Caitlin slowly drifted back into consciousness. It was bright outside and the clock read 9:17am. While surprised that she'd slept nearly fourteen hours, a glaring feeling of discomfort distracted her more. Her shirt gripped her body with gusto to the point that she had difficulty breathing. Still kind of groggy, she attempted to slide her arms into one of the sleeves, but found that she could not do so. There simply was not enough room for her to complete such a maneuver. She glanced at her midriff noting that more showed than should have, especially in her seated position. She took hold of the bottom hem and peeled the shirt upwards.  This maneuver worked much better, and she felt relief at getting the shirt peeled off from around her chest. She slipped the remains of it over her head and guided her arms through the sleeves. She tried to take a deep breath but noticed that her bra also gave her some discomfort. She rotated her arms a bit, letting her previously constricted shoulders and arms get some needed circulation, but something felt…different. She didn't feel quite right, and she struggled to find the right words. She almost felt bloated, but it didn't come with the typical nauseous feeling. As she stood up, she felt even more disoriented, but she still couldn't place why. She reached for the lamp and flicked it on.

Immediately one thing was obvious to her. Her bra looked ridiculous. Her boobs slightly overfilled the cups and the straps dug into her skin slightly. She was clearly wearing an undersized bra, yet she knew that could not possibly be the case. She knew her bra size like she knew her birthday and would never buy the wrong size. Caitlin then considered the possibility that she put on weight. Heading over to her mirror she inspected herself for evidence of the 6000 calories she consumed before she went to bed. Outside of her bra being a couple sizes too small, she didn't look particularly different. She removed it and checked the tag, which read 34B just as she expected.

Continuing her inspection, Caitlin noted that she definitely didn't look like a B-cup. Perhaps a C, but not much bigger than that. She put her fingers to her chest to check for anything unusual. No pain which would have indicated swelling, no lumps, nothing. She started to head to her closet to grab a larger shirt when she looked once more at her reflection. Something else nagged at her, but she couldn't quite place it. It became more apparent as she attempted to get dressed. She had changed out of her capri pants which she had soiled with mustard and ketchup and had slid into her jeans only to have the cuffs slip up to nearly her ankles.

"Okay, what the fuck?" she muttered under her breath. "Why the hell would my pants be too…"

The answer didn't take long to come up with, but took some time to process. She was at least an inch or two taller than when she went to bed. Her perspective in her closet mirror wasn't unfamiliar; it was normal when she wore heels. At the moment, however, she stood barefoot and half-undressed with her pants unbuttoned and her cuffs at her ankles. She could also feel that, in addition to the ill-fitting cups, her bra constricted  more than her boobs, but her entire torso and shoulders. Confirming her suspicions, she reached up to grab her towel from the top of the door frame and found it noticeably easier to reach. She broke into a cold sweat and stumbled backwards onto her bed, almost dizzy with anxiety.

"What…the…fuck?" She asked no one in particular as her breathing came shallower. She felt on the verge of passing out when her phone started ringing with Maureen's characteristic ring tone. Her mind whirled, and it took three rings for her hand to subconsciously reach out, grab her cell, and flip it open before she even realized what she was doing.

"Hey stranger, what's up?" Maureen chirped. "It's like we haven't seen you for days."

Caitlin, taken off guard, searched for words. "Um…yeah, you know. I've been feeling kinda'…odd lately, getting out of the hospital and all." She glanced down at her chest and ill-fitting jeans. "I haven't been feeling myself lately."

Maureen wasn't sure what to make of Caitlin's queer demeanor, but shrugged it off. "Feeling a little under the weather huh?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sick," Caitlin agreed, liking the sound of that excuse. "I've been all bloated and nauseous. I can barely walk." She was being fairly truthful at this point. "I'm definitely in no condition to leave the house," she said, almost chuckling to herself at her honesty.

"Wow, bummer. You know, Alexis is over here, we might just stop on by…"

"No!" Caitlin cut her off suddenly. There was an awkward pause, and Caitlin searched for a way to resolve it. "The doctor says I may be coming down with the flu…from…being so weak and…stuff. I'd really hate to make you guys sick. The flu's a real killer." She was determined to deter Maureen, but she knew that it was futile at this point.

"You kidding' me? You think I fear the flu? Dad's obsessive about my flu shots It'd take the elephant flu to get past my immune system at this point, and the flu might do Alexis some good. She could use some slowing down."

"You know I really thi…"

"Don't worry! We'll be over in a sec! We'll bring soup and stuff." Caitlin could hear Alexis' voice in the background.

"Does she need my heating pad? How about my leg weights? I have a Thighmaster."

Maureen sighed. "I gotta' go, Alexis needs the difference between influenza and cellulite explained to her. See you in five!"

