"So, what do you want to do now?" asked Josh when they were thoroughly bored.
"Let's go to the GameStop in the mall," suggested Sean, "I have some old games to trade in and I do need to return this one..." He held up one of his new games which he only just now discovered had a large crack in the disk, making it unplayable.
"Alright," said Josh.
Sean walked around his room, searching for some old games of his. He found them on a high shelf. "Wow, I never could reach this before without a stool," said Sean with a grin, "That's really cool." He gathered his games together in his hand.
"Ready?" asked Josh.
"Yeah," nodded Sean. When Josh didn't do anything, he asked, "Aren't we going to teleport there?"
"Aren't you going to tell your mom where you're going first?" asked Josh with folded arms.
"Oh," said Sean, "right."
Josh and his now older friend walked out of Sean's room and went downstairs to find Sean's mom. "Mom," called out Sean, "I'm going to the mall with Josh!"
"Okay, sweetie, be back at a decent time!" replied Sean's mother from the dining room. Josh spotted that she was talking with Sean's dad over coffee.
"I think it's a little creepy," said Sean's dad. Josh didn't need his heightened senses and omnipotence to hear that. Sean heard it too. "Sean's 13 years old. He should be hanging out with kids his age." Sean stopped to eavesdrop and Josh joined him.
"Josh is his only friend, honey," said Sean's mother.
"Exactly," said Sean's father, "Josh is 10. Sean should be hanging out with other teens, checking out girls, you know, being a teenager. Not playing around like a little kid."
"Dear, isn't it a little early to be worrying about that? Just because he's 13 and looks a bit older than that doesn't mean he should be forced into growing up. Give him some time, maybe it's just a phase," said Sean's mother.
Sean looked at Josh curiously and Josh shrugged. Once they walked outside, Josh teleported the two friends to the entrance to the mall. "Why didn't you just take us inside?" asked Josh.
"I don't want to give everybody a heart attack when two people just appear out of nowhere," said Josh.
"Oh, that's right," said Sean. The two entered the large mall. There were people of all ages and all walks of life walking around, just like any typical mall. The kids and teenagers of the town liked hanging out here, also like any typical mall.
As they were walking, a group of guys Sean's new age spotted them. "Hey, look at the freak!" said one, refering to Sean.
"Hey, retard," said another. They said other things that were even ruder and they laughed. Josh could see behind the facade and saw how insecure they all were. He saw how scared and doubtful they were and it surprised him. Josh would've never guessed that was how a 13-year-old felt deep down inside. He never would've guessed that these teenagers made fun of someone else because they themselves were so insecure and unsure with themselves.
They walked off, laughing. "See ya, crybaby," said one as a parting remark. Josh looked at Sean. There were tears in his eyes and he started sobbing. Josh didn't need his powers to tell that Sean had been hurt. That much was obvious.
"Sean, are you alright?" asked Josh.
"I remember now what my life's like," said Sean, "you know, now that I'm 13... It's horrible, Josh. You're my only friend and everyone laughs at me at school. I'm beat up a lot and they all make fun of me..." He cried a bit. "I thought being 3 years older would be fun. I always thought I'd be so much more awesome when I'm older. I never thought it would be this bad..."
"I'm sorry, Sean," said Josh, "I didn't think of how your life would change when I made you older..."
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