It
was several days before Max saw Lily again. The girl had warned him
that she would be absent from lab for awhile – long enough, at
least, for her story about hormonal therapy to seem a plausible
reason for her growth. Without someone constantly badgering him for
attention, or making snide remarks at his expense, Max found that he
could be surprisingly productive.
Yet
the days seemed to drag by slowly. There had been a time when he had
jumped out of bed, excited for another day of work in the lab,
running experiments with an air of childlike wonder. Now this sense
of anticipation extended only to finding out if this was the day that
Lily would return.
On
the fourth day, Max had just received his marching orders from Dr.
Franklyn when he looked up to see Lily shuffling toward him. The
girl stowed her gear in the locker next to where he was working, and
gave him a thin, nervous smile. “Do you need any help today?”
she asked, practically whispering.
“I
suppose,” he replied, unenthusiastically. Max handed her a scrap
of paper. “These are the reagents we need. Could you gather
them?”
She
nodded. As she turned and walked away from him, Max found himself
watching her go. Now that Lily was back, he finally became aware of
just how much he’d really missed her. The moment he saw her, his
first impulse had been to run to her, hug her, to find what she'd
been doing in her long absence. But the girl had wounded him, even
more deeply than he'd realized, and now it was just too hard to make
the first move at reconciliation.
Max
noticed another thing as Lily sauntered her way across the room: how
the eyes of every male in the class turned to follow her. The girl
was dressed in skinny black jeans and a low-cut purple tank top, both
garments form-fitting and perhaps a half-size too small. After her
last growth spurt Lily now an even five foot six, nearly a foot
taller than her original height. Yet despite her new stature, she
hadn't lost a bit of her diminutive charm. The girl still managed to
look impish, almost fragile. And with the pair of new assets that
she proudly displayed on her chest, Lily had officially graduated
from 'cute' to the unquestionable rank of ‘Bombshell.'
Throughout
the day, conversation between Max and his lab partner was sparse.
‘Could you pass me that beaker?’ or ‘How many milliliters of
sulfuric acid do we need, again?’ Once, a clumsy student at the
next table overheated a test tube full of a volatile chemical,
resulting in a sudden surge of bright blue flame. The luckless grad
student scrambled around the room, trying to remember where they kept
the fire extinguisher, while Max and Lily laughed heartily at his
expense. In the midst of this she caught his eye, and then, just for
a moment, they were laughing together.
At
five o’clock, Max left the building, his head hanging low. Lily
hurried after him, and caught up in the parking lot. “Hey, I need
to talk to you. Do you have a minute?”
“I
have someplace to be,” he answered, looking at his watch. “But I
can be late, if it's important. What do you need?”
Lily
brushed a stray lock of hair from her eyes, and crossed her arms
apprehensively. “I just wanted to tell you that I talked to Dr.
Franklyn. He wants me to start working in the lab at night, ‘to
help the project stay on schedule.’ I'll more or less have my
hands full, what with doing his bidding, but hopefully I’ll be able
to get a couple attempts in at reproducing our serum.’”
Oh.
She wanted to talk business. Well, that was safe, at least.
“That’s great,” he replied, smiling weakly. “Just make sure
you're careful.”
“Yeah,”
she agreed, rubbing her chin. “The thing is, I’d probably be
able to make more progress if I had somebody to help me once in a
while. Do you think you might want to come in with me?”
“Sure,”
he answered. “But I’ve been pretty busy lately. I’ll let you
know if I have a free night.”
“I...okay.
Did you, um...did have a chance to run any tests on the drug while I
was gone?”
“Er...well,
I did some...experimenting,” he replied evasively, thinking of Tara
and Melinda. “I don’t know that I got any useful data, though.
Listen Lily, I’ve got to go. I’ll see you in lab tomorrow.”
Max turned, and began to walk away.
“Oh,
one more thing,” she called after him. “Did I tell you that I’m
wearing a size ten shoe these days?”
Max
didn’t look back. Lily was a master of the art of non-sequitur,
but he wouldn’t let her trap him that easily.