Maureen clicked off and Caitlin stared dumbfounded at her phone. Maureen knew Caitlin's body probably better than Caitlin herself knew it. While two inches and a cup size may have seemed trivial, for Maureen and particularly Alexis, it was the rough equivalent of her growing a coat of purple fur and a third eye in the middle of her forehead. She searched around her room. Her need to hide her predicament currently trumped her worry about the predicament itself. She considered wearing shorts which, the way she cut them, never really looked long anyways. That didn't hide the problem of her being suddenly two inches taller. Then there were the boobs. Her new boobs wouldn't look right at all exploding out of her bras, and no bra wouldn't fly either. Her new perkiness would be like a neon sign to Maureen's hawk eyes.

The sound of a car pulling into the driveway snapped her to attention. In a sudden flash of panic she grabbed her two largest sweaters, stuffed herself into them, and yanked a down comforter from the top shelf of the closet. The padding would be her best bet. Nothing like a little padding to hide a little more padding, she thought. The only problem now was looking like she actually was in need of all the insulation. Her anxiety, combined with the layers and the eighty-five degree heat outside posed a problem. It still beat the alternative though.

Just as Caitlin settled in, Alexis burst in, all giggles and bright eyes, followed closely after by Maureen carrying a handful of items, including a few DVDs, a thermos, a small bag of ice, a couple of medicine bottles, a teddy bear, magazines, and what appeared to be a Thighmaster.

"Guess who made head cheerleader!" Alexis shouted, clearly unable to hide her joy. She shot one leg in the air and launched into an impromptu cheering session. "ALEXIS! ALEXIS! A-L-E-X – OW!!!" She was stopped short by a sudden shove to the ground by Maureen who was anxious to be rid of her burden of gifts.

"Hey girl," Maureen said, stepping over Alex. "Feeling under the weather?"

Caitlin feigned a groan, and let her face voice the discomfort of being way too hot. Maureen placed each of the items on Caitlin's nightstand, including the teddy bear holding a bottle of asprin.

"I brought you a sniffle kit," Maureen announced. "Everything you'll need to be on your way to feeling better."

"…and having great thighs!" Alexis chimed in, getting to her feet and gesturing toward the Thighmaster.

Caitlin smiled at her friends' effort, but continued to make her best show of looking as miserable as possible. Every time Maureen looked at her Caitlin felt that despite all the layers Maureen would somehow notice that the circumference of her chest was a couple inches greater than before. Caitlin worried less about Alexis, who was more caught up in explaining the proper form for using the Thighmaster and the surprising variety of ways in which it could be used. Maureen rolled her eyes and stacked the magazines and books next to the bed.

"I brought you a few movies too. Figured if you were too sore to move then you could just lie there and let your eyes do the work." Maureen instinctively started picking up clothes and tossing them into the laundry bin, not appearing to suspect that anything was out of the ordinary. Caitlin relaxed a bit and enjoyed the company of her friends. She even allowed her attention to go to Alexis' demonstration of how the Thighmaster could tone her triceps.

"What the hell happened to your shirt?" Maureen said suddenly. Caitlin flipped over to see Maureen holding Caitlin's stain-splattered polo shirt.

"I don't know," Caitlin spit out quickly, "I think my mom must have worn it."

"Well I'd be pissed if my mom got mustard on my shirts. She'd have hell to pay. Anyways, I can see we're obviously not going to entice you to get out of bed and go anywhere. You look a mess. We'll come by tomorrow to check on you." Maureen headed toward the door. Caitlin was relieved that her friends hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary, and actually felt sorry to see them go.

"See you guys," Caitlin choked out in her most miserable sick voice.

"See ya' Caitlin!" Alexis chirped, heading toward the door. As it was about to shut she popped her head back in. "On the plus side your boobs have gotten bigger!"

Caitlin's eyes went visibly wide and blood rushed to her cheeks. "W…wh…what?"

Maureen rolled her eyes. "Whatever Alex, I'm sure the Thighmaster fix her up," Maureen said, winking at Caitlin. "Don't worry about Alex. She's confusing the flu with cosmetic surgery. Come on, Alex." Unfazed by Maureen's response, Alexis continued with her stream of consciousness. "I wonder if my boobs will grow if I get the flu. Can I stay with Caitlin for a little longer?" Maureen grabbed her arm, gave a slight wave to Caitlin and Alexis out, shutting the door. Caitlin heard Alexis chattering all the way down the stairs and out to the car, clearly picking up the word "boobs" repeatedly.

