Incredible Shrinking Haley

Confrontation

I sent Liz a text saying explaining what was going on, while Dana texted her sister asking for a ride. We waited a bit and talked some more in the meanwhile. After Dana's sister, Taylor, picked us up and brought us to their apartment, we immediately went to Dana's closet.
"Everything is so... pink... or flower-y... or glittery... or princess-y... you can't be serious..."
"Well... the princess clothes are really not for going out for what it's worth hahaha. I feel like the dresses with flowers on them would probably be your best bet honestly."
"Yeah, I agree. But I can't even reach them!!"
"I can do that for you!" Taylor said, getting up from Dana's bed. She easily towered over us despite her being a petite girl herself in reality. I think in the photo Dana showed me of them, Dana only came up to Taylor's boobs. She stood behind me, got on her tippy toes, and reached in, somewhat pressing her body against mine, and I was definitely under her breasts now that she was on her tippy toes, to get the outfits I couldn't.
"This is weird to me. I've never not been able reach anything in a closet for as long as I can remember." Taylor just laughed while handing us the outfits. They looked absolutely tiny in her hands.
"Well, it's not all bad! When's the last time you had all this closet space? And could fit so many shoes?!"
I wanted to work on having as much postive outlook as Dana does, so I was trying to not think how she only owns kids shoes.
"That's a good point honestly. I could use all the new space!" I changed out of the Barbie Alabama cheer uniform, and changed into the least kid-like dress I could find, and of course I had the matching shoe as well. Dana did the same. By this point, I couldn't help but feel the dread set in about seeing my coach. Coach Ruth is a vicious competitor. Never satisfied with a result, she brutally reviews every aspect of our game footage that she can. Instead of taking a day or two off, she holes herself up in her office and takes notes on every single player to work on the next days, and... something else. I can't remember what. It's been a few years since I was a rookie who committed here. As a coach and a friend, she was amazing however. She took her time to get to know every player, their strengths and weaknesses and devises a plan based on that, instead of a "one-size-fits-all" tactic. She herself was quite the athlete, having won several tournaments throughout her career, including Olympic gold. She always told me she sees herself in me... which is why I am super scared of seeing her. It was too late, however. I was already in the car with Dana and Taylor, in Dana's pink floral dress made for a 3 year-old. I had almost preferred the Barbie cheer uniform.
The entire car ride I was silent. Dana in the back seat with me and Taylor, driving of course, noticed, and tried to cheer me up. Nothing was helping though, especially not the car seat made for "shrinkees", which are essentially glorified backless kid car seats. When we arrived to the practice facility and I hopped out of the car, I felt physically ill. I started backing up slowly, but I backed right into this immovable wall that was Taylor.
"Man, when I used to bump into people bigger than me they used to at least budge... but it's like you didn't feel me at all?" I asked her
"Oh yeah! That's another thing I noticed... we are like super weak now. Kinda what makes kids so much scarier now! I'm lucky I've always been a flyer so I can continue doing what I do, but you might have to get used to being shoved around by giants."
I know Dana was just being super honest with me, which I appreciate, but I was very disappointed to hear that. "That's awful! When Ant-Man shrinks down he stays super strong. I'm kinda jealous of him..." This positive outlook thing is going to take a while to get used to.
"Yeah, plus he can do it on command! Also grow big which is nice." Chimed in Taylor. "Come on, Haley, we should get going. It'll probably be better if you're inside where less people are likely to see you."
I nodded, took a deep breath, and started walking in. I thought Taylor was right, which helped me be a little at ease, but I was still not ready to face coach Ruth. We made our way into the facility to hear something I was not expecting; the sounds of sneakers on the court.
"Haley, I thought you said only coach Ruth would be here...?" Dana asked me
"I-I thought it'd only be her! I completely forgot she calls the non-starters to see if they want to come in for extra practice to improve. Oh, I absolutely cannot do this today!"
