Out of their Element 68

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Evie

I shiver and twist deeper into the covers as I come to consciousness this morning. The air feels even chillier in the early hours, but it just makes my bed feel all the more cozy. I slept pretty great, actually. As much as I’ve gotten used to the sounds of people and cars passing by outside back home, the relative quiet of the forest that surrounds us is lovely. I peek my eyes over the blanket to look towards Aiden, who’s turned in my direction but still fast asleep. The very tip of his nose is pinker than normal with the cold. I wish I could tuck him in a little better. But even if I was strong enough to drag his blankets, I’m too comfortable to move right now.

Soon I hear a slight floor creaking coming from outside of our room. I lift my head up to listen, and sure enough, there’s a very light tap on the door a second later.

Alright, alright… Comfort be damned, Moira and I made plans for this morning. I force myself out of bed, rushing to throw on some warmer outerwear, and then I quickly make my way down the ladder that’s hanging from the nightstand. I pause to look up at the bed, looming so high that I can't see past the edge of it. I blow my sleeping boyfriend a kiss before I turn and hurry away.

The gap under the door is big enough for me to slide under, and the first thing I see are a pair of feet clad in fuzzy purple socks. My friend is crouched there, anticipating my arrival, and she already looks so put together with her yoga pants, a light coat of makeup, and a cute, casual side braid. And here I thought I was an early bird.

“Good morning,” she whispers, immediately offering me her hand.

“Morning,” I respond sleepily, and once I clear the door I don't even bother standing up before I crawl aboard. It takes a great amount of effort to keep myself from curling up in the warmth of her palm and refusing to budge.

A quick stop by the kitchen for a drink of water is enough to rouse me to attention, and then once we head out to the back deck, the fresh air does the rest of the job. Looks like Moira's already rolled out her yoga mat, and she has a hand towel laid out on a nearby bench for me. I thank her profusely for the setup as she sets me down.

“You said you’ve done yoga before, yeah?" she asks once she's stepped onto her own mat.

“Um, I’ve followed a couple of videos before, but I’ve never done a class. Please guide me," I call out to her.

“Okay, sure! Let's do some sun salutations to get us going? We’ll start with tadasana, mountain pose. Stand like this, arms to the side… There you go.”

I quickly realize that I need to stretch more. I was diligent about doing the leg extensions that Diego sent me after my injury, but I've been slacking lately and I can really feel it as I struggle to hit some of these yoga poses. I’m more in shape now compared to before I got shrunk since I have to travel further distances and do a lot of climbing, but I don’t take nearly as much time as I should to stay limber. Actually, I should ask Moira to do this with me more often. It’s fun to do it together, she’s a good teacher. Even if she needs to go out of her way and come quite close to me to help correct my positions from time to time.

By the time we finish up half an hour later, I’ve started to sweat and have abandoned my jacket, but I feel refreshed. We’re noticing bits of commotion coming from inside the cabin as everyone else slowly wakes up. Aiden’s face had briefly appeared in the window halfway through our practice, smiling once he'd confirmed where I was before leaving us be. Soon enough the scent of coffee trickles out of open windows.

The back door opens, and with a pronounced yawn Star shuffles out onto the deck as well. Her dark hair is up in a messy bun so that only the one strand of blue is hanging down by her face. She's holding two bowls in her hands as she trudges our way and says, “Hellooo ladies. Anybody want oatmeal?"

There's a patch of sunlight that's landed on the patio accent table, giving us a spot to have breakfast outdoors. I fill my senses with the apple and cinnamon, savoring the taste of fall. Thankfully I carry a few basic tools and utensils in my jacket pockets, so I'm able to dig right into the spoonful of oatmeal that I'm offered.

"Is everyone else up too?" I ask between bites.

“Yeah. Camila’s still upstairs getting ready," Star says with a sleepy smile. "I think I'll be staying with her while you guys go on that hike, I just want to relax. The boys are prepping food for the day in the kitchen."

Moira ponders for a moment and then suggests, “Well, I don’t think we were planning to leave until 9 or 10… Would you guys want to do a bit of that spa stuff beforehand since we didn't end up doing it last night? We can have some quality girl time?"

Star perks up at this. “Yeah, totally, if you guys have time! I'm sure Camila would love that too."

I briefly hesitate, imagining the four of us hanging out and putting on face masks. That does sound nice and relaxing. And Camila’s been pretty chill so far, which is encouraging. So quickly I chime in, “Sure, why not!”

