Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Never go outside of the walls and into the house. Don’t go past the bushes outside. Never go out during the day when the humans are up and about.

These were the rules that were set by her mother.

As restricting as those rules were, Bethany couldn’t blame her; they’d lost her father about eight years ago to their previous host, and considering that Bethany was her only family left, Bethany understood that her mother was going to be quite strict. She was all her mother had.

But that didn’t mean she agreed with them. Her mother’s rules may have kept her safe, but it also kept her confined. She had almost nowhere to go, nothing to do.

So she bent her mother’s rules a bit.

That didn’t mean she outright broke them. Gosh, no, she wasn’t stupid. She bent them just enough to allow herself some freedom. She established her own rules.

Don’t go out in the open inside the house. Don’t stay on the floor too long. Make sure the humans are in a different room before going out. Leave everything as it was so as not to arouse suspicion.

And only go out when her mother was asleep during the day.

These were the rules she set for herself. These were the rules she vowed never to break.

Even if her life was lonely, at least she had more freedom than with her mother’s rules.

She especially loved going into the smaller human’s room. He had a lot of clutter, which was excellent for hiding! Plus, the stuff that she could find was super interesting! She especially took a liking to his books! She couldn’t really read the ones that were on his shelves, as that would be really hard to move, but the ones that were laying on his desk wide open made for great reading!

She taught herself how to read, spying from within the walls when she was younger, watching as the larger human would help the smaller one with reading. She was proud of herself for being able to learn, and boy, was she glad she learned! The stories that humans would write! It was amazing what they could think of!

It was good that the smaller human, Owen, loved to read! Bethany never ran out of books to read with him! Plus, the larger human— Owen’s mom, she learned— apparently worked at a place with tons of books, some of which Owen would bring home with him! Not only that, if what Owen said was true, then him reading a lot meant he didn’t really have friends, which meant that he wouldn’t constantly be bringing other humans around, making exploring the house a whole lot safer!

Of course, that was kind of a mean thing to think. Even though Bethany knew that Owen loved reading, there were times where he seemed… a little lonely. Or maybe a lot more lonely than just a little. He did talk with people on his computer, but those never seemed to last long.

And Bethany could relate. There wasn’t much for her to do during the day, especially since her mother hadn’t yet taught her how to borrow properly, and the only other (living) Borrower she knew was her mother. Plus, her mother usually slept during the day, since she did her borrowing at night, which meant Bethany pretty much had no one to talk to all day.

As much as she related to Owen, though, she could never actually just talk to him! That was pretty much suicide! Every Borrower knew that humans were dangerous and that you couldn’t just interact with them! The stories of Borrowers getting caught never ended well, and after what happened to her father…

No, that wasn’t going to happen again. She wasn’t going to make that same mistake.

So she always hid just out of sight, quiet and all by herself. She probably sounded like the most bored three-inch-tall twelve-year-old in the world.

But thanks to Owen’s books, she wasn’t.

She carefully walked backwards on the page she stood on, mumbling the words under her breath. (Not talking to anyone led to silly habits like this.) As she finished the page, she stepped off, lifting it up gently and doing her best to turn it.

It was one of the more beat up books that Owen had from where his mom worked, those that were basically in no condition for other people to read. She found that those books were easier for her to read. Worn down books had pages that were easy for her to turn at her size; newer ones had pages that were way to stiff, so she rarely bothered to read those.

As the page settled down, she climbed back on to the book, continuing her read. “Man, all this hope and no Golden Ticket,” she said to herself. “I really hope you find one, Charlie.”

She continued reading, not caring that it was well into the afternoon, around the time school ended. Owen didn’t get home until very late with his mom, since he always went to that book place that his mom worked at. So yeah, Bethany could be kind of careless. But she always made sure to keep track of the time. Owen and his mom didn’t get home until after dark, so Bethany always read by daylight. As soon as it became too dark to read, she’d close the book and sneak back into the walls before her own mother woke up. She did this for years.

Which was why she wasn’t as careful as she should’ve been.

“Holy shoot!”

She almost jumped out of her skin at the voice. Looking up, there was Owen, standing in the doorway, staring right at her.

Another D in math. It sucked, but not like he really cared. Like, come on, since when was he going to use fractions in his real life? Seriously, he was going to live his entire life without using a single fraction and prove Mr. Barberry wrong!

