(This story contains topics of transformation, you have been warned)

Keith didn’t think he would be back here so soon, not after the incident with Sam’s sister and the basketball team. But here he was, sitting at the kitchen table at Sam’s house, sitting across from Sam and Emily. Surprisingly, Sarah had not been invited. It had all started this morning with an innocent enough call from Sam’s home number. Keith had assumed it was Sam with one of her new ideas of what to do to him, but surprisingly it was her sister. Unlike Sam, she got straight to the point. She needed a favor for the basketball team, and she didn’t know who else to turn to.

Keith was surprised to say the least. He was used to being transformed and used by his pair of friends, but this was actually refreshing. It was a short bus ride over and Keith now found himself across the table from the two sisters, ready to hear what was needed of him.

“So Keith” Emily started, “ I know we got off on the wrong foot last week, and I haven’t paid you back for what happened, but I could really use your help.”

“It’s fine” Keith stated, “I know it really wasn’t your fault and all. It sort of just happened”

“Yeah, but still, I am sorry about it and I was just so caught up in the moment”

“Really it’s fine. So what do you need?”

“Well, you know how next week is Halloween?”

“Yeah?”

“Well the basketball team this year was asked to decorate the gym this year, and we sort of left it to the last minute”

“So you need me to help decorate?” Keith asked, not really following.

“No, not really. Originally we had a deal with a local craft shop to have a giant foam pumpkin crafted to be the centerpiece of the gym, hanging off the ceiling in the center of the gym to give the place an autumn feel for the Halloween party next week. The rest of the gym was to be covered in fake webs and leaves. The issue is, and why I wanted to talk to you, is that there is an issue with the pumpkin. The craft guys called yesterday and told us it wasn’t going to be ready for the party.” It was getting clearer what they were asking Keith, but he remained quiet to let Emily finish.

“Now the team is really in a bind. We bet on having that giant pumpkin for the gym decorations and not we have nothing to decorate the gym with. And that is why I called Keith. I know we didn’t get off on the right foot, but I could really use your help. Please, will you help me?” Emily’s voice was edged with worry as she made her request, unsure if Keith would come to the rescue. But there was no risk of that happening as Keith had already decided to help.

“I’ll help. Not really sure what you need me to do but ” Keith answered confidently, much to the joy of Sam’s sister. But Sam looked like she had some reservations.

“Keith, are you sure about this? You do realize that you will be stuck there for at least a week.” Sam asked with surprising concern.

“Stuck where for a week?” Keith was still not following.

“As the pumpkin… did you miss that part?” Sam questioned, surprised to see that Keith had basically missed the important point.

“The pumpkin? Well… um” Keith tried to answer, but he paused for a moment. A picture flashed through his head. Him, massive and orange, staring down at a crowd of people all looking at him and laughing. “Now that you mention it, I’m not really sure...” he started to respond, but immediately stopped when Emily’s face dropped. He knew before he spoke that it meant more to him to be of help than any humiliation he might suffer from it. “... No, I said I would do it so I will”

“I did my part” Sam said as she stood up. “Good luck to the two of you”

“You’re not going to help?” Emily asked with a confused look on her face. This was obviously not what she had been expecting.

“Nope” Sam responded with a matter of fact attitude. “Your issue, your solution. Good luck.” she casually added as she went out of the kitchen. This left Keith and Emily staring at the two of each other awkwardly at the table.

“So… do you happen to have a plethora of experience of working with rubber people?” Keith asked finally. He hoped that Emily had her sister's interests.

“No, but how hard can it be?” Emily responded with more confidence than she felt.

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The two had ended the conversation shortly after with an agreement to meet up at the school’s gym later that evening. This left Keith with a bunch of free time and an awkwardly short shopping list to complete. He took the bus down to the local mall. A slow forty five minute wait that he did not really want to do. A bit of meandering through the mall took him where he needed to go because, in reality, there was only one item on that list and he was not ready to get it.

He entered the store, Bikini Village, as it was the only place that had what he was looking for. Quickly, he made his way over to the men’s section, waving away the store clerk that came to help him. His eyes flew across the store's stock, quickly drilling down to the item he needed to grab. Keith grabbed his size, medium, and quickly stepped up to the cash.

