Hi all, I've just published a new, epic shrinking story called The Nerd's Revenge.

Details are included in the description below.

In addition, here is the first chapter in its entirety:

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Chapter One

“And thusly, according to Charles’s law, the temperature of the secondary apparatus should be fifty six degrees centigrade. Any questions?”

Even if there were any questions, they would have been quickly preempted by the sharp, ringing tone of the class bell.

“Oh! Perfect timing!” the teacher said as the students threw their materials into their backpacks and started to shuffle out.

“Homework is to read chapter eight and answer the questions!” the blonde woman shouted over the din of rustling papers and zipping backpacks. “And don’t forget we have a test next Tuesday!”

The students filed out, noisily chatting amongst themselves. Near the back, a brown haired, mousey girl with glasses waved as she passed the teacher’s desk.

“See you tomorrow, Ms. Addison,” she said with a smile. The teacher smiled back.

“Have a good night, Abby!”

Abby funneled out of the classroom, taking left and heading to her locker. The hallway was filled with the excited chatter, whoops and hollers as was common for the end-of-the-day bell as students rushed to get their things and get out of the building as quickly as they could. Abby packed up her things and headed down the hall, dodging out of the way of the more excited individuals and fighting hard to not get caught in the waves of the crowd headed toward the exit. Having successfully weaved her way through the crowds, she ducked into the girl’s bathroom, sighing with relief.

“Finally,” she said, happy to be out of the hustle and bustle. She dropped her backpack on the ground and chose a stall. After completing her business, she washed her hands, staring at her face in the mirror. She turned her head to the left and the right, examining the way her dark glasses framed her face. They were brand new, and she thought they looked really good.

“Thanks mom and dad,” she said softly as she rinsed the soap off her hands, hardly noticing as the bathroom door opened and two other girls walked in.

“Well well…look who it is.”

Abby felt her blood go cold as she heard the voice. She closed her eyes, feeling her heart rate increasing as she anticipated the coming encounter.

“Oh god…why now?” Abby turned off the water and turned toward the newcomers.

“Hey Brooke….” she said, her expression as flat as her voice. She stared up at the two tall girls who had just come in. The dark brunette smirked.

“Did you think you’d make it through the day without at least saying hi?” she said, placing her hand over her chest. “I’m hurt…really hurt.”

The blonde chuckled. “Yea Abigail,” she said, emphasizing Abby’s full name in her husky voice. Abby kept a cautionary eye on them as she turned around and sighed.

“Hi Brooke…Hi Stephanie….” she said again. Brooke smiled.

“That’s better…though my feelings are still a little hurt. How are you gonna’ make it up to me?”

“Give us your lunch money!” Stephanie said, chuckling to herself. Brooke rolled her eyes. “Steph…it’s the end of the day…we already had lunch.”

“Oh…yea….” the blonde said, scratching her head. Now it was Abby’s turn to smirk.

“Um…I’m sorry, okay? I’ll bring you some money tomorrow just…let me go? I need to get home to help my mom.”

“Aww…widdle Abby needs to help her mommy,” Brooke said in a mocking tone before bursting into laughter. She glanced at the wall, spying the backpack and her smile grew wider.

“Maybe there is something you can do for me,” she said, bending down.

“H-hey! Stay out!” Abby said, moving forward. The taller blonde stepped in her way.

“Stay there, short stuff,” Stephanie said. Abby bit her lip…Stephanie may not have been much in the way of brains, but she was a pretty solid girl and Abby knew she wouldn’t last two seconds against her in a struggle. Abby watched as Brooke unzipped her pack and began to rifle through it.

“Nothing good in here,” she said, lifting the backpack into the air. She inverted it, dumping Abby’s books and folders out onto the bathroom floor, various papers falling out and sliding in every direction.

“Hey!” Abby said, pushing her way past Stephanie. She immediately felt the taller girl grab her arms, pinning them behind her back and holding her in place.

