“No way” Anja Bellamy said to her best friend Jillian “Big sisters are way worse than big brothers”

“No” Jillian shook her head emphatically “You might have a chance in a fight against your sister but I never do. My brother sits on me, twists my arm, tosses me around; I hate it!”

The two second grade girls continued their argument over who had it worse on the bus ride home.

“But your brother is only 5 years older than you; my sister is 10 years older” Anja said.

“That’s another reason you’re luckier than me. She might go away to college next year. I’m stuck with my stupid brother for years!” Jillian countered.

“Well, at least you don’t have to get teased for being adopted” Anja said.

It was her trump card and ended ever argument the two friends had about who had it worse. Jillian looked out the window and sighed but smiled anyway. She had befriended Anja on her first day of school even when it was hard to understand her. Anja had struggled with her English in the beginning and truly cherished the people who had helped her and stood by her since she had arrived.

Anja Bellamy was born Anja Grahovic in Belgrade Serbia. Her father had never been around and her mother had died of an overdose when she was 3. She entered an orphanage and had somehow won the lottery.

Anja could have easily ended up spending her entire childhood being bounced around or with a poor family but instead; she had been adopted by an American family.

She still remembered arriving and seeing how big everything was and how clean everything was. She knew she was lucky, she had seen just enough in her 6 years in Serbia to realize how much nicer she now had it. Her parents were loving and fun; it was just her older sister Caitlyn that seemed to have it out for her.

Anja had been told that it wasn’t unusual for older sisters to pick on younger ones, it was just that Cait always seemed to know how to cut her cruelly when she did pick on her. Every time she slipped up on a word or slipped into an accent, Caitlyn would hear it and laugh and tease her about it.

Speaking proper English was the thing that mattered the most to Anja and yet Cait never seemed to ever miss when she made a mistake.

The other thing she hated was when Cait would call her Annie. Anja was proud of where she came from and her name was the one thing she wanted to keep and protect from her Mother and the fact that Caitlyn would never use it infuriated the skinny dark haired 8 year old.

“She’s just trying to get under your skin” her new Mom and Dad would tell her whenever she burst into tears of anger and frustration.

Caitlyn Bellamy wrapped her day around the same time. She was a senior in High School and a member of the basketball team despite being just 5’3”. The perky blonde haired blue eyed girl gave her boyfriend a quick kiss as he headed to practice and she headed for home. “Text me when you’re done sweetie” she whispered to him with a flirty wink as she walked off to her locker.

“What’s up for you tonight Cait?” she heard her friend Beth ask.

“Nothing” she replied with a shrug. She was wearing black ankle high boots, leggings, a skater skirt and a blue cardigan as she put her jacket on and fluffed out her hair. “Got some homework in Chemistry and Government class but nothing special”

“I have to take my brother to his basketball practice…ugh” Beth said with an exaggerated eye roll.

“Ha, luckily adopted girl doesn’t do any sports yet…she has getting in my way up at Olympic level though” Cait replied.

Beth smiled even though she thought it was a bit cruel to always refer to her sister as “adopted girl” “See ya tomorrow” she said heading out.

“Later” Cait replied.

Caitlyn watched her friends leave and lingered for a moment longer at her locker. She stopped by an empty restroom on her way to her car and after she washed her hands, she checked herself out in the mirror.

Short and busty would be how she described herself. Caitlyn stood just 5’3” and she had all the curves in all the right places. A pert bubble ass and hips that swayed when she walked and paired up perfectly with her 36D breasts.

She blinked her wide blue eyes and fluffed out her long, wavy blonde hair and even flashed herself a smile with her full lips and straight white teeth before her face hardened and she sighed “If only Mom and Dad hadn’t become the saviors of the world and brought that little pain in the ass Annie into our house; life would be perfect” she thought.

As she walked to her car, she replayed the day her parents sprang the news on her.

Her parents were very active at church and an agent from a refugee program had come in and talked about fostering or adopting children from overseas and suddenly, that became all they could talk about.

Caitlyn had hoped it would pass and actively ignored conversations when they talked about it until they sat her down and told her she was going to be getting a sister.

Cait’s heart hardened in that moment.

They showed her Anja’s picture and excitedly told her details about her life which Cait barely heard over the high pitched whistling of anger in her head.

She didn’t want to admit that she was selfish. Deep down, she knew they were just trying to help one kid have a better life but to her, it felt like she wasn’t enough for them. They needed more so they were the selfish ones.

She didn’t think she was overly mean to her; she just did things she had seen her friends do to their little siblings growing up; teasing was natural and she had to admit, it made her feel better.

She drove straight home, which was something she usually never did as she always stopped off somewhere on her way home.

