My name is Nate and I've always been tall for my age. Currently, I'm 12 and 4'10". That's no real surprise since my Mom is 5'10" and my Dad is 6'1". My little sister Hannah is also well above average in height. She's 4'2" despite only being 8 years old.
Before we get going though, I should go back two years to the start of 5th grade. Two important events happened that day. First, my best friend Sam (Samantha officially, but everybody calls her Sam) asked me to be her boyfriend. Sam was pretty and fun to hang out with, so I said yes. What? I was 10, so the whole "special relationship" part didn't really matter to me then. Sam, on the other hand, put a lot more thought into it. She was convinced that girls should be shorter than their boyfriends, and since she was so tall (we were about the same height at the time but I had often been an inch or so taller), I was her only choice.
It turns out her timing was pretty bad on that point. You see, Sam had just started puberty around that time, and her growth spurt was about to kick in, hard. Over the next several months she grew, and Grew, and GREW. Multiple girls in our grade were also getting taller, and as 6th grade began, several more would start sprouting up. But none of them could match my girlfriend, who spent the next year the same as she had the one before: needing a new wardrobe every couple of months.
By the time we get to the present, I had managed to grow 4 inches over the past two years. Sam grew a foot. 12 inches! Now if I stand in front of her, she can easily rest her chin on my head.
The other thing that happened on the first day of 5th grade was Hannah meeting the girl who would become her best friend: Jessica. At first glance, you would never expect that these two would become so close. Firstly, Hannah was starting 1st grade, Jess was in 3rd. Jess was really smart (a genius honestly) with the skinny nerd body you'd expect, while Hannah was more athletic. Not dumb by any means, but she definitely preferred PE over math. Most striking though, was the difference in height. Hannah was very tall, while Jess was super short. Even back then Hannah was the taller of the two, and the gap has only widened in the 2 years since. Today Jess is only 3'10", and if you didn't know them, it would be easy to assume that she was the eight-year-old, and Hannah was 10.
It quickly became clear that my little sister was in charge of their little duo. She decided when they got together, what games they played, what shows they watched, etc. Now this wasn't super surprising to me. Hannah has always had a pushy side. She's not a bully exactly, she doesn't like hurting other kids, or calling them names to make her feel better about herself, but if she wants something she gets it. And she's not above using her size to intimidate anyone foolish enough to stand in her way.
What's surprising is one: this works on Jess even though she's two years older and way smarter than my sister, and two: Jess doesn't mind. In fact, sometimes I think she almost enjoys when Hannah pushes her around.
The one exception to this rule is Jess' monthly obsession. Every month or two, she'll get really focused on a subject. She puts that big brain to work absorbing all the information she can find on that topic. After a week or so, she gets a plan of action and her and Hannah implement it. This continues until she loses interest and starts looking for the next topic that interests her.
Normally you would assume Hannah always going along with these trends was just her being a good friend. She dominates their activities most of the time, so it makes sense that she would indulge Jess every now and then, especially with how passionate she gets when she's obsessed. But I've figured out the secret. Every subject Jess gets obsessed with involves growing.
Now Hannah's involvement makes sense. You'd think that standing almost a full head taller than her average classmate would be enough, but I'm not sure Hannah understands that particular word. She loves being taller, and stronger, than other kids. Hannah is also extremely competitive. Just being the tallest in her class, or the tallest in her grade, isn't enough. Being the tallest in her entire elementary school is still too small. She wants to be the tallest. No qualifiers. The tallest. Period.
They've tried a bunch of things at this point. Yoga, and other stretching exercises, weird diets, workout routines, herbal teas, vitamin supplements. You get the picture. Thankfully, none of these things made either of them taller. I'm sure the first goal Hannah would grow towards, if they did work, would be to get taller than me. Like I said, she's super competitive. It doesn't matter that I'm four years older than her, if I do something, she wants to do it better. And then she gets upset if she can't. She's super happy every time the growth chart Mom keeps in the kitchen shows her even an inch taller than I was at her age. So I have no doubt she would out-grow me if she could. Normally, I don't care about other people's heights, but man would that be embarrassing.
