Not a minute went by where Jake didn’t wish he could skip school and go to see Susie. That Sunday afternoon, when he’d been taken to her remote cabin, and spent hours talking to her, had already begun to feel like a distant memory. He’d told her he’d like to visit her every day, to her great delight, but it just wasn’t possible. They both had their studies to attend to, and it might also be too risky if he came to see her every day. Sooner or later people might suspect that something strange was going on. They could both get into serious trouble, and he didn’t think she deserved it.

So she’d told him to come back early next Saturday morning. Just as expected, the days went by excruciatingly slowly. For the most part he spent his time in class daydreaming about Susie, while trying to pay attention to what the teachers were saying. He also tried to steer clear of Billy and his gang. He still hadn’t told anyone the truth about what had happened that day. Billy was very popular at school, plus his dad was the chief of police, so it seemed like he could get away with anything he wanted. Nobody would believe Jake’s version of the story, so he kept quiet and tried to forget about it.

Wednesday morning came, and the classes felt even longer than usual. Jake was daydreaming again, staring off into the distance, oblivious to his classmates’ stares, when the teacher’s harsh voice shook him back to reality.

“Jake Darren! How many times do I have to tell you to pay attention!”

”I’m sorry, Miss Stewart. I’m…I’m trying to listen, really!”

“What has gotten into you?” Miss Stewart asked. “You used to be the best listener in class, Jake!”

“He’s in love!” someone shouted, and the whole class started to laugh. Jake looked around furiously, trying to find out who’d said that.

“No, I’m not! I’m not in love! That’s a lie!” The laughing continued, and, to Jake’s horror, he saw Billy staring back at him, an evil look in his eyes. If only the day was over already, he wished to himself.

“Okay, class, that’s enough!” the teacher ordered. “And Jake, whatever it is that’s bothering you, I suggest you get over it quickly. Next week is test week, and I expect you to do very well, you understand?”

He nodded, and Miss Stewart went back to teaching. Or at least, she would have, but she couldn’t resist having one more go at Jake.

“After all,” she said, “we certainly don’t want your secret girlfriend to think you’re an underachiever, now do we?”

The room erupted with laughter again, and Jake began counting the seconds of time left until he could escape this miserable place.

Susie wandered through the field of tall grass. She wondered how she got here, and why the grass was so tall. It didn’t feel right, but she accepted it eventually and kept on walking. Then, in the distance, silhouetted against the setting sun, she saw him. She began walking faster, desperate to reach him. Oh, it was definitely him, she was sure of it. Within moments she was standing before him, looking up into his face. He reached out to her and took hold of her, and she embraced him. As their faces approached one another, she heard him whisper: “I love you, Susie.”

“I love you, Jake,” she replied, and he leaned forward to kiss her. But then a cold wind blew across them, and he vanished, and she stood alone in the field of grass.

Susie awoke with a start. A cold breeze blew in through the window, which she’d forgotten to close. She got up to close it, pausing for a moment to gaze into the darkness outside. Then she climbed back into bed, but it was impossible to fall asleep. A strange feeling had filled her in her dream, but now it was gone, and she suddenly felt empty and alone.

“Am I really in love…with him?” she said to herself. “No, no I can’t be! It was just a dream, nothing more!”

But denying that her feelings existed didn’t make them go away. She hugged her pillow tightly, and tried to remember what being held by him had felt like. Such a strange feeling, one that she could never experience in real life, not while she was as big as this. In the darkness she began to cry softly.

“Oh, Jake! If you only knew how I really felt about you! But you can’t know, no-one can ever know! Oh, God, why is this happening to me? Why can’t I just be happy like everyone else?”

She cried and cried, until she had no more tears left. She hadn’t felt this heartbroken since her father had told her about her mother’s death. Back then, at least, she’d had someone to talk to, someone to share the pain with. Now there was no-one who could help, no-one who could understand how she felt. She was going to have to face this by herself. Susie sat upright in bed and felt for her box of tissues. She blew her nose and dried her tears, and felt ashamed for acting so pathetically.

“It’s all right,” she told herself. “You’ve been through much worse before. Pull yourself together, Susie! Tomorrow, you’ll get to see him again, and you’ll have a great time!”