Unfortunately, his mom didn’t agree with his thinking.

Handing him back the test, she shook her head. “Ay naku... Owen, you can’t keep bringing home D’s,” she told him. “Are you even trying?”

He just shrugged. Being honest, not really. How could he when math was the most boring subject on the planet in the history of school?!

“You can’t just give up just because you don’t like the class.” She sighed. “Today, I don’t want you helping me out at the library. I want you to go home and study your math lessons. In fact, I want you doing that everyday after school until you bring up your test grades and actually try. ”

“What?!” Owen cried out. It took all his energy not to shout it. He was in a library, after all. Except he had to leave it now.

“I’m sorry, Owen. You can start coming back here after school once your math grade improves.”

Great. The one and only thing that he looked forward to everyday was being taken away from him!

There was no point in arguing with his mom though, so he just walked home, dejectedly kicking the rocks in his path during the ten minutes it took for him to walk home from the library. It wasn’t fair! So what if he wasn’t good at math? It wasn’t like he was going to be a mathematician or whatever other job had math! He was definitely going to be an author, and as long as all his characters never had math, then he didn’t need to know math!

He groaned as he stepped up to the front door, putting in his house key and turning it slowly. He really didn’t want to go in. He figured if he did it all slowly, he could put off having to study.

Closing the front door slowly, he sighed softly. For a moment, he considered continuing his reread of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory instead of studying like his mom told him to. He accidentally left it on his desk instead of bringing it to school, after all! But if his grade didn’t improve, his mom would realize he never actually studied. She might ban reading from him then, too! So looks like he had to study. Why was life so cruel?

He took small, slow steps to his room, making sure to put off studying for as long as he could.

He stepped through the doorway, which he had left open from that morning. As his eyes landed on his desk, they widened.

Reading his worn out copy of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was a tiny, redheaded girl.

He blinked, then he blinked again. He had to be seeing things.

But she was still there.

“Holy shoot!”

His exclamation startled her, and she looked back up at him. Her tiny eyes were huge as they stared at each other. Before Owen could say anything else, she ran to the wall.

“Hey, wait!”

He rushed to his desk, trying to see where she ran off to. There was nothing there. Nothing he could see, anyway.

He cleared some stuff away, but she wasn’t anywhere on his desk. There weren’t any clues that gave away where she went. Did she just disappear?

Well, now there was no way Owen could study with the knowledge that a tiny girl probably lived in his house. He continued searching for… actually, he wasn’t sure what he was searching for. He just knew he wanted to see her again. But several minutes passed, and there was nothing out of the ordinary that he could find.

He huffed dejectedly, taking out his math textbook and opening it up to the chapter that his class was doing. But he couldn’t focus. Instead, his head was filled with billions of questions about the girl.

How’d she get in his house? How long had she been here? Was she okay? Did she have parents? A family? Was she always that tiny, or was she shrunk? If she was shrunk, was it magic or some evil science experiment? Was she actually a minifigure and this was basically like The Indian In the Cupboard ? If she wasn’t shrunk, was she actually born tiny? Were her parents tiny? Or was this some Thumbelina or Tom Thumb thing going on?

Hours later, and he barely understood what was written on the first page. His grade was no longer that important with his new discovery.

He leaned back in his chair. If she’d always been in his home, did that mean he could’ve always had a friend this whole time? It was already hard enough at school, where everyone was always in their groups. Owen had ended up being more of an outcast, everyone more interested in celebrities or sports than fictional characters and books. He’d gotten used to being alone, but a friend who shared his interests would be nice. In fact, the tiny girl was reading his Charlie and the Chocolate Factory book! Maybe she could be his friend!

As his mom came home and he got ready for bed, Owen decided that he’d try to see if she’d come back out again. After brushing his teeth, he grabbed a flashlight from underneath the kitchen sink and ran to his bedroom. “Good night, Mom!” he yelled through the door as he shoved the flashlight under his pillow.

He quickly shut off the lights and hurried under his covers. He could feel his heart pounding with excitement as he did his best to steady his breathing, his fingers around the flashlight. He strained his ears, trying to listen for anything other than the chirping of the crickets.

He was going to see that girl again. And he was going to be her friend. He was sure of it.

Chapter Text

Oh God, he saw her! Oh God, oh God, oh God, oh God…

She clamped her hand over her mouth, hoping it muffled her heavy breathing, even a little bit. She was frozen, staying as still as possible. That was difficult with her body shaking violently, tears welling up.

