The next day, February 15th, I woke with a knot in my stomach. It was equal parts excitement and trepidation. I lay in bed for several minutes, trying to slow my heartbeat and gird myself for the day ahead. I was broken from my self reflection by an odd sound coming from the foot of my bed. It sounded like a tiny *Ahem*. I propped myself up on my elbows to get a good look. Romeo was standing, actually standing on his hind legs, at the foot of my bed with his front paws placed on what would’ve been his hips. 

“At lassst, you’re awake.” He spoke in a high pitched voice, completely erasing all other thoughts from my mind.     

“R-romeo? You can….talk?” This was too much, even for me, even after yesterday.

“Of coursss I can talk, I had nothing to do yesssterday except read the booksss in thisss room.” He lifted one of his paws to clean his face, almost making him look like a normal hamster. 

“O-oh….” Well this was awkward. I had no idea how to deal with a situation like this, it was like something out of a movie.

“Well?” Romeo got down on all fours and scurried off my bed.

“Well?” I repeated, unsure of where this was going.

“It’sss my breakfassst time sssilly!” He twirled around, not unlike an excited puppy in front of his bag of food. 

“Oh, right. Sure.” I got up and filled his too small bowl, making sure to give him extra. Somehow the idea of a Hamster becoming smart enough to learn to talk overnight and yet still needing someone to feed him was a little funny to me and I let out a chuckle. Romeo was too focused on his dish to notice. I sat back watching him eat. “You know we’re gonna have to find a way to buy more food if you keep eating like this.” I tried making conversation….with my hamster. He paused for a brief moment to consider. 

“No need, I can find food for myssself if you don’t mind leaving your window unlocked.” He went right back to eating. 

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? Going outside?” 

“I can handle myssself.” Romeo spoke through mouthfuls of kibble. I decided not to press the issue. This morning was weird enough, best to let the hyper-intelligent hamster be. 

I had a bit of extra time today and so rather than do my usual routine of skipping breakfast and eating on the way to school I decided to actually eat at home for a change. When I got downstairs my little sister and my mother were already having breakfast. 

“Oh look who’s up and decided to grace us with his presence!” My mother teased as I entered the kitchen. I just rolled my eyes and grabbed some cereal. Julia, my sister, didn’t say anything but kept her eyes on me while still chewing her food. Once I sat down she swallowed and grinned at me. 

“So did’ja give Sarah her present yesterday?” She spoke loudly and I nearly choked on my spoonful of cereal while my mother let out an excited gasp.    

“Sarah? Sarah Miller?” She was wide eyed and smiling. “Oh Sam, I knew you two were perfect for each other! Well did she like it? What was it? Are you dating?” My mother’s rapid fire questions burned through my mind, elevating my anxiety. 

“Geez mom, it’s not like that.” I glared at Julia, she was cackling silently. How’d she even know about the gift? “It’s not a big deal she doesn’t even know it’s from me yet.” 

“You didn’t even have the guts to tell her?” Julia’s laughs became more audible as her smile widened. “Come on bro, grow a pair!” My mother shot her a warning look. 

“Hey, Language young lady. And it’s fine if you’re a little nervous Sam. I remember when your father first gave me chocolates on Valentines, he was such a nervous wreck. It was quite adorable really!” 

“Gee, thanks.” I slumped in my chair and continued eating. Thankfully the conversation naturally flowed away from my love life and I was able to sneak out of the kitchen to pack my bag without further incident. 

Walking into school I kept my head on a swivel to try and see if I could find Sarah before homeroom. No luck, she was running late. My already knotted stomach dropped like a stone. What if I’d hurt her? What if ED-01 wasn’t ready for humans? My mind concocted an impressive slide show of worst case scenarios. Half of them didn’t even make sense, like Sarah turning into a copy of Romeo. Thankfully my fears were assuaged when Sarah rushed into class moments before the first bell. 