And that brings us to today, the last day of Summer Vacation.
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*Ding* *dong*
I open the door to see Jess standing there, her blond head not even making it up to my shoulders.
"Hey, Jess", I say, before turning to yell up the stairs, "Hannah, Jess is here to play!"
I return to the couch while Hannah comes bounding down the stairs. There's only a few hours of break left before school starts, so I don't want to waste any of them.
"...but it's so hot today! Can't we just stay inside? I know, let's play that game you got for your bir..."
"Jess," my attention was drawn back to the two girls just as Hannah interrupted her friend. Jess had moved to the bottom of the stairs, while my sister was standing a few steps closer to the door and looking back at her over her shoulder. "What did I say?", Hannah asked.
"That we were going to play outside. But..."
My sister let out a theatrical sigh before turning around and walking back to where Jess was standing. She stopped close enough that Jess had to tilt her head back to look Hannah in the eye. "Jess", she repeated, "what did I say?"
"That..." As soon as Jess started speaking, my sister took another step forward, completely eliminating the space between the two girls. They were now so close that their chests brushed against each other. Jess' voice died for a second as a shiver raced through her body. The size difference between the two was really incredible. It wasn't just Hannah's 4-inch height advantage. She was stocky, but in a fit, almost muscular way. So close to Jess' slender, doll-like body, my sister appeared almost twice as big as this girl 2 years her senior.
"That", Jess started again, "we were going to play outside." Hannah nodded.
"And so?" She said. "What are we going to do?"
"Play outside" Jess answered quietly.
"Right!" Hannah said cheerfully, her previously serious demeanor disappearing completely as she spun back around and headed for the door. She never even glanced back to see if Jess was following her, because she knew she was.
Now you might be thinking "Wow Nate. Your little sister is such a bitch." First of all, tone it down. That's my sister you're talking about. Them's fightin' words. Second, yeah she might be a little selfish, but I've never seen her act this entitled and demanding with anyone other than Jess. But most importantly, I could clearly see Jess' face as they headed past me on the way to the door. She didn't look frustrated, or sad, or even resigned. Instead, she had a dazed look in her eyes and the biggest grin on her face. I don't get it either, but as long as they're both happy I'm not going to interfere in my sister's closest friendship.
It only took an hour before they were back inside anyway, sweaty but still happy, even if Jess was clearly tired while Hannah seemed as energetic as when they left. After grabbing a couple of big glasses of lemonade from the kitchen they both headed up the stairs to Hannah's room. I fully expected to not see them again until dinner time, but it turned out they had other plans.
"Nate!" I heard Hannah call, "Come up here, we need another person!" I glanced back at the TV. Oh, what the hell? The only things on were re-runs anyway.
"I'll be right there!"
Walking into my sister's room, I found her sitting on her bed, with Jess standing to the side. Hannah grinned when she saw me, and motioned for me to sit beside her.
"So, what's up?" I asked.
"Well, you know how Jess has gotten into hypnotism, recently?" Hannah replied. I nodded. It was her latest obsession, though I couldn't figure out what this one had to do with growing. It's not like hypnotizing someone into believing they were taller would actually make them taller.
"She's gotten really good at it", Hannah continued. "But I'm the only one she has to practice on. She says she can learn more if she has more subjects." Hannah's grin got even wider. "I just want to see what it looks like from the outside."
"Well that sounds ominous", I said. "What are you plotting?"
"Don't be like that", Hannah said, pouting. "It's not like we can make you do anything you don't want to do."
"Huh?"
"She's right." I turned towards Jess' quiet voice. "Real hypnosis isn't like movie mind control. The only thing we're doing is bypassing your conscious mind to communicate with your subconscious. It will be more willing to listen to requests, but won't do anything that goes against your true desires."
"I guess I can't argue with the expert", I said. "OK, why not? Do your worst."
Jess moved to stand directly in front of me. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a coin taped to a piece of string. "You are getting very sleepy..." she stated, swinging the coin slowly back and forth.
