Chapter 3

Megan hadn't been exaggerating about the media presence; the parking lot had a news van for every local station and several she didn't even recognize. Amy managed to keep just low enough to avoid being seen, and a few back road detours allowed the duo to avoid any more attention on the way back to their apartment complex. Megan gave a long sigh of relief as she drove through the opened gate and heard it clank shut behind them.

"I hate to make you move from that wonderful sleeping position, but we're here," she said as she backed into the nearest spot.

Amy responded with a groggy groan and nothing more.

"Seriously, how the hell did you sleep back here?" Megan asked as she popped the lift gate. "It looks miserable."

Amy groaned and slid out of the back of the vehicle, far more easily than she had gotten in. "Your driving made it worse than it needed to be," Amy complained as she stretched. "I think you hit every bump and pothole but I was just too exhausted to care."

"Phew, someone's grumpy."

"You grow five feet in a day and see how you feel."

"Probably wouldn't be quite that bitchy."

Megan laughed and turned around, expecting to see Amy smiling at her teasing. Instead, the enormous blonde was standing only a few feet from her, arms crossed and looking unamused. Megan instinctively took a step back from the much larger girl. At a hair over six feet, she wasn't used to looking up at most people, which made it all the more intimidating that she only stood eye-level with Amy's abs as they stuck out from the ripped sheets. The scowl on her face didn't help, either; when she was only five feet tall, that look was almost cute. Now that Amy was the biggest woman on the planet, though, it made Megan a little nervous.

"I probably should have phrased that better. You know I was just kidding."

Amy's shook her head and her annoyed expression quickly turned to a smile. "Yeah, I'm sorry. I was acting pretty grumpy, huh? Being hungry doesn't help. Let's just hurry up and just get inside before someone spots us."

The loud thuds of Amy's large bare feet against the wooden floor echoed through the hallway as the pair made their way to their apartment. Each footstep made Amy more embarrassed. She was glad they lived on the first floor or else she'd cause quite a ruckus for their fellow tenants.

"Oh, you do have your phone," Megan said suddenly. "Are you going to let your parents know you're okay? You're probably all over the news."

Amy started to ask what her friend was on about before she looked in her hand and noticed that she was indeed holding her phone.

"Um, where did this come from? I thought this was still in my shorts. Nolan said he was going to get my stuff and bring it by later, but I don't even remember picking this up."

"Who knows? Just watch where you're going. I don't want a giant Amy-shaped hole in one of these walls."

Heeding Megan's advice, Amy fired off a message as quick as her large fingers could operate the keys and went back to watching her step. When they reached apartment 157, Megan pulled out her keys and opened the door and gestured for her friend to go first.

"Just a heads-up, I'm not pushing if you get stuck," Megan grinned.

Amy rolled her eyes and squeezed through the door with relative ease. She was thankful these apartments had been built with fairly high ceilings. Normally, their lack of furniture made the place seem too empty, but it was actually a blessing now. Aside from a coffee table, their sofa, and an entertainment center the living room was devoid of anything to obstruct her.

"Do you think it can hold me?" Amy asked, patting the black leather of the sofa. "I don't want to break it."

Megan shrugged. "Go ahead and find out. It probably needs to be replaced anyway."

The black leather sofa groaned in protest but miraculously held up as she gently lowered herself onto it. Her rear took up an entire seat cushion and it was a bit uncomfortable on her back but Amy found it preferable to sitting on the cold floor. Megan approached her and handed her a remote and a console controller.

"Alright, just make yourself comfortable. I'll go see what we have to eat."

"I can get it myself, you know."

"You've had a rough day. I want to help you unwind, okay?"

Amy smiled. She felt guilty being waited on, but she really did want nothing more than to just sit down and veg for a while. "Thanks. You're the best."

While Megan trotted off to the kitchen, Amy fired up her console. She looked around at her much smaller surroundings as it loaded. The whole place felt like it had been scaled down. It was an eerie feeling that was hard to shake, seeing things so familiar and yet so very different.