Anja got home first like always. She usually had a full hour by herself before her sister got home and then her Mom and Dad would be home shortly after that.

She dropped her backpack off by the door and kicked off her plain white tennis shoes. She too was wearing some leggings but hers were white and red stripped unlike the plain black her sister wore. She also had on a gray sweatshirt with an animated cat on it.

Anja drank some juice and then headed upstairs. She went into her room and got out her jewelry box, opening it up as she often did.

Inside was a necklace with a bird on it. It had come with her from the orphanage but her parents wouldn’t let her wear it out for fear of losing it but she liked to put it on around the house when she was by herself.

She put it on but was bored by her room and her toys so she began wandering around the rooms. She went into her Mom and Dad’s room and bounced off the bed. She looked over her Mom’s jewelry and makeup on top of the dresser. She smiled at her reflection in the mirror where her Mom did her makeup.

Anja didn’t look anything like her adopted family. They were much fairer skin and lighter haired than her. She had thin lips and round cheeks and small dark brown eyes whereas her sister was blonde haired with huge blue eyes and a wide smile.

Anja hoped that at some point she might end up at least being taller than Caitlyn, “Might be my only win over her” she thought. She closed her eyes and saw her pretty sister with her big boobs but knew she thought herself short so she smiled at least one admitted shortcoming.

Thinking about Cait drew Anja to her room. She knew she had plenty of time so she opened the door and went in. She was fascinated by all the cool stuff Cait had. She had a big TV and her own laptop computer and so, so many clothes.

Anja was scared of Caitlyn but also envious of her. She knew Cait’s world had been ruined when she found out she was suddenly getting a younger sister. She knew this because Cait told her about it every chance she could.

Her makeup looked cooler than her Moms and her wardrobe was obviously better. Anja slipped off her socks as she stopped in front of Caitlyn’s closet “Her feet can’t be much bigger than mine” she thought as she pulled out a pair of red heels she envied. “6.5” She read aloud as she put her feet in them.

Anja laughed and gripped the wall tightly as she stood in her sister’s shoes. She clomped around in a circle taking small steps until she saw herself in the mirror.

She smiled at seeing her skinny profile balancing in the high heels. Her long brown hair came down over her shoulders; it was loose and stringy and she flipped it behind her back to pose.

That was when she stopped dead in her tracks. “Was that the door?” she thought as her face lost all color and her heart pounded in her skinny chest.

She kicked off the shoes and scrambled around on the ground putting them back in place and gathering up her socks.

“What do you think you’re doing? Caitlyn Bellamy said crossing her arms with a disapproving look in her eyes.

Her little sister Anja jumped at the sound of her voice. “Nothing” she replied standing up quickly but blushing at having been caught red handed in her big sister’s closet.

“Really…nothing” Cait said sarcastically. She closed her bedroom door behind her blocking Anja’s only escape route and she slowly and dramatically walked across the room toward her sister.

Anja got up on her knees and put her hands down on the tops of her legs. She took a deep breath trying to calm down but was finding it difficult as her 18 year old sister took her time.

“You know Annie…I’ve never been the biggest fan of you” Cait said calling her sister by the nickname she hated. “I had a pretty good set up around here…only child…had my room and all my stuff to myself until 2 years ago when Mom and Dad came to me and tell me they’re adopting a girl from Serbia and I’m all like Yea, great”

Cait sat down on her bed and crossed her right leg over her left. Anja stared at her sister’s foot as it dangled, her blue painted toes bounced up and down as she talked.

Cait leaned down “How often do you break into my room and put on my stuff?” she asked with menace in her voice.

“Never!” Anja spit out.

“I doubt that” Cait said slowly shaking her head back and forth “I seriously doubt that”

Anja was petrified “Do you see me going into your room and going through your stuff?” Cait asked.

Anja shook her head no and said “Sorry” in a voice that, just like every time she got nervous, slipped into a Serbian accent.

“Sorry!” Cait repeated in her exaggerated imitation of her accent.

“Stop it!” Anja yelled out surprising both of them. The bird on her necklace began to glow.

“What?” Cait said standing up. “What did you say to me you little pipsqueak?”

Anja composed herself for a moment. She dipped her chin but then brought her head up high.

Cait waggled her head and put her hands on her hips waiting for an answer.

“Do you ever stop and think what it would be like to be the little sister?” Anja asked with a serious look on her face.

“No” Cait snorted out in a huff “Why would I ever think of something so stupid?”

“Because I’ve thought about if I were the big sister” Anja replied.

“That’s silly; there’s no way I could ever be anyone’s little sister at this point” Cait replied laughing.