"Pfft. Ha ha ha!" I started laughing. "Sorry", I said, seeing Jess' frown. "I couldn't help myself. That has to be the most cliche hypnotism line ever." Hannah reached over and slapped me on the shoulder.
"Stop that! It won't work if you don't take it seriously!"
"I said sorry." I turned back to Jess. "Let's try it again. I promise I won't laugh this time." Jess pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and started swinging the coin again.
"You are", she narrowed her eyes, "feeling very tired. You are sinking down into a state of complete relaxation. With each swing of the pendulum, you feel any distractions fade away. I am going to count down from 10. With each number, you will sink to a new level of relaxation.
10
"With each number, you will draw closer and closer to sleep. Becoming less and less aware of anything other than my voice. Feeling more and more relaxed.
9
"So very tired. So very sleepy. Your eyelids drop ever lower.
8
"With each level you sink, your consciousness fades. With each number, awareness lessens. So relaxed... So relaxed...
7
...
*Snap*
I opened my eyes to see Jess' fingers in front of my face, evidently the source of the snap I had just heard.
"Did it work?" I asked. I heard Hannah giggle.
"What do you think?" she countered. I was momentarily disorientated. Her voice wasn't coming from my left, where she should have been sitting. But from the right, and above. I whipped my head around... and stared straight into the side of her bed. As my gaze moved upwards to see my sister looking down at me, the pieces finally clicked. Hannah hadn't moved at all. Somehow in the split-second between Jess saying the number seven and snapping her fingers, I had moved from sitting on the bed to crouching on the floor on my hands and knees.
"Whoa", was all I could say, as I slowly shifted back to sitting upright.
"Right?" Hannah exclaimed, before jumping down to join me on the floor. "Jess usually gets me back in my original position before waking me. I think she wanted to get you back for laughing at her earlier." I glanced towards Jess but she avoided my eyes, blushing slightly.
"I guess I deserved that", I chuckled, before turning my attention back to my sister. "So, what did you guys have me do? Or was I on the floor just for the prank?"
"I knew you'd ask", she answered, "So I recorded it." She pulled out her phone and scooted close to me so we could both see the screen.
The video started right as Jess finished her countdown. I watched in growing embarrassment as the girls commanded my body to climb down to the floor and bark like a dog. Then in quick succession, they had me Sit, Shake, and Roll Over. Then it was back to all fours for more barking and what the girls called tail wagging, but due to anatomical difficulties was just me jerkily shaking my butt back and forth. This last "trick" caused Hannah to finally transition from giggles to full-out laughter. The camera lost focus as she rolled over in glee before mercifully cutting out a few seconds later.
"I thought you said you couldn't make me do anything I didn't want to", I snapped at my sister, who had resumed her laughter halfway through the replay.
"We couldn't", Jess answered for her. "Think about it, didn't you ever play make-believe with Hannah when you were younger? How is this any different?"
"I... We haven't done that in ages."
"And if she had just asked you to play make-believe when you came up here, would you have done it?"
"No, that'd be way too embarrassing."
"What if I wasn't here, and she really tried to convince you to do it? Would you?" I thought for a second and realized she had me there. I loved my sister and even if I refused initially, I would have given in eventually.
"I guess", I admitted. "But you were here, and it didn't look like there was much convincing going on."
"That's what the hypnotism is for", Jess replied. "Accessing your subconscious allows us to skip working thru your reluctance and embarrassment. Here's another example: I couldn't hypnotize you into breaking up with your girlfriend, because that would conflict with your true desires. But I could hypnotize you into sending her a mushy love poem, because you'd agree with the intent, even if your conscious mind would disagree with the execution."
"So my subconscious is me with no inhibitions, like if I was drunk?" I inquired.
"I believe so", Jess nodded, "although my mom wouldn't let me use her wine cabinet for a direct comparison."
"Well I'm glad you went with the animal impression rather than the love poem", I said. "Sam would have killed me." I grinned and got a smile from Jess in return. "That said, if Hannah really wanted to relive the good old days, I'm surprised she didn't go for the Horseyback Ride. Or maybe the Princess and Her Knight in Shin..."
