Overlooked Pt.1

My first completed story!! I have a lot of started ones, but this one is the only one to have an ending as well! Based on a request from Showr. Hope you enjoy, constructive criticism appreciated. Beware: excessive cursing and some violence and blood within.

---

The chem classroom was empty save for a single boy standing at a table near the windows. Only the sunlight illuminated his work, its rays warming his back as he crouched over the various cylinders. It was clearly an hour before lunch, as his shadow on the ground was quite small.

The door swings open, its sound crashing through the silence like a tsunami. The boy runs his hand through his thick black hair.

In the doorway stands a tall and skinny boy, with blond hair tucked under a baseball hat. “Dude, I got your text!” he says seriously. “What’s up?”

The dark boy at the table smiles. “Josh, I’ve made a little discovery!” he says happily.

---

The ball hit Jared’s hand with a loud smack. “Dude, your aim sucks! That almost hit my head!” he complained loudly. Nick laughed “That’s where I was aiming! I’m gonna cut you down!” Jared mockingly glared at Nick, “Fuck you!” he snapped, still grinning. He shook his hand “Damn, you throw hard!” he added.

Jared walked out of the sunlight, allowing the cool shade to soothe his burly form. He scratched at his buzzed-cut dirty blond hair as he stared expectantly at Nick. Nick, noticing Jared’s look, reluctantly followed him into the shade. His dark jeans and plain black t-shirt emphasized his lean, but strong build.

Jared leaned against the wall and sighed. “Man, fuck this place!” he grunted, scanning the schoolyard. He turned his head towards Nick, “You wanna head somewhere better? Maybe grab some nachos?” he asked. Nick scoffed, “Dude this is the best place you’ll ever be!” he shot back.

“What… the fuck?” Jared replied, his mouth agape. Nick shrugged, “Nah, there’s nowhere to go and we got a test next hour.”

Jared shook his head, “Whatever dude, I need to grab my homework so I guess I’ll see ya in class,” Jared replied dismissively as he walked away. He did not see Nick glaring at him as he marched off.

---

“Freddie, you are a strange one!” Josh laughs after Freddie had explained what he had discovered. “I mean, it’s your senior year! You shouldn’t be spending your free hour inside a classroom! There’s so little time left before we graduate! Enjoy it!” Josh exclaimed.

Freddie smiled and shook his head. “These small projects are what I do for fun! I mean come on, this discovery is insane! It’s not like I could do this at home!”

“Whatever dude, do what you want,” Josh said with a shrug. Freddie frowned “You don’t seem that impressed…” Freddie trailed off disappointedly. Josh stared at his friend for a second “That’s because this shit is impossible!” Josh insisted. Freddie smiled again, “Here, lemme give you a mini demonstration!” Freddie hunched over the lab bench, with Josh crouching closer as well.

Neither noticed the approaching footsteps from out in the hallway. Jared was on his way to his locker to grab his homework. He had forced his nerdy cousin to do it for him. This grade would keep him afloat in his math class.
As he passed an open door, a hiss caught his attention. Looking into the expansive room revealed two of his classmates. Recognizing Freddie and Josh, Jared smiled. He had a little free time before he had to be in class. No reason to pass up the opportunity to show these two who the bigger man really was.

Jared walked up behind them surprisingly quietly, not paying attention to their conversation. Without warning he shoved each boy in the back roughly, catching both off guard.

Freddie, who had been about to pour a very specific amount of one liquid into the main beaker, accidentally dumped in the entire contents. “Oh sh-“ was all he got out before a loud pop showered liquid onto the three boys.
Josh coughed, still in shock and confused as to what had just happened. Behind them Jared’s laughter rang out, sounding tiny as it echoed around the room.

Josh spun around to face Jared, whose laughter subsided as he calmed down. “You little son of a bitch!” Josh roared. Before he could do anything, Jared gave him a taunting face and took off out the door. Without thinking about it, Josh bolted after him.

“Um-“ Freddie muttered before sighing dejectedly. He quickly swept the broken glass into the trash can, and wiped up the spilled mixture on the counter. “Can’t let it dry!” Freddie muttered out loud, “That would be a little inconvenient!” he laughed to himself.