“See, that’s why you should think what it would be like if our roles were reversed; if I was your big sister”

Cait shook her head “You’re crazy; I’m not going to play your little game of house or whatever babies like you want to play and pretend”

“I just mean that if you thought about it, maybe you wouldn’t tease me” Anja replied.

Cait smiled “That’s just how it works squirt; big sisters tease little sisters…it’s just the luck of the draw that I was born 10 years before you”

“What if you weren’t so lucky?” Anja asked “Would you just take it every time I made fun of you?”

Cait shrugged “No way to find out”

“That’s what you think” Anja said.

“And just what exactly is that supposed to mean?” Cait asked, her face a look of disgust.

Anja looked down at the glowing bird around her neck and a thought came to her, a certainty “If you say what you really want right now; it will come true”

Cait towered over her as she was still on her knees but she looked up into her sister’s eyes and said “I wish you wouldn’t be mean to me anymore”

Cait felt a tightness in her throat at the words but dismissed them.

Anja saw the look in her sister’s eyes change. The certainty and cockiness that she usually had was gone and Anja saw an entirely new look, a look she had never seen before in Cait’s eyes; uncertainty, doubt and maybe even a little bit of her own fear.

Anja stood up and Cait actually took a step back. She took a deep breath and said “I wish you could see what it’s actually like to be the little sister. I wish you were 8 years old!”

With those words Cait’s jaw dropped open, she didn’t know why she felt afraid, but she definitely did. Her mouth went dry and a cold shiver went up her spine, corkscrewing through her entire body. Her shoulders tensed up and pulled in and her legs clamped tight against one another; her knees and ankles tight together. She realized she was pulled up like a ball with her elbows in tight at her sides as well and she blinked looking down at her little sister.

A warm feeling rose up her neck just as she felt her body begin to shrink. Her bra, always full and weighed down against her chest suddenly popped up along the bottom and Cait felt the gap suddenly appear.

The shoulders of her sweater suddenly gaped up and she could see her smooth pale skin clearly. Her bra straps lifted up and off her shoulders as well as her body seemed to fold in on itself, folding down smaller in size.

Now it was Anja’s turn to take a step back with her own mouth hanging open in shock. Cait had already shrank down several inches. Her skirt and leggings looked loose and baggy and her feet, already petite looked like they too were getting even smaller.

“What’s happening to me?” Caitlyn asked, her voice cracking and squeaking and rising in pitch. “What’s going on Annie? Why am I shrinking?”

Anja could hear the panic and fear in her sister’s voice. She had never heard her like this. She had never seen her like this either for that matter. “You’re going to be my age Caitlyn; you’re turning into an eight year old”

“What?!” Cait screamed and jumped up and down. “AH!” She followed up with as her skater skirt dropped off her slimming hips.

Anja looked at the skirt now laying at her sister’s feet and she began to laugh. A quick attempt at stifling it failed.

“Quit it!” Cait whined and stomped her foot.

Cait’s ass deflated and her hips went straight. Her thighs lost all bulk and curve and her calves turned skinny. Her blue nail polish changed to purple on her shrinking toes as her feet passed out of adult sizes and back to kids.

She balled up a fistful of leggings and panties trying to keep them up as her sweater slid lower covering up her flat butt and most of her thighs.

As the sweater got longer, her sleeves covered her hands concealing the fact that her fingers and hands had shrank down tiny at the ends of her now skinny and short arms.

Anja took another step back and gasped as Caitlyn shrank down shorter than her.

Cait now found herself looking up, UP! At her little sister. She shook her head violently back and forth as her long blonde hair thinned. Her nose shrank down button small and her lips thinned. Her cheeks rose up higher and her eyes shrank down in her younger looking face.

Cait squirmed; her bra was now useless and flapping around under her sweater; nothing was left on her chest to fill them up or even stop the cups from sliding around loose.

Freckles broke out across Cait’s nose and cheeks, her teeth shrank down and a few changed back into baby teeth inside her mouth as her chin rounded and pulled up. “No!” Cait managed to say.

“Yes” Anja said nodding slowly and looking down at her shorter sister. “Not so tough anymore are you Cait” she poked her hard in the middle of her flat chest.

Cait stumbled back shocked not only at having been regressed 10 years in age but also at much it hurt when she was poked. She swatted at Anja’s hand but Anja was faster.

Anja grabbed the bottom of the sweater and began to pull it off.

“No! Stop it Anja!” Cait cried clamping down and fiercely protecting her huge sweater.

The material began to change in Anja’s hand. The sweater got thinner and began moving on its own; tugging and pulling up closer and smaller.

Anja jerked her hand back as Cait froze.