"Stop that", Hannah butted in, whacking my shoulder again.
"Kids! Dinner's ready!" Mom's voice floated up from the kitchen. "You need to eat fast, so we can get Jess back to her house. It's a school night remember."
"Coming", we chorused. Right. School. Oh, joy.
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Well, one day was enough to dispel any dreams that middle school would be better than elementary school. Or even just different. Sure it was a separate building, all the way on the other side of the street. Math was still math, same with history, English etc. Even the kids were the same.
"Heh, I've always wanted to try this, but the stupid lockers in our old school were too small."
Speak of the devil. Rounding a bend in the hall, I saw that Brad had cornered Timothy again. Brad is the stereotypical school bully: Taller, broader, and dumber than the usual 7th grader. Also evidently a fan of overused tropes from 80's teen movies. Timothy, in contrast, was the stereotypical nerd. Skinny, wears glasses, and only a couple inches taller than my little sister. So Brad bullying Timothy was a pretty common occurrence in elementary school and it looks like he has no intention of turning over a new leaf this year.
"Hey Brad, did you leave your common decency at home? Or are you just a douche 24/7?"
"Dammit Nate", Brad growled, turning to face me. "Go be a goody-two-shoes somewhere else. I'm busy here."
"Why don't you make me?", I said, putting on the most annoying grin I could muster. "Oh, right. You're too chicken to fight anyone that might have a chance of beating you."
Brad stomped up to me, but immediately had to contend with the fact that I was about two inches taller than him, greatly diminishing the intimidation factor he usually depended on.
"Grrr... If you were just a little smaller you wouldn't be able to act all high and mighty", he declared.
"Ha", I laughed right in his face. "Fat chance. Even if we were the same height, I could still take you, and you know it. Now if you were smaller, that would be interesting. I bet even Timothy here would be too scary for you then." I cracked my knuckles. "Now scram."
Brad quickly looked me up and down, as if to make sure I hadn't turned into a bean-pole in the last 15 seconds.
"Fine, I have better things to do than hang around school with you two losers anyway", Brad said, before turning and walking back towards the exit. But I guess he couldn't resist the urge to get one last word in, because he paused and looked back over his shoulder. "One of these days, Nate. You're gonna regret getting in my way."
"Sure, Brad. Sure. I'm not gonna hold my breath though", I replied. After pausing a couple seconds while Brad continued down the hall, I turned my attention to Timothy.
"T-Thanks", Timothy said softly.
"Don't worry about it", I replied, before striking my best Superman pose. "Besides, foiling that villain's dastardly schemes is my heroic duty." We both chuckled. Stopping Brad's bullying had become such a habit last year that I had started coming up with cheesy lines to break up the monotony. Sadly, the conversation petered out into an awkward silence after that. Eventually, Tim muttered a quick goodbye and hurried towards the door. It's too bad. He seems like a nice guy, but we just don't have anything to talk about.
Oh, well. After a quick stop at my locker, I left the building too. I didn't have time to dawdle anyway, Sam and I had decided to walk home from school after all.
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We usually took the bus like all the other kids, but since the trip wasn't even 2 miles, sometimes we decided to walk. This gave me a chance to spend half an hour alone with my girlfriend instead of 10 minutes jammed in a yellow tube with a bunch of nosy middle-schoolers.
The first few minutes were nothing special. Just small talk. What we each thought of our first day in middle school, what we had gotten up to for the few days of break since we had last seen each other, the sports anime the other girls at her basketball camp had hooked her on. Less than gripping dialogue to anyone else, but I was happy just spending time with her.
Like I said earlier, we've been best friends for years, so I've always enjoyed her company. But over the last few months, I realized another reason to cherish these moments. My girlfriend is sexy! Her long legs. The way her tan skin contrasts with her bright red hair. How her breasts deform the front of her tank top. I'm so lucky.
"...and then during break, I had to deal with that bitch Kerry", Sam said, bringing my attention back to our conversation, "strutting around in her designer clothes like she owns the place."
