Monday - Chapter 4

Growth Spurt

Abigail knew it had worked before she opened her eyes.  Her pajama pants were way too tight around the hip, and she could feel the bottom hem riding up her calf.  Her toes were sticking out from under the blanket too – just a little.  The pillow even felt smaller.

She squeezed her eyes shut, grinning.  Okay.  She was bigger.  How much?  More than two inches, and it felt like a lot more.  She lay there for almost a minute, lingering in the moment.

Schrödinger’s Growth Spurt.

Her smile widened.

From the next room, Chloe screamed.

Abigail was out of bed in an instant.  Her feet carried her to the door in too few steps, and she had to struggle to work the too-small door handle, but then she was in her best friend’s room.

“Klo honey?  You okay?”

Chloe shook her head.  She sat straight up in bed, blanket pulled protectively up to her chin.  Sunlight streamed through the large picture window, nourishing the dozen or so plants the woman had lovingly positioned about the room.  The room was immaculately decorated, and they’d only been in the place for a few weeks.  Abigail had hardly managed to unpack yet.

“You’re taller,” Chloe said.

“Yeah.  Something happened to you too.  Is it bad?”

Chloe considered the question.  She shrugged.

Abigail held up both hands in a calming gesture, and began to advance slowly.  “I’m going to come take off that blanket, and we’ll look together.  Okay?”

Her friend didn’t respond.

Abigail took hold of the covers, and in a quick, smooth gesture, pulled them down.

“Holy shit Klo!”

Chloe whimpered.

“No, I….”  Abigail laughed.  “You got jacked!”

“Kayla is going to be so mad.”

“What?  No she won’t!”  Abigail grabbed Chloe’s hand, smiling eagerly.  “Come on!  Stand up, let me take a look at you!”

Reluctantly her friend obeyed.  Chloe had slept in a t-shirt with a grinning cartoon duck on the front.  It hung almost to her knees, and it was unclear if she was wearing anything underneath.

Abigail walked around her in awe.  Lifting an arm, squeezing a shoulder.  “Yeah.  You look awesome!  You’re definitely not as muscular as Kayla….”

Chloe relaxed a little.

“...But you look like you’ve spent the last year going to the gym every day.  Damn girl.  I never knew how bad you needed a little tone, but here it is.”

“You really think I don’t look like, um… a guy?”

Abigail laughed.  “Does your girlfriend look like a guy?  Muscle’s sexy, Klo.  Besides, you still have absolutely massive tits.  I bet they’re perkier too, judging by how that shirt is hanging on you.  You might even be able to go without a bra.”

“Let’s not get crazy.”  Chloe sighed.  “Okay.  I am officially ending my freakout.  Though I reserve the right to have a new one at any time.  That being said.  Abby!  Oh my God!  You’re so tall!”

Abigail smirked.  “How tall am I?”

“Um.  I don’t… exactly have a yard stick handy.”

Chloe hesitated, then stood chest to chest with Abigail, smiling shyly.  She used her hand to mark off the distance between their heights.  Abigail stood still, reveling in the fact that she could actually look down at her best friend.

“You’re about an inch taller than me,” Chloe said.  “I’m five-two, so that means….”

“Five-foot-three.  Not bad.  Still a bit shorter than an average woman.  But eight inches in one night is pretty great.”  She scowled suddenly.  “Shit.  None of my clothes are going to fit!”

“Are you just now realizing that?  You can borrow something of mine.”  Chloe was already rummaging through her closet.  She pulled out a drab, oversized sweater.  “Hm, this might work for me.  It’s really baggy, so it’ll hide all this….”

Abigail took the sweater from her grasp.  “Nope.  You, little lady, are going to wear a tank top.  A white one.”

Chloe gasped.

“And those stretchy black shorts you wore the other day.  Oooh, they’re going to be so tight on you!”

“I can’t do that!  People will see!”

“That’s kind of the point.”  Abigail gave her a patient smile.  “Klo.  The potion was supposed to get people to stop staring at your chest, wasn’t it?  How is that going to work if people can’t see your muscles?”

Chloe looked unconvinced.

Abigail held the sweater high over her head, grinning from ear to ear.  “I’m not giving this back.  Shorty.”

“I could beat you up,” Chloe said in a tiny voice.

“That’s the spirit!”  She mussed her friend’s hair playfully.  Then frowned.  “Shit.  I’ve gotta be out the door.”

“I do too.  My A&P exam….”

“Guess you better hurry up and get dressed.  I have to get to my morning class.  And this afternoon?  I get to see Elijah.”  Abigail smiled dreamily, and began to rummage in Chloe’s closet.

Five minutes later they were out the door.  Abigail had picked out a spaghetti strap sundress with a bright floral print.  It fit decently well, even if it was pretty loose around the chest.  Chloe had followed her friend’s instructions, and wore a flimsy tank top with a tiny pair of exercise shorts.

“I can’t believe I’m doing this.  You can see my… my abs.”

“You look great.  Go get ‘em, tiger!”