She could hear him move stuff on his desk, probably trying to find where she went. Please don’t see the string, please don’t see the string…

She looked up. She felt herself relaxing, finding that he hadn’t bothered to look behind the desk. Meaning he wouldn’t find the string that she tied to a nail sticking out from the back of it. Meaning he wouldn’t realize that she just slid down the string to the floor behind his desk.

She ran to the bookcase next to his desk, in case he decided to check underneath. It was pretty close to the wall, but there was just enough room to allow Bethany and her mother to make their way behind it, to the hole in the wall her mother had carved out for borrowing.

It was still pretty bright out, and she had nothing to do for the rest of the day. She did plan to read, but seeing as Owen was back home, she clearly couldn’t do that. Instead, she decided she’d just play on the old iPhone her mother had borrowed for her ninth birthday.

It used to be Owen’s mom’s phone, before she got her new one. Since it was rarely used, Bethany’s mother figured it wouldn’t be missed. Bethany had no idea how she was able to take it, considering they were only a few inches tall. And her mother was pretty smart, too, since she borrowed the charger and managed to plug it into an outlet near one of the entrances to the walls and hidden from sight.

There weren’t too many games on the phone, but Bethany really enjoyed Jetpack Joyride, Flappy Bird, Fruit Ninja, and Dragonvale. There were a few others, like Temple Run, but that was a game that required her to tilt the phone, and seeing as she was only three inches tall, it wasn’t a game she could play. She could also watch YouTube, but she only did that when the house was empty, so she didn’t dare touch that app with Owen home now.

She opened up Dragonvale, checking up on her dragons and seeing if the dragon combination she chose gave her a new type. She fed some of them so that they could grow. However, this didn’t distract her from what had happened earlier.

Owen had seen her. What now? Would he tell his mom? Would they buy mouse traps now? Buy poison or something, so that they’d die when they ate their food? Call pest control? Would they end up getting a cat? Oh God, not a cat! If they got a cat, would Bethany and her mother have to move again?!

With their lives now in danger, Bethany knew she had to tell her mother what happened. She had to know this if she was going to continue borrowing. She had to know that there’d probably be traps set up in the darkness while she went about the house.

Bethany opened up Fruit Ninja, coming up with the words she would tell her mother when she woke up. Mom, there’s something I need to tell you: The smaller human came home early today, and he saw me. He’s probably going to tell his mom, and they’re probably going to do something. You need to be more careful when you borrow now. She repeated it in her head over and over and over. She had to tell her.

Her mother woke up hours later, the sun having set long ago. Owen had gone to bed already, though a little earlier than usual, and his mom had returned home and was probably in her room. Bethany was now on her thirty-third try on Jetpack Joyride.

“Good evening, Beth,” her mother greeted her, kissing her forehead.

Distracted, Bethany was unable to keep Barry from running into the electricity. But she didn’t really mind.

“Hey, Mom!”

Her mother smiled, before turning around. Probably going to go get ready to borrow. Bethany started another round of Jetpack Joyride.

She was going to tell her when she came back to ask if she wanted anything. Yeah, that was a good time to tell her. She was going to tell her.

A few minutes later, her mother returned, like she always did, wearing her borrowing clothes and her bag. “Want me to borrow anything special?” she asked, like she did every night.

“No, thank you,” Bethany responded.

“All right, then, see you tomorrow, sweetie! Sleep tight!” She turned around.

“Wait, Mom!”

“Yes, Beth?”

“I, uh… I…”

If she told her what happened, would she have to tell her mother that she’d been breaking her rules all these years? Would she become stricter? Would Bethany not even be allowed to be awake during the day?!

Bethany had to tell her what happened, for the sake of both of their safety, but why was she so terrified? This was her mother, she shouldn’t have to be so nervous telling her stuff like this! Besides, it was important!

But… from what she heard, Owen hadn’t told his mom about her. Maybe he wouldn’t tell his mom? She didn’t know for sure, but maybe they were safe for now? So maybe she didn’t actually have to tell her mother. But if anything happened, then she’d let her know. Yeah, that sounded good.

“I just remembered, there is something I’d like you to borrow. I heard something about the humans getting a cheesecake, do you think you could borrow some? If you can.”

“Sure thing!” She kissed her forehead once again. “Love you, sweetie.”

