The Holly Grounds was busy. As per usual, the coffee shop was packed with unaffected and affected alike interacting in harmony. A rare sight to see so close to Weston. It was a true neutral ground, with the owner, Holly, having a zero tolerance policy for tiny abuse. Any unaffected who couldn't control themselves were struck with a lifetime ban. There was even a bouncer outside to make sure no tiny abuse happened on her watch. You gave her a nod as you entered.
The inside of the shop was all hard wood and smelled like freshly ground beans. The owner, Holly, was a full-figured middle-aged woman with a motherly face and arms as thick as pythons in case she needed to throw someone out on their ass. Multiple machines for dispensing liquid caffeine lined the wall behind the counter, and in its midst was an old-fashioned cork board with the words "DO NOT SERVE" above it. Every square inch of the board was covered in photos of college-aged girls who'd been banned from the shop, the majority of whom were Omega Gamma Phi sisters.
Without the looming fear of danger, affected could kick back and relax here. Whether it be studying or tutoring with unaffected classmates rather than risk the Weston library, intersize clubs meeting for fun or to plan club activities, or, most commonly, dates between affected and unaffected.
A text message from your nephew gave you directions to where he was sitting. A spiraling staircase next to the affected entrance led to a walkway running across the wall which led to the mixed-size seating area. Metal paths branched off the walkway, each leading to an unaffected-sized table that hosted its own affected-sized table atop it. Further up the stairs was the affected-only section complete with proportionally sized counter, tables and affected waitstaff. You assumed Aiden would be in the affected-only section, but to your surprise he was sitting at one of the mixed-size tables.
"Hey, Aiden!" you said warmly as you pulled up a chair beside him.
"H-hey, Uncle Matt," Aiden said nervously, his bespectacled gaze flickering from the unaffected entrance to you and back again as if nervous to meet your eye.
That was strange. Aiden was a shy kid but he usually wasn't nervous around you. Then again, this was an awkward issue. Dating advice from your uncle? You'd been brainstorming ways to tackle the subject that weren't cringey as hell and had come up short, no pun intended.
"So... I hear you wanted some advice on dating, uh... tall girls?" you supplied, trying to rip the bandage of awkwardness off quickly.
Aiden blushed and looked down in embarrassment, keeping his eyes glued to the tabletop in front of him as if trying to burn a hole into it. It looked like he wanted to say something but couldn't get the words out.
"It's okay," you said, patting him on the back reassuringly. "I know stuff like this is embarrassing to talk about, but liking an unaffected girl is perfectly natural! I mean, the first time I met your Aunt Mari? Love at first sight! But I was lucky to meet such an angel so young. It can be difficult to know going in if an unaffected girl is looking for an equal partner in a romantic relationship or..."
An object? A snack? A jouet? You involuntarily shuddered at that last one, a French word you wish you could forget.
"... something less wholesome," you said lamely. "Luckily, there are some warning signs you can--"
"This was a mistake," Aiden said suddenly, voice breaking.
"What? No!" you said, horrified you'd messed things up already. "I mean, I heard you already had feelings for a girl--and I wasn't trying to imply anything bad about her--I just want you to be safe--"
"It's not that," Aiden said, looking plaintive. "I meant... I made a mistake. The girl I like... we've been texting. Just before you came in, she asked me what I was doing, and I said I was at the Holly Grounds and then she texted me back and said she was a few minutes away! She asked if she could see me and I couldn't think of what else to say so I just texted back, "Can't wait!" And she texted me back kissy lips and now she'll be here any second and I don't know if I'm ready for this! It..." he blushed and looked down at the table, "... it's my first date."
Oh dear... this had drastically changed in scope very quickly.
"Aiden, it's gonna be fine," you said gently, hoping to reassure your panicking nephew.
Projecting confidence was also a good way to mask your own nerves. You thought you'd just be giving dating advice, do's and don't's, and you'd hoped to find out a little more about this girl before Aiden went out with her. You were probably being just as overprotective as Jenna but with the number of mishaps you'd had in your life, and the number of dangerous girls at Weston, you felt right to worry. But looking at things logically, if the girl was allowed into the shop, then she hadn't been caught causing trouble for affected here before. And Holly had the eyes of an eagle. If Aiden's crush was trouble and she tried anything to hurt him, Holly and her bouncer would take her down in a heartbeat.
This was probably the safest place in Oakland for an intersize date.
"Look, Aiden, you're a smart, good-looking guy with a good head on his shoulders and a kind heart. It sounds like this girl already knows that, otherwise she wouldn't be so excited to see you. As cliche as it is, just be yourself and use your best judgement, and everything will work out fine."
"Right," Aiden said, slowly, nodding. You weren't sure if he felt more confident, but you acting confident was getting him to do the same. "Thanks, Uncle Matt."
"Anytime, Aiden." You checked your phone, or, at least, pretended to. "It looks like it'll be a while before I can get a new ride from Tiny Travels, so I'll just grab a coffee in the affected-only section while I wait. You're gonna do great, alright?"
"Yeah," Aiden said, nodding more confidently now. "Yeah, I know I will!"
"Atta boy," you said.
Of course, you didn't intend to leave right away. Overprotective or not, you wanted to see this girl before trusting Aiden being alone with her. Besides, Jenna would kill you if you left without even seeing Aiden's crush.
What happens next?
1) As you grab a cup of coffee in the affected-only section, you see Aiden's date come in. You've never seen her before but she's clearly a Weston student.
She's wearing an outfit you can only describe as "country girl" and she approaches Aiden with a glint in her eye that for some reason makes you uneasy. You decide to stick around to make sure your fears are unfounded.
2) As you grab a cup of coffee in the affected-only section, you see Aiden's date come in. You've never seen her before but she's clearly a Weston student.
She has outrageously curvy proportions that reminds you of your friend Ashley Parker. She's wearing a t-shirt with two hearts side-by-side, one containing the silhouette of a tiny man, the other the silhouette of a tiny woman. Above the hearts was a pair of pink puckered lips. You recognize the symbol. It's one of the logos for the Love All Tinies club, a group of women that are aggressively attracted to tinies to the point of obliviously putting their objects of affection in danger in their zeal to romance one. Remembering having to endure the dangerous flirtations of such women in the past, you decide to stick around to make sure Aiden's alright.
3) As you grab a cup of coffee in the affected-only section, you see Aiden's date come in, and you stop dead in your tracks! You know this girl. Jenna was wrong, Aiden's crush isn't a Weston student at all. In fact, his crush is someone who's quickly become one of the biggest headaches in your life recently.
Aiden's date is Fariha Bhavsar! She's the yoga and meditation instructor at Focused Fitness, and a girl who finds endless amusement in "pranking" tinies. You've been squashed several times as a result of her "pranks" and she did that even though you were her boss! There's no telling what she'd do to your poor, smitten nephew! Spurred on by decades worth of PTSD flashbacks of the cruel "pranks" you had to endure at Jenna's hands, you are determined to protect your nephew from enduring the same treatment courtesy of Fariha!
4) Before you get up from the table, Aiden gets a text message and begins to act... strange...
5) Writer's Choice
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
More by this author
