Lights, Camera, …What?!? Book 1 Chapters 12 and 13 by Sofia Hammerstein

Connor Slane has grown up to be one of the brightest kids in his dimension and one of the most ambitious computer science majors at his top university. Now, thanks to an exchange program between his university and his mother’s alma mater, Emerson University in another dimension. Connor has the chance to forge his own path in computers and his other love, filmmaking. Having seen still images of their amazing holographic films, he hopes go to Emerson, and then return to build his own empire - and maybe even find his true self, as his mother did.

Beth Sylvester is a Tweener herself and another child of influential parents in the other dimension. Her wealthy Big mom is the daughter of a disgraced former CEO, and her dad is the first and only Tweener to serve on the Supreme Court. Connor’s mom and Beth’s dad were good friends while she was in the dimension, and they’ll quickly discover that they enjoy hanging out with each other. They’ll also discover that if either is going to survive to the end of the semester academically or as mature adults, they’ll need to help each other out. If not, Connor could quickly find himself on the one-way road to being adopted by some Big, and Beth might not be far from that fate either…

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The Legal Stuff: Lights, Camera, …What?!? By Sofia Hammerstein
 

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Copyright © 2023-2026 Sofia Hammerstein.
 

 
 

Chapter 12: First Night
 

I LOOKED AROUND the room as I walked through the door to my ‘nest’ with Grandma behind me. I felt a bit of my stomach pop out as I saw Liam standing in the corner of the room with his nose against the wall in nothing but a diaper.

A well-used one at that! The back of it looked discolored, and there was a clear smell in the air that I unconsciously wrinkled my nose at.

Mackenzie chose the same moment to walk into the room from her own adjoining room. “Oh, hi, Connor! You’re back!”

“Yes, Miss Mackenzie,” I told her politely.

“Oh, and you bought some new big-boy underwear too?!?” She said with a smirk.

“Connor said you didn’t have any Pull-Ups in his size, so we went to the store and bought some,” Grandma told her.

“Here, let me take those from you!” She opened the box and took a package apart to put in a cubby marked with my name next to the changing table.

“He has some swim diapers here, too. He said you told him it might be possible for him to swim in the mornings with you?”

“I think that should be fine as long as you’re up to waking up at five tomorrow morning?” She added, “That’s when I normally go?”

“Sounds good,” I told her.

“Great!” Mackenzie said with a smile on her face.

“I figured I’d help Connor finish getting settled in here before leaving him. I’ll be back Friday at three in the afternoon to pick him up?”

“Sounds good. You said you cleared it with the Dean?”

“Yes, Dean Northrup and Doctor Greene both gave me approval. I can forward you their messages if you’d like?”

“That won’t be necessary, Professor Westerfield… We all know who you are, after all!”

“Great! We’ll finish getting him unpacked then!” Grandma told her and walked towards my pod area.

When I had first moved away to college, there had been a full mini-trailer pulled behind our car by my parents. Mom and Mama had insisted that I have everything I might need for my dorm room. The result of which had barely fit in the storage I had with my dorm that year!

Coming to this dimension, especially knowing size changes were likely, I had packed a lot lighter! Two small portable game systems were placed on one edge of the desk, and we quickly looked through the clothes I’d brought in one suitcase. “None of these will fit,” Grandma asked.

“No, they’re all way too big!” I told her

A whimper from the corner from Liam made me want to look his way, but instead, I focused on the task at hand. Grandma took the first suitcase of clothes and closed it while I started on the next one. A quick glance around the room showed me that Liam was still facing the corner, and Mackenzie must have gone back to her room. I pressed a hidden button on the bag’s underside and pulled a small package out. I looked at my backpack and realized it had sized down with me better. That was good because the small case was designed to pack away seamlessly in the front compartment. Fortunately it still fit! Hidden once again, I turned my attention to the rest of the bag.

A couple of Riley’s printed artwork pieces showed us popping out of one as siblings, and another showed our moms with us. She’d given them to me for Christmas to bring with me. I knew she charged at least a grand per picture when she did these for other people, so I really appreciated her thoughtful gift!

Both pictures took up the space on either side of where I set my small computer up. “Those are beautiful!” Grandma said.