“Love you, too, Mom.”

With that, her mother went out, ready to go borrowing for that night.

Owen blinked, waking up to his alarm.

Wait, waking up? Did that mean he’d fallen asleep?!

He sat up quickly, disappointment washing over him. The flashlight he brought with him the night before rolled off of his bed and landed on the floor with a loud thunk , Owen wincing as it did.

“Hoy! Owen, what was that?”

“Nothing, I just knocked something down when I woke up!”

Dang it, he missed his chance to try to meet the tiny girl! And now he had to go to school, which meant he had to wait about 6 hours to see her again!

Wow, maybe not going to the library wasn’t so bad. It still sucked, but his home was now a lot more interesting knowing that girl existed. Now, he could get home sooner to try to see her!

It was a six painful hours to get through, more so than usual, with his mind just coming up with ways to meet her. He’d left a plate of his leftover breakfast and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on his desk for her. Maybe she’d see that he was trying to be friendly? Even if she didn’t stay around it for long, at least she’d have something to eat and read.

He hoped that she’d appreciate it. Because come on, if he knew about her sooner, he’d have left more books for her to choose from while he was out of the house. (Yeah, he only left one this time, but he figured she wasn’t finished with it.) Maybe this time while she’s reading it, he could speak quieter to not scare her. He had to admit, he was kind of loud when he first saw her. Well, yeah, he was shocked, but that still probably terrified her and hurt her ears. He really should’ve been more considerate.

Finally making it to the end of the long day, he almost ran back home, hoping to see her again. He ran up to his desk, only to find it just as he left it that morning. Even the food was untouched.

He felt himself sag with disappointment as he slipped into his seat, pulling out his math textbook. Did she not come at all? Well, better not let his breakfast go to waste– or, his dinner, rather. Scooping the rice and eggs with his spoon, he just stared at the page in his textbook, not reading the words nor absorbing anything written on it, just mindlessly eating as he let his thoughts wander.

Maybe the tiny girl was still scared from the day before? Well, he was a whole lot bigger than her, it made sense that she’d be afraid of him! Heck, he could easily squash her if he wasn’t careful!

He stopped chewing. Oh no, what if he did end up squashing her? Then he’d be a murderer! But then he wouldn’t go to jail because no one would know he killed a tiny girl and they wouldn’t believe him either! Which meant he just had to live with the guilt for the rest of his life and no one would ever know because he’d sound insane and then he’d probably have to see a psychologist or something because everyone would think he’s crazy and–

Focus, Owen! He took a deep breath, trying this time to look over his textbook.

Okay, so he’d have to be careful where he stepped. And where he sat. Would he have to be careful when he went to bed? This might be harder than he thought.

But he could do it. He needed to if he didn’t want to hurt her.

And when he became her friend, that would definitely pay off.

He continued eating. What if she didn’t want to be his friend, though? Would he basically live the rest of his life living with someone who hated him? Well, that sucked. But maybe she’d come around over time, and if she really read his books, they could just go on about the books they liked! Even if it took until his last day of high school, he was going to try!

As he later got ready for bed, he decided that even if the girl didn’t want to be his friend or have anything to do with him, he’d still put the book and a plate of food out on his desk for her. Hey, that was still the nice thing to do!

Waking up the next day, he almost leapt out of bed, eager to prepare the tiny girl more food, until he remembered that he could accidentally kill her. So instead, he placed his feet carefully onto the floor. He walked over to his closet, watching where he stepped.

As he got dressed for school, a thought came to his mind: Did the girl watch him change?! He shuddered. Hopefully she didn’t. That’d be really embarrassing.

He carefully made his way to the kitchen, taking caution every time his feet made contact with the floor.

“Owen, what on Earth are you doing?”

He looked up, his mother making toast.

“Uhhh…” There was no way he was going to tell his mom about the tiny girl! No matter how safe he wanted the girl to be, his mom was never going to believe him. She’d probably just brush it off as him reading too many books. Which he didn’t. He happened to read the perfect amount of books, it just so happened to be a lot more than most kids his age read.

He looked down at his feet, an idea coming to mind. “Remember that ‘Don’t Step On the Cracks’ thing I did when I was younger?” His feet had happened to miss the cracks between the tiles of the kitchen floor, making this the perfect excuse! He had to purse his lips to keep himself from smiling at his genius.