From my distant assigned seat I tried to look her over surreptitiously, to see if ED-01 had had any effect. She looked pretty normal, but there were some oddities. Her pink fuzzy sweater, one of her favorites, fit her snuggly. This might seem normal except I knew for a fact that she bought all her sweaters one size too large so they’d be baggy. Her jeans too looked more like skinny jeans than normal pants. It was hard to gauge if she were any taller while she was sitting but she certainly looked….fuller. Her sweater covered her chest but I could just barely swear that I saw two small bumps. At this point I realized I was staring and looked away before anyone could notice. I’d need to wait until P.E. to get a better look. 

Unfortunately that plan flopped. Sarah handed the P.E. teacher a note before class and then left the gym. Once again my mind went wild with worry, only this time the thing that snapped me out of it was a dodgeball to the face. I didn’t see Sarah for the rest of the day as we didn’t have any other classes in common and she wasn’t at lunch. My last chance would be at the end of the day at the lockers. 

When the end of the day rolled around I made sure to take longer than necessary to pack my things. I could see Sarah at the other end of the hallway doing the same. It might have been my imagination but I swore that whenever I looked over she was just looking away. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Tiffany and her lackeys walking over, to dish out they’re daily dose of highschool injustice. This time Clair, the stereotypical dumb blonde took point. She was about to “accidentally” spill a bottle of water on Sarah’s head but she stopped just before. I knew exactly why.

Clair was only 5’6” without heels, which she wasn’t wearing today. Normally she could see over the top of Sarah’s head and wouldn’t have needed to raise her bottle that high to tip it over her. But now? Now Clair found herself looking slightly up at the back of Sarah’s head. Sarah must have sensed the presence behind her because she turned to face Clair and let out a slight gasp. She looked just as surprised as the cheerleader. Clair regained her composure and sneered at Sarah.

“So you’re wearing heels now? Tired of being a little shrimp?” She exaggerated the “p” in shrimp to pop her lips and send spittle flying into Sarah’s face. Clair grinned meanly and then looked down at Sarah’s feet. The evil smile melted from her face when she saw that Sarah was, in fact, wearing flip flops. She looked back, her mouth open slightly, unable to find a witty remark. Then Jessica stepped in.

“Nah, this poor bitch can’t afford heels, can’t even afford real shoes so she has to wear flip flops in February!” She laughed, an artificial and grating sound that was cut short when Sarah looked down into her eyes. 

“Let’s bounce girls, she’s not worth it today.” Clair said quickly. As she and Jessica turned to leave Tiffany, who’d been quiet this whole time, moved to stand right in front of Sarah. She folded her arms and looked coldly down at her without saying a word. Then, she turned on her heels, letting her long black hair whip Sarah in the face, and followed the others. I let out a sigh of relief. I now knew two things. One: Sarah had grown. And two: She was already getting too big for Tiffany and her squad to keep bullying her. 

I looked over at Sarah one last time and found her looking straight at me. Time froze for a single second. I was unable to look away. She let out what looked like a tiny “huff”, slapped her checks and then started walking towards me. 

Oh, shit! Oh, fuck! I wasn’t prepared for this!

I stood there like a dumb statue as she approached me. Once she was right in front of me the only thing I could think was, *she smells like roses*. 

“Hey, Sam. Can we talk?” Her voice was soft and kind, not angry as I’d been fearing. I started breathing again. 

“Um, y-yeah sure. What about?” I finally looked her in the eyes. Seeing her now, so close, it was evident just how much she’d grown. I’m 5’8” and even I was barely taller than her.

She paused, then said. “Del’a von?” She looked up at me slightly, biting her lip.

“Del’a...von?” I whispered. The medallion, but there was something more to it, something just out of reach of my conscious mind. *Del’a von, Treya zet.* the words wrapped themselves around my brain and squeezed until suddenly, I remembered. 

“No, no, no. It’s Trey-AH not Trey-EH!” Sarah giggled as I read out the words she’d scribbled on the book cover. 