Kerry was the resident rich girl, her father was the vice president of some company or something like that. She's another early-bloomer, I'd say about 5'3", not including the 2-inch heels she wore to school today. According to the other boys, she has the best tits in our grade. I may be biased towards my girlfriend but even I have to admit they're pretty great. Widely rumored in 6th grade to be a 32-B, it seems like she grew another cup size over the summer.
"Alice and Lisa were discussing how much they grew over break", Sam continued, "and Kerry has to come over and butt in. Bragging about all the modeling scouts her father introduced her to this summer. Then she said: 'They all insisted I had the perfect body to be a model. Sadly I doubt you two would measure up.' So I get up and go stand right next to her."
"'Before you tell other girls they don't measure up, maybe you should get your daddy to buy some heels that actually make you tall', I told her. The face she made when she turned around and realized I still had an inch on her was just great."
I was immediately distracted by the image of Kerry, who could look straight over my head in her bare feet, failing to measure up to Sam even in heels. Hell, the two girls that Kerry was putting down were each at least an inch taller than me. Luckily I managed to maintain enough attention to catch the rest of Sam's story.
"So she said that she doesn't need to be taller than some 'muscle-bound freak'", Sam continued. "So I called her a little skank that substitutes fancy clothes for a personality. Of course, that's the moment that Mrs. Stamford walks in, which means I'm the one that gets in trouble."
"Ouch", I replied. In just one day, Mrs. Stamford had established herself as the most no-nonsense teacher in the school. "Luckily you didn't get detention."
"Yeah, she said she'd let me off with a warning since it was our first day."
"Well, Kerry's an idiot anyway if she thinks she can insult your muscles. They just make you more attractive."
"Oh? You like these?" Sam inquired, flexing her biceps. "Maybe you should get some of your own."
"I have biceps!" I retorted, flexing my own arms. Not too bad, if I do say so myself. Although, they didn't seem so impressive next to Sam's baseball-sized mounds.
"Mmm, yeah. Look at my strong little boyfriend. So manly." Sam chuckled.
"Hmph. Anyway, you weren't the only one that had to deal with a bully today", I said, changing the subject. Then I proceeded to regale her with my encounter with Brad and Timothy.
"Wait, Brad Peters? Little Brad Peters?" Sam exclaimed, bringing her hand up and placing it palm down about an inch above her collarbone.
"Hey", I retorted. "He's only a couple of inches shorter than me." Sam just grinned down at me while moving her hand up to her chin then back down a few times.
"Well sorry that we can't all go away to camp and grow an inch in a single month", I griped. "He's still bigger than several of the girls and most of the boys."
"I'm just teasing you", Sam insisted. "Though it is hard to see him as a serious threat. He just looks so titchy from up here."
"I don't see him as a serious threat either", I said. "I'm just trying to help out the kids that are too small to stand up to him."
"I know. And I really do love that part of you. My heroic little boyfriend."
"Ugh, thanks, but can we maybe come up with something better than 'little boyfriend'?"
"Like what?"
"How about: 'Sexy stud muffin'."
Sam snorted. "You are such a dork."
"A sexy studly dork?" I asked, grinning up at her. Sam looked thoughtful for a second, then grinned down at me.
"How about this?" She said, reaching down and grabbing me under my armpits. Then, without even a grunt of effort, she lifted me bodily into the air.
"Wha... Huh?" I stated eloquently, still looking up an inch or so to see her eyes despite my feet dangling above the ground. Sam pulled my body into hers and gave me a deep kiss. For what seemed like an hour, I couldn't think straight. My brain ping-ponging at random between a few thoughts.
"Holy cow, her boobs are pressing against me!"
"Wow her lips feel so good!"
"Oh My God! She's still holding me in the air!"
Eventually, she pulled out of the kiss and her cocky grin returned.
"When you get big enough that I can't do this anymore, then I'll stop calling you my little boyfriend", she said. Only then did she slowly lower me back to the ground.
I know we must have continued talking for another 10 minutes or so before reaching her house, but for the life of me, I can't remember a single thing we said after that.
