“Hey, Kellie.  How you doing?” said Kayleigh.

“Fine? You?” Kellie said, surprised to be asked.

“Fine,” said Kayleigh as she cruised on by in the hallway. “See you.”

Kellie couldn’t believe not only the number of people talking to her today, but who they were. She shook her head as she made her way to the cafeteria table where her best friend, Jenna, awaited.

Kellie set her tray down on the table.  “Hey, Jenna,” she said.

“Hey,” Jenna said.

“It’s really weird, what’s happening,” she said.  “A bunch of the popular girls are all talking to me today, all friendly with me.  Kayleigh, Hayley, Tessa;  they’re all greeting me, saying hi, asking how I’m doing.”

Jenna swallowe3d a mouthful of her food.  “You know why,” she said.

Kellie shook her head.

“It’s your bracelet,” Jenna said.  “Your Elevator Girl bracelet.”

Kellie glanced at her left wrist, trying to conceal her panic.  She almost always wore the bracelet her grandfather, the retired hero who called himself Elevator Man, on that wrist.  It was the bracelet that gave her her size-changing powers.  Still, unless you were actually using the hidden controls, it seemed a very nondescript, white plastic bracelet.  Had all these students tumbled to her secret identity as the city’s newest superheroine?

“Elevator Girl bracelet?” Kellie said.

Jenna swallowed another mouthful and pointed a fork at  Kellie‘s bracelet.  “That thing,” she said.  “Ever since people noticed that she always wears a bracelet like this, no matter which of her costumes she wears, knockoffs of it have become a fashion statement.  You were the first one in the school to wear an Elevator Girl bracelet, so they think you’re some kind of fashion trendsetter.  They want to be on the ins with you.”

Kellie sighed in relief.  “Oh,” she said, picking up a forkful of her own corn.

Jenna looked over at her friend.  “You wanna go sit with them?”

Now Kellie swallowed a bite of food.  “Why would I want to do that?” she asked.

“Well, they’re wanting to be friends, and you and I have had … strains in our friendship lately,” Jenna said.

“Doesn’t change anything,” Kellie said.  “You’re still my best friend, and they’re still just a bunch of posers.”

“You sure?” Jenna asked.

“I’m sitting with you, aren’t I?” Kellie asked.

“Cool,” Jenna said.

After a couple of minutes of eating in silence, Kellie said, “So Elevator Girl’s bracelet is a fashion trend now?”

“Yeah,” said Jenna.  “Hey, where did you get yours, anyway?”

“My grandpa gave it to me,” Kellie said.  “It was the last gift he gave me, right before he died.  He made it special for me.”

Jenna nodded.  “Hey, did you see what Will Jensen wore to school today?”

Suddenly there was a loud crashing sound.  Kellie felt something large and heavy hit the back of her head.  As she blacked out, she heard people around her, including Jenna, screaming.  Then there was nothing.

Through darkness, Kellie heard Jenna’s voice calling her.  “Kellie!  Kellie!”

Behind the calls, she heard chaos.  People -- from the sound of things, young people -- were screaming.  There was a mechanical sound, like giant machinery was working hard.

Kellie forced her eyes open.  Her head hurt, especially in back.  She felt the back of her head.  She had a nasty knot, but felt no wound, and saw no blood on her hand when she pulled it in front of her eyes.

She realized she and Jenna were under a table in the cafeteria.  “What’s going on?” she asked.

“Some psycho with a giant robot came through the roof,” Jenna said.  “A piece of the roof hit you in the head.  I pulled you under here.  It’s not much protection, but it’s the best I could get you to.”

“Ah! There you are!” said an amplified male voice Kellie didn’t know.  “I’ve got you, Elevator Girl!”

Kellie’s head pivoted.  About two weeks earlier, the school was attacked, and she had defended it as Elevator Girl.  What she later learned was that the attack was a coordinated one, and that, by appearing as Elevator Girl, she had tipped off the person behind the attacks that she attended Jackson High School.  Now the person behind the attacks was here, and she knew she was not only unmasked, but had placed her fellow students in danger.

Then Kellie heard the machinery moving away.  “Well, Elevator Girl, she’ll be glad to see you,” the unfamiliar voice said.