Just as he had removed the last traces of any experiment he had performed he felt a lurch in his stomach. Gripping it with one hand Freddie moaned as he doubled over. He stumbled as the floor rushed up to meet him. Freddie shut his eyes, waiting for his head to hit the ground with a painful thud. However it never came. Freddie stood up and opened his eyes.

“Holy fucking shit!” he gasped in surprise. He was silent as he took in his surroundings, seeing the lab bench and desks towering high as mountains to him.

Finally Freddie smiled, “It worked!!” he cheered. A moment later his cheering abruptly stopped as reality washed over him “Oh shit… it worked.”

---

The slapping of footsteps echoed around the empty hall as Josh chased after Jared. Though Josh was fast, Jared had had a huge head start. Josh was gaining on him, fueled by anger at the guy who could never let up.
Suddenly he felt his limbs become heavy and the next moment he couldn’t breathe.

“What the fuck?” Josh wondered in surprise as he doubled over wheezing. As a star track athlete, Josh was able to run long distances quickly. This chase had been less strenuous than many of his track meets in the past. What was going on?

The ground abruptly came up to meet him. “Now I’m fainting?” Josh wondered “I must be dying or something!” he panicked and squeezed his eyes shut.

When he felt himself still standing and feeling normal again he blinked his eyes open.

“What? Where am…” Josh trailed off as he could see towers higher than any skyscraper to his right. Only he recognized them as the school lockers. As if he was smaller than an ant.

“Shit! I’m tiny!” Josh yelped. “Freddie!” he shouted, knowing full well his friend wasn’t nearby. “Oh shit! What if he’s tiny?” he wondered. “And Jared… no! That fucktard caused this, who cares what’s happening to him!” Josh grumbled. He spun around and began sprinting towards the classroom where Freddie had been.

His progress across the expansive tile was agonizingly slow. Josh had been tall by normal standards before, but now he really missed what by comparison had been his massive size and by consequence his long stride.

---

Jared sprinted around a corner in the hall and slipped thru a half-open door. He chuckled to himself, sure of his escape.

Jared put a hand to his chest as he tried to breathe quietly so he could listen for Josh. Not hearing anything he grinned in victory.

A moment later Jared realized he had conveniently ended up in his next class. “This is my day! Big man on campus!” he thought arrogantly.

Only a second later a bolt of pain flashed through his head. It was followed by another and another. As the stabbing ache throbbed through his head, Jared slumped against the wall and slid down. Through the blinding headache Jared realized he had been sliding down the wall for way longer than was possible. “Where’s the ground?” he wondered in panic. Just before he really started freaking out he felt himself stop against the ground, now sitting against the wall.

“I must be crazy!” Jared grunted shaking his head. “I should go see the nurse, get out of cla-“ Jared stopped abruptly as he looked around. He was staring at a vast expanse of tile, with what were clearly desks towering far above like unreal skyscrapers. “Whaaa… what the fuck?!” he shouted in terror, ignoring the shrill ringing in his ears. His heart pounded as he grabbed at the wall, before trying to pinch himself.

“Fuck!” he yelped. Ok so this wasn’t a dream. What had happened!? “Freddie!” Jared shouted “That little geek did this!” he growled. “When I find him I’m gonna ki-“

Jared was cut off by an echoing creak. Snapping his head towards the doorway, he could see the impossibly tall door swing open fluidly. It hit the wall with a trembling thud, revealing a titan standing behind it. His lean muscle was accented beneath a tight black t-shirt. As he stepped into the room, Jared noticed the tattered ends of his jeans trailing behind each of his grimy sneakers. A pair of sneakers Jared recognized.

“Nick!” Jared shouted happily.

---

Freddie scanned the classroom floor nervously. The desks towered high above, casting long shadows. Splashes of color dotted their underside; chewing gum that had been disposed of in the easiest way possible. White linoleum stretched away on every direction. Every grain of dirt, crumpled scrap of paper and other debris that littered the floor came to his attention where moments before they had easily been beneath his notice. He took a few steps as he struggled to take in his new surroundings. Only they were the same as before, he was what had changed!

“I’m as small as a bug!” Freddie moaned unhappily. He had never anticipated using his formula on humans. He had never even meant to create it. It all started when he used a mislabeled chemical, while trying to create an insecticide that wasn’t harmful to people or animals. His end goal would be that it could even be ingested safely. However during a test on an ant, instead of dying he had watched it grow smaller.