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"Nate," Mom said, sticking her head out of the kitchen, "dinner's almost ready. Can you go get your sister? She's playing with the other kids down at the lot."
"OK", I replied, pausing and saving my game. The lot was just that. A grassy field down at the end of the street where another house was supposed to be. Evidently, the housing developer for our neighborhood ran out of funds before it could be constructed. The HOA got together and decided to keep it mowed and clean as a sort of mini-park. It was great for playing games with big groups of kids.
That was definitely the purpose it served today, as about a dozen third to fifth-graders were running around when I walked up. It seemed like they had decided to play football. I grinned. Hannah would have gotten a talking-to if Mom had gone to get her instead of sending me. My parents didn't have a problem with touch football, but this looked like a much more full-contact variety, with about half the kids forming a loose skirmish line and the other half acting as quarter and running backs.
Hannah was in the skirmish line with her back facing me. Across from her was a nine-year-old named Jeremy. He was pretty tall for a four-grader so he actually managed to match Hannah in height. As I got close enough for Hannah to hear me, her team's quarterback yelled "Hike!" and everyone burst into motion.
"Hannah! Mom says to come home and get ready for dinner!" I called out. Hannah kept pushing against Jeremy but looked over her shoulder to answer me. Before she could get a word out though, her opponent saw an opening. Jeremy stopped pushing back for a moment, causing Hannah to lose her balance. Then just as she lifted a foot to stop herself from falling forward, he charged back in, knocking her flat. Then he ran full speed towards the quarterback, causing the smaller boy to panic and throw the ball away to avoid being tackled.
"Dang it!" Hannah growled, as she got back to her feet. "That was a dirty trick, Jeremy!"
"Maybe you should keep your head in the game", Jeremy taunted back. "Welp, you guys played a good game. Better luck next time."
"What do you mean?" Hannah asked. "We're winning."
"Yeah it's 4 to 3", Jeremy answered, "but we agreed that first team to 5 touchdowns wins. You have to leave and there's no way your team can play 5v6, so that's a forfeit."
"Besides", another kid added, "that was fourth down, so it's our ball now." Hannah was silent for a moment, then she turned back to me. She had a serious look of determination that I knew very well. It was the expression she got when she had decided to do something, and woe be it to anyone that tried to stop her.
"Nate, stall Mom for me. I need 5 extra minutes." I nodded and started back towards the house. There wouldn't be any point in arguing with her. Jeremy wasn't a bad kid, but even I would have a hard time losing a game like that. And Hannah was way more competitive than me. I paused for a moment when I heard the next "Hike!" signal the game resuming. I looked back just long enough to see Hannah ramming her shoulder into Jeremy hard enough to lift him off the ground.
It took almost 10 minutes for her to get back. She was covered in twice as much dirt and grass stains as before, but the grin and swagger, like a Roman general back from a successful conquest, told me who won.
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As the next few days went by, the incident with Sam just wouldn't leave me alone. It seemed like every time my mind wandered, the memory of her lifting me was what it settled on. Then I would have to worry about hiding my boner in the middle of class.
And it wasn't the kiss or the feeling of her breasts against my chest that really got me going. Don't get me wrong 10/10, would recommend, but they just couldn't compare to the lift itself. Her hands supporting my weight. Looking up into her eyes as my feet dangled above the ground. How effortless it seemed for her. How strong she must be. Is that weird? Am I a weirdo? I even had the stray thought, after a particularly vigorous evening masturbation session, that if growing taller meant Sam wouldn't be able to do that anymore, then I would rather stay small.
Of course, I dismissed the idea right away. I don't want to be a shrimp. And there's no way Sam would keep dating me if she didn't think I would eventually grow into her ideal boyfriend: tall, dark, and handsome.
While I was distracted, Sam had something else on her mind. Basketball. I thought of basketball as a fun game to play with friends, for Sam it was serious business. She not only played whenever she got the chance, she practiced regularly, and spent a month of her summer vacation every year at a basketball camp. Our elementary school didn't do much in the way of organized sports, but the middle school had a basketball team. And the tryouts were next week.