His mother only rolled her eyes with a smile. “Wear your tsinelas while you play,” she said, spreading strawberry jelly onto the toast. “And don’t cry again if you accidentally step on a crack. Remember, I’m not gonna break my back if you do!”

Owen just nodded, his face heating up as he remember that time. No, he was twelve, and he didn’t cry over silly stuff like that anymore. He cried over serious things, like Dumbledore’s death, or Silena Beauregard’s. Those were the proper times to cry.

After slipping on his tsinelas onto his feet, he sat at the table and bit into his toast, quietly waiting for the perfect moment to sneak some of it onto his desk. It was still a little soft and not too crunchy, the way he liked it.

“So how’s studying going?” His mom sat across from him, her own toast in hand.

Owen swallowed. “It’s… it’s okay.” Right, studying. He barely made it past that one page in his math textbook, being honest. There was no way to study when there was a friend to be made! Even though she didn’t seem like she wanted to be friends…

Well, it was more fun trying to make a friend than doing math, even if he really needed to study that math.

“Anak, I know you don’t like math, but I at least want you to try.” She gave him a small smile, probably for encouragement or something. “You’re a smart young man, and I know you can learn this stuff. And if you don’t get it, don’t be afraid to ask for help, okay?” She gave his hand a small squeeze, then turned to the clock.

“All right, I gotta get to the library, you finish your breakfast and get to school, and remember that you need to study again tonight, okay?” She quickly kissed him on his forehead, saying a quick goodbye before going out the door.

Owen waited a few seconds before picking up the remainder of his food and setting it on his desk. He stepped back, ready to head out. An idea suddenly in mind, he took a deep breath. “Hey, um, if you’re somewhere here… I don’t know if you are, but if you’re here, I’m not– I’m not gonna hurt you. Okay? I just want to be friends, if you’re okay with that. Okay?”

Wow, that felt weird. He was probably crazy, talking to a nonexistent girl who probably wasn’t even in his room.

No, she was definitely real! She had to be! He knew she was!

“But if you don’t want to be friends, just… let me know, I guess.” Sure it would hurt if that was true, but he couldn’t force her to be his friend.

All he could do is just keep trying until she let him know what she wanted.

The day after Owen saw her, Bethany had refused to step outside of the walls.

Well, not really. She did kind of maybe watched him from little hiding spots she found around in his room. Like at the top of his bookshelf where he couldn’t reach. She wanted to make sure he didn’t tell his mom or set up some traps or anything. At least, that’s what she told herself. She was sure that was why she was doing it.

Why would she ever trust a human, anyway? At the last house her family stayed at, the human there almost killed her, if it wasn’t for her father. Of course, what happened there was entirely her fault. She may have been four-years-old at the time, but she already knew that she wasn’t supposed to leave, especially on her own.

If she’d only obeyed the one rule that her parents had, he’d still be with them. If she’d obeyed, she wouldn’t have been so alone.

Even if she was breaking her mom’s current rules, she was doing her best to make sure she didn’t repeat the past. The last thing she needed was her mom to be taken and killed by another human and become an orphan.

She watched as he came back in, his bag on his back and a plate in his hand. She could smell the rice and eggs he had on there.

She watched as he placed it down on his desk gently next to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, then went right back out, but not before turning around, his eyes scanning for something.

Bethany stiffened. He was looking for her.

As he walked away, she stared wide-eyed at the plate.

Owen had probably poisoned it. Or something else. She wasn’t sure exactly what humans did to catch rodents or anything they saw as pests (such as Borrowers). All she knew was that the food was definitely a trap.

So she chose not to go anywhere near it. In fact, she decided she’d stay out of Owen’s room.

The day went by slower than usual. When she was able to read Owen’s books, time just flew by as she lost herself into the giant pages. Now that her existence was known, well, she didn’t have much to do.

It seemed like she went between inside the walls and out to the backyard every few minutes, trying to find some way to pass the time. The only thing in her home was some food her mother had borrowed and the iPhone. Outside, she wasn’t allowed past the bushes, and she didn’t want to risk being seen a second time by another human. And there wasn’t much under the leaves, except a few bugs that came by, some more often than others. (One recurring ladybug she began to think of as “Lucy.”)

Eventually, after who knows how long, she settled on watching a couple YouTube videos on the iPhone, though at a low volume, to keep an ear out in case Owen came home early a second time.