“Hi there. Found everything you were looking for?” the cashier asked nicely.

“Yes” Keith’s response was quick and curt. The woman behind the cash picked up the item and went to scan it, only to pause for a moment as her eyes furled.

“Aren't you a little young to be buying a speedo?” the cashier questioned. “If you want we have some more age appropriate”

“No, I need this… for a school project” Keith answered fast.

“Alright, if it is for a school. That will be 18.57” the cashier seemed satisfied with Keith’s answer. Keith quickly paid by card, wanting to get out of there as fast as possible. As fast as he could he was on the bus with a few hours to spare. Now all that there was to do was kill time before this evening.

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Evening was slow to come for the rubbery boy. He was having mild regrets for agreeing to Emily’s request, and trying on the swimsuit at home had  just made the feeling all the worse. Was he really going to be exposing himself like that for all the school to see? That, and other questions, danced arounds Keith’s head as the time finally came to get to the school’s gym, with not a moment to spare. He paused anyways when he arrived, caught his breath, and opened the doors to the gym.

Inside he found more people running around than he expected. His original idea was that it was just going to be him and Emily having the gym to himself, but much to his horror every girl on the basketball team was there. He recognized a few from his time at their practice, which made this all the worse. They were scattered around the gym, setting up tables and decorations on the wall while two of them were working with metal wire in the center of the gym. Whatever it was it was starting to take shape, standing easily taller than Keith and at least double that wide.

“Keith!” a voice called out, “I am so happy you  came.” It took him a moment to pick out the voice in the gym, but eventually he saw Emily waving as she jogged over. This got the attention of almost every other girl in the gym, many of whom had stopped what they were doing to start wandering over. “So everyone, this is the guy I was talking about that is going to help us out of our pickle” Emily called out to everyone in the gym. Murmurs could be heard in response as everyone perked up at the statement.

Keith felt obligated to respond, “Hi.” he said awkwardly.

“Great timing Keith,” Emily said as she wrapped an arm around the younger boy and started to lead him towards the center of the gym. “We are almost ready here to get started. Were you able to get the speedo?” Emily asked without hesitation, which  raised a few snickers from the crown.

“Um.. yes” Keith meeped quietly. Emily glanced over at him, looking for something.

“So where is it?” she inquired.

“I’m already wearing them” he answered quietly, shying away at the murmurs from the girls. The two of them had finally made it to the center of the gym, where the large metal wire frame structure sat. Large half moon circles were tied into a center point at the bottom and the top, while a thick rope ran from the top point to somewhere in the ceiling, coming down somewhere off to the side of the gym.

“So here it is” Emily commented as they arrived. The two girls that were working with the metal wire extended their greetings before getting back to their business.

“And ‘it’ is?” Keith asked cautiously. The two stepped up the frame to get a closer look.

“So this is our pumpkin that we are going to be presenting. Yeah, I know, it doesn’t look that much like the pumpkin that we promised. But here is the plan” Emily explained, seeing Keith’s looks of confusion. “So the idea is actually quite simple. The metal frame here is not actually to be a form, but more of a constriction. Right, back a step. The idea was for us to use you like a giant inflatable ball. But instead of just inflating you like right here, we would do it inside the metal frame. That way the metal would push into you and cause some nice, pumpkin like bulges”

“Right” was Keith’s only response as he started at the metal frame, held together with twisted wire, twist ties and tape. He ran his hand over one of the joints only to be immediately pricked by a bit of wire sticking out. The rubbery boy yelped out in response, causing one of the girls working on the frame to run over.

“Sorry!” she called out before looking over the joint. “Crap, missed a spot” she responded before wrapping the joint in tape, “that should be the last of them.” Keith was starting to get worried.

“Are we sure this is going to work? The last thing I want to be is a pile of scraps lying on the ground” the rubbery boy sounded worried. Sharp things did not agree with his delicate form.

