The Shrink Program

Chapter 15

Sarcastic. Arrogant. Jerk.

I balled up the note in my hand and threw it at his face, watching in satisfaction as the microscopic piece of paper caused absolutely no damage.

I opened my mouth to tell him where he could take his stupid paper notes, only to find myself completely speechless when Vain's lips twitched. Into a smile.

Oh, my God. Hell just froze over.

Even as I leaned away from him in shock, I saw the faint red shade of a blush taint his pale cheek as Vain turned his face to the side, obviously hiding the smile away from me.

My heart fluttered sharply in my chest.

NO. I tore my gaze away, staring down at my hands and trying not to show my panic. Don't be fooled, Maddison. It's a trick or at the very least some sort of evil smirk. Vain would never smile in the middle of one of his brooding sessions.

Then again, Vain had made a small attempt at humour, something he would never do, if he was seriously pissed off at me.

Curious, I glance back up at Vain, trying to put the puzzle together as he continued to ignore me.

But if Vain wasn't angry, why had he spent the last fifteen minutes sitting stiff as a board and trying his hardest to pretend that I wasn't sitting on his shoulder...
My head throbbed. The effort of thought causing intense strain on my brain.

Trying to find some sort of logical solution, a memory of when the two of us were ten surfaced from the depths of my mind.

The time Vain had shouted at me for a solid minute about being a complete idiot.... since I had sprained my ankle after falling off my bike.... trying to do a stunt involving a row of toy cars and a severely traumatise pet goldfish... Yea, in hindsight, I probably deserved it.

After that, I had been stuck in bed for a couple of days, and I could have sworn at the time that Vain would never speak to me ever again.

Instead, he had turned up at my bedside with a pack of cards and a scowl on his face. We played in silence for a good half an hour, me inching further and further away from him as Vain looked about to explode, his face so red and his glare so fierce. When he finally did speak, it was the last thing I ever expected to hear out of my proud friend's mouth.

I'm sorry.

Present Vain suddenly sighed, his shoulder sagging beneath me, seemingly under the weight of my intense scrutiny.

I was surprised out of my own contemplative thoughts when Vain proceeded to raise his hand for the teacher's attention, asking to be excused from class. The teacher took one glance at me on Vain's shoulder and nodded for us to leave.

Collecting his books into his bag and slinging it over his other shoulder, Vain stood quickly from his seat, causing me to grab at his collar for balance.

The movement brought me back to the present, back to the fact that I was tiny, and that I was sitting on my childhood friends shoulder, staring at him like he was some sort of abstract painting I had to figure out.

The classroom was silent as we walked out, and I could feel the gazes of everyone in the room burning into me.

The moment Vain reached the door, I stood up and unleashed my rudest hand gesture upon the entire staring class, smirking at them as we left the room. Enjoy your science class suckers.

Vain walked us down the deserted school corridor, heading towards the eastern courtyard. I sent Vain a concerned look, wary of this strange behaviour.

Hesitant, and honestly a little frightened, I leaned over to murmur into his giant ear.

"Vain... Did you hit your head or something? You do know that you're missing out on class at the moment right? Voluntarily..."

"Maddison, I've been meaning to talk to you about something," Vain interrupted bluntly, his words causing me to stiffen, despite its gentle tone. He paused at the glass door leading out to the courtyard "But we mustn't be overheard."

"... What's going on Vain?" I asked anxiously, starting to feel alarmed. This wasn't like Vain at all.

.... please don't let him be revealing that he's secretly an alien. I know that it would explain a lot, but I don't think I can take it right now...
He opened his mouth to answer, but before he could, Vain seemed to notice a reflection in the glass door in front of us. He began to turn, but it was too late.

A dark shape appeared in the corner of my eye, just as something large slammed into the back of Vain's head.