And he did.

The moment she heard the front door open, she turned off the iPhone as quickly as she could. She held her breath, even though she knew Owen probably couldn’t hear it.

She scurried back to his room and onto the bookshelf, laying low. She watched as he ran into the room, his body sagging as he stared at his desk, then sat down and ate the very food he left out that morning.

Well, looks like it wasn’t poisoned. That was a good sign.

She sighed, going back into the walls.

The same thing from the previous day basically repeated itself, except Bethany was playing Flappy Bird instead and didn’t ask her mother to borrow anything this time. Once again, Bethany didn’t say a word about the fact that Owen had seen her; he still hadn’t really done anything yet, so there was no reason she had to tell her mother about it now.

The next morning, she watched as he once again brought food onto his desk. He stepped back, turning to go out, when suddenly he just stopped.

“Hey, um, if you’re somewhere here… I don’t know if you are, but if you’re here, I’m not– I’m not gonna hurt you. Okay? I just want to be friends, if you’re okay with that. Okay?”

Did he know she was up here? Wait, no, he hadn’t bothered to look up, there was no way he could know!

“But if you don’t want to be friends, just… let me know, I guess.”

He lingered another moment before heading out. Bethany didn’t dare move until she heard the front door shut and the click of it locking.

Making her way down to the desk, she studied the toast, inspecting it in every way she could. It looked innocent enough— one of the slices was already half eaten by Owen beforehand. But was it safe?

Bethany took a careful step closer, getting down on her knees and sniffing it for poison. Well, she didn’t actually know what poison smelled like, but she read in one of Owen’s books that cyanide smelled like bitter almonds. Whatever bitter almonds smelled like. She didn’t know how that would smell.

Cautiously, she used her hand to take some of the jelly off and taste it. Strawberry. Well, it tasted safe…

Her stomach growled. Okay, maybe she could eat just a little. She didn’t like the food that her mother had borrowed anyway, and she hadn’t eaten yet.

Using all of her strength, she ripped off some chunks of toast, eating enough to satisfy her hunger. Right now, all she could do was trust that Owen was telling the truth, and that he really wouldn’t hurt her.

Owen stepped into his room, the sight of his desk making him smile.

The girl had eaten some of the toast.

It wasn’t that much, but he could easily see where she had ripped off chunks of it. This was definitely a good sign!

More excited than before, he brought out his textbook to “study.”

The girl was starting to trust him. Hopefully, they’d be able to meet properly, and actually be friends! But for now, he’d take what he can get.

He’d wait forever if it meant he’d eventually be her friend. He just had to take things slow, and maybe it would pay off. The only thing he could do now was hope for the best.

Chapter Text

It’d been about two weeks since she’d been seen by Owen, and so far, things between the two of them had been pretty okay. Neither of them had told their mothers about the incident, which was more than all right by Bethany; as long as Owen kept his mouth shut, she didn’t have to tell her mother about it either.

This seemed to be part of some silent agreement they had. This weird relationship they had— Bethany wasn’t sure whether to call it friendship or not— was between the two of them and the two of them only.

The other part of the agreement was Owen leaving food on his desk every morning for her, along with a book to read. (She had finished Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and was now working her way through The BFG , another book by Roald Dahl. She was positive that Owen had done this on purpose.) On weekends, he would do the same, except he’d be studying in a different room, and always announced when he was entering, giving her time to hide out of sight.

And that was how it was. It wasn’t really bad, she had to admit. Plus, Owen was just as nice as he seemed! She found herself lingering in his room when he came to study, though still out of his field of vision.

It was a matter of time, but she figured she could reveal herself to him someday. I may be the stupidest Borrower on the planet. Her father’s capture still haunted the back of her mind, but she found that she wasn’t as scared as she was before. Owen was a lot different from their previous host, and these past couple weeks, she felt comfortable with him.

It was a Friday afternoon, and she decided it would be the day they would properly meet. No more hiding, no more watching from out of sight. She’d talk to him face to face.

Which was honestly less scarier in her head.

Ignoring the dread building up in her stomach, she tried to read more of The BFG , though reading about the other, nasty giants wasn’t really helpful. Their names especially didn’t help the anxiety she felt.

She took a deep breath, checking the clock. A few more minutes and Owen would be home. Now was probably a good time to prepare for his arrival. She quickly checked her clothes, making sure that they were at least presentable.