Freddie had become obsessed with this reaction, and began researching what he had done. He had tried numerous times to re-create it until finally he had done so today during his free-hour before lunch. He had just been about to show Josh what would have been his second successful trial when the pest known as Jared had come in and ruined everything.

Freddie set his gaze on the distant door and decided he should try to find Josh. He would need a ton of help in order to synthesize any kind of antidote to their current state. Freddie started moving, as he started to think of the possible chemical combinations for a cure.

Freddie didn’t get far as a shrill ring shattered the silence. Jarred out of deep thought Freddie gasped as the door that he had been approaching swung open, revealing two towers of blue in motion. Freddie quickly recognized them as jean clad legs, ending in large sneakers that pounded heavily as the giant student entered the room. Freddie cowered near a gleaming silver desk leg, as more titans flowed into the room, their faces obscured by the desks above Freddie.
One-by-one they chose desks, seemingly at random. Some walked right by, their massive footsteps crashing down with thundering quakes, sending the various debris on the floor flying in gusts of wind. As more of his gigantic classmates entered the room, the din of their crashing voices and violent movements grew louder and more painful for Freddie’s tiny ears.

He peeked out from under the desk to stare at his huge schoolmates. He recognized most of them. A jock nearby chatted with his girlfriend, absently tapping his grimy sneaker on the floor. Others were typing away furiously on their cell phones. All were very wrapped up in their own world, never stopping for a second to consider what small creatures might be found at the ground at their feet.

The last straw was the ear-splitting ring of the bell. Freddie fell to his knees, crying. The sounds, the people, the situation: It was all too overwhelming!

At the last second a final giant came tearing into the room, approaching the last empty desk. The one Freddie was cowering under. He dropped into the seat with a booming thud, followed by the labored creak of the chair. His massive shoe swung under the desk, flying towards Freddie who shrieked in terror. It stopped short of crushing him, settling with a muted bump and squeak onto the floor. The exposed sole face him revealing dirt, grime, some mangled grass stalks, and the twitching remains of some unfortunate ant.

Surprisingly Freddie wasn’t even looking at the grotesque sole so close to him. No he was staring up at the newly arrived behemoth. He recognized the face.

“Brandon!” he cheered.

---

Josh consciously controlled his breathing, keeping a steady rhythm as he sprinted across the floor. In and out, in and out. He was one of the school’s track stars, and had already been offered a full ride scholarship for it. Knowing it was his only ticket to college, he had gladly taken it. Though he hadn’t yet figured out what he wanted to do, he definitely had a few ideas in mind. For the time being he was looking forward to new experiences at college.

However experiencing life as an ant was one he could have done without. He tried to stay buried in his thoughts, ignoring the monotonous floor that stretched away from him in every direction. He knew he was making good time, given the situation. That didn’t change the fact that his actual progress was pathetic.

“What if Jared and Freddie didn’t shrink?” Josh wondered suddenly. He realized Jared had still been running ahead of him when he had been unable to continue. “Did I shrink first because I have a fast metabolism?” Josh was vocalizing his thoughts now. Crushing panic began to set in, “Or what if only I shrunk and Freddie won’t know to look for me? What am I go-“ Josh’s thoughts were interrupted by an earsplitting ring, getting him to abruptly stop. Glaring upwards revealed a bell the size of a city park, thousands of feet above him. As it finished, Josh shook the surprise out of his system and prepared to start running again. He realized what was coming half a second before it happened.

The sounds came before he could see anything. He halted in terror, as the first shoe slammed down from around the corner ahead of him. “No!” he shouted, knowing just around that corner was the room Freddie was in. A tsunami of chattering voices of his now massive classmates surrounded him from all sides. Josh spun around to see more behemoths bearing down on him. Their eyes were focused on each other, their phones, and a million other places. Not one glance however fell to the floor.

Josh screamed, as he found himself in the middle of the hall and within seconds was surrounded by the pounding shoes, thick legs stretching upwards to the oblivious teenagers. The thunderous footsteps hurt his ears, as Josh frantically tried to dodge the deadly footsteps. A brand new Vans shoe slammed down right in front of him, the white wall of rubber looked near flawless. It lifted away, revealing a perfectly clean and red waffle tread. A second later Josh barely jumped out of the shadow of a pair of trashed Etnies. The frayed fabric covering the shoe was grotesquely magnified so that Josh could study every line in the worn out shoes. It lifted away with a squeak from the exhausted rubber, revealing a tread outlined with unidentifiable black gunk.