“Yes, they are. Riley does some amazing work!”

“I know your mom figured that out over here, but we still don’t have anyone selling things like this.”

“Well, you probably have some holo versions?”

To my surprise, she shook her head. “For some reason, photos like this are still all shown on 2D displays or printed on paper.”

“Weird,” I told her. “Riley is probably one of the best at it back home, but others are copying the concept.” I smiled, “But speaking of that!” I pulled out a larger box from the bag. “Riley sent one for you and Grandpa.”

I handed her a sealed box that had barely fit in the bag.

She smiled widely and opened the end of the box to slide out the photo just as Mackenzie came back into the room. “Wow! That’s really cool!” She said, looking over Grandma’s shoulder. “Did you make that, Connor?”

I shook my head, “That’s my little sister Riley’s work. My mom figured out how to make these while she was here, but Riley has taken her method to a whole new level.”

“You all look like you’re completely real tiny people. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a sculpture so realistic?” She pointed to the background of the field of wildflowers behind us. “Even the background looks like those flowers are popping out? Like you could pick the miniature flowers! How did she carve that?”

“It’s printed,” I told her.

“That’s cool!” she said. “She could make a fortune here selling those!”

I nodded and watched Grandma push it gently back into the box. “She’s doing pretty well back home already with it.”

I turned my attention to the bag and grabbed a few more stray odds and ends I’d brought out of it. Most of it was adapters and chargers, but some pens, pencils, and things like that also came out to be set on the desk. Moments later, my bags were empty, and Grandma took them from me. “I’ll keep these at our house until you leave,” she told me.

“Thanks, I appreciate that.”

“Well, it looks like that’s all for now.” She bent over and squeezed me in a hug, “I’m so glad to finally be able to meet you in person, Connor! Your mom should be very proud of you! Make sure you let her and your sisters know you made it? I think you should have a good fifteen minutes before getting ready for bed.”

Mackenzie nodded, “Yes, it’s about that long, and then we’ll get Connor and Liam in their jammies for nighttime.”

“I’ll see you Friday, Connor!” I watched as she walked out the door.

I felt a bit of a drop in my mood as the only person in the dimension who truly cared for me left the room.

I looked up when Mackenzie said, “Liam, your timeout is over. Do you have anything to say to me?”

I could hear one of my mothers asking us if we were ready to apologize to each other after our worst sibling fights when we were little.

“How did you even know…?” Liam started out. “Did you do something to me…?”

I groaned internally, ‘not a good way to start an expected apology!’

Mackenzie was more patient than I guessed any of the other Nest Mothers would have been. “Liam, I’ll be honest with you. I didn’t do a thing to you, but when I heard from Miss Kaylee and Miss Lucy that they already had some new pants poopers, I suspected something was in your lunch. Do you see why it was better to have a diaper on?”

“But… I could have… made…?” He sounded like he was about to have an anxiety attack as she closed in on him.

She shook her head and looked over at me. “Connor, be honest with me. Did you have an issue?”

I thought about lying but didn’t trust there to be some way of busting that lie. “Yes, I did. Luckily, I had a Pull-Up on.”

“Is that what you’re wearing now?”

“No, my grandma thought it would be smart to wear a diaper until tomorrow morning.”

“Did you throw a tantrum about it?” Mackenzie asked me.

“No…? I mean, I wasn’t happy about it? But I didn’t exactly get much warning before…?”

“Liam, what would have happened if I hadn’t put you into a diaper?”

“Umm… I would probably have had an accident…?”

“And you remember the demerits happen if you aren’t protected, right?”

He groaned but nodded.

“So, do you have anything to say to me?”

Liam looked past her at me, and I mouthed, ‘say you’re sorry!’

“Sorry,” he said.

“Good boy! Let’s get you out of that stinky diapee into your PJs, and then we’ll do the same with Connor. You two have a big day tomorrow with your placement tests!”

I watched as she picked up the small man and carried him to the changing table. A strap was placed across his chest, and she got to work cleaning him up.

I turned my attention to my computer and quickly used the info I’d been handed to connect it to the wireless data connection in the dorms. It took a couple moments to enable some tools Mom had given me, but I was able to send a quick message letting them know I was okay, had had dinner with Grandma and everyone else, and was getting ready to go to bed in my nest.