“I said stay!” Stephanie shouted as secured the shorter girl. Brooke smirked as she opened the other pockets in the backpack.

“Just for that,” she said moments before turning the backpack over once again, spilling out the rest of the contents. Her pencil box fell out, splitting open and spilling pens, pencils and erasers all over the floor. Everything else fell out as well, including a pack of tissues, a couple of wrapped sanitary products, a few collectibles and a ten dollar bill.

“Ooh…lookie here,” Brooke said, picking up the bill. She looked up at the mousey girl and Abby felt a lump form in her throat.

“You were holding out on us!” Brooke said, standing up and pocketing the money. She shook her head. “And you know what that means.”

“No!” Abby yelled as Stephanie started to drag her toward the stalls. She kicked and struggled but it was no use as the tall blonde overpowered her, dragging her closer and closer. She threw her head back, catching Stephanie in the mouth.

“Ouch!” the blonde yelled, tasting blood in her mouth as she loosened her grip. Abby slipped one arm out just in time for Brooke to grab it, sandwiching the shorter girl between the two.

“You’re gonna’ pay for that, nerd!” Brooke shouted, kicking open the stall door. Abby cried out as she was forced down onto her knees, her head being pushed closer and closer to the dirty toilet.

“What’s going on in here?!”

All three girls jumped as they heard the voice. Brooke turned and spied the stern face of the chemistry teacher, Ms. Addison.

“What are you doing to that poor girl?” she asked firmly, putting her arms on her hips authoritatively. Brooke turned back to the frightened Abigail and scowled.

“Nothing…just helping out our friend here,” she said. She and Stephanie helped Abby back to her feet, the blonde grabbing some toilet paper to blot her lip.

“I’ve a good mind to write you all up, you know,” Ms. Addison said, staring at the group. Brooke grinned and Abby’s eyes went wide. She had never served detention before, and if she got one now then it would hurt her chance of possibly getting a top classmen reward. She stared at Ms. Addison, and the teacher seemed to be able to read the student’s mind. The blonde sighed.

“Get out of here, you two…” she said, her stern tone remaining firm. The two tall girls took the hint and made their way out the door. As soon as they left, Ms. Addison’s expression softened.

“Are you okay?” she asked. Abby felt her emotions welling up, but she managed to push them down, nodding silently.

“Let me help you,” the teacher said as she started to pick up her student’s things from the floor. In just a couple minutes, she and Abby had everything cleaned up. Ms. Addison zipped up her backpack and held it out to the teen.

“You know…if you’re being bullied, you should report it to the office.”

“I’m fine…” Abby said as she slipped the backpack on.

“You don’t look fine,” Ms. Addison said, her eyebrows raising with concern.

“Well I am!” the teen snapped angrily before running out of the room. Ms. Addison was about to call after her, but simply sighed and shook her head.

Abby ran out of the bathroom and down the mostly vacated hall to the exit, bursting out into the warm air. The tears she had been holding back finally took over, streaming down her face as she ran down the street. She didn’t live far, and the half mile run gave her just enough time to drain the majority of her emotions. She sniffled one last time as she reached the door of her house, wiping the last bit of wetness away from her eyes as she unlocked the door and went inside. Her parents were still at work so she had the house to herself for the next couple hours: the only time during her day that she could be alone. She kicked off her shoes and put her backpack down on the floor. Normally, she would work on her homework now, but her mind was still focused on the earlier encounter, so she decided to do some chores to take her mind off of it.

“Hi Mr. Tinkles,” she said as she refilled her hamster’s food dish. The furry animal squeaked happily as it nibbled on the pellets. She reached in a finger and gently patted his fur.

“Life’s so much more simple in your world, isn’t it?” she said, a smile finally coming to her face. He had been a birthday gift for her around eight months ago and she loved him. She watched him for a few more minutes before sighing.

“Trash,” she said as she dragged herself downstairs. Along the way, she swung by the living room and grabbed the small, metal device from the drawer. She moved into the kitchen and opened up the trash can, smelling the waste inside from the previous night.

