A simple pick-up.

Uh... let's see, let's see. Where do I start? Well, an introduction I guess.  Hey, my name is Caesar Neal Mattis. No, not Caesar Augustus, haha laugh up a storm all you want. It's not like I've heard that joke a billion times already. Okay, let's get one thing straight. I'm not your typical blonde haired blue eyed bimbo, I'm smart -Shocker that blondes can be smart- and I take shit from no one. Not even those damn giants who think their so high mighty.

I'm sure you have that one kid in class that sits down and just glares or judges everyone in the classroom. Yeah, that's me. A complete hard-ass.

And although I might be tall for a human teenage girl, nothing pales in comparison to giants. These guys make me look like I'm at least two and a half inches tall.

But enough about me, it's time to get into the real story.

I'm sitting at the checkout counter, waiting to be picked from an anonymous person who'd brought me off the market. I'm sure my reviews are stellar on the market's website. Oh, I can see it now! Teen girl escapes four giants and had been returned several times. She is prone to be violent and annoying. I'd probably kill to see that.

James, a young man who runs the pet market with his father, has rung me once more for a much cheaper price.

He always thinks it funny see giants come back, defeated and unable to tame someone who may only be the size of a pinkie. He's a nice man who takes care of each and every animal in this store, even if he knows we humans aren't really animals.

I sit on the front desk, legs crossed and an arm propped up to hold my head up. "Gods, What is taking this person so long?"

"Maybe they've heard some bad reviews about you on Facebook or Twitter and bailed," James says who is also bored of waiting. He blows his sandy blond locks out of his face and continues to stare at his phone.

"Ooh, I hope so. I'd rather stay here then be sold off to some pervert." I grumble, glancing at my watch. James bought it for me a few years back. "Do you still have that chess game on your phone?"

James smiles and drops his phone flat for me to see. "Sure do." He already has the game pulled up and ready to play.

Nice. "Ready to get your ass kicked."

"Oh, ho, ho! You're on pint Size!"

Twenty minutes of pure fun and boasting go on. James didn't really know how to play chess until we started to warm up to each. I'd watch him get his butt handed to him every weekend to this guy named Kent. Now that dude was a real jerkwad.

He finally got what was coming to him when I beat his pride to a pulp in chess. It's funny, cause he'd always brag and boast about his skills. I don't know he was making fun of my size or my sex and I didn't care. He got fired and moved on with his life.

"Hah!" I jump, throwing two fists into the air. "I win again."

James laughs seeing my excitement, it's something rare these days, and congratulates me. "Well, you really did kick my ass."

"Ah, don't feel bad," I say, before pointing at the screen. "You were only twenty moves away from beating me."

"Hah, yeah." The friendly face falls into a sad frown shortly after. "Hey, Caesar."

I raise a brow. There have only been a hand full of times when I've Seen James get this way and it's always serious. "Yeah,"

He pauses to think for a moment. "I need to tell you something important before you go."

I take a seat, preparing myself for what he has to say. "Go for it, dude."

He sighs strongly causing a gust of wind to blow my hair back. "I've been promoted, but ah... I'm being moved to another shop in the city."

I look him directly in the eye even if he is not looking at me, drinking in every word he has to say and it's nearly heartbreaking.

"So this will probably be the last time I'll ever see you." He says solemnly. "I just want you to know that you're an amazing friend and you'll always be in my memories."

I stand, straighten up and stick out a hand. "I'd like to be first besides your mom to congratulate you on being promoted. You've always worried about not being able to get the extra cash to go to college, well now you don't have to worry about it."

James smiles, but I can tell he's holding back tears. He takes my hand with a finger and a thumb and we shake. "Thank you, so much."

The bell to the store rings and the touching moment is broken. A young woman, maybe eighteen or nineteen, as just walked in. Long flowing chestnut hair, golden brown eyes, fair and pale skin without a single scratch, pimple, or zit on her face, and soft red lips in a little smile.

I hate her already.

