I apologize for the wait. I lost power for a few days due to a storm. Please enjoy!

Dinner was relaxed and Hadley smiled the whole time, her cheeks getting sore from overexertion. Ambrose was eccentric, which loosened up the stiffer Evangeline and the intimidating Jazeera. He had a way of drawing out conversation and helping it to flow onto new topics at times when things seemed to die down. Hadley was made to feel instantly welcome.

She slouched contentedly in her chair, her stomach near to bursting. Ambrose rose to clear the table, disappearing into the kitchen. Residual chuckles lingered in the air, but no new words were passed until Jazeera asked Evangeline if they could talk, privately, which Hadley did not mind. “Would you feel alright here, for now,” Jazeera asked Hadley, who nodded.

Ambrose reemerged to fill the void created by the absence. “How are you feeling, Hadley,” he inquired, taking his seat once more.

She pushed her chair back, away from her provided table, and smiled warmly. His inquiry seemed genuinely concerned about her comfort and so she responded honestly. “I am pleasantly surprised,” she announced.

His smile was the knowing kind. “Could not help but hold low expectations, I imagine,” he mused.

She shrugged, glad to see that he did not appear offended. “You and your family do not make me feel looked down upon, despite being physically lower, you know?”

He nodded. “Well, I have not experienced your point of view, but Jazeera was born F class.”

Hadley lurched forward, her jaw dropping. “No!” she exclaimed.

“I suppose you might never guess,” he chortled. “She does wear her height well.”

“So that is why she feels passionately about helping other classes,” Hadley concluded.

Ambrose hummed, appearing amused by a memory. “She was always passionate, but it was not until she was the first successful human growth case that people took her stand seriously. She took it upon herself to use her status in the favor of those who need it.”

“She was the first?!” Hadley buzzed as the information sank in. Hadley had always been impressed by Jazeera and people like her, admiring them from afar. Jazeera was a private person outside of her public stance, so people liked to make up tales about her glorious upbringing.

“And the only to go above S class,” Ambrose said delightedly.

 “Above?” Hadley rolled the word around her tongue, not sure it was what she was supposed to have heard.

Ambrose leaned back in his chair and Hadley subconsciously shifted closer to offset the distance placed between them. “Oh yes!”

Hadley crossed her arms over her chest, puzzling over her confusion. “What do you mean above?”

Ambrose had a twinkle in his eye, like he had caught another to tell his greatest tale to, or perhaps his first victim. He held the silence for a moment, grinning teasing to keep her hooked. “She is the only member of G class,” he finally said.

“G class?” Hadley was most certainly hooked, but more than a little skeptical.

“Not something taught about in your science books, aye?”

Hadley sighed and shook her head. She knew he was just baiting her. “Would you care to enlighten me?”

“If you twist my arm, I suppose I could tell you, but it is not as simple as what G class is,” he said with a pristine smile. “Do you know about why people shrank in the first place?”

Hadley’s brows came together, unsure the relevance, but knowing that he was just setting a foundation. “Sure. There was severe overpopulation and we were rapidly running out of resources, so the world governments hiked up the cost of living.”

“Was shrinking forced?”

Hadley cocked her head. “No,” she dragged out the word, unsure its significance. “The incentive for shrinking was the significant cost in housing and food costs. The only time people were forced to shrink was if they declared personal bankruptcy.”

“Does that not force people’s hand?”

Hadley’s eye moved to her hands, pondering his question. “I mean, I suppose when people could not afford life as it was-,” she trailed off. There was already a sour taste in her mouth and finishing the statement would have made it all feel more real and more vile.

“So, different socioeconomic classes became more defined, in that moment. ‘Same’ class, the easily spotted upper class. ‘Hip’ class, the next tier down, made up of upper middle class families. ‘Knee’ class, the new middle class population. And ‘Foot’ class.”

Hadley swallowed down her ire. “And each could afford what was available to their size,” she added, knowing this part of the tale.

“So, the dream became to climb to the next height,” Ambrose continued, the ladder analogy feeling all too perfect. Hadley nodded, willing him to get to the point. “And the Class Clash happened when the second generation of each new class was born,” he said curtly.

“It happened later, I thought,” Hadley’s brows came together. She knew that the Class Clash was brought about by lower class discontent with the status quo.

“True, the problem was not instantly obvious,” Ambrose mused. “Did you know, when someone is shrunk, their body writes a new code, telling organs to not outgrow the host?” Again he seemed to be too quickly jumping topics.

“It is much like an additional pair of chromosomes,” Hadley supplied.

“Precisely!” Ambrose grinned at her display of understanding. “However, when the coding is passed on to offspring, it becomes the default.”

Hadley was beginning to see where he was going. “And we only had the technology to shrink or reverse the original process,” she added.