We finish our breakfast while marveling at how beautiful the nearby tree line looks at this hour. Star is apparently extra touchy when she’s sleepy, frequently putting a hand on Moira’s arm or rubbing my head with a finger as we chat. But I’m endeared by it. I honestly still haven’t quite figured out why I don’t find Star to ever be patronizing. No matter how honey-sweet of a tone she employs, or how much she fawns over how cute she finds me, or how she gently pets me without expressed permission, it never feels disrespectful. It feels like she would treat any of her loved ones this way, and I’m all for it.

She’s the one who offers to carry me back inside, cupping her fingers around my frame to protect me from the odd breeze. We go by the kitchen to drop off the dishes and let the guys know what we’ll be up to before the hike. They’ve got an array of bread slices spread out on the counter, in the middle of making way too many sandwiches.

“What do you want in yours?” Diego asks as he points at me in his wife’s hand.

“I’m fine with whatever,” I call back, “I’ll have some of Aiden’s.”

“Pshhh, c’mon. Not even half a sandwich?” he mocks with a grin, slapping a spoonful of mustard onto the sourdough. “Weak.”

I roll my eyes with a sigh, but I’m laughing. I’m also not sure why it’s never bothered me all that much that Diego has poked fun at my size from the moment I met him. I’ve found it refreshing that he doesn’t overthink how he needs to treat me. Again, it feels like he acts this way with all of his friends, and it’s how he helps make me feel like I’m truly part of the group.

We update the men on our spa plans, and they’re amenable to splitting up by gender for the next hour - I'm sure they'll be happy to sneak in a couple of games of Magic before we head out. I can see the intent look in Aiden’s gaze when our eyes meet and we silently check in with each other. I smile widely to let him know I’m doing just fine.

We gather in the main bedroom downstairs, where Camila quickly joins us, wearing fancy loungewear and fluffy red earmuffs. She seems quite enthusiastic about the face masks, and we all pile onto the bed, with me finding a spot on one of the pillows to spread out some tissue paper to sit on.

Once we’ve done some exfoliating and moisturizing, Star offers to cut my hair, since apparently she does it for her nieces all the time. I’m initially wary when I see the blade, despite the rounded tips on the small scissors that she has. But ultimately I agree when I remember what Diego had said about how Star has stitched up a hamster’s leg before. I trust that she’s capable and will be very careful.

“Have you cut it since you’ve gotten tiny?” she asks me, draping my long brown locks over the side of her index finger.

“Nope. It’s actually been driving me a little crazy lately,” I say, closing my eyes to try to block out the thought of scissors coming so close. I hear Moira murmuring something to Camila about how they need to hold still and not shake the bed.

“Hmm, maybe the split ends are just too small for me to make out, your hair feels so silky… Okay, this’ll be real quick.”

I hold my breath and everyone goes strangely silent. I feel a slight tug, hear the sound of quick snips, and it’s all over in less than a minute. I look behind me as Star carefully tries to brush some of the loose hairs off of my back. I take one hanging strand to examine it, feeling immensely satisfied at the fresh feel of it now that it only comes down to my chest instead of nearing my waist.

"There, I tried not to make it too short,” Star says, smoothing out my hair affectionately. I turn around to smile up at her gratefully and she coos, “You are so precious, Evie. Like a little doll.”

The other two girls relax now that there are no more sharp blades in my vicinity. “That looks great! You even got some layering in there,” Moira marvels.

Camila leans in a little closer. “Yeah, you do look like a little doll,” she comments. I feel a bit guilty for thinking this, but I can’t help feeling that those words sounded better coming out of Star’s mouth. Still, she’s trying, and I respond with a warm smile.

“Thank you so much for this, Star,” I say, giving my friend’s nearby finger a tight hug.

“Anytime!” she giggles, “I’d love to be your new hairdresser. I’m sure I’ll get better at it over time.”

I thank her a couple more times before relaxing the embrace, finally letting go at the sound of a ziploc bag opening.

“Oh good, I’ve been meaning to change up my nails for the fall,” says Camila as she also notices Moira reaching into her bag of nail polish.

Mo is in the middle of holding up one of the bottles when she pauses. “Shoot. Evie, I didn’t think about this… Are the fumes a bad idea?” She bites her lip with concern, and the other two turn their heads towards me.