He
heard running steps, and then she was walking beside him. “Yeah,
size ten. It's actually pretty large for a woman, even one of my
height. The thing is, I’ve always had kind of big feet.” She
paused, and took a deep breath. “Big enough, at least, that when I
put one of them in my mouth, it can cause some serious damage.”
Now
Max stopped. He turned to look at her. Lily was smiling up at him,
her expression sheepish. “I fucked up, okay? I hurt your feelings
and I’m...I’m sorry.”
“Lily....”
He was speechless. A direct apology was the last thing he would
ever have expected, out of either of them. He knew first hand how
hard it must have been for her.
“Listen,
let me make it up to you.” She took a tentative step forward. “I
want to go out with you. On a date. Tonight. My treat.”
“But...didn’t
you say you were supposed to work in the lab at night?”
The
girl gave him her old, familiar smirk. “Old Doc won’t miss me
just this once. Come on, what do you say?”
He
sighed. Try as he might, he couldn’t keep the stupid grin off of
his face. “Okay, you win. Pick you up at eight?”
Lily
took his hand, her green eyes sparkling. “Eight is perfect. You
karaoke, right?”
Max
scowled. “Never.”
She
laughed, and touched his cheek fondly. “Sorry Max, you do now.
It’s only fair – I did all the apologizing. That means I get to
call the shots for our first date.”
Vintage
Lily.
“Would
it make any difference if I said I was sorry for storming out of your
place like the biggest douche in the world?”
“No
dice. But I appreciate the sentiment.” She flashed her dimples at
him. “I’ll tell you what: I might reconsider our plans if you
were willing to go out with...a different version of Lily tonight.
One that's a little, you know, TALLER?” Her eyes darted toward his
pocket, where she knew he kept the serum. “Say, about NINE INCHES
taller?”
He
glared at her. “This whole stupid fight was about you using me.
It hasn’t even been a minute, and already you’re....”
“Kidding!
I’m kidding!” she said, grabbing him by both shoulders and
looking him in the eye. “I’m not trying to use you. I like it
when I’m big. YOU like it when I’m big. I only thought...if you
wanted...but you’re right, this is better.” She stood on her
tip-toes, and kissed him on the chin. “I’ll see you at eight,
then.”
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The
bar was called The Wooden Nickel, and by eight thirty it was already
jumping. Lily lead him through the crowded entryway to a small table
with a good view of the stage. She grabbed a thick, laminated
catalog from an adjacent table and began to leaf through it, her lips
pursed in thought. An attractive waitress with hot pink hair came
and took their order – beer for Max, a Sex on the Beach for Lily.
“So
what’s the deal with this place?” he asked, glancing around
skeptically. The bar had an air of willful neglect about it, as if
the owner believed that cleaning the stains off the walls would make
the place look too corporate.
“It’s
not that complicated.” She pointed at the catalog. “Just pick a
song. Write down the name on one of these little slips of paper, and
give it to the fat guy with the laptop sitting on stage. When they
call your name, go up and sing.”
“That
isn’t actually the question I asked,” he replied.
“I
know it wasn’t.” Lily shrugged. “I don’t know. I like this
bar. The drinks are cheap, and it doesn’t usually get too rowdy.
People just come to sing, and have other people see them do it.”
“See,
that’s the part I don’t get. Why would anyone want to get up in
front of a bunch of total strangers and make a complete ass of
themselves?”
Lily
shrugged again. “Because it’s fun, I guess?” She pushed the
catalog across the table toward him. “Here, just pick a song. Any
song really, as long as you know it, but maybe try to pick something
that you can have fun with. Or else, a song that you feel is
significant, that says something you can’t.” She gave him a long
stare, then looked away, smiling mysteriously. “Anyway, if you’re
worried about being embarrassed, the liquor helps.”
“I
see.” He stood up from the table. “Excuse me a moment.”
Max
walked around the bar, and finally tracked down their waitress.
“Miss, have you put our drinks in yet?”