I sighed.

I had hoped not to be in a nest!

I had just pressed ‘send’ when I felt a large hand on my shoulder. “Ready to go night-night?” Mackenzie asked me.

I nodded.

“Need to go potty first?”

I took stock of my bladder and nodded, “Yes, please. Can you undo this diaper?”

“We’ll do it in the potty.” I stood up and began walking in that direction while she told Liam, “Go ahead and start getting settled in your pod. I’ll check on you in a moment before I turn the lights off.”

Mackenzie caught up to me in the bathroom, standing in front of one of the fake-looking toilets. I pulled my pants down. Rather than go straight for the diaper, she said, “Let’s get you out of those!”

Without warning, she knelt down, pulled each shoe off, and said, “Step out!”

It was the first time I had been undressed like that since I was little, and I felt my face turn bright red. Mackenzie folded my pants neatly next to her feet and then reached to pull the diaper open. “Dry!” She said to me with a smile.

I could feel that might not last long, though, so I hopped on the toilet and began relieving myself. The piece that prevented you from peeing outside the bowl was appreciated as it also concealed me a little bit. I felt some residual runny poop drop out of my rear and took some offered toilet paper. I awkwardly leaned over to my right to reach my bottom and used a few wads before feeling like I was clean.

I stood up, and my shirt rode down almost far enough to cover myself. Unfortunately, I was still naked, and Mackenzie had my pants in her hand. She walked in front of me for a second and said, “Let’s get you dressed, and then you can come back in here and brush your teeth.”

“Can I wash my hands first?” I asked, red from being embarrassed.

“Sure,” she said. I watched her reverse course and head to the sinks. She turned on the water for me, and I stepped up to the low counter. I quickly washed my hands and took the paper towel she offered me to wipe them dry. Following her back out to the room, I could tell Liam was watching me from inside of his ‘pod.’

I blushed, knowing he got a full mooning a second later as Mackenzie pulled my feet into her hand and lifted my bottom off the changing pad to slide a diaper in underneath me. Instead of immediately taping it closed, she pulled a bottle out and squirted some gooey lotion onto her hand. “In case you do end up using this diaper tonight, I want to make sure you don’t get a diaper rash,” she told me quietly.

I couldn’t help my physical reaction as she rubbed the lotion first into my front, then my butt, and then massaged my legs to get the rest off her gloved hands. Finally, the diaper was put together with two quick little ‘scritch’ sounds of the Velcro material, and she pulled off the gloves.

“Onesie or footed pajamas?” She asked me

“Huh?”

“For your pajamas?” She reached down and held up a t-shirt onesie that would snap closed over the diaper, and a set of footed pajamas.

I blushed but pointed to the footed pajamas. “Those, I guess?”

I wasn’t ready to just leave my diapered butt hanging out to the world in the shirt.

And, truthfully, I’d had my own set of footed pajamas at home that matched my family’s! They were comfy, and right then, I felt a slight chill too. I watched her unzip the green garment, realizing it had the Emerson crest on the left chest and a stylized hood with ears. She undid the strap and guided me to stand up on the table. Mackenzie held the pajamas for me as I stuck my feet inside and then took charge of zipping the extended zipper from my foot to my collar.

“There! Why don’t you go brush your teeth, wash your face, and then we’ll get you settled in for the night?” She told me as she set me on my feet on the ground.

I nodded, “Okay,” and gathered the small attaché case I’d brought. Over the past ten years back home, these custom ‘U-shaped’ toothbrushes had become the standard back home. Initially created for kids, they did a better job getting all of your teeth clean much quicker. As soon as I looked at mine, I realized it was much too big for my smaller mouth, and wasn’t going to work. I sighed and went for the backup manual toothbrush Mama had insisted I bring. Before washing my face, I dug into my bag and used a hair tie to pull my hair back into a short ponytail. I washed my face, put everything back inside the case, and walked out to my pod.

Mackenzie waited by my pod and watched me set my stuff down in the small cabinet attached to my pod. “All good?” She asked me.

I nodded. “So, can we go swimming tomorrow?”

“You sure you want to risk being tired for your test?”