Now since our school was pretty small, we only had one team for both grades and it was co-ed. This was exciting, because it meant I would get to spend a lot of time with my girlfriend, but also worrying because a lot of the girls and even some of the guys trying out would be taller than me. That's why I was out in the driveway this afternoon instead of watching TV.
My skills weren't bad. It would be impossible to be Sam's best friend and boyfriend without gaining some experience with the game. But if I was going to be playing against mostly taller players, I would need to up my speed and accuracy to compensate. At least until my growth spurt could kick in. So I was running back and forth, without looking at the hoop, and trying to make a shot as soon as I stopped. I figured this would be the best way to keep bigger but slower opponents from blocking me.
"Hey! You're playing basketball? Can I join?" I turned to see my little sister leaving the house.
"I dunno", I replied, "You always get super pissed when you lose."
"I do not!"
"Yes, you do. Last time we played, you sulked for the rest of the day."
"Hmph. Now I'll be pissed if you don't let me play."
"Fine. But I reserve the right to say 'I told you so'." I tossed the ball over to her. "We'll play to 10. You can go first." This could be good for me. It would be more fun than practicing by myself and as long as I didn't shoot when she was right in front of me, I could still work on my skills against taller opponents. Hannah walked over to the crack in the driveway that we used as the out-of-bounds line. Then to my surprise, instead of dribbling towards the basket, she raised the ball above her head and jumped.
*Swish*
I felt my jaw drop. A perfect 3-pointer. Nothing but net. Hannah smirked at my astonishment.
"1-0. Maybe you should worry about whether I'll lose, instead of what my attitude will be afterwards." I couldn't help grinning back. She'd definitely been practicing. I might have to play seriously.
The game went back and forth from there. Hannah continued to surprise me with her speed and shooting ability, but she couldn't overcome my years of additional experience. Also I couldn't figure out a way to pretend I didn't have a height advantage when blocking her shots, besides just letting her shoot, and that wasn't going to happen.
"Dammit!" Hannah exclaimed as I sunk a lay-up to end the game 3-10. She kicked the ground petulantly. "All that time I spent practicing my shots and you just block them."
"That's what happens when you play against someone 8 inches taller than you", I countered.
"Bullshit!" Wow, she's lucky Mom's not here to hear all that language. "You play against Sam all the time, and she's way taller than you."
"OK, first of all, I play with Sam for fun, not to win. Secondly, you can score against a taller opponent if you get around them before shooting. Just work on your dribbling and footwork."
"You make it sound so easy", she grumbled.
"It's not easy, height is a big advantage in basketball. But it's doable. I mean it's how I scored this game, since I'm trying to get ready for tryouts and some of the other kids are going to be taller than me." Before I even finished the sentence, I could see Hannah's face getting red.
"You were taking it easy on me?!" she practically shrieked.
"Of course I was. I'm four years older than you and have way more experience playing this game."
"So? I beat older kids all the time. Do you have any idea how frustrating it is to lose to someone who isn't even trying?"
"No! Because I don't expect to beat people with that much of an advantage", I said, starting to get angry too. "Maybe if you weren't so competitive all the time, you'd have more fun."
"Ugh! I don't get you!" Hannah shot back. "Why even try to get better if you can still have 'fun' being a loser?" Not waiting for an answer, she turned and stomped back towards the house.
"I told you so!" I yelled as she slammed the door.
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True to expectations, Hannah refused to even talk to me for the rest of the day. Thankfully, the following day contained an event sure to improve her mood: the annual doctor's visit. Not that she liked shots, or brightly-lit rooms that smelled like antiseptic. But the annual check-up included height and weight measurements. Always a good time. More important though, was the follow-up. Something Hannah couldn't just do herself with a tape measure and the bathroom scale. The growth chart and the height-percentile chart. This gave her a visual representation of her growth over the past year and showed just how much taller she was when compared to other 3rd graders.
"Hurry up Nate!" she shouted from Mom's car, grinning like these weren't the first words she'd said to me since the game. The middle school let out later than the elementary school, so I imagine she'd just been vibrating with expectation for the last half-hour.