He looked up pleadingly as he ran, to see a guy from his math class laugh as he spoke with what Josh was 99% sure was his girlfriend. “So carefree” Josh thought jealously as the young man’s shoe slammed down less than an inch away, creating a gust that knocked Josh to the ground. He landed roughly on his back staring up at the giants who passed over and around him. The crowd was thankfully dispersing as they went to class.

Just before Josh could stand up he saw a final giant. His blonde hair was flawless, and in spite of his baggy t-shirt anyone knew there was a six-pack below it. It was matched by a pair of basketball shorts that billowed around two thick calves lined with delicate blond hairs. Josh took in these details in a millisecond, instantly recognizing his friend Eric. However he did not celebrate. He was too focused on Eric’s size 12 ½ red and black Nike Air Force 1’s. Specifically his left one as it lifted up and bathed Josh in its shadow. Though he saw it happen in slow motion there was nothing he could do to save himself.

All he could do was take in every detail of the approaching sole that would spell his doom. The circular tread was still perfectly intact as if the sneakers were brand new. In fact Josh had been with Eric two weeks ago when he had bought the shoes. Since then, it seemed Eric had walked through some questionable things. Various white-ish brown chunks were crammed into the tread at random. Near the ball of the foot, was an unidentifiable mass of black that had various pebbles and crumbs stuck to it, a minuscule thread hopelessly twisted around itself.

Not that any of that mattered for Eric or Josh. It didn’t matter for Eric because it never even crossed his mind to worry about what unknown stuff stuck to the soles of his shoes from the ground he carelessly pounded across. It didn’t matter for Josh because in spite of the detailed view he had, he could not stop it from slamming down onto him.

“Uh…” was all the stupefied Josh got out before the shoe landed squarely on top of him.

---

Jared remained plastered against the wall as Nick lumbered into the room, followed by more of their classmates. He watched in amazement as these people whom Jared towered over and tormented on a daily basis now towered over him like mythical monsters. Their pounding footsteps, booming voices and every movement exuded a casual yet immense power.

“They’re still the pathetic losers that I could take no problem!” Jared grunted in attempt to comfort himself. It didn’t work.

A titanic sneaker crashed down in front of him, shaking Jared back into the real world. He screamed in terror as he watched the side of the rubber sole flex as it took the giant’s full weight. With a squeak, it lifted away effortlessly, revealing a filthy shoe sole briefly before it crashed onto the ground again.

Jared craned his neck, staring upwards at the giant who had come so close. He growled, kicking himself mentally. It had been Nick. He had just allowed his massive friend and only hope to stroll right on by without trying a thing!

Nick pounds to the second desk from the front and drops into it, causing the chair to creak. He stretches his legs out in front of him and drops his backpack to the floor. Jared imagines everything is normal and he is standing at the class door about to drop in right behind his friend. He would probably punch him in the back and chat before class started.

Jared sighs unhappily. Everything was not normal, he was smaller than an ant and he needed to get the attention of his enormous best friend.

Just before Jared started moving, a quick movement caught his attention. Crawling towards him at a terrifying pace was a monstrous beetle. Its black body glinted in the light, its antennae twitching furiously.

“Holy shit!” Jared shouted, jumping against the wall. Just before he turned to flee, a huge blue and black shoe slammed down. A sharp crunch confirmed what Jared had just seen: the beetle was gone. He stared upwards in shock, following the dark jeans up past a white t-shirt. Beneath a line of light brown hair was a face Jared recognized. A face that was focused on scanning the room for a place to sit.

Jared laughed. He had been saved by this towering giant, Trent, and the guy didn’t even notice. He had literally flattened the bug without even being aware of its existence!

He took a step forward, lifting the shoe that had inadvertently crushed the beetle. Jared could see a mangled carcass hanging from the tread loosely before the shoe crashed down again. The second step left the dead bug behind, still unnoticed as the giant dropped into one of two open seats.