James coughs to clear his throat and stands up straight. "Um... welcome miss. How may I help you?"

The young woman walks up to the counter, without batting an eye, glance at me. "I'm here to pick up a tiny."

That grabs my attention. No. No, no, no, no! I'm not going home this, this teenager who looks-

"What name would that be under?" James asks, cutting off my train of thought.

I feel a gaze on me now and look up to see that I was right. The girl has her eyes locked onto me like a missile is locked to its target. It's a gentle gaze though, not threatening, but that doesn't mean I like it.

"Samantha Lewis Gains." She responds.

James begins to type in the name and quickly slows down his pace and looks at Samantha in bafflement.

She giggles as if it were a game. "I usually get that look when picking up something in store. Yes, Markus Gains is my father. No, you can't have a photo or my number." This girl says the sentence as if she's rehearsed it. That must suck to be asked the same thing over and over again so much that you remember the answer.

James says nothing. He gets nervous around cute girls and it shows like a red stain on a white shirt. He continues to type in her name and waits for the order to pop up.

"Ah, there it is. Okay, I'll need you to sign a few papers and show some extra ID."

He hands over a small packet of papers and points out all the signature spots. James then disappears in the back for a moment to grab the forbidden cardboard box that is mandatory to use.

I'm left alone with my new owner- I might as well just poured a gallon of salt down my throat for how bad the word tastes in my mouth- scanning her up and down.

"You seem to like staring," Samantha says out of the blue.

I don't know why but my face flushes. I shove my hands in my pockets and look away. "Whatever," I mutter.

She giggles again. "Someone has a sour attitude."

You would to if you were sold like a slave and fought like an animal just to survive, is what I wanted to say, but I keep the comment to myself.

James comes back with the box, that damned box, and takes the signed forms from Samantha. He trades the papers for the box.

"Sorry, but I didn't ask for a box," Samantha says. She seems to hate the box just as much as I do.

James swallows hard. "It's mandatory for... pets to be carried in a box, especially... tinies. They could get hurt or taken if they are seen out in the open." Of all the years that I've known James, he still struggles to call us pets or tinies even if others say it freely like a curse word.

Samantha leans against the counter either to show off her breasts or she's getting serious. "From what I've heard, This isn't your average stay at home pet. If what I've heard is true then she can take care of herself. Besides have you asked her if she wants to be stuffed in a box?"

Not only is James taken back, but so am I. I've never heard someone be so against the simple inhuman treatment of being stuffed in a box.

"Well... I..." James looks down at me for help, but all I can do is shrug. "No... I haven't."

"Then why don't you start now by asking." She says with such sternness. I don't know how I feel about the way she's treating my one and only friend who is simply following store policy because I've been treated this way nearly for nearly a fifth of my life.

James looks down at me and I look up at him. "Would you rather be in the box or not?"

As much as I would love not going back into that box, I still don't trust little miss Sammy over here. "I prefer the box right now."

James looks more baffled. "But... but you hate the box!"

"Yeah, but I'd rather be in a box then in the hands of a complete stranger." I counter-argue. "Even if it doesn't really matter."

Samantha is not offended. She is still wearing that damn small smile. It's really irking me.

James holds out a hand and I hop on the fleshy palm. They're tough-skinned from all the work he's done, but they'll probably be the most gentle hands I'll ever be in.

"Try to make things work this is time, Caesar. I won't be here to watch out for you, okay?" James whispers softly.

"Okay, Dad," I reply not really taking his words with value.

James shakes his head, but I can the little smile on his lips before he slips me in the box and seals it up.

Little light shines through the top and I immediately feel cold and alone again. I take my seat in the corner of the box and wait.

Try and make things work this time.

Like hell.

AN: Hey guys, thanks for reading the first chapter of Life Is Better With You. I hope you all enjoyed reading it as well. If you all could be one more favor for me and check out my YouTube channel. You don't have to subscribe or even watch anything, I'll leave that up to you guys! Again, thanks for reading my story!