“Yeah, sure. Let’s just make sure that the rest of the joints are good. Right Cait and Victoria?” Both of the girls agreed. “I think we should be good to go. Ready to get started Keith?”

“Like here? Now” Keith asked with worry, suddenly finding himself the center of attention.

“Yeah, ready?” Emily asked without hesitation.

“Umm” the boy could barely respond, eyes glancing back and forth.

“Oh” the girl realized what was holding Keith back. “Yeah, let’s go somewhere private. Follow me Keith”

“Thanks” Keith responded as he was led across the gym to the far side. The rest of the basketball team got back to what they were doing knowing that the show was over as Emily led Keith into a supply closet that was adjacent to the gym. It was poorly lit but still offered enough light for the two to see each other.

“This better?”

“Yeah, I think” Keith responded as he stood there waiting. Emily was quiet for a bit as a silence grew between the two, both waiting on the other to act. But it was the tall girl that broke the silence first.

“So, um, are you going to get started.”

“Started? With what?” was Keith’s only response.

“Maybe getting undressed?”

“Uh, right. Should probably do that.” Keith said as he fumbled to get his shirt off. It was unusually difficult for the boy, who spent way too long struggling with the fabric.

“Let me help with that,” Emily commented as she got closer to help, grabbing at the fabric and using her height to leverage the shirt off of Keith. The boy was a bright red when the shirt popped off, which Emily chalked up to Keith exerting himself. “Need any more help”

“No! I got this” Keith embarrassingly said. He turned around from Emily as he worked his pants off with much more success. But the body, now nearly naked in just a speedo, couldn’t find the courage to turn around. Thankfully for him Emily did not seem to notice. “Okay, I’m ready”

“Right… So how do you want me to do this?”

“Um, just go and do what you want right?”

“Well, how does Sam do it?” Emily asked, clearly uncertain on what to do next.

“I don't know, she just sort of squashed me”

“Anything else?”

“Not really” Keith said as he turned his head to look at Emily, “Are you sure about this?”

“Yeah, I got this. How hard can it be? Right?” Emily said as she placed one hand against the back of the boy and the other against the top of his head. She breathed in deeply, holding it in for a few seconds before breathing out while driving down with both of her palms.

“Bleh” the sound came out of Keith as the air was forced from his lungs under the pressure. His head was pressed into his chest and chest into legs as he suddenly found himself a lot shorter than Emily. Her hands shook with hesitation as she started to tip Keith over to his side before beginning to knead his body like it was dough. This weird massage slowly loosened up Keith's body, making it start to get tacky under Emily’s fingers. Palm press after press slowly melded Keith's features into a single homogenous blob, with special care being taken not to do too much to the boy's face. But even with the boy being well kneaded Emily was still not happy with her work, continuing to knead as dissatisfied sounds rumbled from her throat.

“Gah” Emily shouted out in raw frustration before slamming her hand down right in the center of Keith, who deformed under the impact. But then there was a knock at the storage closet door as a strong looking, but also older, woman peaked in.

“How’s it going in here Emily?” the woman called out, taking in the full scene but not making any assumptions.

“Coach!” she jumped up. “Ah, hi. It's fine. I got this.”

“The girls outside tell me you’ve been in here for a while and that they are starting to get worried about you.”

“Yeah, I’m just having a little difficulty is all. But I don’t need any help. Really!”

“Look, Emily. As you coach and someone who has known you for a few years I can tell when something is up. And I know you girls have been trying to keep this to yourselves, but you shouldn’t feel afraid when you need help from someone.”

“Thanks coach, but really it’s fine.”

“Oh don’t tell me that. How about I tell you a story. You see, I used to have a friend in high school that was particular” the coach started to tell her tall as she made her way up beside Emily. “ One day he asked me to help him do something strange since he trusted me not to laugh at him.” she squatted down and pulled the rubbery mass of Keith off the ground, to which Emily tried not to react to. “So one day we found ourselves at a local bowling alley, but not to play a game” she carried Keith over to a shelf, removing a soccer ball bag and placing the rubbery mass in its place. “Well, more like behind the bowling alley. You see my friend was flexible, like really flexible” the coach continued as she emptied the soccer balls into a box, keeping the empty bag.