“Bleh,” she said. She tied up the trash and pulled the bag out, setting it on the floor. Gripping the metal device, she pressed the power button, feeling the vibrations against her palm. She aimed the emitter at the bag and pressed the button. A thin, blue light shot out of the emitter, striking the bag of trash. The bag quivered and then, slowly but surely…it began to decrease in size. It shrank down smaller and smaller until the two and a half foot tall bag stood barely higher than an inch. Abby reached down and plucked up the tiny bag between her fingers.

“This really is amazing,” she said. The Matter Condenser, which some had nicknamed Shrink Ray, was one of the most amazing inventions in recent years. It was developed to help solve the planet’s rising trash problems and had already reduced landfilling volumes by over 27%. It was still very experimental and not available commercially…the only reason they had one is because her father worked for the EPA.

Abby took the little bag outside and opened up the metal bucket, dropping the tiny bag in. There were hundreds of bags in there already, each just as small. Abby smiled again…thanks to the Shrink Ray, it now would take them over two years to generate the same volume of trash they used to generate in a week. She felt proud to be taking part in a nationwide conservation experiment, promising to reduce both soil and air pollution…not to mention the smell.

“The smell…” she said, grumbling as she remembered the incident in the bathroom today. Brooke and Stephanie had been picking on her for over a month now, but it had never been this bad. Normally it was just a bit of name calling, maybe a little bit of pushing…normally, she would just give them a couple bucks and they’d leave her alone. Not a problem since she was given a generous allowance. But today, with the threat of putting her head into the toilet…

Abby sat down angrily. This wasn’t the only pair of girls who had ever called her names or made fun of her, but this was the first time she had been physically overpowered and helpless. It made her uncomfortable, and she could feel tears welling up again. She bet that they never had anyone make fun of them…or push them around…or force their heads into toilets. She wondered if they even knew how being so helpless made her feel.

“Just once, I want them to know what it’s like to be the weaker, helpless one,” she said, wiping a tear away with her hand. A second tear dropped onto the metallic surface of the ray, and as she wiped it away, an idea popped into her head: one that she had never thought of before…but one that was so intriguing that she didn’t immediately discard it. What if there was a way to make them understand?

She stared at the device that was gripped in her hand. She remembered what her dad had told her: ‘Works on anything organic’ he had said as he explained to her how the device works. She thought back to moments ago when she had shrank the bag full of trash…only this time, she imagined it was Brooke who was getting smaller, her dark eyes filled with terror as she dwindled away. Abby chuckled at how cute and small she would look at the size of a child…or a Barbie…or maybe even smaller. It would certainly be an amazing act of revenge.

“But how do I know it won’t hurt them?” she said out loud, again plunging deep into thought. After all, she had never actually tested the device on a living creature. Almost as if her thoughts were being monitored by some unseen force, she suddenly heard a light chittering nearby. Turning, she saw a large, gray squirrel sitting on the deck. She looked down at the ray and smiled.

“Just a quick test,” she said, aiming the device. She pushed the button and the beam struck the squirrel. It chattered loudly as the beam struck it and took off, but it had barely gotten more than a few feet away before the change in its size became apparent. The poor thing dwindled away, smaller and smaller until it was only a few inches long. It chattered with fear as it darted between the massive objects around it…objects that, in truth, were simply debris from the trees, but the poor thing couldn’t differentiate between that and predators at its new size. It spun in circles, working itself up into an incredible fright so quickly that Abby felt a pang of guilt.

“Hold on,” she said, turning the knob and aiming it at the miniature animal. She pushed the button again and this time a red beam struck it, rapidly reversing the effect and restoring the squirrel’s size within seconds. The animal chittered and sprinted away, running through the fence and disappearing into the next lawn. Abby breathed a sigh of relief before looking down at the device again, a smile slowly creeping across her lips.

“It works.”