Emma sat alone in the park, her joy at discovering the outside world for the first time quickly fading. She didn’t regret leaving her own home, but, somehow, this new life wasn’t what she’d expected. Susie was a great friend, but she was a lot older than Emma, and their interests weren’t the same; she spent more time with her boyfriend, and those girls from the high school, than with Emma. After a week spent mostly up at the cabin, or walking around in the woods, the young giantess began to wonder if fitting might be impossible for her. She’d asked her parents if she could spend one last weekend at her old home on the military base. Partly because she wanted to, and partly because Susie had asked her politely. She had no idea what Susie was planning, or why she wanted her gone for the weekend; maybe she’s planning a romantic encounter with Jake, and wanted some privacy. Either way, Emma wouldn’t be returning till Monday.

There didn’t appear to be anyone in the park this Thursday morning, and Emma was just about to get up and leave. Then she spotted someone, sitting beneath a tree on the other side of the lawn. Though normally shy of strangers, she felt a curious desire to go to this person and talk to him. Maybe if she took a chance, she might make a new friend. She got on her hands and knees and began moving nonchalantly towards the tree. The figure saw her coming, and got up, but didn’t run away. To Emma’s surprise, he actually came walking towards her. She saw that it was a young boy, no older than herself. He looked up at her with wide eyes, and backed away a bit as she extended her hand.

“Hi there,” she said. “Don’t be afraid of me, I won’t hurt you. I’m Emma. What’s your name?”

“Danny,” he said shyly. He looked rather skinny to Emma, and she wondered what he was doing here and why he wasn’t in school. He stepped forward to touch her outstretched hand, then got the shock of his life when she wrapped her fingers around him at lightning speed. She lifted him off the ground, feeling his little body wriggling in her hand.

“Gotcha!” she said mischievously. “There’s no escape for you now, little Danny! Prepare to be eaten!”

She brought him closer to her open mouth. He didn’t scream, or make a sound, but kept staring at her with unblinking eyes. She thought that maybe he was too scared to talk, so she put him down again.

“Whoa!” he exclaimed, suddenly coming to life. “You…just picked me up, and…and then you…whoa, that was so cool!”

“I…you mean, you weren’t scared?”

“Course I was scared!...Uh, I mean, uh, no way! You’ll have to do a lot better to scare me!”

“You mean, like this?”

She grabbed him by his legs and had him dangling in front of her face, forty feet above the ground. He screamed loudly, as she started to swing him back and forth, carefully of course.

“Why aren’t you in school, little boy?” she said, in a deep, menacing voice.

“I…I’m…sick,” he managed to say.

“Really? You don’t look sick to me! I think you’re faking!”

“No, I’m not! Put me down, please! I…I’m getting…bad feeling…gotta…throw up…”

She lowered him slowly to the ground. He didn’t throw up, thankfully, but Emma apologized anyway. He still didn’t look ill to her, but she decided to drop the subject. She held out her hand and invited him to climb in it. After looking around him to make sure no-one was around to watch, he accepted. She brought him closer to her face.

“Wow, you’re huge!” Danny exclaimed. “I bet you’re bigger than my house! Damn!”

“Oh yeah? Wait till I’m all grown up, then I’ll show you what ‘huge’ really means.” She couldn’t believe she was making a new friend as easily as this. Soon, she and Danny were talking about school, parents, friends, sport, as if they had known each other for years. He said that all his other friends were boys, but that she was welcome to come and play with them anytime.

“Oh, that sounds great!” she said. “But I won’t be back until Monday. Is…is that okay with you?”

“Sure, whatever. You should come by my school sometime and meet everyone. That’ll be so cool!”

“I’d love to! Now, tell me, what do you and your friends do for fun?”

Meanwhile, at Barton High School, a different kind of excitement was in the air. That morning, students who arrived at the school were greeted by a strange sight. Draped across the front of the main building was an enormous paper banner. On it the following lines were written in large red letters:

THE BIGGEST PARTY IN TOWN!! SUSIE’S PLACE SATURDAY @19:00, YOU KNOW WHERE IT IS! EVERYONE INVITED! FREE FOOD AND DRINKS, SLEEPOVER OPTIONAL. SEE YOU THERE!

Several of the staff managed to take down the banner, but not before it had been seen by a majority of the schools students. Naturally, it was the topic of most conversations during the next two days. Jake was frequently asked exactly what was going on, as were some of Susie’s other friends, but they too were in the dark. In fact, Susie hadn’t been seen in town for several days, and Jake had begun to wonder if something was wrong with her.

Saturday morning came, and Jake, along with several of his friends, Linda included, were on their way to Susie’s place. She’d sent them a message the previous day, via Emma, requesting their help. They were let in by the guard at the gate, and drove the winding road through the dense trees. When they came in sight of Susie’s cabin they saw the young giantess waiting for them. One of Jake’s friends, a boy called Gary, had never been here, and was almost overflowing with excitement. He had a secret crush on Susie, as Jake knew, even though he was too embarrassed too tell anyone else. Today, however, Gary found himself here by his dream girl’s request, and they all got out of the car to see what was going on.

“Hi there!” Susie said, sounding exceptionally happy. “Emma’s just left, so that means we can officially begin the preparations.”

“Preparations?” Jake asked.

“For my party, of course!” she said, crouching down and giving him a kiss on top of his head. Several of the others began laughing, and he shot them an angry glance. Susie merely smiled as she gathered them all into her hands.

“Sorry for keeping this all from you,” she said as she went inside. “But I didn’t want anyone to ruin the surprise, if you know what I mean. Now, I asked my dad to help me get all this stuff, but I need your help now to set it up. Shall we begin?”

The day passed quickly, and, before they knew it, the sun had already begun to set. Jake and the others were pretty worn out, so Susie had given them some time off while she continued getting the place ready. They didn’t have her strength, after all. Six o’clock arrived, and she had just finished looking over everything for the last time. She turned on the light over the front door, and it illuminated the entire lawn in front of her house. Spread out across the lawn were a dozen unlit bonfires, which they’d built earlier. There was also a large table with snacks, glasses and cutlery, and several fridges containing drinks. The rest of the food, and some of the drinks, were still inside, and she would fetch them when needed. She’d also borrowed some powerful speakers from her father, and had put Gary in charge of the music for the evening. Inside, she’d set up some chairs and tables, and a ramp leading up to her bed, in case anyone wished to go there. If anyone wanted to sleep over, they could do so on Emma’s bed - Susie estimated it was large enough for a hundred people.

As the hour drew nearer, she could no longer contain her anxiety. During the time she spent planning the party, she had always pictured it in her mind as a success. Now, however, she was painfully aware that it might all be for nothing. If her attempt to win everyone over to liking her failed, she wondered if she would be able to get over it. Suddenly, in the distance, came the sound of a car’s engine, followed by the glow of its headlights.