“I should really…” Emily tried to interrupt, but her coach was not having it.

“Hold on Emily let me finish. Where was I… yes. There we were, and I was there holding a ball bag just like this as my friend climbed in'' she talked on as she dropped the rubbery mass of Keith into the bag. “Now I didn’t know what I was doing at the time, but I was still a bit of a brute, so I just went like THIS!” Suddenly the coach yanked the bag through her other hand and took all the slack from around the rubber mass. But she didn’t stop there. With a heave of her back she pulled hard, forcing Keith to compress and round out under the force of the bag across his skin. But it wasn’t pleasant for the boy, as the wire mesh bag cut lines into his skin, leaving a deep, hexagonal pattern across his entire body. Suddenly though Keith found himself suddenly falling as the coach inverted the bag, causing the boy to bounce helplessly against the floor until the coach planted a solid foot against his bottom.

“Later I took my friend into the bowling alley for a few rounds. So look, don’t be afraid to rely on others Emily, as you might find someone who has gone through something similar” the coach said as she kicked Keith unceremoniously over to Emily.

“Yeah. Thanks coach” Emily said as she picked but the balled up boy.

“Well, I’ll leave you and Keith to your business. Getting rid of the lines on your friend there however is up to you though. Best of luck to you two” and with that, as fast as she entered the coach was gone.

“Well, that surprised me,” Emily said aloud. “Let’s say we get those lines out of you Keith.” Keith could not agree more, as the lines left behind by the soccer bag were starting to sting. Unlike forming a ball shape, smoothing one out proved much easier for the girl and soon Keith was smooth to the touch. “There, perfect!”

Keith was happy to be smoothed out. Although not unpleasant, the crevices that laced across his skin was one of the more unpleasant treatments that had been done to him. Satisfied, Emily gave her new ball a dribble unconsciously to test him out.

Thump, thump thump. The floor rushed into view again and again as Keith was thrown against it, getting a weird sense of deja vue from the experience. Thankfully Emily relied on what she was doing nearly immediately and apologetically stopped what she was doing. 

“Oops, sorry Keith. Now’s not the time for that. But now that you are ready, how about we get out there again” Emily apologized as she made her way out of the Storage room and back into the gym. A few of the girls took note of Emily’s return, but they kept to themselves as the pair made their way back to the center of the gym. “So how is it going here girls?” Emily asked the two that were working on the frame. Keith could immediately tell that changes had been made in the short time he had been away, with almost every joint of the pumpkin from now being wrapped in a heavy amount of tape. And he also noticed a new addition lying on the ground. It was a solid but small electrical air pump, with an awfully long power cord that ran to one side of the gym.

“I think we are ready to go,” one of them said. “So how do you want to do this?”

“Didn’t you already have a plan for this?” Emily questioned.

“Yeah, basically. Just he’s your friend and all so I wanted to check” she responded while raising her hands into the air. “Throw him here”

“Right. Catch” Emily stated as she thrusted Keith away, sending him crashing into the ground and into the girls awaiting arms. The boy got one last glance at the girl, who was now covering her mouth with both hands with eyes wide, before being casually spun to face this new girl. “Hey Keith. I’m Rachel, nice to meet you” Rachel introduced herself to the ball. 

“Right so Emily, can you go and grab the double sided tape right there, next to your left foot. Yeah that one. Now you see the center of the pumpkin, can you just put a big x of tape right there. Thank you. I’ll prep Keith up and be right over” she called out to Emily. “Right, now onto you Keith. You can probably guess what is going to happen next.” the girl commented to the ball as she retrieved the trailing end of a thin tube that ran from the small pump. With a tube in one hand Rachel casually picked up Keith with one hand before wedging him between her soft thighs, face facing straight out.

