After a while, he felt himself slowly returning to his senses, his feelings of grief, despair and heartache, which had been whipped up into a frenzy, gradually became less intense. They were still there, of course, churning away in his belly, but for now, he had released the valve.

Rolling over to face away from the wall, he stared blankly at his room; the movie posters, books, angle poise lamp, swivel chair, all exactly as he’d left them on Friday morning.

With great effort, he hauled himself upright and transported himself from bed to swivel chair, shunting himself over to the desk and prising his laptop open.

The fan kicked into life and he entered his password, opened up the browser and logged into his social networking page.

A couple of messages lay in wait, one from Delon… and another from Penny…

He clicked his friend’s name first:

Saturday 11.35 AM

Ok dude, will do.

D

A quick response to him being instructed to talk to Penny.

Don’t think about it.

I said, do not dwell on it, he told himself firmly.

He clicked on the other notification quickly, his heart aflutter.

Penelope Lévesque has sent you a friend request. Do you wish to accept? 

His hand immediately moved the cursor to the ‘yes’ box, almost breathlessly, of course he would accept.

As he hovered over it, though, a terrible thought crept into his mind. What if Caitlin was monitoring this?

He couldn’t afford to risk it – he barely ever added anyone, let alone an Alpha girl completely out of the blue. It was the sort of thing that might be publicly visible, depending upon which settings had been reset to default in the most recent update. It just wasn’t worth taking a chance, not if Caitlin, or one of her friends, put two and two together.

Agitated and unstuck by how such a simple action could have such serious implications, he clicked back to the messages page and stared at the screen forlornly.

He could still talk to her via the messages, of course, but if this was a taste of how careful he was going to have to be to keep this painful episode secret, he didn’t like it one bit.

Selecting her name from the list on the messages page, he re-read her message from Friday night over and over without even thinking.

He was acutely aware that he was probably driving himself mad, but still, he read the salient points over and over again.

I don’t have a phone or a computer so I’m at the city library

I’m really sorry if I’ve upset you

I hope you’ll get back to me soon and that you’re ok

Penny x

x

He rubbed his eyes with his fingertips.

Stop it, Jack.

Now.

He clicked the back button and skimmed his newsfeed without much interest, then he caught up on some current events and sports headlines, and when that had lost all intrigue he loaded up his online movie subscription website.

He was beginning to feel incredibly depressed once more, so he scrolled through his favourites until he arrived at something that would, at the very least, keep him occupied for the next 90 minutes.

Dragging the power lead over with him, he returned to the bed and put his laptop on his bedside table so he could watch it comfortably whilst lying on his side.

His eyes registered that the film was on, but he felt utterly, utterly numb for the next hour or so as it unfolded.

There was a knock on his bedroom door about 3/4 of the way through, so Jack reached out an arm and paused the film.

“Come in,” he said in a raspy voice, his vocal chords stiff after being neglected for a while.

The handle rotated down and then up again slowly, followed shortly by his mum backing into the room carrying a plate and a glass of juice.

She walked over and placed them next to the laptop on his bedside table, he could see that the plate held a sandwich cut in half alongside a decent handful of crisps.

“How are you feeling?” she asked, sitting down on the side of his bed delicately.

“Weak,” he replied honestly.

She could see his eyes were a bit puffy, and he did look rather unwell.

“Your Dad and I are going to head to the hospital, and then into town to do some shopping, so I’ve made you some food just in case you get hungry while we’re gone,” she explained, reaching out to place her hand on his head.

“Thanks mum,” he said croakily, shifting his position under the covers as she felt his forehead.

“You haven’t got much of a temperature,” she noted, “What sort of symptoms do you have, again?”

 “Feel sick. Chest tight, very weak, headache,” Jack murmured, throwing in a delayed cough for emphasis.

“You might need a painkiller,” she suggested, her expression showing a non-committal blend of concern and incredulity.

“Yes please,” he said quietly, slow-blinking his eyes to show that he was struggling a bit.

Her face softened, and he knew she’d figured it wasn’t worth treating him with suspicion any longer.

