Chapter 1 ~ A chip on his shoulder

My ex-girlfriend always found a way to make me feel small. She would belittle me in front of her friends and even in front of my friends. While her friends cheered her on my buddies would stare at me in pity.

I could only take so much of it so I broke up with her.

We both went our separate ways and we moved on with our lives. Wait, that's someone else's story.

She stalks me. Not the normal type of stalking where you can’t tell they are watching. She would follow me in an obvious manner. Don’t believe me? Here’s an example.

I was at the mall with my new girlfriend Ali and we decided to grab lunch in the food court.

While in the middle of our meal I got a phone call.

“My brother’s calling?” I said.

“Get it,” Ali said.

“Hey, Jermain?”

Silence.

“Hello?”

“I see you, love bun,” said Hailey.

Fuck. I thought. Not her again. Wait, how the hell is she calling from my brother’s phone?

She giggled. “Don’t say anything, snookums.”

Her giggle was the worst. It was like she didn’t know how to properly laugh. It was high pitched and would wobble all over the place.

“We’re going to be together again.”

There was movement and Hailey was three tables away waving at me.

“You see m—”

“How the hell did you get my brother’s phone?”

“Is everything okay?” Ali asked.

I shook my head and pointed at Hailey.

Ali had seen Hailey before and we always just left wherever we were when she showed up.

“She’s not right for you. She’s going to hurt you.”

“What, like you did, belittling me?”

“That hurts Mac.” Hailey said, “It was all just for fun.”

“It wasn’t fun for me!”

We got up and left at that point.

This type of thing happened all the time. It was extremely disturbing.

Ali and I eventually moved in together. She was amazing. We liked most of the same things. Usually, there’s some flaw that each partner has and then you have to compromise. That’s where most relationships fail. If the communication between the two of you isn’t there the relationship is doomed.

Today was Friday. Ali worked at Tmobile and I owned an ebay/amazon resale business. I spent most of my day browsing wholesale shops and buying large orders of all sorts of different used items.

“Hey Mac.” Ali said as I walked into the kitchen.

She was cooking something.

“What’s cookin?” I asked.

She had an avocado in her hand slicing off portions of it to lay on her freshly toasted bread.

“Trying avocado toast. Cindy at work suggested it.”

There were an array of spices all over the counter.

“Lemmie know if it’s any good.” I liked guacamole so if it was anything like that I was sure I would like it.

I grabbed a glass of water and downed my daily vitamins.

Ali glanced at me. “Oh, I have some beauty products coming today. Can you check for them this morning?”

“Sure.” I said.

Ali’s back was to me her curves showcased by her stylish clothing. I moved so that the whole front of my body touched the back of hers. Encircling her waist with one arm I reached the other one in front of her and put my empty glass on the counter. I pulled her hair back and kissed her neck.

She stopped slicing and stood absolutely still.

As I backed up I let my hand run across her stomach and then moved out of reach.

She swung around her mouth slightly open. “You are not going to do that and just leave!”

“Oh yeah?” I said as I took another step back.

Ali pointed to the floor and said, “Get back over here!”

I backed up another step and smiled.

She squinted at me. “Oh, you assho— Macaulay Culkin Brown, get over here.”

That wasn’t the way for her to get me to come to her. I hated my name. My parents were huge movie nerds and thought it would be funny to name me after the kid from Home Alone. Naturally, I hated the movie as much as my name.

The teasing at school was rough but I found a group of people in band who were cool about it.

Gabe, Allen, and Lindsey had been my friends ever since.

Ali took a step toward me and I ran into the living room. She was close behind and as I turned around she tackled me. She was small but I fell anyway to make her feel strong.

“I win,” she said.

I grabbed her around the waist and pulled her on top of me. “We win?”

We shared a smile and a kiss. I rolled her over so I was now above her. I ran my hand along her nyloned leg and snuck it up her skirt grasping her inner thigh. I was less than an inch from her private parts.

She stared at me. Her eyes were wild with emotion and her breathing rapidly pulsated against my face. She put her hands on my chest and pushed me away. I slid my hand away from her delicate parts.

We still hadn’t had sex and she wouldn’t even let me touch her down there.

She had said she was saving herself for the right guy. I tried every day to prove I was him.

My breathing had intensified as well. “S-sorry.” I said between breaths.

“You…” She had to catch her breath. “I want you so bad.”

I flopped down beside her and smiled.