Cait could feel her clothes moving on her body. They were getting smaller, coming in to fit her changed body. Her jaw hung open and she put her arms up and out as she stared down. Her blue sweater shrank down to size while her bra simply vanished. Her panties tightened down in conjunction with her black leggings which suddenly lost as many inches as she had and came up to hold tightly against her super skinny legs.

“What the…what’s happening to my room?!” Cait cried out as the changes surged forward. The skater skirt at her feet shrank down to size, an errant pair of socks that had been lying nearby shrank down into tiny little kid sized ankle socks. A pile of laundry on her desk chair completely changed from a pair of skinny jeans and a plunging neckline top to a long sleeved tee with a butterfly on it and kid sized 8 jeans.

Cait spun around as her TV vanished followed by her laptop. A Nintendo DS appeared in its place and a small clock radio took the place of the TV. The walls turned pink and posters of dolphins and animals appeared on the walls.

The closet doors were open and both girls looked as the pair of red heels Anja had been playing with dropped down flat and shrank down to a pair of red Mary Janes with sparkles on them. All the clothes hanging up changed to kid sizes and styles and all the shoes shrank down as well.

“No!” Cait screamed, her tiny hands to her face “What did you do?!”

Anja smirked “This is even better than I could have imagined”

Cait flew at her sister, arms and fists flailing. She landed one blow to the side of Anja’s face but Anja quickly and easily grabbed her out of control sister’s wrists.

Cait’s jaw hung open “This is not happening to me!” she thought “This can’t be real! This has to be some kind of bad dream!”

“Ow!” Cait heard herself yelling as Anja bent her arms back quickly overpowering her “cut it out” she mumbled.

“Do you give up?” Anja asked.

Cait didn’t answer so she twisted even more.

Cait bit down, trying not to give in “This is your last chance…don’t yell, don’t yell, don’t…” she thought.

“I GIVE UP”! Cait yelled out “Let me go!”

“HA!” Anja let go off her sister’s wrists and gave her a shove as she did. Watching Cait stumble across the floor a few steps then begin to rub her wrists gave Anja the best feeling she had ever known.

“I can’t believe it actually worked!” Anja thought. The bird was still glowing and a new idea popped into her head.

“This is the worst day ever” Cait pouted “This day can’t get any worse”

“Oh really” Anja teased. ”I think I might still have one more trick up my sleeve”

“What are you going to do?” Cait pleaded “Please don’t turn me into a baby!”

“Ha…that would be cute but I have a better idea than that” Anja said walking slowly towards Caity.

Caity looked up the few inches to Anja, she didn’t like the look she had in her eyes.

“I wish I was the age you used to be” Anja said “I wish I was the 18 year old big sister”

Cait felt her stomach drop. Anja folded her arms over her chest, a smug look in her eyes “Let’s see how you like being my little sister from now on”

Caity scrambled back “No! Please don’t do that! I’m sorry…I’ll be nice to you if you just change me back”

“Sorry…too late” Anja shrugged and put her hands out palms up before she laughed “I think I’m going to enjoy this; I mean, if I can already overpower you when we’re the same age, just imagine what I can do when I’m the lucky one who was born 10 years before you” she mocked her while leaning forward. “Pipsqueak” she added for her own enjoyment.

A sudden growth spurt hit Anja as she stood back up straight “Whoa!” she exclaimed as she began to steadily grow taller. Her leggings lifted up away from her ankles, pulled down at her waist and began to bulge at the seams.

Her feet pulsated as they grew longer and wider. Her toes popped outward and spread out with a dark purple polish covering her nails and contrasting with the bright purple her little sister now wore on her tiny toes.

Anja wiggled her fingers; they felt like they were asleep as they too grew out long and thin. A white nail polish appeared on her fingers as they grew.

Her arms stretched out and the sleeves of her gray sweatshirt rose up and pulled back on her arms. Her shirt lifted up exposing her stomach as she continued to grow taller and taller.

Anja smiled at seeing herself growing farther and farther away from Cait “I think I’m going to be taller than you were at this age” she teased.

Anja felt a warmth spread out through her body; she was experiencing puberty in quick time, maturing rapidly.

Her thighs expanded popping the inner seams of her red and white leggings as they rounded out. Her hips shifted wider but not as wide as Caitlyn’s hips had been. Her ass began to lift up and push out tearing even more of her pants “Oh!” she said feeling the air pass over her exposed skin.

Anja was already taller than 5’3” and showing no signs of stopping anytime soon. Her face was maturing and changing to Cait’s awe struck eyes.

Anja’s nose grew longer and her mouth wider. Her eyes began to shift and slide further out taking on a naturally smoky and heavy lidded look as her cheeks streamlined and turned sleek over top a pointy chin.