She
shook her head. “Sorry, I was just about to.”
“No,
it’s okay. I wanted to change my order. Forget the beer. I think
I’m going to need something stronger.” He looked over his
shoulder at Lily. “Shots. Whiskey. Until I tell you to stop.”
After
gulping down her first drink, Lily scribbled the name of a song on a
piece of paper and handed it to the man with the laptop. A few
minutes later he called her name, and she made her way on stage. The
song began, one that Max recognized as a current Top 40 hit.
The
girl could really sing! Her voice came out dark and
honeysuckle-sweet, lilting from the song’s deepest lows to the
highest notes in her register. Her eyes squeezed shut, Lily sang
with a passion felt even in the furthest corners of the room. She
even added a couple flourishes to the song that the radio version
lacked, making it her own.
When
the song ended, the crowd roared in appreciation – the biggest
reaction for any performer so far. She walked off the stage, and sat
down next to Max. “Or something like that,” she said, grinning.
“Have you decided what you’re going to sing?”
Max
nodded, and pounded back his third shot. He hastily wrote down the
song name, and a few minutes later he was on stage, his heart
thumping crazily in his chest.
All
those eyes...there must be at least thirty people in here! Jesus,
how did she talk me into this. I can’t sing. Why am I UP here?
But
then he remembered Lily. How he was standing in the exact spot where
she had been only moments before. He remembered the way she looked
when she was singing...how it had kindled a fire in his stomach. And
most of all, he remembered how it had burned him in a different way
when they had fought.
The
song began, with it’s long, distinctive synthesizer opening. Keith
Moon came in on drums. And then Max was belting out the lyrics to
“Won’t Get Fooled Again,” the words practically boiling from
his mouth. He wasn’t sure if he sounded good, or terrible. But by
the last verse, one thing was clear: he was having fun.
Afterward,
he made his way back to the table, a smattering of polite applause
following him. Lily handed him the shot that the waitress had
delivered while he’d been on stage. “Interesting choice,” she
said, giving him a look.
Max
drank. “It’s just a song.”
She
nodded, taking a long pull from her drink. “I know.” Lily
glanced down at the catalog, her eyes going wide. “OOOH! Want to
sing ‘Love Shack’ with me?”
He
signaled their waitress for another round. “Let’s do it.”
By
his third song, Max had lost count of the shots. Lily was matching
him stride for stride, sucking down her fruity little drinks like
they were going out of style. From the way that she was laughing
uproariously at nearly everything he said, he could tell they were
hitting her pretty hard. And he was vaguely aware that he didn’t
usually use the phrase 'Let me tell you how it is' quite so often.
It
was just after eleven. Lily sat next to him, awaiting her turn to
sing. Somehow his arm had wrapped itself around her waist, and the
girl was reclined against him, her head resting comfortably on his
shoulder.
The
moment the announcer called her name, the crowd went wild. Lily
stood, and gracefully made her way to the stage.
The
song began. It was slow, one that Max had never heard before, with
an acoustic guitar intro. A bar employee flicked on a blue
spotlight, making her look otherworldly, almost angelic. Lily’s
eyes fluttered, and suddenly she looked at Max, fixing him with a
gentle stare. He immediately took notice – on each of her other
songs, Lily had spent her entire time on stage with her eyes clenched
shut.
He
couldn't follow all the lyrics, but the song was obviously one of
unrequited love. The chorus was the only part he was certain he
understood. On the first repetition, he laughed out loud. The
second found him much more restrained, thoughtful. And by the song's
climax, he was mouthing the words along with her.
The
morning will come
In
the press of every kiss
With
your head upon my chest
Where
I will annoy you
With
every waking breath
Until
you decide to Wake Up
Lily
walked off stage to a thunderstorm of cheers. Max looked at her, not
knowing what to say. She brushed the hair from her eyes, a timid
smile on her beautiful face. “It’s just a song,” she told him
softly.
Max
nodded. “I know.” He beckoned their waitress over. “Can we
get a check?”