She leaned in and kissed me, pressing her lips hard against mine. It was a big change from the usual delicate kisses she would give.

My nerve endings lit up with pleasure. My buddy down below decided it was the perfect time to wake up.

Ali leaned closer to me and put her hand on my pants. She screeched and scooted back.

“What did I do?”

“N-nothing. I’ve never touched anyone’s.” She pointed at the bulge in my pants. “before.”

“You can touch it if you want.” I said.

Her eyes were locked on it and she swallowed. She glanced at me and then back down below. “I can?”

“Yeah.”

Her hand drifted down and she gently touched it. I couldn’t feel much because jeans aren’t great at transferring touch. She removed her hand and backed away.

“Well?” I asked.

“Well w-what?” she asked.

“What did you think?”

“It felt like pants…”

I laughed rolling onto my back.

“Don’t laugh!”

When I regained control I turned back to her. “Are you pouting?”

“I don’t pout!”

A beeping noise came from the kitchen.

“Shit!” she jumped to her feet, her skirt flaring so I caught a glimpse of her panties, “I’m gonna be late!” she said and dashed into the kitchen.

Before I could get up she was running out the front door.

“Love you!” she yelled as the door closed.

I sat up and looked down at my still hard penis. Alone again buddy boy. I thought. A cold shower ought to fix you up.

It took less than a minute in the cold shower to cool me down. I swapped the water back to warm and was able to enjoy the beat of water on my face. After I finished cleaning up I dried off and got clothed again.

I paused for a moment in the hallway next to our apartment's spare room. My computer sat there waiting for me to get to work. I still hadn’t eaten anything so I decided to forego work until I had proper food in me.

As I was heading into the kitchen the doorbell rang. I shifted directions and checked outside. No one was there but a box was on the doormat.

I set the box on the kitchen counter and grabbed my favorite cereal ‘Lucky Charms’. After filling up a large bowl I opened the fridge and got the mil—

There wasn’t any milk. Shit. I set the bowl down and closed the fridge.

I sent Ali a text. Hey, there’s no milk.

Her phone had the app we used to deliver our items. I didn’t have the password so I’d have to go out to get it. I wasn’t that hungry.

A word on the box caught my attention, ‘Refrigerate’ it said. Isn’t this supposed to be Ali’s beauty products? I’d never heard of beauty products needing to be refrigerated before.
I checked the box's label and it was in her name. Maybe she ordered some food before she left? I grabbed a knife and sliced open the tape holding the box shut.

Inside was what looked like strawberry milk. They were really small though. There was nothing else in the box but packing material.

The little bottle of milk made a small snap when I detached it from its six pack. I lifted it up to my nose and took a whiff. It smelled of strawberries.

On the bottle was a label which was written in Japanese or Chinese I couldn’t tell which. I looked at my bowl of cereal and then back at the milk in my hand.

I quickly opened the bottle and took a sip. It quickly slipped down my throat sending a tingling sensation down my esophagus. It felt good. I shivered and downed the rest of the bottle.

It took two of the other bottles to fill my bowl. I was sure Ali wouldn’t mind and we could get some more if she needed it. I stashed the remaining three bottles in the fridge.

I’d have to get strawberry milk again because this stuff was great with cereal. Maybe not this brand though it was making me a little buzzed.

Alcoholic strawberry milk. I laughed at the thought.

Today was going to be a good day. I had already eaten all of the cereal so I downed the rest of the milk.

A beep went off on my phone and I checked it. It was Ali.

I’ll have some delivered. She wrote.

I sent her. I have a confession.

What?

I drank your strawberry milk.

You what?!

I sent her. It’s cool I saved you half.

Mac, listen carefully. If anything falls off put it in a bowl.

Falls off? What do you mean?

A pounding resonated through the apartment. Someone was at the front door. I stuffed my phone in my pocket and answered it. Hailey was standing there. Shit.

She pushed past me and walked around. “So this is where you live?”

“Why are you here Hailey?”

My leg shook and I pulled out my phone.

There was another text message from Ali. Just do it!

My phone fell from my hand. I rubbed my fingers together. They felt numb.

I picked up the phone with my left hand instead.

Hailey snatched my phone from my hand and read through my texts. “What the fuck kind of kinky shit are you two texting?”

The world blurred. “Hailey,” I said and blinked my eyes a few times.

“Are you drunk?” she asked.