Her fingers began to probe at his mouth, weirdly tracing lines around his lips. The girl started to pinch at his cheeks pulling them left and right before she suddenly was able to snake a finger through his lips. It probed straight in, twisting around at any sign of resistance before retreating from the weirded out boy’s mouth. But Keith knew that this was only the start as Rachel now snaked the tube between his lips, filling his mouth with the taste of rubber as she began to bunch his lips up with her free hand. Finally, with a small piece of rope the girl extracted from her pocket she tied an unceremonious but biting knot around his lips, leaving him wincing from the pain but fully aware of the now air tight seal his mount had made around the pump tube.

“Alright, all finished over here Emily!” Rachel called out as she dropped Keith from between her soft legs to fall to the ground.

“I think I got it. How’s this?” Emily responded to the question. “But why did you want me to do that?”

“Oh well” the girl started to say as she picked up Keith casually and brought him to the center of the pumpkin frame. “It’s because it makes this part a lot easier” she continued as she placed the ball belly down right on the cross of the double sided tape. “See, he won’t roll around as much now”

“I see. I guess all that is left is to turn on the pump and wait. Right?”

“Basically, so let's get started then”

CLICK Keith heard the sharp click as one of the two girls turned on the pump then Vvvvvv

But there was no sudden rush like he was used to. No blast of air that blew him up, but instead a trickle of air started to snake it’s way into him. It slowly pushed into his body, unrelenting but gently as the air slowly caused the boy to swell. It seemed like Keith was not the only one surprised at how it was going as suddenly Emily was pulling at the knot on his mouth.

“Is it supposed to be this slow?” Emily questioned as she looked for a leak.

“It is a basketball pump Emily. It’s not really supposed to be doing carnival sized attractions” Rachel responded.

“But this is going to take forever. What are we going to do?”

“Well it’s not like we are in a rush or anything. Maybe we can just get Kathleen to come in early tomorrow to finish up the decorations” Rachel responded.

“Right, that would make sense. I see her over there let...” was all Keith could make out as Emily’s voice trailed off as two sets of footsteps could be made out. The girls left him alone to slowly bulge out in the center of the gym. The sound of the motor hummed next to Keith as he stared straight ahead, locked in place by his new form and the well placed tape on his belly. There he could only watch as members of the gym team worked to hang decorations on the wall, place tables and table covers as the gym was slowly transformed into a party room. But still the girls did not come back.

The motor kept humming, drowning out Keith’s ability to hear anything else that was going on in the gym. The constant noise served as a white noise as the air being pumped into him slowly massaged his insides. The embarrassment that he felt entering the gym was no more as a Zen like calm enveloped the boy. He zoned off thinking of little and enjoying the new feeling that enveloped him.

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SMACK

A hand cracked against his back, sending a torrent of vibrations throughout his body. Giggles could be heard shrinking away as suddenly as the attack itself had been. But the girls were not back yet. With nothing better to do Keith settled back down, soon lost against as his insides slowly began to stretch.

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“Alright Keith, I’m going to be heading home” it was Emily, crouching down to be face to face with him. She was cupping his face ever so gently against as she spoke. “It’s getting late and we are basically done here. We're going to have to leave the pump on all night in order to get you as big as we need, but I hope it’s not going to bother you too much. Kathleen promised to be here bright and early to finish off your decorations tomorrow so she will be able to turn off the pump then. Right. Thanks again Keith” Emily smiled at the boy with a warmth like he had just saved Christmas, making this all the more worth it. Then the girl's hand retracted and she stood up. “Really Keith, thanks” she said heartfully before making her way out of view. Keith was once again alone, then with a clack the room went black, cutting the boys vision to zero. All that he could sense was the pump pumping away and the slow trickle of air that flowed into him. This time, he wasn’t going to be disturbed.

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SNAP

The sharp pain of Keith lips being snapped back into place woke Keith from his slumber. Confusion, shock  and panic took the boy as he realized he wasn’t at home, that he couldn’t move and that  there was a short girl that he didn’t recognize standing in front of him in the morning light. “Good morning Keith. Hope you were able to sleep” the girl commented as she smiled up at the boy. It was then that the boy realized that the girl wasn’t small, it was that he was massive. That, and Keith could no longer hear the pump going off in the background. 

“So Keith, are you ready for your new look?”

I guess so Keith could only think. Not that she waited for an answer before continuing on.

