As so often happens in real life, Susie’s predictions were only partially accurate. Many people in town still remembered her first visit, and how she’d humiliated their chief of police. The fact that it was the chief who ha opened fire on Susie first was not so well remembered. The man had since left Barton, with his family, and so had quite a few others who had no wish to live in the vicinity of someone like Susie. Animosity towards her was pretty high, but, deep down, most people didn’t really want something bad to happen to her. She was just different, and they couldn’t handle it.

One of her favourite ways of spending time was swimming in the large lake just outside the town. She always attracted a sizeable crowd whenever she went, since the lake was a popular recreational area. Today was no exception, and Susie took Emma past the most crowded places towards a place where the shore formed a small cliff. Emma had never swum before, and didn’t know how, so Susie had offered to give her a few lessons, before the autumnal weather grew too cold. They took off the clothes they were wearing over their swimming costumes; Emma’s had only been made last week, and she was eager to try it out. Jake, Linda and Tara hadn’t been told about Susie’s plans, and they weren’t too eager to go swimming with a giantess in any case.

The water here was shallow, only 40-50 feet deep. Susie and Emma climbed in, while their friends watched from the shore. Several passers-by also stopped to take a look. Despite being a complete novice, Emma didn’t seem uncomfortable in the water. On the contrary, she seemed to enjoy it a lot. Tara took a look at her watch, and decided to take her leave.

“Watching other people learn how to swim isn’t really my idea of a good time,” she explained. “Come on, let’s go get something to eat and drink! I’m starving!”

The three of them waved to Susie and Emma, who were busy splashing each other with water. Then they set off down the road, after having decided which was the shortest way back. Along the way, they talked about Emma, and how she would impact their friendship with Susie.

“I hope we’ll still have sleepovers at her place,” Tara said. “No offense, but the stuff we usually talk about when we’re with her, isn’t exactly kid-friendly.”

Jake smiled, but he knew she was right. With Emma staying there, there won’t be any more romantic evenings spent at Susie’s place, alone with her. If they could only invite her to one of their houses, things would be different.

“We’ll work something out,” he said. “Emma still has her old home, on that Air Force base, remember? Maybe we could talk her into staying there for a few days, you know, every now and then?”

“Poor girl,” Linda said. “It must be terrible for her, to be so…well, I’m really glad she has someone like Susie looking out for her. I hope she makes some friends here, like Susie did. I mean, she has to go to school or something, right? She’s only eleven, she can’t have finished her education already.”

“She’s getting homeschooled,” Jake answered. “Her mom’s going over to Susie’s place every week, with a teacher from the school. She’ll be fine. But you’re right, she does need to make some friends. Anyone got any ideas?”

They’d reached the edge of the town, and were making their way towards a nice café, when a car pulled up alongside them. When Jake saw who was inside, he and the girls stopped. Out stepped Arthur and Frank, two of Linda’s old friends from school, whom she never really liked, and their friends Ted and Garrett. Jake didn’t like any of them. At school they were constantly giving him a hard time, and once or twice he almost told Susie about them, in the hopes that she’ll then deal with them. They hated Susie, of course, and Frank had even once threatened that if he could, he’d gladly kill her.

The four boys approached Jake, while the girls stood to one side. Despite the fact that Linda and Tara were also friends with Susie, it was Jake who took the most abuse from everyone. He always told himself that it was because the other guys were jealous of him, but, in truth, he had no clue why they were so mean to him only.

“What’s up, Jakey-boy?” Frank asked, facing Jake. “Hanging out with your girlfriends, are you?”

“Except, they’re not really your girlfriends, are they?” Ted added. “You ever going to make some real friends, Jake?”

“Not if everyone else I meet is an asshole like you, Ted,” Jake said.

“Okay, Jake, let’s go!” Linda said, sounding concerned. “See you around, guys!”

“No, I think Jake wants to stay,” Frank said, as he and Jake kept facing each other. “Why should he be scared of us? He’s got Ginormica around to protect him.”

“Don’t call her that!” Jake yelled. “And she’s not around right now, she’s at the…”

“The lake. Yeah, we know. Playing with that other freak.”