I nodded, “It’ll wake me up, honestly. My sisters and I grew up swimming every morning before school?”

She shrugged, “I’ll get you up then. You just need to put on a swim diaper and a swimsuit before you go?”

I nodded, “I can do that. I might drink a bottle of water or something too?”

“That should be fine,” she told me. Mackenzie motioned to the small ladder leading up to the pod. I climbed up into the pod and immediately was even more sure of the parallels with a crib when she closed the end door behind me. She came back around to the side and pushed something, causing the front to swing down.

‘Definitely a crib!’ I thought to myself.

“There’s your emergency button,” she pointed out to me. Like I said, I’ll swing by before I call it a night and check on you.” She reached down and pulled out a nearly me-sized stuffed griffin. “Want a stuffie to sleep with?”

I groaned, “Sure…?”

She smiled and put the giant stuffed animal beside me, before pulling the covers of the bed over me and tucking us both in. She pushed the side of the crib up, sealing me in. “Night, night,” she told me.

The way the room was set up, there was no way I could see Liam, so I assumed she must have already put him to bed, as she immediately turned the lights off. Above me, I saw a pattern of stars begin to glow. The constellations actually tracked slowly across the ceiling as I watched.

With a sigh, I rolled over, grabbed onto my pillow, and got comfortable for the night.

‘Tomorrow is going to be a long day!’
 

BETH LOOKED AT the clock on her screen and sighed, ‘I’d better call it a night,’ she thought.

She’d finally made it back to her room after the interrogation from Livy. Once done, she’d spent time going through her room and making sure everything was where she wanted it to be. She’d left a few things in a hurry when she’d gone home for Christmas, so she took some time to fix how her school supplies were organized.

Looking around the room, she wasn’t sure what seemed off, but she felt lonely since her parents had left.

‘Hard to believe I won’t see them again for four months,’ she admitted. Then, with a sigh, she stood up and walked to a drawer where she kept her favorite fleece pajama bottoms and grabbed a long sleeve top she swore was made of the softest fabric invented! Upon changing into her pajamas, she walked to the shared bathroom and completed her nightly routine of tying her hair out of the way, cleaning her face and teeth, and using the toilet.

She locked the door and turned off the light when she went back inside her room. Then, climbing into her bed, she hugged Rings tightly, “At least I have you here with me.”

Sleep was hard to fall into that night, as she realized she genuinely liked Connor and was worried he’d be demerited out before she got a chance to know him!
 
 

Chapter 13: Wake-Up
 

I JUMPED WHEN a hand rubbed my back. “Connor?” I heard.

“Mom?” I asked, confused.

I heard a laugh and realized where I was.

“Umm… Sorry, forgot where I was,” I quickly said as I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. “Is it early enough to go for a swim?” I asked Mackenzie, who had opened the front wall of the ‘pod,’ to reach me.

‘That confirms it’s just a fancy drop side crib,’ I thought.

“Yes, it is,” she said. “Mind if I help get you dressed so we can move faster…?”

“Umm… I…” was all I got out before being picked up and manipulated like an infant with our vast size differences. She carried me to the changing table and unzipped the pajamas I was wearing. I felt her squeeze the padding of the diaper I wore. “All dry…?”

I shrugged and whispered, “I don’t usually wet the bed. I don’t get why that’s a surprise?”

“Everyone else here does,” she said. “Let’s get this diaper off, and you can use the potty before we go.” She carried me into the bathroom and pulled the tapes free of the diaper so I could sit down on the potty there. I did need to go, so I found myself urinating a large amount of liquid into the potty-shaped toilet before giving my rear a quick wipe to be safe and standing.

“Good boy!” She cooed like I was a two-year-old potty training.

I sighed.

She held out one of the swim diapers we’d bought the day before, and I pulled it over myself like a set of training pants. I looked at the weird garment and realized it was like the third or fourth type of ‘protection’ I’d found myself in less than a day here! Ignoring Mackenzie for a moment, I walked over to the sinks and washed my hands before following her out to the room. She’d already found one of the swimsuits we’d purchased, and I quickly pulled up the foreign looking suit to cover the diaper and my chest. I adjusted the form fitting tank top style tops, and then messed with the built-in shorts to avoid a wedgie. A moment later I grabbed a towel and goggles.