“Alright fine, Trey-AH. But what’s it mean?” I asked somewhat exasperatedly. Sarah rolled her eyes.

“‘Del’a von’ that’s this tree.” She gestured at the large oak we were currently sitting under. “It’s the gate to the fairy realm. ‘Treya zet’, that’s the fairy queen’s birthday, February 29th. That’s the one day of the year the gate opens and fairies and humans can cross over.” She lectured me like a teacher to an unruly student. 

“Isn’t that only once every 4 years?” I asked skeptically. 

“Duh! That’s what makes it special!” She grinned toothily at me. I smiled back.

“So you have a whole language like this?” 

“Yup! Want me to teach you!” 

“Sure!” 

“The old oak tree….on February 29th….” I whispered aloud. 

“You do remember!” Sarah exclaimed, a little too loudly as the few remaining students shot us weird looks. “You do remember.” She repeated more quietly. 

“Yeah I, I guess I do. That medallion was from you?” She nodded excitedly. “So I was supposed to meet you….under that tree on the 29th?” I asked hesitantly, unsure if I was interpreting correctly. 

“Yeah!” She confirmed. Then she reached into her bag and pulled out the perfume bottle. “And this was from you right?” 

“Yeah, it was but….” I stopped myself. She may not have connected the dots, telling her now before I knew how she felt about her growth could be risky. 

“It’s sweet, though I never took you for the perfume type.” She lifted the bottle to her neck and gave it a light squeeze sending a rose scented mist onto her skin. She inhaled deeply and sighed. “It smells great, where’d you get it?” She asked innocently. So she didn’t know.

“I, um, made it. It’s mostly rosewater.” Technically true. “Hey Sarah...how’ve you been feeling?” I tried to ask nonchalantly, I don’t think it worked as her face fell slightly at the question. 

“So you’ve noticed too? Yeah, I’m not sure what’s up but I think I’m….growing.” 

“Growing?” I probed further. 

“Yeah like, I’ve been 5’3” since middle school but suddenly this morning none of my clothes or shoes fit right. I think I’m like 5’6” or 5’7”? I don’t know I haven’t measured.” She looked away and slouched slightly. That all made sense. From here her growth would speed up so 4 inches in one day wasn’t actually all that much. 

“Well...you look great.” I managed to say, blushing as I did so. 

“Really!” Sarah looked back at me, her eyes sparkling. 

“Y-yeah! You look like a model!” Shit that was probably too much. But to my surprise Sarah didn’t seem to think it was. She leapt forward and hugged me tightly. 

“Thanks Sam it….it means a lot to hear you say that.” Her cheek was warm against mine and I could feel its softness mingle with something wet. Her body felt quite large pressed against me, not all that surprising considering we were almost the same height. As we parted I saw that she had indeed been crying, if only a little. She whipped her cheeks and smiled. 

“Do you think we could walk home together?” There was no way I could say no to that perfect face. Even though it was 3 miles to either of our houses and it was 15 degrees outside, I nodded, we’d missed the busses anyway. 

The walk home was a mixture of internal excitement and external awkwardness. Here I was, finally side by side with Sarah after all these years, and I couldn’t think of a thing to say. We went the first mile in silence until finally she spoke up. 

“It’s been so long you know, since we’ve hung out at all.” Her foggy breath carried the words into the silence of the cool air.

“Yeah, several years at least.” I added.

“Why is that I wonder?” She seemed to be asking the question to the sky rather than to me directly, but I answered anyway. 

“I don’t know….I think we just grew apart.” True enough, though not particularly insightful. 

“I guess.” Sarah looked down at her feet before turning her head towards me. I met her gaze. “Well….maybe if I keep growing we’ll grow closer too.” I smiled reassuringly. 

“Yeah, maybe we will.” 

Our footsteps echoed down the street, my winter boots and her loose flip flops. We walked the rest of the way in quiet harmony, almost like we’d never drifted apart.