“Ok baby boy,” she smiled softly, leaning in and kissing him on the forehead.

She stood up and walked out of the room, returning a minute later with a couple of small, chalky pills that she placed next to the glass on his bedside table.

“We’ll be back around 5ish,” she told him, “If you can try and sleep whatever this is off before tomorrow morning, that would be best. This is a crucial time to pick your tutor’s brains before the exams, there’s every chance…”

“I know, I know mum,” he interrupted, rolling his eyes as she threatened to lecture him again about the value of education, blah blah blah…

“…well, you know all this, anyway,” she trailed off.

“I love you,” she said meaningfully, “We’ll see you later.”

“Love you too,” her son replied, hunkering down under the covers.

“Get well soon, kiddo,” his Dad added, Jack hadn’t even noticed him standing in the bedroom doorway.

He was wearing his coat already and was jangling his car keys from one finger.

“Alison, we’d better get going,” his father advised.

“Alright Paul, keep your hair on,” she exclaimed, looking at her boy and shaking her head in mock disapproval.

She stood up and walked over to her husband, admonishing him for his impatience.

Within a few seconds, his parents had gently closed his door, and he heard their muffled voices discussing the shopping plans as the front door was closed and locked behind them.

Jack loved his parents.

More than anything, they were like him. Arguably he was more like his mother than his father, she was quite an intense person, loving, kind, that’s why she became a carer for elderly Betas. She only wanted the best for her son, that was one of the reasons why they opted out of GH therapy for him in the first place, he figured.

His father worked at an electrical components factory just on the outskirts of town which produced parts for mobile phones and tablet computers, microchips and the like. He self-identified as an engineer, but didn’t appear to enjoy the job as much as he claimed to - it was a career path borne of necessity, to provide for his family. His Dad was very much into music, and played several instruments, perhaps, in another lifetime, he could’ve made a career out of it.

For Jack, being raised as an only child by two hard-working Beta parents had meant a great deal of time left to his own devices, figuring out who he was, becoming quite inquisitive and self-reliant. As a youngster, he’d been quite well-liked and regularly stayed over at friends’ houses, completely unfazed by their predominantly Alpha-size parents – all adults were giant in some form or other compared to young children.

As he grew, he realised that other kids, specifically his friends’ older sisters or brothers, would go away for a month or so to a kind of summer camp, and return significantly bigger. He even remembered asking his mum about it, and the far-away look on her face when he did.

“Some children are put on special medicine,” she had explained to him, “But you don’t need any medicine… you’re perfect just the way you are.”

Certain that mummy knew best, Jack thought nothing of it when all of his immediate friends started talking excitedly about going to ‘Growing School’ for the first time.

“I don’t need any,” he asserted proudly to anyone that would listen.

“But everyone goes to Growing School,” his friend Billy had insisted.

“Not me,” he boasted, “My mum says I’m perfect!”

When the other children came back, much taller and stronger, and continued to grow, and grow, Jack realised that something was wrong.

“Mummy,” he said, tugging at her arm in the kitchen as she prepared his tea, “Why am I growing so slow?”

“When will I catch up?” he asked, eyes wide with innocence.

She sat him on her knee and explained it to him as best she could.

He wouldn’t grow like the others, he’d grow to be mummy and daddy’s height, which was just as good, she promised him.

Except it wasn’t.

Not when his friends stopped talking to him the same, not when he had to kick and fight and struggle for everything, and not when every waking moment was a brutal reminder that he wasn’t big enough for this new chapter in life.

He’d always liked to spend time on his own, even if he played with his friends and made himself the centre of attention, he was equally happy to quietly read a book, play with his toys, or entertain himself with colouring-in.

As he felt himself dwindling, comparatively, to his schoolmates, he receded inside of this shell more and more. He read voraciously, especially classic novels and history books, and increasingly consumed TV and film from his parents’ own era with unbridled interest far beyond his years.