“Ready to go?” She asked me.

I nodded, “Please?”

She had her own towel and goggles in her hand, and I was finally awake enough to realize she had a swim cap on her head. I got a pretty good jog in to raise my heart rate while keeping up with her to the pool. She scanned the watchband she wore at a reader by the door, and it slid apart to open for us. I guessed the main pool wasn’t the largest size pool, but it would be at least an Olympic-sized pool by my standard. A small ‘kiddie’ section seemed to be netted off to prevent ‘Little Ones’ from accidentally going into the deep end. It was complete with a ‘kiddie’ play area and a water slide. I shook my head and looked up at Mackenzie who had cleared her throat.

“You can really swim, right?” She asked me as she pulled a pair of yoga pants and a shirt off to reveal a one-piece suit.

“Yes, really well.”

“Okay, I will give you a chance to prove it to me here. I’ll get in the water first and swim beside you. We’ll make this a daily thing if you can make it to that end and back without help.”

I smiled, “That’s all?”

I suddenly realized I’d walked all of the way to the pool in only my socks. I pulled them off while Mackenzie jumped in. I moved to the edge and executed a perfect dive. I started a nice cautious freestyle stroke to begin and loosen my muscles up. The lap felt longer than usual with my new unfamiliar size and the large pool, but I soon reached the wall, flipped, and switched to breaststroke. Every now and then, I would look at the bottom of the pool and realize it must have been around twenty feet deep!

I stayed with that stroke for another ten laps, then switched to the butterfly stroke for ten more. Finally, I reached the initial side of the pool and started treading water, looking for Mackenzie. She was standing on the bottom near the entrance with an incredulous look.

“Do I pass?” I asked her.

“Umm… yeah?” She looked a little confused for a moment. Then, “Are you done?”

I laughed, “I’ll keep going as long as we have time here?”

“Umm… Maybe another half-hour then?” the stunned giantess said.

“Great!” I told her and took off again, alternative styles every twenty laps.

She eventually caught my attention by getting in the way of the path I was taking, and I sat up. “That was thirty minutes already?”

“Yeah… why do I have a feeling you’d go another hour or two?” Mackenzie asked.

“If I’m upset, that’s a distinct possibility?”

“Too bad they don’t have a Littles swim program here. You would medal at every event!”

I smirked, “Yeah, I have no doubt your longer frames would leave me in the dust in an unequal pairing!”

“Maybe not as much as we should, though. Let’s get you upstairs and changed for your tests. Hopefully, you’re not worn out?”

I swam towards the edge of the pool. I had trouble grasping the top but managed to get my slippery hands enough traction to beach myself on the ledge. “Nope, not now. If I did another two or three hours, maybe?”

I walked towards the towel and was drying myself off when two other Nest Mothers came in. They looked at me in surprise and saw Mackenzie. “Mackenzie, what’s going on?”

“One of our exchange students, Connor, wanted to join me for a swim this morning.”

“The shallow end is still covered?” One of the girls asked worriedly.

“I don’t need that end,” I told her. “I’m a strong swimmer.”

“Kenzie?” The other girl asked.

“I don’t have time for him to jump back in the water, but let’s just say I honestly think he can swim faster than you two.”

“Huh?” I looked up.

“They’re not on the swim team,” Mackenzie smiled. “Come on, let’s get you and Liam ready for breakfast.”

I wrapped myself in the towel and pulled at the strands of wet hair dripping down my head. “I need to get a swim cap,” I told her absently as we waited for the elevator to rise to our floor.

“I’ll see if anyone has them for their girls. You have really long hair for a boy?”

I shrugged, “I just like it long?”

“I’m surprised you didn’t cut it before coming here?”

“Actually, I did have a trim?”

“I meant down to a normal boys length!” She said as she opened the door to our nest. I could see Liam through the clear glass, trying to claw his way out for some reason. “Why don’t you go grab your uniform for the day,” she said as she passed me one of my new Pull-Ups, “and then hop in the shower? I’ll get Liam sorted out here? Just put that swim diaper in the trashcan there.”