“My seat!” Jared shouted angrily. His gaze flicked to Nick, waiting for him to tell Trent to move. But when Nick turned to face Trent, he began eagerly conversing with him.

“That asshole!” Jared fumed. “He doesn’t know I won’t go to class!” Trent started laughing as the rumble of voices calmed since class was about to begin. The last of the booming laughter ended as the teacher slammed the door shut.

“Well Trent is his cousin… and I’m not there…” Jared sighed in defeat, “It doesn’t even fucking matter, I just need to get Nick to see me!” Remembering his goal, Jared started jogging down the aisle towards Nick’s towering form.

The voice of the teacher’s lecture thunders overhead, his words as lost on Jared as they normally would be but for an obviously different reason. He finally reaches Nick, without incident. Though there had been a few times where someone’s shifting feet had gotten him to jump in fear.

He stops in front of Nick’s tattered right sneaker. The gray fabric of the shoes was worn thin, threads sticking out at random. The once white wall of rubber that lined the bottom of the shoe was now smeared with gray. Small holes and cracks were spread across its entire surface.

“Could use those as footholds!” Jared thought, satisfied with himself for thinking of such a genius idea. Without warning the shoe lifted and swung in his direction. Jared managed to let out a surprised yelp before he was struck, hitting the ground roughly as the monolithic shoe glided just above him, and landing with a thump behind him.

Jared’s entire upper body stung from the impact. He glared upwards at Nick, who seemed focused on the teacher ahead. He was absently shifting his feet, utterly unaware of the tiny person down at his feet. Jared stood up slowly and checked himself for injuries. Finding he was ok, he began approaching the left shoe, fuming about the ridiculous situation.

Jared scanned upwards from the floor, up the shoe to the dark jeans draped over Nick’s long leg. He realized that Nick easily towered thousands of feet; this wouldn’t be easy! Without hesitating, Jared began to scale the grimy rubber at the base of the shoe. Since he was fairly athletic, the climb started smoothly.

Luck however, was not on Jared’s side. The shoe suddenly tilted so that Jared went from being vertical, to hanging from a horizontal surface as Nick tipped his foot onto its side. “Gah!” Jared shouted in terror as the shoe brought him back to the floor. Swinging about wildly he briefly saw Nick’s other shoe at the heel, digging into it. He realized what was going on just as it happened.

Nick’s left shoe popped off of his foot, landing gently on the floor. The sudden impact sent Jared sliding across the smooth expanse of the classroom floor. He groaned in pain. His whole body was now throbbing!

Opening his eyes he could see the underside of the desk dotted with age old chewing gum. Nick’s jean covered left leg shifted, accompanied by a muted squeak from the seat. Lifting his head revealed yet another horrible sight.

Nick’s off-white sock was coming for him. Loose threads hung from the sole, where a gray imprint clearly marked the outline of the sole of his foot. A small hole had formed near the ball of the foot.

Jared shouted in protest and put his hands up in futility, but less than a second later Nick’s foot settled over his minuscule body.

---

Freddie’s sucked in another labored breath. He had managed to climb up the side of Brandon’s shoe without too much incidence. Oh sure Brandon had kicked him once, sending Freddie flying. Though honestly he had been thrilled since he thought was going to be smeared under the shoe.

Later, just as he reached the shoe laces, Brandon had started tapping his foot for no apparent reason. Freddie had to make a daring jump to the laces to have something to really hold on to, clinging for dear life until Brandon thankfully stopped. He had been incredibly proud of that jump.

Now he rested near the tongue of the shoe, his chest heaving with each forced breath. Freddie may have been one of the smartest kids in the school, but he was re-thinking his lack of effort in gym.

He looked upwards, groaning unhappily. Stretching upwards was Brandon’s thick calves. A forest of light, stringy hairs lined the legs up to where they disappeared into Brandon’s billowing shorts near the knees.

“Oh god, how am I going to get up there!?” Freddie moaned despondently. He was this tired after just scaling the shoe? He legitimately did not have a chance in hell of scaling his mountainous friend. But what other choice did he possibly have?

As Freddie’s breath returned to normal he looked up again. Naturally Brandon’s shin was a sheer cliff of pale flesh. His only option was to use the Brandon’s leg hair to climb up. Thankfully Brandon had been an early bloomer, so that the hair was thick and plentiful; Freddie had no doubt it would easily support his weight.