His parents weren’t blind to this separation from his Alpha peers, they knew the choice they had made for him, but because he rarely hinted at the frustration building up inside, and more time seemingly studying, concentrating on schoolwork, increasing his knowledge, could only be a good thing for his future prospects, they never doubted their decision.

Entering his last few years at school, Jack felt like he had built up a very clear picture of where he stood in life, and the implications of the decision taken when he was 6. Very clear indeed.

He loved his parents, he really did.

He just felt like they’d made the wrong decision.

Jack was in a strange classroom.

All of the tables and chairs and things in it were scaled for his height, so clearly this wasn’t his real classroom, because it would have been far larger.

A teacher was writing on the blackboard, and as Jack looked around he could see that there were other people around him who were the same size as him.

There was Alex, he realised, at the next desk over as always, but she was normal, you know, normal size.

She looked so… ordinary. Attractive, sure, but approachable, just a teenager like himself.

Looking to the other side, Delon was sat there, at the same scale as Alex; still gangly with his short, scrubby hair.

Jack’s pulse started to race, standing up from his seat, inexplicably he ran from the room, and careened down the corridor.

There were younger students all around him, noticeably shorter, maybe between four and five feet tall, as he sprinted between them, slaloming from side to side.

A willowy figure appeared, as if silhouetted against a great white light at the end of corridor. A familiar outline began to reveal itself.

“Penny!” he shouted, getting closer and closer.

“Penny! You won’t believe it,” he cried.

The figure turned as Jack finally reached her, and looked… down, definitely down into her radiant, smiling eyes.

He knew that couldn’t be true, that this was not reality, but somehow this felt right, that this was what it was meant to be like.

“We’re both the right size!” he exclaimed happily, reaching down to slip his hand in hers.

Her fingers felt so delicate, so slender in his grip.

She didn’t say anything, she just looked up at him with those wonderful green eyes.

“It’s… unbelievable,” he said again, far too wrapped up in this incredible experience to notice something particularly dramatic had started to happen.

“Aren’t you going to say anything?” he asked, confused, as she shook her head slowly, her eyeline creeping up ever so slightly.

That was when he realised, he wasn’t looking down at her as much as he had been just moments before.

“Wait…” he breathed in disbelief as he felt her fingers lengthening against his, her frail grasp strengthening as her hands expanded.

They were looking directly into one another’s eyes now.

Exactly the same height.

“What’s going on?” he said, panic creeping into his voice.

He found himself looking up at her as she began to loom over him, she hit 6 feet within a matter of seconds, and with every moment, more inches seemed to separate them.

Her expression slowly morphed into one of sadness, as her now much more substantial fingers loosened themselves from his grasp as she grew.

He looked around, there was no point of reference, the hallway had dissolved away to reveal an infinite white vacuum in all directions.

Still the girl grew, her face etched with what looked like pain.

“Penny, no… please,” he begged, reaching for her hand and trying to hold onto her large fingers as they slid higher and higher. She must’ve hit 8 or 9 feet by now.

“Why, why is this happening,” he cried out, stepping backwards and shaking like a leaf, looking up as the girl hit the 10 foot mark.

He closed his eyes, hoping that when he opened them she would return to her initial height, only to realise that she had topped out at over 12 feet tall, the size he knew her to truly be.

Her eyelids flickered and blinked, her eyes lolling backwards in their sockets, and her long, slender form abruptly buckled at the waist, her body collapsing forwards on top of him.

He cried out as her heavy frame descended, putting his arms up to try and catch her, but everything went dark as she enveloped him like an enormous cloak…

Jack awoke with a startled yelp to find himself flat on his back on the floor of his bedroom, several feet from his bed.

The bedcover was wrapped around his legs like cotton candy, like he’d gotten tangled in it, or tried to walk somewhere.

With wide unblinking eyes he surveyed the scene, telling himself it was just a dream. Obviously it had to be a dream.

His heart was absolutely pounding away, it had, yet again, felt so so real.

A waking dream so powerful it had physically taken him out of bed.

He was safe, he reminded himself, you’re safe.

You’re safe.