn as his attitude.

"Even if you have no trouble swimming that far," he said as I pulled him along by his arm. "There's no one around to help us if I can't."

I ignored him as he continued to point out every way this could go wrong.

If we could just get us over to the island, Vain would see how cool it was and... Realise that he could do more than he thought if he just tried.

I had gotten ankle-deep into the water before Vain managed to pull away.

"Listen to me!" he snapped, yanking his arm out of my hand.

Surprised, I turned back to see him glaring at me, holding his arm to his side as if it hurt. "This is stupid, even for you!"

Frozen in shock, the two of us stared at each other in the sudden silence.

My throat grew tight with hurt, tears prickling unexpectantly at my wide eyes.

Vain had never gotten so cross before. Not like this. Not at me.

Slowly, of their own accord, my eyes were drawn to the arm that he was holding in pain.

It was autumn. He always wore long-sleeved shirts or jackets.

That hadn't stopped me from catching glimpses of the marks. The old and new bruises that covered his pale skin.

We didn't really get along with the other children in a neighbourhood. Being small never stopped Vain from saying precisely what he thought.

Even when I wasn't there to stick up for him.

He noticed me looking and turned away. "I'm going back to the cabins."

He stormed off, leaving me alone in the lake.

"Then, being the idiot I am, I just swam the lake anyway," I muttered to myself, recalling the day that things had first begun to change between Vain and me.

Vain had been right in the end...

I sank further into the bowl of hot water, trying to drown out the memories with the fact that I was having a seriously great bath at the moment. The bowl was so big it was like sitting in a hot spring.

Soon after the incident at the lake, I had picked a fight with the bullies that lived down the street from us. I fought them, losing horribly. It was my first fight, after all.

I had always been hot-headed. A little dense too.

In the end, violence was the only answer I could come up with.

Every time I found that someone had been tormenting Vain, I confronted them... Most often, with my fists. Soon enough, I was the one winning the fights. I was good at fighting.

A natural.

Vain and I never talked about it. He never told me that he was being bullied, and I never told him the reason why I was picking fights. It was never said, but we both knew.

I groaned, dunking my head under the water. I looked up, watching my golden curls swirl weightlessly.

Vain and I had both changed a lot since that time at the lake. Even though he still lives right next door to me, I hardly ever see him anymore. Not since...

But it was probably better this way.

Most people at school avoided me, seeing as I wasn't exactly the.... friendliest person.

Vain was a bit of a loner too, spending most of his time reading, but unlike me, he was admired throughout the school. He would just do his own thing, and people tended to gather around him. People like Vain.

I guess it just goes to show; even loner nerds can be popular if they look like they stepped out of a piece of artwork.

The only time people gather around me is when they try to beat me up as a group.

My eyes narrowed bitterly as I rose to the surface, stewing silently in the cooling water.

Vain is smart, but he can also be pretty clueless about how people see him... Or more accurately, he was in denial and had a care factor of about zero.

Between the two of us, I was probably the one who cared most about his popularity.

I knew that his disinterest in what people thought of him came from a childhood of being hated.

Because of that, I wanted people to like him. To respect him and treat him kindly.

Something that might change if people see him helping me tomorrow...

"Maddison?! Could you please get out of the bath? Before you pass out from the heat, again." Devin called from the hallway. "I don't want to fish my sister's naked body out of a soup bowl twice in my lifetime. "

His polite way of checking I was still alive in here.

Despite myself, I grinned at the reminder. After Devin had rescued me from the water, he made me lay on the table under a hand towel, as he used a fan to cool me back down to a normal temperature.

Blushing and staring furiously at the wall the entire time

As awkward as the experience had been, the mortified look on Devin's face had made it almost worth it.

"Coming!" I called, knowing that Devin would come and check on me if I didn't answer him soon.

Sighing, I pulled myself out of the warm water, scrambling out of the bowl and onto the countertop.

I decided not to worry about Vain or school until the morning.

Dripping water everywhere, I lazily wrapped myself up in the washcloth Devin had left out for me. Rubbing the massive "towel' into my curls to make my hair fluff up as it dried, I sent a glare at the little bundle of clothes at my side.

The tiny pyjamas, with their ducks sleeping nestled in crescent moons pattern, came with the resource package the Shrink Program provides to all its shrunken patients.

As much as I hated using the stuff they had given me to make being turned into shrimp go down easier.... the number of clothes and possessions I had actually been allowed to have shrunk with me was minimal.

I lifted the shirt up for inspection, eyes narrowed distrustfully at the little sleeping birds.

The only reason I was wearing these instead of sleeping naked to spite the system, was to demonstrate maturity.

Not because they were cute.

No way.