Anja’s hair was growing longer and thicker as her shoulders rolled back and her hips shifted once again giving her an arch in her back.

Her kitty sweatshirt continued rising up and tightening on her larger body. She felt a very distinct tingle center in her chest as her breasts started to grow.

While she was going to be taller than Cait had ever even dreamed of being, she would also not be as well-endowed in the chest. Her breasts stopped at a 34B; perky and round and her hands flew up under her shirt to give them a satisfying squeeze.

Anja’s eyes fluttered at the sensations awakening in her body. She shivered, her shoulders rocked and her hips shimmied and a sly smile crossed her filling out lips. She ran her tongue over her straight white teeth, all baby teeth had advanced up as she had aged.

A new deeper sensation settled into her abdomen spreading warmth up through her. It made her rise up on her tiptoes as her body fully grew into its new awareness.

Anja looked down; way down to her little sister “You look so little!” she said in a much deeper voice that was tinged with more of an accent than she usually had.

Anja had lived in Serbia until she was 15 now, not just 5 so it was harder for her to lose her accent. She giggled at the knowledge flowing into her as her life changed.

“Anja…you’re like, huge!” Caity said looking up “You’re as tall as Daddy!”

“I know!” she replied. Anja had grown all the way up to 5’11” and while she knew she had taken Cait’s roster spot on the basketball team; they played totally different positions.

Cait hated how immature she sounded; her voice was high pitched and despite trying her hardest, she just couldn’t think of or remember any bigger words.

Anja put her hands on her thighs and felt the material begin to change. It got thicker and heavier as the leggings grew larger and the seams fixed themselves up. The red and white changed out to charcoal gray as they came down and comfortably covered her curves. Her panties increased in size, lifting up to accommodate her round ass and hips.

Her childish and child’s sized sweatshirt now pulled down longer on her sleeves and covered her belly changing into a maroon colored top in the process and a bra appeared underneath, clasping down and hitching up her new breasts.

Anja chuckled as she adjusted the straps on top of her shoulders and looking down at her new outfit. She looked across the hall at the open doorway to her room “Oh!” she said as she rushed past the dumbfounded Cait and crossed the hall in two easy bounds.

She stood in the doorway for a second before venturing further in, her mouth open as she watched her walls go from pink to a light green. Her comforter with the unicorn on it changed into a plaid pattern and all the toys began to vanish one by one from the floor and shelves.

Cait scooted in behind her sister and she too watched the changes occur in reverse to what had happened to her room and to her life. 

A laptop appeared on top of her clean off desk soon followed by a stack of High School textbooks and an iPad. A TV and even a PS4 appeared across the room making her jaw drop. The room started to get messier as clothes piled up in a few places. She saw a particular piled with a basketball uniform on top of blue and white warm up pants and high top sneakers on the bottom. The jersey said Bellamy #42 while Cait’s number had been 24.

Cait went to the pile and picked up the jersey which now looked almost as big as her “This isn’t right” she said shaking her head.

Anja barely heard her. Her shelves were filling up with all kinds of trophies and medals and plaques for her years of playing basketball and volleyball and she watched them all appear.

An iPhone appeared on top of her bed as she spun around to watch all the clothes in her closet grow from kids clothing to a much more appropriate collection for someone her age and size.

Dresses and skirts appeared but not too many. A few pairs of heels popped in but more of her shoes were flats and sneakers befitting her more casual nature.

Curious, she went to her dresser and opened up drawers finding panties and bras and camis galore.

“We’ve switched places Caity…isn’t this great?” Anja said still getting used to her thicker accent.

“No! It’s not great!” Caity said with a look of shock and disgust on her face “I’m 18…not 8! Change me back!”

“Mmm…yeah…I don’t think so” Anja replied.

“What are you talking about?! You have to switch us back before Mommy…I mean Mom and Dad get home” she said blushing.

“But we just got here” Anja answered looking completely over the top of her little sister “And why would I even want to…I don’t want to go back to being the little sister. I just wished for us to switch and, here we are, we switched”

“But this is nuts!”

“I know right. Maybe this is the way it was meant to be since it came true” Anja looked down “Finally a way for you to understand what it’s like to be the little one and get bossed around and picked on by someone who’s bigger than you”

“But…” Cait said with fear now gripping her chest.

“I mean wishes like this just don’t come true without a reason” Anja argued as she absentmindedly picked up various pieces of her new wardrobe. She looked down and realized that her necklace, while smaller and higher up on her chest, was no longer glowing.

“I…I’m not leaving until you switch us back” Cait said in her most determined voice.

Anja snorted out a laugh and tilted her head.

“What?” Cait said as her big sister approached her and she felt true fear ripple through her tiny body. “Hey! What’re you doing?!”