I'll skip the boring bits. Most of the visit was the same as every check-up involving two healthy kids. At the end, Dr. Feldspar brought us into his office to reveal the charts. He's been our family doctor since before I was born, so he liked to make a little presentation at the end knowing this was Hannah's favorite part.
"Ooh, Hannah, you've been doing a lot of growing this year", he said, pulling her chart up on the monitor screen.
"Yup, I've been eating healthy and getting lots of sleep", my sister proudly replied.
"Excellent! Well, that bumps you up to the 95th percentile. You're taller than almost all other eight-year-olds." Hannah beamed. "And you weigh 64 pounds, which is on the high end for 4'2", but not enough to worry about."
"That's because I've been working out", Hannah stated, striking a double-bicep pose. "And muscle weighs more than fat."
Huh. I knew Hannah had been exercising, but I guess I hadn't realized how serious she was about it. Those were some impressive biceps for an eight-year-old. No wonder she could overpower kids like Jeremy.
"That's true", Dr. Feldspar said. "Now Nate, you're down to the 84th percentile, but I wouldn't worry. That drop is mostly due to some boys starting puberty early and raising the average. You're still well within the margin compared to last year and your weight is fine too." Hannah smirked. I shrugged, it didn't really bother me.
"Hey", Hannah interjected. "Are there percentile charts for adults too?"
"Yes. In fact, the curves on this chart here go up to age 20", the doctor replied. "At that point, most people are done growing." Hannah leaned forward excitedly.
"So can you follow the line and tell how tall we'll be when we're grown up?"
"Well it won't be exact, but yes. If you follow this curve you can see that it ends between 6'2" and 6'3". So you could say that Nate will probably be one of those heights."
"What about me? What about me?" Hannah was practically bouncing in her seat. No, scratch that. She was literally bouncing in her seat. Dr. Feldspar switched back to her percentile chart.
"The 95th percentile is here", he said. "So you should eventually be six feet."
"Six feet what?"
"Hmm? Oh. Sorry: six feet even." Hannah's face fell. Uh-oh.
"That can't be right! That's shorter than Nate! Heck, that's shorter than Dad!"
"He's your big brother sweetie", Mom interjected. "Of course, he'll end up taller than you."
"What does that have to do with anything? I'm way taller than he was at my age!"
OK, I had to correct that. "I wouldn't call one inch..."
"Two inches!"
"...fine, two inches: 'way taller.'"
"Boys just grow more than girls", the doctor tried to explain. "You will have a bigger height advantage over the average woman than Nate will over the average man. But not enough to overcome the difference between those averages."
"So even though I'm working so hard to grow, he's just going to win without even trying? Typical! That's such bullshit!"
"Hannah! Watch your language!" Great, now Mom's getting angry too. Hannah's hands were clenched into fists and an angry blush was beginning to cover her cheeks.
"No Mom! It's bullshit, so I'm gonna say it's bullshit!"
"That's enough young lady! You march right out to the car and wait there. I'll save your punishment until we get home."
"Fine!" Hannah got up. "I'll prove you all wrong. I'm gonna be taller than Nate. I'm gonna be taller than everybody!" And with that, she exited the room and slammed the door.
Mom apologized to Dr. Feldspar and finished up the paperwork so we could leave. Luckily Hannah didn't dig herself any deeper and just spent the ride home in a silent sulk. Maybe that's how she avoided getting grounded, or so I assume, since Mom didn't turn Jess away when she came to play that evening.
I figured I wouldn't hear from Hannah for the rest of the day, hell maybe the whole weekend. Even if I wasn't the one at fault, her resentment was directed towards my height, and therefore me. Instead, about half an hour after Jess arrived, my little sister called for me.
"Nate, can you come up here?! Jess needs another subject!" She probably wanted to hypnotize me into doing something stupid again. Oh well, if it made Hannah feel better, I could deal with a little embarrassment. I got up and headed towards the stairs.
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When I woke up the next morning, there was one thing I knew with unshakable certainty: Dr. Feldspar was wrong. I wouldn't grow to 6'2". In fact, I would never grow another inch.