Minime {Original Version}

Adapt to Survive

Look. I’ve just turned seventeen, now. I’m like every other teenager who has a few morals. I crave guys, I want to learn how to drive (hah. Not gonna happen) and I want to go to university and get a proper job. The only difference between me and every other average teen is… do I even have to tell anyone? What I’m trying to say is that when someone kisses me for the first time EVER and I can actually kiss them back, I have the capability to desire and ‘love’ him back. Does that make sense? I don’t know but all I’m getting at is that even though I’m five inches tall… is that what I am in human measurements?... I still act like your average teenager. So when I was kissed by Thomas Ryan, my heart fluttered in my chest and I felt myself retaliate by giving him my all. Ew… Actually, on that front, all this sounds gross….

Thomas’s lips brushed against mine ever so softly and I shut my eyes and breathed in the scent of his body- he’d always smelt of coconut. I ran my fingers through his tousled sandy coloured hair and he pulled me into a hug. He broke away gently and I stroked his angular cheekbones with the back of my hand. His arm was draped lazily around my shoulders so that my body was pressed against his own. I leant against his sturdy chest and moved my hand to trace the lines of his small abs. Thomas wasn’t the strongest guy, and his muscles had deteriorated when he’d become sick. I wasn’t too phased though. All I could think about was the feeling of his lips against my own. It was as if part of him still lingered around my mouth. I felt him pulling me back onto the bed so I sat down on the coarse material and faced him.

“Have you ever been kissed before?” He asked softly. I smiled as his face reddened. I liked him better when we were scaled similarly. It wasn’t as if he intimidated me before… ok I might be a tad modest there… he freaked me out sometimes… I guess I just like him better this way. Enough said.

“No.” I admitted, blushing myself. If there had been a chance for me to kiss someone in the past who actually cared (and didn’t swallow me whole when they tried) then I’d have been like a bull at a gate. I know I’ve kissed Thomas before, but he hadn’t even felt it. This was different. He felt the passion I’d been holding in for the past month.

“That’s ok.” He said. “I haven’t kissed anyone before, either.” Really? A hot guy like Thomas hadn’t been kissed before. He has to be either lying to my face or joking. I shrugged mentally and pushed the thoughts away.

The sound of high heels clattering against the tiled hallways awakened me from my slight daze and I turned to see Sally striding, coffee mug in hand, into the room with the surgeon, Jack on her heels. She stopped abruptly when she saw us so close together but quickly smoothed her expression and placed the coffee mug on the nearby bench. The caramel coloured liquid sloshed out the sides and splattered the table. Thomas had tensed up again beside me. I took his hand in my own and gave it a reassuring squeeze. He was still nervous around ‘big’ people.

“Hey Tommy.” Sally said quietly, as if not to startle him. That, or burst his eardrums. Jack, looking awkward as ever turned on his heels and left the room. Thank the lord. That dude really got on my nerves. Thomas swallowed tightly before muttering a reply.

“Sal, do you think we can go home now? I think Thomas should get his room ready and all.” I asked, after a moment’s silence. Sally and I had discussed ‘renovations’ to Thomas’s old room while he was asleep during the cure treatment.

“Um. Right. Sure.” The woman stuttered. Funny, she looked just as nervous as her son. Thomas’s hand was cutting the circulation in my wrist as he gripped it tightly with white knuckles. I shook him off and stood up as Sally held out her flat palm on the edge of the bed. I wasn’t fazed by her motions at all and casually stepped onto her rough skin to sit down in her palm. Thomas’s eyes widened upon realizing he had to do this as well, and backed away hesitantly. His face had paled again in fear.

“Thomas.” I sighed. “It’s not like she’s going to crush you.” Sally pursed her lips at my comment and squeezed her eyes shut. She said nothing, but my ‘encouragement’ seemed to work because Thomas walked slowly into her hand to sit beside me. When his skin brushed against mine, I realised he was shivering.  

Sally righted herself and began to walk slowly out the door to the main ward of the hospital. I was so used to her brisk pace, but it was obvious she didn’t want to startle her son. She had us sitting in her cupped hands, me on one and Thomas on the other. I sat comfortably, calmly even. But Thomas was shaking like a leaf, his face white again. I wondered what he was feeling… what thoughts were running through his now similar sized head…

****

I felt like I was going to throw up. Not from the heights, no. But from the sheer fact that I was sitting in my mum’s hand. Her HAND. Her fingers were the size of tree trunks, encasing me in what resembled a cage of flesh. I was so exposed… so weak. How could I get used to this? Amy looked perfectly fine beside me. She was fiddling with the strap of her plain singlet, her hair falling in a brown wave at her shoulders. She was so beautiful. Yet so broken inside. She didn’t let me see it but I knew. Now I was her size I could see the pain she’d struggled against over the years. Why? Because she was covered in scars. Not just small ones. White lines the size of a whole arm streaked across her agile body. Her eyes were framed with constant purple bags. It was something I’d never picked up when she was smaller than me. I didn’t want her to look that way. Then again, it was probably worse with Marcus. Adapt to survive. Isn’t that a quote? No. It’s a statement. Something I’m going to have to learn to do. Pretty quickly, too. Because I’ll need to be strong. And brave. Brave like Amy. And strong, well, to… protect myself. From who, you ask?

From Marcus. 

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Hi readers,

sorry for such an incredibly short chapter, but school has been pressuring me. I don't know when I'll be able to update again. maybe next week when exams die down. Bear with me, though. I'm really trying to update with school and everything. It can be hard sometimes, and sometimes i'm never motivated enough. Hope you like this story! I'm not sure where to go with it now, but it's going to end soon :)

Have a nice day! ;)