Anja simply put her hands under Cait’s armpits and lifted her up and began carrying her to the door. Cait flailed and kicked but hit nothing but air “Cut it out Anja” she whined “Put me down!”

Anja laughed “Oh…does the baby not like it?” she asked sarcastically “You had no problem doing this to me as recently as yesterday. I have no idea what you would’ve done to me just a few minutes ago when you caught me in your room with your shoes”

“Nothing…I wasn’t going to do anything to you!” Cait protested.

“Yeah…sure” Anja got to her doorway and tossed Cait out of her arms “I totally believe that”

“Ow!” Cait landed awkwardly but kept her feet “I’m telling Mom”

Anja chuckled at the threat “Oh, that sounds so familiar but yet so much better on this end of it” She towered over her making Cait walk backwards as she talked “You wanted to beat my ass every time I even breathed near any of your stuff so now the shoes on the other foot if you will little sis. I’m the one in charge now; get used to it. You’re nothing but a little kid, a second grader like I used to be. You have absolutely no power around here anymore”

Tears welled up in Cait’s big blue eyes as her back came in contact with the wall. “Look!” Anja pointed at the wall behind her where their family portrait hung.

Cait gasped when she saw it.

“See; Mom and Dad won’t be able to save you” Anja laughed pointing to the picture that now had a small blonde haired girl sitting on their Dad’s lap while the very tall brunette leaned in from the back “They won’t think anything is wrong at all”

Cait stood in the hall hyperventilating “Oh No!” she kept repeating “This is a bad dream and I just need to wake up”

“Girls! I’m home!” Anja smiled as Cait gasped again upon hearing their Mom’s voice come in through the door.

They heard her fumbling with her keys and opening up the closet at the bottom of the stairs and kicking her shoes off.

“I didn’t feel like cooking so I brought dinner home” she called out.

Anja smelled pizza and her stomach rumbled.

“Don’t say anything!” Cait whispered harshly.

Anja smiled “Sounds great Mom…we’ll be down in a second”

“Okay…did either one of you do your homework yet?” she answered back.

Cait’s mouth dropped and so did her hopes.

“No not yet; I’ve got Chemistry and Government but it won’t take me long” Anja replied.

“And what about you Caity; do I need to help you with your spelling words?” Lisa Bellamy called up as she sorted through the mail.

Cait froze yet again “I had that homework” she thought hearing Anja call out her subjects but trying to access a memory of chemistry came up blank as did government and algebra and so many other subjects she had spent the last 10 years studying. She did however find that she knew all the characters on Paw Patrol now and every episode of Peppa Pig.

Anja bounded down the stairs “That smells so good” she said marveling at seeing that she was now also 7 inches taller than her Mom.

“I got a pepperoni, a veggie, a sausage, mushroom and pepperoni for you and a cheese for your sister” Lisa said as Anja picked up the boxes and carried them to the kitchen “where’s your sister?’

“I’m sure she’ll be down in a minute” Anja answered. She went to the cupboard “Oh Yes!” she thought as she easily reached the plates and glasses “Couldn’t do that this morning” she thought proudly “But now it’s little Caity who will have to climb up on the counter to get to the dishes, not me ever again”

She heard footsteps coming slowly down the hall toward the kitchen. “Hey Caity, how was your day at school?” Lisa asked her youngest daughter.

Caity shrugged “Fine I guess”

Lisa furrowed her brow “That doesn’t sound fine…why so grumpy?”

“If only you could see Mother” she thought bitterly. “I guess I’m just tired” she replied.

“Well I’m starving” Anja said helping herself to three pieces of pizza. She pulled out her chair, marveling at how small it looked to her now. She sat and where she used to have to worry about her feet not touching the ground, now she was worried about bumping her knees on the bottom of the table.

Lisa got a piece of cheese pizza and a glass of milk for Cait, who sat in her chair swinging her dangling feet back and forth.

Cait nibbled at her pizza. After a few bites, she was full while she watched Anja wolf hers down. She drank her milk all the way down but while Anja went up to her room to do her homework, she found herself having to sit with her Mom at the kitchen table to do hers.

“At least it should be easy” she thought as she brought out her folder. Sighing she got out a math worksheet with simple two column adding and subtracting problems but just as her pencil began to go down, she hesitated “5 minus 9…I have to…um…I have to borrow from the other number” her pencil scratched away and her numbers were large and clumsy. She tried to write her name at the top but found that she could only print now “Oh No!” she thought yet again “Anja took my brains too!”

She began to panic internally “She really made me go down to her level. I only think and talk like I’m a second grader besides looking like one!”