Kellie and Jenna each looked out from under the table.  A man was seated in what should have been the head of a giant humanoid robot.  In its right hand, the robot held one of their fellow students, a girl.

“OMG!” said Jenna.  “That’s Hayley!”

As Kellie watched, she realized what had happened.  Hayley was of a similar build to her, and was blonde -- and she, like the other popular girls, had taken to wearing what were being called “Elevator Girl bracelets.”

Kellie’s heart sank as she realized someone she knew was now in mortal danger because of her.  The mystery attacker had the wrong girl, and he might kill Hayley thinking she was Elevator Girl.

“Jenna,” Kellie said.  “Get to better cover.”

“What about you?”

“I’m too dizzy from that blow to the head to move,” Kellie said.  It was partly true; she was pretty sure she had a concussion.  “I’ll stay here, but you need to be in a safer place.”

“I’m not leaving you!” Jenna said.

“You’ve already helped me,” Kellie said.  “You got me under cover.  Now, go, get yourself somewhere safer.  I’ll be OK.”

Jenna took a deep breath.  “OK,” she said reluctantly.  As she left, she looked back.  “Don’t you die on me.”

“I’ll do my best,” Kellie said, smiling.

As soon as Jenna was gone, Kellie hit the down button on her bracelet.  She was getting more control of her powers, since she could choose to leave her outer clothing full-size and shrink only her costume with herself, but she still needed to manipulate the bracelet to change.  Her grandpa had said she’d eventually be able to change at will without even wearing the bracelet.  She wished that had happened by now;  maybe Hayley wouldn’t be in danger.

Whipping on her mask, Elevator Girl exited the table from the opposite side of the one from which Jenna had exited.  With no time to waste, she took the slight risk to her secret in the chaos of looking around while growing.

Kellie found the giant machine.  The left arm was spraying ice on Hayley, who was screaming in panic.  “I’m not Elevator Girl!  You’re wrong!  You’re -- AAAAAAAGH!”

The last cream was in pain as the ice surrounded her from the neck down, freezing against her exposed skin.

“She’s right, you know,” Elevator Girl said, growing 20 feet taller than the robot.  “She’s not Elevator Girl, and I should know.”

The man in the machine smiled.  “Elevator Girl, after all,” he said.  “All according to plan.”

He moved a lever and the robot’s right arm flung Hayley.  Kellie could tell from the speed and height Hayley probably wouldn’t survive the fall. She dove after Hayley, cushioning her from the fall by moving her hands down as she was caught the girl.

Suddenly Elevator Girl was screaming. The robot was now encoating her with ice, starting with her left wqrist, where her size control bracelet was.  The ice was agony, and combination of her concussion, growth and the sudden dive left her unable to move just long enough to be completely surrounded in ice.

With the last movement she had left, Kellie used her right hand to free Hayley.  “Run!” she said.  Hayley nodded, yelling “Thank you!” over her shoulder as she ran away.

Kellie tried to move.  She couldn’t.  Only her head was free of the ice, and it surrounded her so tightly she couldn’t move within it.  Her only hope was that her body heat would loosen the ice.

“Don’t plan to escape,” the man said.  “It’ll do you no good.  This was all according to plan.  Either I got you on the initial attack or I got someone else and you moved to free her.  And I know the weakness of how your power works from watching footage of you.  You won’t be able to change sizes if you can’t move in the ice.  I’ve got you, Elevator Girl.”

The robot grabbed Kellie’s hair and pulled her up.  She screamed in even more pain, with the tugging also impacting the area where she’d been hit earlier.

“Now, I just need to set up the video feed,” the man said.  He looked around and used the robot’s left arm to attach some equipment to the wall.  “I need for the world to know that Elevator Girl was brought down by the Planner, and I especially need my backer to know.”

Backer? Kellie thought.  If he had a backer, maybe he wasn’t the one responsible for the attacks on the schools.  But who was?

“But, before I send out our signal, let me reinforce the ice,” the Planner said.  He had the robot spray Elevator Girl again, which kept the ice tight to her body.  “After all, we wouldn’t want you getting loose, now, would we?”

“Speak for yourself,” Kellie said.

The Planner laughed.  “As I said, all according to plan,” he said.