“N-nroa,” I slurred.

“This isn’t you Mac!” She crossed her arms. “You’re drinking now? She's bad for you!”

“At lea—” I stopped for a minute, unable to finish my sentence. My tongue felt numb now too.
I took a step. The right side of my body felt really heavy. When I stumbled Hailey was suddenly there guiding me to the couch. She helped me sit down and then leaned on me.

“Your arm is so hard,” she said. “You've been working out?” She smiled.

She ran her hand up and down my arm. There was no feeling. Her hand made its way to mine and her eyes opened in surprise. She tapped on my pinky and it sounded like clay.

She tugged on it and it pulled off revealing a smaller finger inside.

Hailey screamed. She got off the couch and backed into the TV causing it to tilt backward onto the wall.

“A bowl!” she screeched and ran past me.

I tried turning my head and something else fell off. My ear was on the couch next to my pinky.

What is happening? I wondered, my mind too hazy to be panicked.

Hailey returned with my cereal bowl and set it next to me.

“My ea—”

It felt as if the right side of my body was sinking into itself. My right eye felt like it was looking through a tunnel. I turned my head again and it was like I was wearing a thick mask.

Hailey pulled my fingers off and put them into the bowl. The Pieces melted and looked like plastic. Each part was hard until they touched each other. They instantly shrunk down to a liquid.

She continued pulling off pieces of my hand and putting them into the bowl. For the amount of stuff she was stuffing in the bowl it didn’t look like there should have been enough room but each one melted barely raising the liquid.

Eventually, she stripped my arm bare. A delicate arm remained. My new fingers and arm were about Hailey's size.

I flexed my hand opening and closing it. It was extremely sensitive. When I moved my left hand over to compare the two the difference was astounding. One freshly peeled hand looked tiny in comparison.

My phone went off and I tried to grab it from Hailey.

She jumped up from the couch out of reach. “Hello?” she said.

She tucked one of her arms under the breasts. “This is Hailey you bitch! What did you do to him?!”

Hailey kicked the couch. “What do you mean give him the rest of the milk? What milk?”

I tried to point at the fridge but my left arm wouldn’t work. Cracks formed along where my fingers connected to my palm.

Hailey pressed the speakerphone button and I heard Ali’s voice, “You have to give the rest to him or he’ll be stuck this way! Hurry!”

“Fridge,” I said.

Hailey set the phone down on the coffee table and ran to the fridge. “These?” she yelled. She was holding the remaining three milks.

My nod was slow, the right side of my face unmoving.

“Get him to the kitchen first or he’ll ruin the couch!” Ali yelled.

Hailey dropped the bottles on the counter and rushed over to me. She helped me to my feet and sat me down on the kitchen tile. She grabbed the small bottles of milk and opened one of them. She smelled it and made a small shrug.

“Ready?” She asked.

I looked at her and I could feel a tear slowly dance down the left side of my face.

“Drink.” She said as she moved the bottle to my lips.

The liquid traveled down my throat with the same tingling sensation that happened before. She popped open another bottle and I downed it as well. When she put the 3rd bottle to my lips I couldn’t move them and she had to pull open my mouth to pour it in.

A small bit of it got in my lungs and I coughed.

“Have him gurgle a little bit of it!” came from the living room.

There was a tiny bit left in the bottle and Hailey looked at me, tears streamed down her face. “You can do it, gurgle this last bit.”

She poured the last of it down and I did my best swishing it down as I felt it hit the upper part of my throat.

“Okay, he finished the bottles! What now?” Haily yelled at the living room.

“Cut off his clothes and peel all the pieces off. Mac honey I’m on my way home!” Ali said.

My nose clogged up suddenly and I could barely breathe. The left side of my face felt like the right side. Like I’d sunk into it. At least it wasn’t as disorienting anymore. My brain seemed to finally be working better as well.

My mouth wouldn't move properly and I could no longer feel the rest of the right side of my body.

I panicked.

What the hell is going on? I thought.

The only thing that seemed to be working was my right arm.

My face was the first thing that I ran my hand along. It was hard as stone. Waving my hand in front of my face didn't seem to help much. I could see my hand but it was still like looking through a tunnel to see it.

I touched my eyes or where my eyes should have been and there were holes there.

Where are my eyes?!

My screams for help were muffled.

Suddenly something hit my head. What the hel—

It happened again and this time the light in the tunnels where my eyes were, went out.

***