"We can totally leave and come back then if you want," Taylor reassured me. "Let me just go to the bathroom before we leave. Do y'all want to come with me?"
"I'll go! Another thing... shrunken bladder means I have to go so much more. Even though I intake less water."
"Uh..., I'm fine. I'll stay out here. I can't even imagine trying to use toilets now that we're this size..." The two twins went in the bathroom, so I decided to snoop around for a bit. I figured my new stature would make that a little easier at least. But as I walked the much bigger halls of the facility, the more I heard those sneakers squeak, the more I realized this was a bad idea. Yet, I couldn't stop. "I really wonder of Isabella is there..." I thought to myself. Isabella is a year younger than me, and went to my high school. We aren't really close, but we are pretty similar. Same build, although I'm a little bit taller... or was a little bit taller. We also have similar strengths so we play the same position. You might say I'm a natural, but Isabella always worked so much harder than me. She might honestly be even better than me, but since I am a year older, I think coach Ruth gives me the starting spot for that. I really respect Isabella, and I want her to take my spot on the team, since I can't do anything for them anymore... well, except maybe cheer. I do have the Barbie cheer uniform for that, after all.
"Hmmm... I can't see her. Is she not here? I wonder why... she's definitely the kind of gal to be here practicing, even though Lord knows she doesn't need it. Oh well. I should probably be heading back now." As I started backing up while still looking at the court, I backed into another pair of legs.
"Ohmigod, sorry sweetie!! I didn't see you down there!" If I could shrink from embarrassment, I'd be at most 2 and a half feet. "Wow! That's such a pretty dress though! I'd love to borrow it some day!"
2 feet.
"What are you doing here all alone though, cutie?!" That voice... I recognize it. As the giantess began her descent to take a knee to come down to my size, I realized it's her - Isabella.
No longer would I have been the size of a life size Barbie. I'd be an actual Barbie. Luckily I can't shrink from embarrassment. Only whatever is causing these shrinking sprees to go around.
Her massive foot, at least three times the size of mine was all I could focus on. Suddenly the little old lady that lived in a shoe didn't sound so far-fetched to me anymore.
"Er, thanks. I'm alright though. For your sake though, I hope you never actually want to borrow this dress one day though, Isabella." I naturally said her name. Not sure why it came out, but I instantly regretted it.
"Huh? How do you know my name?" She placed her long, slender finger under my chin and easily forced me to look up to her instead of looking down hiding my face. "Damn, I am really weak now" I thought. She moved my hair out of the way, my last line of defense, and it became clear to her. "Hey, aren't you..." she froze, and I couldn't help but muster an awkward, forced smile.
I hadn't wanted to bump into her. Although I respect her very much, it's like I said. We aren't really friends. Nor rivals, just acquaintances. For me, it was kinda awkward because we had grown up together, played on the same team before, but never got to know each other. It would have felt weird, almost forced, for us to try and be friends now. We talked, of course, but never hung out of our own accord.
"Haley?!" She whispered, which I appreciated.
"Yup..."
"What happened?"
"Uh, you can say I woke up like this...?" Maybe that positive outlook was working already. After we talked a little more, I told her I need to see coach Ruth. She said she would take me to her office under the guise of being her little niece. I quickly texted the twins to let them know what's going on. They said they'd wait for me outside, but I asked them to met up with us. I guess they would pass off as Isabella's family as well.
"Here, I'll pick you up and carry you. Pretend like you're tired and about to fall asleep. I'll tell the other girls you want to rest so you don't get all cranky and throw a tantrum. Then we'll make way for her office and wait for your friends. This can totally work."
I don't know why Isabella, Taylor, and especially Dana are being so nice to me. I don't think I particularly deserve it, but I am super glad. "Would you mind if I stayed in the room with y'all? I really want to hear what's going on..."
"Isabella of course I don't mind!! It's the least I can do after you're being so nice to me. Speaking of which, thank you, by the way. You don't know how much this means to me."