“Do you need help?” Lisa asked “You should know this”

“I do” Cait said determined. She fought her way through the double sided sheet of paper.

“Now I’ll quiz you on your spelling” Lisa said taking a different page out.

“Ok” Cait replied smiling for the first time. Her brain was settling down and even though she wasn’t happy about it, she did appreciate the attention she was getting from her Mom.

“Welcome” Lisa said smiling.

Cait’s brain kicked into a higher gear “I know this” she thought “W-E-L-C-O-M”

“E…there’s an e on the end honey” Lisa said smiling broader.

“What?” she said as her brain screamed at her “You’re 18 and you can’t spell welcome!”

“There…as in I see the cat over there” Lisa said giving the prompts.

Cait actually had to stop and think about it before spelling out “T-H-E-R-E” in a very shaky and unsure tone of voice.

“Yes!” Lisa said smiling broadly.

Each smile warmed Caity up a little bit more as her mind relaxed and resettled at its new level.

Anja had lingered in the living room listening to Caity get help on what should have been her homework. She did the simple math problems in her head as she heard Caity talking to herself and beamed at her increased intelligence. ”This is so freaking awesome!” she thought before slipping up the stairs to her room.

Anja closed the door behind her and truly alone for the first time since switching ages, she did a happy dance around her changed surroundings. “Wow” she said looking in the mirror and examining her body and face.

After several minutes and a few outfit try-ons, she grabbed the phone and started sorting through texts slowly becoming aware of who everyone was and her relationship with them.

She answered some, ignored others and then moved to her desk. She opened her iPad and went straight to the notes she had taken in class before logging in to her laptop and going to her homework assignments.

It was easy. Chemistry was just there as was government like she’d been studying it all for years “I have the mind of a high school senior…it’s real!” she understood “We truly swapped places, roles and ages”

As she worked, she heard her Dad come in and then heard her Mom and sister come upstairs “You get your stuff ready and I’ll draw your bath honey” she heard her Mom say to her little sister who now needed help getting ready for bed again.

Anja peered through a crack in her door watching her sister across the hall, smiling the whole time as she watched.

Cait had to get up on her tip toes to look in the top drawer of her dresser and even then still had to reach to grab her favorite nightgown with the unicorns on it. She then went and picked out her underwear for the night as Anja stifled a laugh at her choices “No more Victoria’s secret…now it’s My Little Pony!”

Anja could hear the water running and smell the bubblegum scent from the bubble bath wafting down the hall.

Cait never even glanced across the hall as she ran from her room to the bathroom, her long blonde hair flying wildly out behind her as her stubby legs pumped.

She felt slightly self-conscious suddenly as she took off the clothes that she realized had changed while on her body. Her Mom left her alone, she was at least old enough for that. But as she took off her leggings and shirt, she couldn’t help but picture how they had looked earlier, before the change.

Her black leggings were so tiny now along with all the rest of her clothes. She examined them trying to see if she could detect where and how they had shrunk down to fit her changed body.

She also noted that change. Her body. It looked nothing like it had when she had driven herself home from school “Maybe if I had stopped off at Steph’s house none of this would have happened” she thought. “I never would have caught her in my room and she never would have had the chance to do this to me”

Cait closed her eyes; she could still clearly see how she had looked. The image she was seeing in the mirror didn’t match up at all even if it was familiar to her from her past.

She stepped into the tub feeling the warm water over her feet and calves before she sat down “I’m not even old enough to shower by myself anymore…how can I ever get Anja to reverse this?”

She lay back against the back of the tub, her tiny toes barely above water level and covered in suds popped up way far back from the opposite end. “Last night I could have laid in here and put my feet up flat against it; I’m like a full foot shorter!”

She found an urge forming up inside her. Cait fought it initially before it became too overpowering “Just do it” she told herself “You might as well have fun if you don’t know if you’re ever actually going back”

Caity began to splash and play in the water.

Anja didn’t feel like showering, she knew she didn’t want to strip her hair anymore so she decided to just change clothes and get ready for bed.

She was still fascinated by her body; how big it was, how developed it was and what she could now do with it. She took off her leggings and top and just put on a simple tank top to sleep in along with a pair of cotton shorts “God…I hope I’m not close to my period” she joked with herself.

She heard her sister pad down the hall, going to her room for her 8:30 bedtime and smiled to herself. After her door closed, she went to the bathroom to wash off her face and brush her teeth.

She bared her full, straight white teeth “All adult!” she noted as she scrubbed them up. She still carried her childlike wonder with her along with her newly acquired maturity and education. “This has to be driving Caity crazy! She knows she’s 18 but can’t think beyond the level of an 8 years old”

Caity settled into her small bed. She fought the coming exhaustion but also embraced it “Maybe if I fall asleep, I’ll wake up tomorrow morning back in my real body” she hoped.