“Meaning, there was no way to climb, not for the newer generations,” Ambrose continued, his fingers drumming softly, suggesting that they were getting to the crux of the issue. “Shrinking is an easy process. The technology convinces the body to convert its own mass to energy, fueling the process. Growth,” he sighed.

Hadley finished for him. “Is more costly than anyone can afford.”

“Was,” he corrected. “See, we did not have the technology to do it and the first generation’s default was still S class. Scientists were not pushed to find a way to grow.”

“When did that change?”

“When people realized that the reversal process was not available to the newest generation.” Hadley had known the answer, but was hoping that reality would be kinder. “When people learned that the shrinking was permanent, there was a cry for the government to do something.”

Hadley swallowed to try to wet her mouth. She wanted to shift away from the line that conversation had taken. “We did discover how to make people grow,” she supplied.

Ambrose nodded. “Eventually. It was not so simple and many attempts were unsuccessful.”

“And it started with-.”

“With Jazeera,” he said through his sparkling grin and his eyes lifted as the subject of his words entered.

“Telling the story of us meeting?” Jazeera wore a bemused expression.

“In part,” he sang, and Hadley rolled her eyes.

“So, what was different with her,” Hadley asked to spur the lesson along.

Jazeera slid into a seat as Ambrose puffed his chest up with air, getting ready for the grand explanation. However, she beat him to the punch. “People were so focused on keeping to the same process methodology as was used for shrinking, just in reverse, that they had not considered providing the mass for the growth.” Hadley watched Ambrose deflate and noticed the huff he sent Jazeera’s way.

“I was basing the work off of what my father had provided from his part in discovering how to shrink people,” Ambrose defended.

“And looking a little outside the box is not your strong suit,” Jazeera chuckled.

Hadley watched the exchange and began to realize what they were implying. “You discovered the method for growth!?”

Ambrose’s lips curled in disgust and his nose crinkled. “No,” he ground out. “She did,” he nodded towards Jazeera.

“I was working as one of his assistants at the time and made the suggestion,” Jazeera said matter-of-factly, her expression neutral, but her eyes shining with devilish amusement.

“And I unintentionally used her as the first test subject,” Ambrose mumbled and if Hadley were not as small as she was, she might not have heard it.

Hadley sighed. “Philanthropy, leadership, law, engineering, biology,” she listed, “is there anything you cannot do,” she asked Jazeera.

The woman chuckled. “Well, actually, I have no training in science. I was hired for my spunk and because I was good with my hands,” she revealed. “I was just being snarky when I had suggested he provide the matter for the growth.”

Ambrose was looking away when they both turned to him, his arms folded over his chest and his posture dramatically pouty. “I would have gotten there,” he insisted.

“He hates that I got the idea first.”

Ambrose deliberately turned a glare at Jazeera, but Hadley saw the levity in his eyes.

“So, how did you become the first successful case,” Hadley asked.

Ambrose returned to telling the story. “Well, I had initially been doing work with cadavers, but the process was not taking, because there was no living energy to call the matter to.”

“And I made the mistake of being too close when he tried one time,” Jazeera added, “and he was desperately trying to ignore my presence, at the time.”

Ambrose sighed and nodded. “The process was drawn to her living signature,” he explained. “And, because I had calculated the mass needed for the beefy cadaver, her proportions just made her a fair bit taller than would be her natural S class stature.”

“Huh,” Hadley breathed in understanding, her mind beginning to wrap around all that she was being told.

“Mom became Dad’s test subject and they were forced to get to know each other a bit more closely,” Evangeline added as she entered the room, answering Hadley’s unasked question of how they developed a relationship.

“Are you all set, Eva,” Jazeera asked. The girl nodded in response. Jazeera turned her attention to Hadley. “Would you like to see where you will be sleeping?”

“Oh, uh, yes!” she called, “but, could you give me one second?” Jazeera nodded graciously. Hadley returned her attention to Ambrose, who was smiling once more, having forgotten to keep up his ruse of anger. “So, with the success, you brought an end to the Class Clash?”

Ambrose chuckled. “Well, not singlehandedly, certainly,” he allowed, “but the discovery helped. With the dream restored, there was a less concrete reason to point millions of fingers at the leading governments.”

“The governments have also been spouting that the shrinking is temporary, but that is utter bullshit,” Jazeera added. “I am part of the first generation of those born F class,” she intoned, her cool demeanor strained. “I have since had a child and she has grown up and it is looking more and more like some people will spend their entire lives smaller than others.” Hadley could hear just how personal the injustice was to Jazeera and she wondered if it was the same for the rest of her family. Darkly colored expressions suggested in favor of her suspicions.

“You wish the ability to grow was not discovered,” Hadley asked.

