The world tilted again.
I felt my knees buckle, and Hillary grabbed my arm just before I hit the ground. But I wasn’t falling. Not really.
I was… stretching.
The heat in my wrist spread like wildfire, burning up my arm, across my chest, and down through my legs. I gasped, clutching at the bracelet, but it was glowing so brightly now that I could barely look at it. The blue gem pulsed like a heartbeat. No—like a countdown.
“Mollie!” Hillary shouted. She tried to steady me, but I was already rising.
Literally.
I could feel my bones lengthening, my muscles tightening and pushing outward. My pajama pants crept up, turning into highwaters, then inching higher and higher until they barely brushed my knees. My toes strained against the fabric, and with a sudden pop, a seam split and the cuffs tore open.
“Hillary—” My voice sounded different. Deeper. Older. More… mature.
“You’re growing again!” she cried, stepping back to give me space.
I stumbled toward the measuring marks on my closet wall, like that would somehow make this real, as if seeing it would help me understand. Moments ago, I’d been five-seven. Already huge compared to my old self. But as I stood there now, the top of my head passed the five-eight mark… then five-nine… then higher.
Five-ten.
Eleven.
Twelve.
My heart raced as I stretched up to six feet. Taller than Dad. Taller than anyone in my family. I swayed, feeling the ceiling creep closer.
“Make it stop!” I shouted, yanking at the bracelet, but it was no use. It wouldn’t budge.
Hillary darted into the hall. “Mom! Dad! We need help!”
I stood there, breathing hard, staring at my reflection in the mirror again. My pajamas were a total wreck—shirt stretched across my chest like a rubber band ready to snap, pants split at the seams. My arms looked longer, my shoulders broader, like I belonged on a college basketball team or something. I was massive compared to the tiny girl I’d been just days—no, years—ago.
The mirror didn’t lie. I was six-foot-two. And I wasn’t done.
I dropped to my knees—though it didn’t make much difference anymore—and pressed my forehead to the floor, trying to make the spinning stop. My whole body ached, muscles sore like I’d just run a marathon in five minutes. The pressure inside me felt like a balloon about to pop.
Hillary rushed back in with Mom and Dad on her heels. Mom’s face went pale, and Dad’s eyes widened as they took in my size.
“Oh my god,” Mom whispered. “It’s happening again.”
“What do you mean again?” Hillary asked, her voice sharp.
Mom didn’t answer. She was already kneeling beside me, her hands on my shoulders. “Mollie, listen to me. You need to breathe. You have to focus.”
“I am breathing!” I cried, tears pricking my eyes. “I don’t know how to stop it!”
“It’s the bracelet,” Dad said, his voice grim. “It’s feeding off you. Off your desire to grow.”
“I don’t want this anymore!” I shouted. “I just want to be normal again!”
The gem on the bracelet flared one last time, then slowly dimmed. The heat faded. The room stopped spinning. My body sagged, like all the energy had drained out of me in a second. I slumped forward, breathing hard.
I wasn’t growing anymore.
But the damage was done.
“Six-two,” Hillary whispered, staring at me like she didn’t even recognize me. “You’re six-foot-two.”
I looked at her—at my little sister—and realized I towered over her now. She was still tall, five-eight, but next to me she seemed… small.
For a second, I thought maybe it was over.
But then the bracelet pulsed weakly again.
And I knew this was just the beginning.
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