Isabella made her way to the court, trying to deflect all the other girls whilst burying my face in her shoulder. "Sorry, girls. I really need to talk to Coach right now. I'll be out soon I promise!! Just give us some time please. OH! And my, uh, sister is coming! This little cutie's mama. If y'all could be so kind as to point her in the right direction that'd be much appreciated. She has her other daughter with her too."
We made it to coach Ruth's room and there she was, preparing her notes while the girls warmed up. I see a lot of Isabella in her. Both extremely hard workers.
"Hey Coach."
"Isabella! Welcome in! And who's that little angel you have with you?"
"Well, if you ask the girls out there, it's my niece. But..." she paused as she placed me on the ground.
"Uh-huh...?"
"It's me, Coach..." I said. "Please try to stay calm!" She was literally speechless.
"I... what... I don't... I can't... how?! When?! Haley?! Is that really you??"
"It is... only a few people know. Isabella was the fifth, just now. You're the sixth. I haven't even told my parents. I wanted to talk to you first. To see what we can do, if anything. I know I'm on a full ride, but clearly I can't play anymore.
"Let me take a better look at you." Coach Ruth made her way towards me. Her massive 6'4" frame made me feel even smaller.
"Over twice my size..." I thought to myself. Even at full size, she kind of made me look short. She was almost directly above me, as was Isabella. Their legs seemed to go on for miles. She picked me up, with ease, I might add, and place me on her desk. I still didn't come up to her size. "Well... we don't have any protocols set in place yet. I think the only other athlete affected by this was a cheerleader. Poor little thing. Lucky for her she was a flyer already so can continue to cheer. If I were to put you out there on the court, you'd get demolished. I don't think I can let you off the team though, otherwise you'd lose the scholarship. What could we do with a shrimp like you...?"
"Coach!!" Isabella interjected. "That's not nice!"
"Oh... sorry..." I always felt coach Ruth was a "height elitist". "Anyways... we need you to do something in any capacity for the time being before I can figure out how this all works. That was my understanding from the briefing from the athletic director. I'll have to reach out to her to see more precisely though what can be done. Unfortunately for you, we have a game this week. An away one, as I'm sure you're aware. I can't let you practice with the girls, but you might still be able to do some weight lifting." My eyes widened when she said that. Given how weak I am, I don't think that'd end up well. "During drills and whatnot, I might have you do the teams laundry and take inventory. But now I have to worry about who's going to take your spot..." I saw Isabella look dejected after she said that.
"Uh coach, real quick! I was hoping to talk to you about that. I think the clear choice is Isabella. I mean, look at her. She's practically the same size as me, same build, same skill level. Well, she was at least. She works harder than anyone else on the team. I honestly came in today to say that. I think my spot for the Olympic team should go to her as well. I doubt they'd find a cure by then..."
"Oh my goodness the Olympics! I didn't even think about that!" Coach said, seemingly ignoring everything I said. "Listen, about your replacement, I will have to figure that out later."
The twins finally arrived to the office, and after some quick introductions, I continued.
"Coach I was also sort of hoping to keep this between us. I don't want the other girls on the team to know."
"Know what? That your shrank? Who cares? I'm sorry. It's a weird phenomenon happening across the globe right now. I'm sure they'd all give you special treatment." That made me think; is that why everyone's been so nice to me? They think I'm this... little... fragile... doll?
"That's exactly what I don't want!!"
Coach took a deep sigh and agreed. She comes off a little rough, but she really cares deep down. "I'll figure out what I can do. For the meanwhile though, we do need laundry to be done. It's the least you can do to help the team out in your... absence." I reluctantly agreed.
We talked a little more, and eventually said bye. As we were leaving, coach Ruth asked Isabella to stay a little longer. Isabella and I made eye contact and she mouthed "thank you" before turning around. I just smiled back up at her.