They parted at the sidewalk – Abigail heading for the main campus, Chloe going to the STEM complex on the north side of town.  Abigail walked fast, head held high, grinning at the day.  Damn, it felt good to be tall.  And she was making amazing time.  These long legs could really get you places.

It was rush hour, and the subway was crowded.  To her amazement, people actually got out of her way to let her enter the car.  A few even made eye contact.  As usual she was forced to stand, and grip a bar for support as the train took off.  She held on… and for the first time in years, noticed the little rubber handholds overhead, swaying back and forth as the train moved.  They’d always been so far above, and apparently she’d trained herself out of seeing them.  Tentatively she reached up… and got a giddy thrill when she found she could just barely grab hold.

Her morning Advanced Grammar class was predictably dull.  The professor droned on about the nuances of participles, while Abigail tried to concentrate.  Her gaze kept slipping to the people around her.  Wondering if they were thinking about her new height, and whether any of them would confront her and demand to know how she’d grown so much over a single weekend.  A few people did look back curiously – but more the curiosity of someone wondering why a pretty girl was staring at them, than wondering how said girl was so much bigger.

She got to biology a few minutes early, and took the time to set her desk up just right.  This time when she looked around the room, she was more bold about it.  Almost daring anyone to ask about her height.  The most she got was a look of confusion, from people who were noticing her for the first time and puzzling over why someone would join a class this late in the semester.  Mostly people just smiled back at her.  One guy even gave her an awkward wave.

“Hey, Abigail.  Nice dress.”

Elijah took the seat next to her.  The man didn’t know how to sit down properly.  He always had the air of someone falling out of the sky, only to find there was a chair beneath him at the last instant.  It was oddly charming.

Abigail gave him a smile – the one she’d seen Mackenzie use on more than one occasion when she was hunting.  “Hey Elijah.  Notice anything different about…  oh my God, what happened to your hands?”

He held them up, grinning sheepishly.  They were both wrapped in heavy gauze.  “It’s not as bad as it looks.  Doctor says it’s just a precaution.”

“Does this have anything to do with rescuing that cat?”

Elijah nodded.  “Mittens was a Maine Coon this time.  Poor guy.  He really didn’t want to come down from the tree.  I had to wrestle him.  Then Wendy wanted me to come inside so she could examine me.  That took a while.  Then we realized she forgot to do any first aid, and I said Jerry at Urgent Care always knows what to do when stuff like this happens to me, and Jerry said….”

Abigail thought fast.  Summoning all her courage, she reached out and tentatively rested her hand on his bicep.  Her heart was racing.  “Well.  You obviously can’t write with your hands bound up like that.  Want me to take notes for you today?  I can even walk you home after, if you want.  Make sure nothing else cute and furry decides to attack you.”

“Aw, that’s real nice of you.  But I’m gonna try this mental technique I read about on the internet.”  He tapped his temple.  “I’m going to close my eyes, and just listen.  Absorb all the information passively.  The way plants do.  It’s called osmosis, I think?”

She frowned, her hopes fading.  “Oh.  Well, good luck, I guess.”

“Thanks.”  He smiled.  Then abruptly, leaned in and brought this face down very close to hers.

“Hey,” he said softly.

“H-hey.”

“There really is something different about you today.  Isn’t there?”

She smiled at him, her mouth suddenly dry.  “Yes.”

He sniffed.  Then suddenly his face broke out in a grin.  “You switched deodorant, didn’t you?  You’re wearing the one that Chloe girl had on yesterday.”

“Yes.  That is what is different.  About me.”

“I knew it.  I’m in the ninety-ninth percentile for noses.  It’s kind of my super power.”

“Oh.  Neat.”

The lecture began.  Abigail tried to concentrate, but her head really wasn’t in Punnett Squares today.  Elijah nodded along for a while, eyes closed.  It wasn’t long before he began to snore gently.

Class ended, and she gently shook him awake.

“That was great,” he said, stretching.  “I’ve never felt so energized by school before.  I feel like I learned a lot.”

Together they got up from their desks.  It was nice standing this close to him.  She was about eye level with his neck, instead of the middle of his chest.  It was a much better view.  This close to Elijah, he had a kind of calming aura.  She could listen to his inane monologues about all the good dogs that lived on his street all day.  She briefly considered what it would be like to listen to him talk this way in bed, while she curled up beside him.  The idea warmed her.

He was about to get away again, and she was suddenly determined not to let that happen.

“Elijah.  Can I ask you something?”

They were in the hall now.  “What?”

“Would you ever want to, like.  Hang out sometime?”  She brushed a stray lock of hair off her forehead, blushing.  “Like.  At my place?  Maybe Saturday night?”

“Oh yeah?  What’s the occasion?”

“A party.”  The words were out of her mouth in an instant.  Her brain demanded to know what the hell she was doing, but she ignored it and kept talking.  “We’re inviting a bunch of friends over.  Cool people.  I think you’re a cool person.”

He tilted his head, and smiled.  “Thanks!  I think you’re a cool person too.”