“Emma’s not a freak!” Linda insisted. “Come on, Jake, they’re just looking for another fight. Let’s just leave them!” She turned around, and Jake was about to follow, when Frank grabbed his arm.

“Not so fast, doll boy! You still owe Ted an apology!”

“For what?”

“For calling me an asshole, you stupid fuck!” Ted yelled. He grabbed Jake’s other arm, and they threw him to the ground. The girls looked on in dismay; this wasn’t exactly a new experience for Jake, and they felt sorry for him. Linda wanted to say something to stop them, but she knew they wouldn’t listen to her. Jake tried to get up, but was pushed to the ground by Arthur.

“Payback, for what that giant bitch did to us!” he snarled, and Jake remembered how Susie had punished them for hurting him, back when they first met. Frank grabbed Jake by the hair, and Arthur raised his fist, but before he could lower it he heard a powerful voice speaking above him.

“Aren’t you guys ever going to grow up?”

They looked behind them, and the horrified expressions on their faces said it all. It was Susie, of course, lying on her stomach, her massive body completely filling the end of the street. She was still wearing her bikini swimsuit, and her clothes were rolled up in a bundle next to her. Frank dropped Jake and turned to run, but Susie reached over calmly and, with one finger, knocked him down and pinned him to the ground. The other three stood still, paralyzed with fear. Arthur remembered his experience beneath her foot. She’d been angry then, but right now she looked more amused. Jake got up and joined Linda and Tara. Susie quickly gathered all four bullies and curled her fingers around them, trapping them in her fist.

“Are you okay?” she asked Jake, and he nodded. Then she looked at her prisoners, weakly struggling in her grip. She sighed.

“I suppose I’ll have to teach you guys another lesson. Again. But you know what? I’m not going to, because you’ll just go back to being the same bunch of obnoxious scumbags you are now."

“Fuck you!” Frank shouted, trying to break free. “I’ll fucking kill you, you hear? I said I’ll fucking kill you!”

Susie faked a yawn.

“Yeah, yeah, tell me something I don’t know,” she said. She opened her fist, and they fell to the ground in a heap. Frank was first on his feet. He looked around for his car, and couldn’t see it. Then he looked up, and saw Susie’s giant, grinning face.

“Lost something?” she asked innocently. “Why don’t you start looking for it? I’ll even give you a hint.”

She pointed at her chest. Frank took one look at her huge breasts, pressing down on the road. If his car was beneath them, it would be crushed flat by now. He gave Susie such a hate-filled stare that she decided the fun was over for today. She reached behind her back and pulled out the car; it had been tucked underneath the strap of her bikini and was undamaged. She put it down on the road, and the four guys hurriedly climbed in and started the engine. But Susie couldn’t resist one last laugh. She picked up the car, and, after licking her lips, planted a big, wet kiss on the front window.

“Take care, my little sweets!” she said laughing, and put the car back down. After it had driven off, she turned to Jake and the girls. To her surprise, they didn’t seem to be enjoying all this as much as she was. She opened her hand and waited for them to climb in, before standing up.

“Jake…” she began.

“You know what’ll happen now?” he interrupted, sounding upset. “They’ll just hate me even more, that’s what! And you too! Frank wasn’t joking when he said he’ll kill you, Susie; he’s been saying it for weeks.”

“Well, I’m sorry, but I couldn’t just leave you in that situation! And…well, you know I’ve apologized to Frank and Arthur before, over and over, and they’re still the same way they were before. I’m sorry, Jake, but I’m getting fed up with the fact that, no matter how nice and friendly and helpful I try to be, people still hate me!”

She looked down at the ground and wasn’t at all surprised to see lots of people staring up at her. They could easily hear her, just like she wanted them to. Just then Emma appeared, still dripping wet from her swim. Susie had planned to stay with Jake a while longer, but she wasn’t in the right mood right now. She said goodbye to her three friends, and showed Emma the way to he parents’ house. After making sure Emma knew the way back, she headed home alone. Once she got back, she took a warm shower, then lay down on her bed.

“Here I am, feeling sorry for myself again,” she thought. “All this fame and attention, and I still feel so alone. Is this what the rest of my life will be like?”

She lay in silence for a few minutes, then sat up straight.