I nodded, noticing that Liam looked like he was turning bright red then. He looked frustrated, and I had a feeling he’d fallen victim to being unable to leave his ‘pod.’ I had grabbed my uniform and was on the way into the bathroom when I heard, “See, this is why we have you all wear protection, Liam.”

“I could ha…” his voice was lost as I stepped into the bathroom and was grateful for some autonomy as I made my way to the showers. Opening a door, I was closed inside a stall that contained a slightly too high for me bench and a convenient hook I could hang my shirt on. I did so and looked up at the attached large shower stall. Just above my height, a control panel reminded me of the units my mom had installed recently. I selected a temperature that seemed normal, and then it gave me an option of shower spray styles. I pressed something that looked pretty strong but spread out and pressed start. Inside the unit, I watched a spray of water begin to flow and thought it looked nice!

Hopping in, though, I found myself bouncing right back out!

‘Right… different base math… different temperatures?’ I asked myself, realizing the temperature I selected was cold! I tested a few times before finding a suitable temperature that I liked and jumped back in. The shower provided fantastic pressure, and I was able to rinse shampoo and conditioner out of my hair easier than back home! The fact the pressure was good helped offset the softer water I was feeling. Even with an expensive water softener system at home, we still had water Mama griped about. Having finished with my hair, I used body wash on my body and had just rinsed off when I heard another shower start up next to me. A surprised shout let me know Liam had his own experimental difficulties!

I turned mine off and got to work using the towel to dry myself off as best I could. I ran my brush through my hair and winced at a couple snarls. Then, with the tangles out of my hair, I dressed in the Pull-Up and the uniform. I was brushing my teeth after shaving when Mackenzie came in, obviously having done her own morning routine.

“Want help with your hair?” She asked me. “I didn’t see a blow dryer in your stuff?”

“Mom figured there’d be one here?”

“The girl’s nests have them, but the boys don’t. You can use mine, though?” She suggested.

I shrugged, “Thanks.” I put the rest of my toiletries back inside the bag I had brought and followed her with my brush to the door I knew led to her room.

I was a bit nervous about entering her room! She had a small apartment inside, complete with a small living room, kitchen, one-bedroom, and a bathroom she led me to.

“I don’t think the cord will reach the ground,” she said as she picked me up and sat me on the cabinet. She started to hand me the blow dryer, but we quickly realized the problem.

“Umm…” I said as she transferred part of the weight to my hand.

“That’s not going to work, huh?” She said with a giggle. “Well, I’ve wanted to play with your hair since I saw you!”

I didn’t have a chance to retort before she started up the jet engine level sound and took my brush from my hand. I’d been growing my hair out since I’d entered middle school, so I’d been attacked by my sisters, Mom, Mama, and several girlfriends. Yet, somehow her giant hands stroking my hair and using the blow dryer made me feel even younger than a diaper change had!

Something was soothing about it, though, and I felt goosebumps go up and down my body at how gentle it felt.

Before too long, the loud sound was turned off, and she said, “I’ll see if I can’t steal a small one for you later?”

“Thanks, I’d appreciate it!” I looked in the mirror and was relieved that other than being a little straighter, she hadn’t really done anything different than I usually did.

“You’re welcome; I wouldn’t mind playing more with your hair though. I’m always jealous of the girls who get girls’ Nests!”

“Why is it that you’re a girl in charge of boys anyway?”

“Well, there are occasionally a nest daddy or two, but none this year.”

“Oh,” I replied.

She sat me down on the floor, and I followed her out of her apartment to the nest. On the way, I couldn’t help but notice there were two high chairs and a playpen folded up along the side of the living room. They didn’t look like they’d been used in a while, but just the fact that the infantile chairs were there made me wonder who they were for!

Liam was dressed in the room but looked like he was missing padding underneath his pants. Mackenzie noticed that, too, “Come on, Liam, let’s get you in your diaper.”

“I don’t want to wear one! I don’t need them!”

“Liam, yesterday you had a poopy accident, that means you have to wear protection until I say otherwise. Trust me, you do not want to have one of those accidents without protection during the test!”

“What about Connor?”