Her stomach did a somersault.  “So.  It starts at seven.  And maybe don’t tell too many people, because….”

“Oh my gosh!  I can’t believe running into the two of you here!  What a coincidence!”

Mackenzie strode down the hallway like a movie starlet on the red carpet.  She wore her cute black miniskirt that showed off an amount of leg considered dangerous by FDA standards, and that hatefully adorable pair of kitten heels.

“Oh,” Elijah said.  “Mackenzie, right?  Nice seeing you again.”

“I think so too!  We keep running into each other like this.  It has to be fate!”

“Don’t you have class right now?” Abigail said.  “Like, all the way across campus?”

Mackenzie frowned, but the expression held for less than a tenth of a second before she was fawning over Elijah again.  “It was canceled.  Which makes this an even greater coincidence!  Say, are you doing anything right now Elijah?  Want to get a cup of coffee?  Or, I don’t know.  Go someplace a little more private?”

“I really have to go to the bathroom.”

“I’ll wait.”

He held up his gauze-wrapped hands.  “No, I mean I have to go see Jerry so he can take these off.  Otherwise I can’t, you know.”

He waved one bulky hand in the vague direction of his fly.

Mackenzie opened her mouth, but apparently decided offering to help was out-of-bounds.  She shut it again.

“But I’ll see you later,” he said, already turning.  “You’re going to be at the party, right?”

“What party?” she asked his retreating back.  Mackenzie wheeled, and glared at Abigail.  “What party?”

“Just an idea I had,” Abigail said quickly.  “I didn’t think you’d mind.  To celebrate our new apartment.  We’ll keep it low-key.  Close friends, couple drinks….”

“It would be a good excuse to get all dolled up.  I could introduce some of my partners to each other, and to The Besties.  And if Elijah is going to be there...”

“Yeah.  Plus I was thinking about your advice.  How I should, you know.  Enjoy the attention.  A party seems like the perfect place to practice.”

Mackenzie nodded, smiling.  “Good for you.  I think this plan has the full blessing of the Bestie Committee Chairman.  Good thinking, Abby.”

“Glad I could help.”

“And you gave him my card, right?”

Abigail slapped herself in the forehead.  “Shoot.  I left it in my other pants.”

“Shoot.  At least I’ll see him Saturday.”

“Yeah, stay upbeat.  Anyway, I’ve got another class, so….”

She had just turned her back, when Mackenzie grabbed her by the shoulder.  “Wait.”

Abigail looked up at her, exerting a huge psychic effort to keep her expression neutral.  “What is it, ‘Zee?”

Mackenzie narrowed her eyes suspiciously.  “There’s something weird about you today.  Like.  Very weird.”

“Oh.  Um.  It’s the dress.  I borrowed it from Chloe.”  She did an awkward little twirl.  The garment wasn’t exactly tight, but it did a good job suggesting the shape of her figure beneath.  “I figured I’d start dressing more sexy.  That was your advice, too.”

Mackenzie’s eyes lit up.  “Oh of course it was!  It looks good on you.  I’m glad you decided to listen.  Stick with me, sweetie.  You’ll be one of the cool kids in no time.”

“I just might do that.”

Mackenzie winked.  And headed off in the direction Elijah had gone.

“Hey.”

Abigail flinched.  There was a freshman standing behind her, mere inches away.  She hadn’t even heard him approach.  It was the guy who had waved before.  He was wearing a band t-shirt, and his hair needed a good combing, but he wasn’t bad looking.

“Uh.  Can I help you with something?”

“No, not really.”  He tugged at the collar of his shirt.  When he spoke next, the words poured out very fast.  “I just want to say that height looks really good on you.  Like you looked good before but it really suits you.  I don’t know how you did it, like growing so much, but….”

She held up a hand, silencing him.  “What do you mean, ‘growing?’”

He looked deeply embarrassed.  “You um.  Grew, right?  Maybe eight inches?”

She hesitated.  Looked one direction down the hallway, and then the other.  The two of them were alone.

“What’s your name?” she asked quietly.

“Dylan,” he answered, in the same tone.

“Okay.  I’m Abigail.”

“I know.”

“Oh.  Okay.  Well.  Could you please do me a favor, Dylan?”

“Sure.”

“Could you please not draw attention to it?  The, um, growing, I mean.”

“Totally.  I can keep it quiet, no problem at all.”  He laughed awkwardly.  And leaned in just a little closer.  He wasn’t a tall man, maybe five-foot-seven, and he didn’t have to lean down far to whisper into her ear.  “Are you planning to grow more?”

The question took her by surprise.  For many seconds, she said nothing.

“I have another class.  And you’re kind of in my personal space right now.”

“Oh.  Right!”  He took several big steps back, looking apologetic.  “Sorry for cornering you like this.  And sorry if I came off as creepy.”

She shrugged.  “It’s okay.”

Abigail walked quickly to her next class, her mind whirling.  Try as she might, she couldn’t get Dylan’s question out of her mind.