She lay in bed and waited for the sound of Maureen's Dodge Neon to disappear before checking the window and getting up. She peeled off her sweat-soaked layers and, once again was greeted with the unfamiliar sight of her chest hindering her downward view more than she was accustomed to. I've got to do something. I can't just sit in my room topless all day, she thought to herself. She figured a sojourn to the mall would serve her well, as she needed more comfortable clothes for the time being. She also realized that, chances are, someone she knew would see her at the mall and she wasn't quite ready for that. She brainstormed where she could go that no one she knew would see her, and it didn't take long to figure that one out. "Wal Mart, here I come," she sighed to herself.

She stuffed herself into a sports bra and a large t-shirt from her sister's room, which actually made her look normal sized–for her anyways. Pants were trickier, since her sweats fit, albeit slightly undersized. She tried denim shorts, only to discover that her growth hadn't been limited to her height and chest, but included her hips as well. In the end she settled for a long purple skirt which looked bohemian with the oversized t-shirt, but she figured she couldn't be underdressed for Wal-Mart. She slipped on a pair of flip-flop sandals and a large pair of sunglasses to complete her off-beat ensemble and went on her way.

She took a forty-five minute drive out of town to the next closest Wal-Mart, just to minimize the chances of someone she knew seeing her. The Northshore Wal-Mart was fairly empty at 10:00 in the morning. She stopped by a nearby coffee shop for a pastry and a drink since she had yet to eat anything. The barista, a skinny kid with black dyed hair and plugs in his ears mistook her bohemian look for a beatnik and chatted with her. She even noticed him take a couple casual glances at her boobs; nothing too creepy, but the kind that told her that she had new attention-getters on display. In the past she occasionally wore a push-up bra if she wanted to turn heads, but her new size wasn't exactly small so she accepted that she should probably get used to it.

She was not yet convinced that all of her clothes would not fit her, so she felt she should limit herself to only essential purchases, namely bras. Taking a handful of sizes to the fitting room, she discovered that she was now a slightly smaller C-cup compared to the average B that she had been since the eighth grade. She was certainly bigger than she used to be, but compared to the school as a whole, she wasn't anything particularly special. It wasn't as if she never wore push-up or padded bras, so if she switched to a normal bra, hardly anyone would notice. She considered buying a larger push up bra, but after trying it on she realized it would make her too conspicuous and the whole school would be convinced she had implants. She settled on a few C's, as well as a D with a smaller band size.

After being in the sports bra all day, the new bra felt amazingly comfortable. She admired her new figure in properly-fitted clothing. She looked at her t-shirt and remembered her stained and undersized mini-polo at home that Maureen had gaped at. The thought of having clothes that fit was appealing in the face of a wardrobe that would be slightly small, and she headed back to the sales floor to find more clothes that fit. Feeling a growing confidence in her new stature and safety in her unfamiliar location, she opted to experiment a little. She grabbed a pink polo and some black form-fitting jeans and was on her way back to the dressing room when she thought of her ill-fitting sandals. She made her way over to the shoe department and perused the rows of shoe boxes. Her size was only a bit larger than she had previously been. Her curiosity led her to a pair of three-inch platform sandals, and she grabbed them as well, taking them back to the dressing room. Inside, she slipped on the pants, shirt, and finally the shoes. When it was done, she stood back and looked at her reflection. She was taken aback.

While her previous height had been a modest 5'4" with the shoes and her two new inches, she stood a statuesque 5'9". Leaving the dressing room, she walked out onto the sales floor, and immediately noted her new perspective. She was awestruck as she looked around and admired the view. "So this is what it feels like to be Alexis," she thought to herself as she moved about. Though Alexis often wore heels for modeling, she rarely wore them otherwise because she lacked the proper grace to walk a full day in them without falling at least once. She couldn't believe how good it felt to be taller. She felt confident, and most notably, sexy. She headed back to the shoes, and chose another pair of with four-inch heels and a one-inch platform. After choosing a few more outfits, she paid for her purchases, changed into a properly-fitted ensemble, and made her way out.

On her drive home her mind raced a mile a minute. She thought about her sudden changes, and what this really meant for her life. Two inches and a cup size seemed trivial, but that would make her as tall as Maureen and somewhere in the league of (but still below) Alexis' legendary bust. While that all should be exciting, she also knew that even if suddenly sprouted six inches and three cup sizes, she would just be "the hot bitchy supermodel who hangs out with Maureen and Alexis." Suddenly her changes felt like more of a burden keeping her as she always was. She thought of the punk emo coffee shop employee and how he chatted with her because of her off-beat appearance. It felt kind of nice to have a little genuine conversation as opposed to the gossip and biting sarcasm that she normally stuck to. She imagined walking into school the next day with her platforms, black pants, purple tank top and students simply dismissing her as just trying to get attention. When she got home, she had convinced herself that the idea of reinvention just wasn't viable to her. She tossed the shoes into the closet and dialed up Maureen to gossip about Jill Stevens' eating disorder and Megan Wollery's ugly red braces.