“He’s wearing a Pull-Up,” she told him. “You can wear one of those instead once I feel like I can trust you. After yesterday though, you need to be in something that I’m not worried about you taking off in the middle of your test.”

“What if I need to go…?”

She shrugged, “It didn’t bother you enough yesterday to avoid it?”

I could tell he was about to go nuclear, “Liam,” I said his name.

He turned and looked at me. “Trust me, she’s trying to help you. Noah didn’t last a day. Do you want to be gone too?”

“Back home?” He asked, “Sure, I didn’t sign up for this!”

I walked over to him and whispered, “I guarantee you Noah did not go back home. He’s in a daycare… or something somewhere right now. Your only chance to get back home is to not fight her. You won’t win!”

“Connor?” Mackenzie asked.

“Yes, Miss Mackenzie?”

“You’re not being mean to Liam, are you?”

“No, just trying to help him. Same as you?”

“Well… What’s it going to be, Liam?”

He sighed and looked at me, “Get it over with!”
 

BETH WOKE UP and decided she’d take advantage of breakfast for once that morning. So she sent a text message to Livy, ‘You up?’

‘You know I am!’

‘Had breakfast yet?’

‘Just leaving, go together?’

Beth smiled and sent a message affirming she’d see her downstairs. The two walked to the dining hall and had just sat down when the Nests started coming in the small groups with exchange students.

“Did they already demerit out all of the Littles?” Livy asked nervously. With both of them below eight feet tall, they had shared interests in not ever being seen as Littles themselves!

“No, those are just the exchange students. I don’t think the others are allowed back until Saturday.”

“You know this, how…?” She asked nervously.

“Because my family went shopping with one of them yesterday?”

“What? Are you crazy?” She asked.

“Remember who my mother is. Do you think anyone would get me with her there? Let alone, my dad?”

She nodded, “Right… I always forget you’re not a normal Tweener.”

“You don’t know the half of it,” Beth said.

“Huh?”

“Maybe I’ll tell you sometime… it’s pretty private.”

“Too private for your best friend?”

“Family secret,” she said quietly. “Really… I’ll tell you sometime. It’s just hard to talk about.”

“Huh…” She said, “Who’s the Little you were with then?”

Connor’s group walked in right then, “The short one with long blonde hair there.”

“Her?”

“Him,” Beth corrected.

“Really? That’s dangerous hair for a boy Little to have. Does he know that?”

“Probably better than you do,” Beth said. “His mom is that legendary Little, Stacy, that we hear about every now and then.”

“She went back to their dimension, right? Why in the Hell would you let your son come here?”

“Ahem,” she heard a throat clearing nearby. A tall girl looked down at her. “There are children present?”

Livy smiled, “I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there. I’ll be careful not to say big words you shouldn’t be hearing yet around you.”

“You!” the girl started towards her.

A friend put her hand on her shoulder, “Kelly, leave it.”

“Nevaeh, I know you think I’m too harsh on Littles, but they can’t cuss!”

“Kelly, they’re Mids! Do you see a uniform on them? You can’t go all psycho mommy on anyone shorter than you!” She looked up at Beth and Livy, “Sorry about that, her time of the month.”

“You…!”

“Come on!” Nevaeh hissed.

“That was a close one,” Beth said as the two left.

“You have no idea,” their friend Cassidy appeared.

“Hey, Cassie!” Livy said and scooted over for her to set her tray down on the booth table.

“You should be careful with that Kelly… I’ve watched her do things not only to Littles this year that should have gotten her expelled.”

“Safe for now, at least!” Livy smiled. “How was your break…?”

 
 

Thanks for reading! Please leave a comment if you did so and press the Kudos button! I should be posting a couple times a week until this is fully posted here on BC. This first full novel is complete (73 chapters plus Epilogue) and published on Amazon if you wish to be impatient though! I hope to have Book 2 published there in the next few months as well.

All of my published works have AI read audiobooks available for them. I’ve spent some time tweaking pronunciations, and they’re pretty good when you can’t afford thousands to pay for audiobook creation! They’re a $1.99 addon to the $6.95 price on Kindle. If you’ve already purchase the book it should come up as only $1.99. They’re also available on Audible directly, but that’s $10.95 versus the cheaper price! https://www.amazon.com/author/babysofia