Hadley was surprised when Jazeera looked away. “I wish the government had the incentive to truly push for other solutions instead of holding onto the solution that puts people into such drastically different life circumstances, depending on how there are born.”

“I am no more deserving of opportunities so much more abundantly available to me,” Evangeline’s voice was quiet, but Hadley could hear the self-loathing.

Ambrose’s hand met Evangeline’s shoulder, but Hadley was certain that Evangeline would not accept the comfort. Her chest felt tight. She was not like her brother – she did not view S class people as underserving and callous, but she felt that James and Evangeline possessed the same minds. She wondered if conversations pertaining to class would end up following the same pattern as they had with James.

“I am ready to see my room,” she said, but was asked to repeat herself when she went unheard.

Ambrose took the opportunity to shift them away from the somber turn things had taken. “Great! Eva, why not show her?”

Evangeline was drawn out of her thoughts, a lifting of her brows signaling that she acknowledged her father’s words. “What? Oh, uh, sure,” she said. Her hand was laid on the table in front of Hadley and Hadley accepted the ride, getting onto her palm.

Evangeline rose, carrying Hadley through the kitchen and out to the foyer. “So,” she captured Hadley’s attention, her voice hoarse, “there are walkways installed along most walls,” she indicated using her free hand. Hadley took note of the fact that there were elevators periodically along the walkways and that they were at about the height of the windowsills. She was brought towards one wall, where Evangeline allowed her to have a closer look at the elevator’s controls. “Some of the elevators will go to the upper floors,” Evangeline pointed out.

Hadley got onto Evangeline’s hand once more. “Was this all installed today?”

Evangeline shook her head. “No, we try to keep the house accommodating.” She began to climb the stairs that lead to the second floor. “We just had to install the one that goes up to my room. It happens to be above the kitchen and leads to the space you will be using.”

“We will be sharing a room?”

Evangeline quirked a smile. “Well, I am particular about phrasing,” she expressed. “Your space is not within mine, because that would imply that it is still mine,” she argued, “instead, our rooms are adjoining.”

Hadley was silent, considering that despite being the marginalized, she had displayed internalized oppression, while Evangeline willingly gave up her privilege. She felt ignorant about equality as a possibility.

Evangeline approached a closed door and Hadley realized she had not been paying attention to the layout as they had went. Before Evangeline opened the door, she pointed down the wall. “There is an entrance to your space on the walkway, there,” she indicated. Hadley nodded. The door opened and Evangeline entered her own room.

It was sparsely decorated and neatly kept. Bookshelves lined the wall perpendicular to the wall they entered through, stretching along the opposite wall, as well. The shelves stopped when they met the bed, tucked into the corner, pristinely made. A desk doubled as a nightstand, supporting a computer monitor that looked like it belonged in a movie theater. At the same height, a dresser extended the surface space, leading to the corner where Hadley spotted her living space. It looked to be as tall as the K class living spaces her parents’ home was situated above, suggesting multiple floors. “Your apartment is entirely self-sufficient, so there is no need for you to eat with us or go to us for anything, but I think my dad would thoroughly enjoy helping you with anything you need.” She put her hand down for Hadley to disembark at the entrance to her new home. “He loves projects, which has been the biggest struggle for him, while running EcoGrowth. There is more paperwork than lab work.”

Hadley nodded, but her focus was on her new home. “May I go inside?”

Evangeline’s brow rose, but she nodded. “It is your space, after all.”

Hadley opened the door, stepping into a modern kitchen. She had her own personal living room, equipped with a television and couches. She dropped over the arm of the couch, laughing gaily. She excitedly ran to the next room - an exercise room, but just shrugged, giggling to herself. Moving on, she climbed the stairs that led to her own study, filled with books and her own computer, and finally she made it to the bedroom, spaciously set up, with a dresser and bed, but not much else. “Hadley,” Evangeline called from outside, “when you make it to the bedroom, there should be a red switch next to the lights. It unlocks the roof.” Hadley flipped the designated switch, hearing the release of suction. The roof lifted away and Evangeline’s face took up her sky. “You can keep the roof locked or unlocked. There is a panel by the switch that has options for displaying your level of welcome to the roof being opened.” Hadley looked at the panel. It was limited in its options. She could choose ‘open to company’, ‘knock please’, ‘sleeping’, ‘downstairs’, or ‘unavailable’. She switched it to ‘open to company’ and Evangeline grinned.

“Do you like it?”

Hadley could not contain herself. “Very much!”

Evangeline grinned freely. “Glad to hear it! If you need anything, let me know.”

“Well, are you doing the homework for class?”

Evangeline sighed, eliciting a chuckle from Hadley. “I suppose I should.”

“Would you like to do it together?”

Evangeline rolled her eyes. “I am not going to do it otherwise,” she admitted.