Anja dicked around on the internet, some Kik groups and chats and texts until around midnight before she finally crashed.

“Don’t…Stop… Quit it!” Cait was dreaming; she was the one now standing with her hands on her hips and it was Annie pleading with her as she shrank back down to her own size and Cait felt the rush of growing a foot in height.

A smile crossed her sleepy face as she turned from her side to her back “I was dreaming” she thought as her eyes began to open.

Her heart fluttered in nervous anticipation as a series of mangled images, hopes, fears and dreams all mingled together in that one moment.

“Who am I?” rushed to the forefront of her mind as her eyes focused on the white ceiling above her. She was afraid to look around, afraid to move for what her body would feel like.

“Please, Please, Please, Please” she pleaded that once she sat up she would feel the familiar heft of her breasts back on her chest.

“1…2…3” Cait sat up fast flying up into a sitting position. But as the world focused around her; her heart sank.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she picked up that her walls were pink. She felt no excess body weight shifting and worst of all, she heard heavy footsteps in the hall going in across the way.

Cait slapped at her flat chest and tears welled up in her tiny blue eyes “It wasn’t a dream…shoot! I’m still a little kid! Darn it! I’m really stuck like this!”

She swung her skinny short legs out and had to hop down to the floor. Her door swung open and she saw her Mom’s smiling face “Good you’re already up! Get dressed honey, I’m going to get breakfast started” she added before closing the door behind her.

Cait quickly got dressed in jeans and a sparkly pink top. She hopped up on her step stool to brush her hair in the mirror “Well, at least my mornings are faster getting ready” she sighed.

Anja had woken up and known immediately that things were going to remain this way. She was partly on her side but mostly on her stomach but what she noticed first, was her foot flat up against the foot board of her bed.

Anja smiled sleepily while feeling her right breast getting mushed between the mattress and her body before turning on her back. The green walls of her room greeted her as she stretched out her long lithe body.

Her thoughts were different; besides being more complicated and stressful, more words popped up in Serbian than usual.

She showered, lingering under the hot water much longer than usual. She did her hair and put on some makeup as well with a steady and well trained hand at maintaining her eyebrows.

She got dressed in gray leggings, gray boots and a white and gray stripped sweater. As she picked up her purse, new revelation hit her as she dug into it “Holy shit! I can drive and I have my own car!”

It took all she had not to squeal out in delight “No more stupid bus for this girl!”

She grabbed her backpack, her iPad and her gear bag for basketball practice after school and lugged them all down the stairs.

“You have time for something to eat Anja?” her Mom asked her.

“No…I’m already running late” Anja said towering over her Mom even as her Mom put on her heels for her day at work by the front door.

Cait stood just a few steps away wearing her jacket, her hair in pigtails and her backpack on both her shoulders. Their eyes met but no smiles were exchanged.

“Well have a good day” Lisa told Anja as she headed to her car. She threw all her stuff in the backseat and was buckling up as she watched her little sister walk down to the tree at the bottom of the yard to wait for the bus as their Mom went to her car.

Anja backed out as she paused shifting from reverse to drive, she glanced up and saw Cait sticking her tongue out at her before she could drive away.

Anja just laughed.

As she drove to school, she patted the inside pocket of her jacket. For whatever unknown reason, she had decided to bring along her necklace with the bird’s head on it. She missed her friend Jillian…

Anja passed the bus a few hundred feet later and laughed as she saw Jillian’s small face at the window. “Soon enough my friend…” she said to herself.

When the bus pulled up, Caity got on a recognized Jillian’s wide smile “Hey Caity” Jillian waved as she came down the center aisle. “How’re you doing?”

Caity had to jump up slightly onto the bus seat but she smiled as she sat back “I’m okay” she said before Jillian launched into her night being tormented by her big brother.

“Yeah…my sister was extra bad last night too” Caity said cryptically.

“Sometimes I just wish we could be the ones in power” Jillian said chilling Caity to the bone.

She looked past her friend and out the window “I wonder if I’ll be sitting next to her brother tomorrow” she thought.

Anja arrived at school and headed to her locker. Her friend Beth was already sitting on the ground by it doing some math problems “Hey girl!” she called out seeing Anja approach.

Beth got up and they gave each other a quick hug like always before Beth launched into a story about her little brother annoying her the night before.

Anja just smiled “My sister was very well behaved last night” she said with a sly smile.

“Lucky you” Beth said with an eye roll.

Anja looked past her friend and down the hall at the numerous and various people milling about “How many of you could use a little drop in years?” she wondered to herself patting her inside pocket.