Wait, why would he care? Would he even care about her clothes? Hopefully not.

She checked the clock again. Still not yet time.

She took another breath, aware of exactly how she was standing. Was it too unnatural? She couldn’t stop readjusting her feet every other second. She nervously combed her fingers through her hair, finding it impossible to stay still.

Until she heard the front door opening and closing. This is it. Now or never.

Steadying her breathing, she held her ground. Every part of her screamed to run as each footstep drew closer. She forced her feet to stay planted.

The door began to open. It was hard to swallow. Was she breathing too quickly? She pursed her lips, her fingers curling into fists, fighting every urge to take off.

It swung open, Owen stepping in unsuspectingly.

She held her breath.

His gaze landed on the desk, right where she was. His eyes widened, and he stopped where he was.

Their eyes locked.

She stayed where she was.

It was a normal Friday. Well, as normal as a Friday could be while having some silent agreement with a tiny girl that lived in his bedroom. So, it wasn’t that normal, but for him, it was.

Befriending the small girl was definitely not easy, and was taking a lot longer than he’d hoped. But he always reminded himself that they’d eventually reach that friendship stage, if there was any progress being made. He hoped there was. It would suck if there wasn’t.

On his way home, waving to his neighbor– a black girl around his age who he was pretty sure was homeschooled– he contemplated what book to give her next. It would’ve been easier if they could talk, as he had no idea what books she liked or already read. 

Maybe he could give her another Roald Dahl book? Those were always good. He was especially fond of Matilda , a book about a girl who loved to read and also felt like an outsider, similar to himself, or even the tiny girl.

Or maybe something super amazing, like Percy Jackson or Harry Potter . Those might take her a while to read, but those were among the best books ever! Or maybe even Guardians of Ga’Hoole , kind of shorter but still just as good!

Another neighbor waved at Owen as he unlocked the front door. A man who almost never came out of his house. Mr. Boddy.

He was way too creepy for Owen’s liking, but his mom hated it when he said Mr. Boddy was creepy. And when he tried to ignore him. So he forced a smile and returned a small wave. He didn’t know what about Mr. Boddy gave him the creeps, he just knew that the man sometimes worked as a substitute teacher and had once substituted for one of Owen’s classes.

Not a fun time.

Owen opened his door, wondering if it was for the last time. He’d had another test that day in math, anyway. Maybe he had passed? He did consider failing on purpose just to spend more time with the tiny girl, but something told him that his mom wouldn’t be happy with that.

What if he got something higher than a D, though, and could go back to the library? Maybe he could bring the tiny girl with him and they could read all the books that they could ever want to!

But that would mean she’d need to be talking to him. Which she’d probably never do.

Was this really worth it? What if she never wanted to be friends with him?

No, no negative thinking. And Owen was nothing if not optimistic. He was going to make friends with that girl, no matter how long it took.

Besides, who knows? Maybe it would pay off one day.

And from the looks of it, that was the day it would pay off.

Opening the door to his room, the first thing he noticed was that the girl was there.

The tiny girl was standing right on his desk, staring right back at him. And she wasn’t running away.

For a moment, neither of them made any movement. Owen slowly put down his bag, almost afraid that any sudden action might frighten her away. Should he say something? What could he say? Maybe a “hi” or “hello” could work?

Maybe just a “hi.” So that’s what he said.

“Hi?”

Why did he make it sound like a question?

“Hi,” she said back.

She could speak! Not that he doubted that she could, he just never heard her speak. It was surprisingly clear enough for someone so small.

Silence again. This was more awkward than he expected it to be.

Should he say more?

“Uh, I’m Owen?”

God, why did he sound like he didn’t know his own name?!

“I know.” 

Wait what?

Her eyes widened before correcting herself. “I-I mean, I’m Bethany.”

Quiet once again. What would you talk about with a tiny person, who he just learned to be Bethany?

“Did you, uh, like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ?”

She smiled and nodded. “Yeah, it’s really good!”

Owen smiled back, listening to her going on about what she loved about it, then added in his own thoughts. Before he knew it, he was having a full conversation about her with the books they’ve read and loved! It was amazing to finally have someone else besides his mother to talk to about books!

“You can, um, you can sit down in your chair if you want,” Bethany interrupted him as he went on about Half Upon a Time. 

“You sure?”

“I don’t mind at all!”