“Also, if you are wondering, it’s Kathleen. So I’m going to get started here Keith. Sorry in advance if this causes any discomfort” Kathleen continued on. Her comment confused Keith as she ducked back out of sight. He could hear her shuffling around but nothing that would indicate the discomfort. But suddenly Keith knew what she meant, as a coarse, horse haired brush coated in a chilling thick paste started to run up and down one of Keith’s cracks. The tickling of the brush and the shocking cold of the paste make Keith shake to the point that even Kathleen noticed.

“I’m sorry!” she called out, immediately pulling the brush back and placing one of her hands against Keith’s bloated form. Her calm hand made Keith acutely aware of how much he was shaking, so much so that it was causing his view to shuffle. “Alright Keith. I know you can’t talk right now and all but I’m going to be quick okay. I just need to cover up the wires in rubber paint so they don’t show through. Bear with me okay” she comforted Keith as Keith slowly settled down. As the shaking stopped Kathleen took that as a sign that he was ready. 

“Okay Keith. Just one more time”

Ready or not, Keith was forced to bear the brush's chilling and rough touch as it ran up and down across his body. The girl didn’t pause this time when Keith began to shake again, instead speeding up to try and get  it over with as fast as possible. Soon the brush retreated for the last time as Keith started to feel the rubbery paint begin to harden, sealing the metal wires to his skin. The reminder made him think back to the two girls that had assembled the frame, and he hoped they had found all the rough edges even though the worst was probably already past.

Pssst the sound surprised Keith as he started to wonder if Kathleen had turned on the pump again. But a smooth mist greeted Keith's behind, answering the question before the girl could.

“Oh right. I’m just using spray paint to get you to a bright shade of orange. Probably should have told you before I got started” Kathleen said as she worked, using the spray can to quickly apply a bright layer of orange to the boy's surface. Unlike the brush this layer of treatment was almost relaxing, as he was walking or rather rolling through a mister. “There! Done. Now just one more thing.” the girl said as she came into view for Keith, holding a large sheet of paper and a black capped spray can. “So what do you think Keith? I suppose I made it just for you” Kathleen giggled out as she held the paper for Keith to see. It was much bigger than your classic printer paper, with a multitude of triangles cut into the shape of a smile. The girl placed it right over Keith’s face, allowing him to see her smile through the eye holes as she uncapped the can and gave it a good shake.

Psssst the sprayer shot a fine mist of black right over Keith's partially obscured face before it was over. “There, all done. What do you know Keith, you make a pretty good pumpkin.” Kathleen commented as she inspected her work. The click of a door and the sound of multiple voices started to reach Keith’s ears. “And not a moment too soon. Hey Everyone!” Kathleen called out as she turned to face the entire basketball team. Most of the girls were staring right at Keith, impressed with what he had become. Especially Emily.

“Wow Kathleen, this is great. Was there any issues?”

“Nope, Keith was a champ through it all” Kathleen responded as the two walked over to right in front of Keith as the rest of the team flanked around him. Comments he couldn’t catch and small little laugh’s filled his ears and fingers probed into him from the many girls surrounding him.

“You did a great job. Now Keith looks perfect” Emily congratulated the painter. “Alright Keith, are you ready for the final step? Right, you can’t talk. I keep forgetting about that.” Emily continued on. She looked to the rest of the team before continuing. “Alright everyone, ready to get our pumpkin hung?” she asked the group, to which every enthusiastically agreed. The team rushed out of Keith’s view as he started to feel a fumbling sensation from above. 

“Alright everyone. Ready? Set? Go!”

Keith suddenly found himself flying at the ceiling. Almost out of control. But the girls knew what they were doing, stopping just short of the rafters as Keith found himself with a birds eye view of the gym. Slowly he spun on the spot until he spotted the team, standing next to a wall where a rope now was securely tied, all staring back. Many were smiling as they started up at him and there stood Emily, right out in the front. “Thanks again Keith!” she shouted aloud, “See you at the dance” she called as the team slowly filed out of the gym, leaving it prepped and ready for the big Halloween dance.