Then she got an idea. Tomorrow, when Jake arrives, she’ll take him for a picnic in the woods.

“We’ll go to that little stream at the foot of the hill. He’ll love it, I’m sure he will.”

Once her mind had calmed down she lay down again. She pulled her blanket over herself, telling herself once again that everything will be all right. After all, she was a hundred foot-tall, amazingly powerful giantess. She had no reason to be afraid of anything. With her strength she could do anything she wanted.

Jake arose early on Saturday morning, hurriedly ate some breakfast, left his still-sleeping mother a note, and was off. The sky was cloudless; he could tell it was going to be a lovely day. He wondered what he and Susie were going to do today, and if she had anything specific planned. Whatever it was, he was sure he’d enjoy it. Over the past week he’d grown more and more obsessed with her, and spending time with her again was sure to be a blast.

He had parked his bike and had reached the fence before he realized he was again too early, this time by fifteen minutes. He began pacing around, now and then glancing at the forest for signs of his gigantic friend. He noticed how she’d already made a substantial path through the dense trees,  having pushed them aside as if they were nothing but grass. He’d not waited two minutes, though, when he heard voices approaching, and a moment later their owners came into view around the bend.

“Haha! I told you we’d find him here! There’s something strange going on here, for sure!”

Jake watched in dismay as the same four kids he’d been here with last Saturday came towards him. Billy’s bike skidded to a halt less than two feet from him, showering him with dust. Frank and Arthur were close behind, while Linda remained in the background. She looked like she didn’t really want to be here, but clearly she had to go wherever Billy went.

“Came back for more, did you?” Billy laughed, grabbing Jake’s shoulder. Jake shook him off and backed away. It was too late to run now, so he’d have to face them.

“What do you want, Billy?” he said defiantly. “I thought you didn’t want me hanging out with you. So what the hell’s you’re problem?”

The boys just laughed at him. By now they had him surrounded. Jake was no weakling, but he knew he didn’t stand a chance against the three of them.

“Oh, you want us to leave, is that it?” Billy asked. “Why don’t you tell us what you’re doing here, then maybe I’ll consider it!”

“That’s none of your business!”

“Bullshit!” Billy spat at him. “You’re up to something here! Tell me what it is, or I’ll break your neck!”

Jake wished he hadn’t arrived this early. He also wished he could warn Susie not to come here now, but that was impossible.

“Okay, fine, I’ll tell you,” he said, trying to buy some time. “I found a way inside, so I came back to look around. Happy now?”

“What’s inside the fence that’s so interesting, huh?”

“That’s where his girlfriend lives,” said Arthur, and he and Frank began to laugh. Jake felt a horrifying feeling inside him; they couldn’t know about Susie, could they?

“Oh yeah, that’s right! Old Jake’s got himself a secret girlfriend! So what’s she like, huh? Is she hot? I mean, she lives in the fucking forest, so she’s got to be pretty wild, right?”

Jake decided he’d had enough. He glanced at his watch; Susie should have shown up by now. He hoped she’d seen what was happening, and had decided to stay away. If Billy and the others found out about her, it was pretty much over for her, and him as well. But he still had to escape his present situation. They were still busy laughing at him when he charged full force at Billy and knocked him aside. But he wasn’t quick enough. Billy recovered instantly, drew out his knife, and stabbed Jake in the shoulder as he ran past.

He stumbled and fell to the ground, crying out in pain. The others, even Linda, came running up to him. They stood over him as he tried to scramble away, and grabbed him by his shirt collar.

“I don’t remember saying you could leave!” Billy snarled. He punched Jake on the shoulder, in the same spot where the knife had struck him. Jake stifled a cry. He wanted to fight back with all his strength, but he couldn’t see how he could possibly win.

“So when’s this ‘girlfriend’ of yours supposed to show up?”

“I…she…she’s not my girlfriend…” Jake couldn’t think straight. He wanted to tell them the truth, just so they’d leave him alone. And then, when he was on the brink of giving up completely and letting them do what they want to him, he saw someone emerging from within the woods. He smiled and got to his feet, shakily.

“Actually,” he said, “she’s just arrived, so why don’t you ask her yourself?”