She watched as Owen made his way to his seat slowly, taking his time to sit down. Despite him coming a whole lot closer, she realized she didn’t want to hide. Their conversation about the books they’ve read helped her calm down a great deal, and she felt pretty safe around him.

Or maybe not. But it was too late to change her mind now.

His arms on the table, he put his head down, seeming a lot less bigger. “You sure you’re okay with me this close?”

Nope. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

Yep, she was definitely crazy. There was still that small part of her that couldn’t believe what she was doing. Borrowers don’t make friends with humans!

“If you don’t mind me asking, what happened to you?” Owen asked, tilting his head on his arms.

“What do you mean?” She sat down cross legged in front of him.

“I mean, were you born that way or were you shrunk or something?”

She couldn’t help but laugh.

“Nothing happened to me! I’m just a Borrower!”

Owen just stared at her, clearly confused. Made sense; Borrowers weren’t supposed to be seen by humans.

“So you… borrow things?”

Bethany nodded. “Only things that humans won’t miss, though,” she added. “Just stuff like food and whatnot.”

“But isn’t that stealing? Since you’re not asking for it or returning it?”

Bethany didn’t answer right away. Were they stealing? He was right about the fact that they never returned anything they borrowed. Then again, did anyone even care about some missing crumbs here and there? Or a pin that was lost for days? 

She looked him in the eye, something a little harder to do than she expected. “We borrow,” she said firmly. “We don’t steal.” Any suggestion that she or her mother were thieves was honestly not something she was happy with.

Owen only turned away, blushing. “Sorry,” he mumbled. “I-I didn’t– I didn’t mean to offend you or anything. I just…” He paused before looking back to her. “I guess I’m not the best at conversations? Since I never really had, like, friends who weren’t from online. I dunno, and there’s also the fact that I’ve never met someone as small as you, so…”

Bethany gave him a small smile, her body relaxing. “This friend thing is new to me, too,” she admitted. “I never really spoke to anyone other than my dad and my mom.”

Owen’s giant eyes widened. “You mean there’s more of you?”

She just shrugged. “Yeah, but it’s kind of hard to get in contact with other Borrowers. They usually live in other houses, and there are some who live outside, but it’s only me and my mom in your house.”

“What about your dad? You said something about your dad.”

What about her dad? She pursed her lips, looking at her lap. She blinked, doing her best to keep the tears from falling. She couldn’t have Owen seeing her cry, not when he was this close.

“I… I lost my dad years ago…” she said, softer than before. “We were living in a different house, and I did something stupid, and the human of the house caught him, and…” 

She never actually saw what had happened to him, not to mention how young she was. All she could remember was screaming and crying, the giant chasing her and her mother as they narrowly escaped the same fate as her father. Despite how distant it felt, she could feel the guilt once again gnawing away at her.

“I’m… I’m sorry…” Owen said quietly, startling her from her thoughts.

“Thanks…?”

They sat in more silence, fidgeting as they looked away. A minute later, Bethany decided to break it once again. This was no time to mourn her father; she wasn’t going to make her first impression to her new friend so depressing.

“What are some books you recommend?”

With that, Owen simply could not shut up as he answered. Not until he was snoring softly with his head in his arms hours later, Bethany sleeping against his arm.

“Owen! Owen, wake up!”

He blinked, lifting up his head. “Hnng?” he managed to say, still unable to think.

A hand stroked his hair. “Come on, anak, change into your pajamas, you can sleep again soon in your bed this time. Did you brush your teeth?”

Did he? It seemed to take forever for him to remember that no, he did not brush his teeth.

“All right, brush your teeth, then sleep in your bed this time.” His mother kissed his forehead, then left him alone in his room.

He sat up, his brain now starting to work again. Bethany! Had he fallen asleep while talking to her? The last thing he remembered was going on about Gregor the Overlander , then he wasn’t sure what happened after. Did they talk about anything else?

Wait, where was she? He lifted his arms, praying that he didn’t accidentally crush her in his sleep, then noticed a tiny note that had been hidden under his fingers.

Pinching it between his fingers and lifting up to his eyes, he read it.

“Had to go. Talk tomorrow?”

Considering how small the writing was, he was sure that he could correctly guess that it was from Bethany. He had no idea where she was at the moment, but in case she was watching, he nodded and smiled.

He couldn’t wait to talk with her again.