Reaching out for the first rope-like hair, Freddie couldn’t help but compare himself to a creepy beetle, climbing up Brandon’s leg unnoticed. Whenever a beetle was finally noticed, its presence quickly became unwelcome.

Freddie shuddered at the thought of being mistaken for a bug. That would probably lead to being squished. What a way to go that would be! All this intellect, this intellect that had brought him here, and he could be smeared out of existence by the flick of a finger. The image of the dead bug under Brandon’s shoe entered his mind for a moment.

Freddie made slow progress, his arms quickly starting to burn from the exertion. He thought back to the day before. Never would he have imagined that he would be climbing up his friend’s leg, smaller than an ant! It seemed like a lifetime ago he had been the same size as these behemoths that were able to so easily overlook the world of the tiny creatures around them and at their monstrous feet.

An ominous shadow cast over Freddie without warning. Freddie looked back to see massive hand, its rough fingers curved descending over him. A wordless screamed burst from his lips as Brandon’s hand engulfed him.

Miraculously Freddie was still clinging to the hair when he realized he hadn’t been flattened by the broad palm. A bout of relieved laughter was cut short when he glanced down. Brandon’s redwood-sized fingers were digging deep into the skin and quickly approaching. Freddie had no time to react as he was struck by the middle finger and found himself lodged underneath a dirty fingernail.

He let out a startled whoop as he felt himself flying upwards, landing roughly as Brandon dropped his hand to the desk to let it rest. Freddie was still reeling from his latest experience of being a bug sized boy. He looks out towards the light, where the bare expanse of the school desk stretches away from him. Freddie can see all of his towering classmates, simply silhouettes thanks to the sun streaming through the large windows.

Freddie grunts and frowns as he thinks to himself, lodged beneath his friend’s fingernail like a speck of dirt! He struggles to free himself; celebrating his slow but constant move forward. Brandon had already taken care of a good chunk of the climb! Now all he had to do was be noticed!

Freddie’s progress is halted when he feels the world lurch again. Brandon’s fingers are moving. As the finger moves upwards, he feels the gravity pull him downwards. He lets out a strangled sob of protest, feeling his progress being undone. However this is forgotten the instant he sees where he is going.

Ahead of him is Brandon’s face, his eyes staring blankly at what Freddie can only assume is the teacher. Worse though is his mouth. His thick lips are slightly agape, completing Brandon’s absent expression. Freddie can barely see his front teeth, weakly reflecting light. Freddie is headed right for them. In this instant Freddie remembers: Brandon chews his nails.

“No!” Freddie shouts to no avail. The finger pushes between Brandon’s lips, bathing him darkness. Freddie starts to scream when Brandon lets out a sigh. For Freddie it’s a gusting hurricane that reeks of whatever Brandon had had for breakfast. A thud and clack sounds terrible nearby as Brandon’s jagged teeth begin to nibble on his nail.

“No, no, no, no!” Freddie chants, panicking. All he can think of how ridiculous the situation is, at risk because his friend is biting his nail. Freddie can’t shake it out of his head. Biting. Biting. Biting.

An idea strikes him suddenly, it seems like pure genius. Freddie struggles to turn, so that he is facing the skin beneath the nail. He takes a deep breath, leans in and bites as deep and hard as he can.

“Ah!” a violent gust sounds behind Freddie, though it may have been a mere whisper for Brandon. Another thud signals Brandon continuing to chew his nail. Freddie rolls his eyes, but now knows his idea will work. This time, without hesitation, Freddie gives the skin another vicious bite.

After a sharp hiss of pain, Freddie finds himself surrounded by light again; refreshing breathable air fills his lungs. Freddie laughs at the insanity of the situation, before remembering his ultimate goal. He turns his head outwards to be met with a deep blue pupil. “Oh!” Freddie says in surprise, staring at its glossy surface. It’s slight, erratic movements are incredibly obvious to Freddie as it seems to study him. Freddie doesn’t see the spark of recognition though.

Knowing this is his chance Freddie frees an arm and starts waving. “Brandon! Hey, help me! Please! It’s me, Freddie!” he shouts. He watches with pleasure as the pupil expands in shock. Bingo.