I squirm and shake my head, feeling suddenly embarrassed under their stares. “Oh, um, I’m sure it’s fine. I just won’t get too close. It’s not like I can use the brushes on myself, and uh… here!” I reach over to a nearby scrap of tissue that I’d been using to wash my face with earlier, and I tear off a strip before tying it around my face to cover my nose and mouth. “Ta-da! Don't worry, it’s not like I do this every day.”

“Let me at least go open a window to air out the room,” Moira offers and gets up to do just that.

The girls start painting their fingernails, and while I’m feeling a little wistful that I can’t join in due to my own nails being the size of poppy seeds, I still feel included when they ask me for my opinion in color choices. But while Camila and Moira seem very accustomed to this activity, Star is struggling.

“Ahh, I’m so bad at this,” she laments, trying to scrub the dot of polish that she got onto the skin of her thumb.

“Can I help?” I pipe up, sliding off the pillow to head towards her. She’s sitting cross-legged on the bed, so she has to lower her hand down towards me for me to reach it.

“You sure?” she asks tentatively. “I thought you weren’t going to get too close.”

The smell of the polish is pretty strong, but not nauseatingly so. “It’s really not too bad. I’d love to give you a hand! It makes me happy if I can return the haircut favor in any way.”

“Alright then… thanks!”

I extract a couple of the tools from my jacket pocket since some of them are for painting minis, and they really come in handy now. I use a small splinter to scrape errant nail polish off, and then I eventually end up helping her paint an orange leaf on her ring finger.

“Wow, that looks really good!”

I’m shocked to look up and see that it’s Camila who has praised me so avidly on my detail work. I hope I don’t look too surprised as I beam up at her.

“Thank you! I can try to help if anyone else wants some kind of design.”

Star pauses in blowing at her fingernails to giggle, “You say that now until we switch to pedicures.”

I grin and wave my hand to push her concern aside. “I really don’t mind!”

“No, no, I was kidding, I’m not going to make you deal with my dirty–”

I gasp as just then we’re interrupted. Out of nowhere, Camila has just extended her foot from her seat, plopping it down right in front of me. I lose my balance from the impact and land on my butt, every muscle tense as I try to make sense of what’s happening. Her bare foot is as large as a tank, imposing all on its own, her heavy toes having landed much too close for comfort. The rest of her leg is like a hulking tower, and looming far above is her smiling face.

No, it’s… it’s more of a smirk. It’s incredibly apparent to me in this split second. She’s getting a kick out of seeing me down at her feet like this. Our eyes meet and the message she sends me is as clear as if she’d spoken out loud. It sends a shiver down my spine.

“Ewww, Camila, what are you doing??” Star yelps, and just as quickly as it appeared, the foot is shoved away again, the bedsheets buckling back and jostling me again.

“She was offering!” Camila laughs, casually folding her leg back.

“She was just being nice, you weirdo!”

Moira gently approaches me as Star berates her cousin-in-law. She gets my attention by showing me the nail design on one of her fingers, quietly pretending to need help straightening out a line. She uses the opportunity to pick me up, pushing the side of her hand into the mattress to slide her palm under me. I quickly snap out of it and cooperate, regaining my smile as fast as I can. But I’m still reeling from what just happened, reliving it in the back of my mind.

Everyone I’ve met since I’ve shrunk has treated me a little differently. Some of them specifically make reference to my height while others avoid it. Some of them are more liberal in touching me while others are more mindful about my personal space. Some of them try to help me out directly while others help me help myself. But outside of Dr. Little they’ve all been kind. They all treat me as an equal.

Camila clearly does not share that sentiment. I could practically hear her voice in my head as she sat there and savored the sight of me all the way down at her toes like a servant. The look in her eyes very clearly told me, “Oh, you think you’re one of us? That’s cute.”

I feel sick. I’ve been spoiled by so many months of living with Aiden and being surrounded by supportive friends. I have no idea how to deal with this. Desperately I fight back tears, only barely managing to.

Soon we’re able to just laugh the moment off as a silly little joke. I really don’t want the others to know how unnerved I feel after that. I don’t even want to acknowledge it to myself. All I want is to have a good time on this trip. But deep down I know that whatever benefit of the doubt I had been offering Camila up until now, whatever naive hope I had that she and I could get along as casual friends… all of it has vanished in an instant.

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