At least things weren't dollhouse-sized yet, she thought. Wait, 'yet'? I'm done growing. It was one-time thing. I can't possibly get any bigger than this, right? I don't want to end up bigger than a house...or an office building...or a skyscraper.

For a moment, though, her imagination drifted to a vision of herself at an outrageous height. She peered through an apartment window like it was a dollhouse before effortlessly plunging her hand through the wall. Her hand felt around deliberately for something; she wasn't sure what, but had the feeling she'd know it when she found it. Miniature furniture cracked and splintered against her hand before she wrapped it around something warm. Withdrawing her hand revealed her prize: a tiny, adorable Nolan sitting in the palm of her hand. She grinned and reached a finger towards him... "Here you go, hon."

Amy snapped back to reality at the sound of Megan's voice. She had returned carrying a large bag of chips and a soda.

"Oh, I...um, thanks," Amy mumbled, turning pink. Where in the hell had that little daydream come from? She tore open the bag of chips and started eating as she kept going with her game.

"Glad I'm feeding you something healthy," Megan joked, seemingly oblivious to her friend's embarrassment. "Are you going to need these again at some point or should I just try and sell them?" She gestured at a rather large pile of textbooks cluttering the coffee table.

"I can't say for sure yet. Gosh, that just makes me thankful this didn't happen to me a few weeks ago. Can you imagine having to study for finals like this? I'd probably bomb."

"Nah, you kidding? You could probably ace them all without studying at all."

"I'm not smart enough to handle that."

"Haven't you gotten an A in every class you've taken since you got here? Even though you take eighteen hours a semester?"

"Well, I did almost get a B in Immunology last semester..."

Megan rolled her eyes. "So that's a yes, brainiac."

Amy grit her teeth and gripped her controller but decided to let the conversation die. She hated those kind of comments; sure, she was smart, but she also worked her ass off to make those grades. They'd come with a high cost; all those nights spent alone in the apartment with her face buried in her notes, not being able to socialize and party like nearly every other girl she knew. If Nolan hadn't been so understanding, she'd probably still be single, too. She figured there probably weren't many college guys would put up with a girl cancelling three different dates because they had to study.

Maybe I just need to learn to take a compliment. God, I have issues.

Her hold on the controller strengthened until she gasped when she felt it snap in her hands. Amy and Megan looked at one another in surprise as small parts of broken device rattled on the floor.

"...Oh, crap," Amy said.

Megan raised her eyebrows and whistled. "Damn. I've never seen you break something in frustration before."

"That's not it! I'm just a heck of a lot stronger than I used to be, that's all. More importantly, that was my only controller!"

"Uh, there's one right here. Are you sure you don't need your glasses?" Megan quipped. She held up a second controller and waved it in front of Amy.

"Where'd you get that? The system only came with one controller and I never bought a second. Those things are like thirty bucks, too, so I'd remember buying it."

"I got it from the same fairy that magically brought you your cell phone. Maybe you should break it and see if she'll bring you a third one."

"Can she also get me a roommate that isn't a smartass?" Amy asked, sticking her tongue out.

Megan playfully punched Amy's her arm as the two girls giggled. The fact that Megan was still behaving this way was a great relief to Amy. A part of her was worried her size would make people afraid of her but, for her part, Megan was still being her usual laid-back self.

"Okay, I'm going to grab my sewing machine so I can get started on fixing up that outfit of yours," Megan said.

"You have a sewing machine? I've never seen you use it."

"Haven't had it too long. My clothes kept getting so many tears and holes from softball and hiking and stuff that I decided to learn how to fix them myself.

"I understand hiking, but I never got how they got so beat up from softball. Some days it looked like you'd been in a fight."

"Sometimes I was in a fight. If someone starts shit, I'm gonna finish it, you know?"

Megan walked to the next room, and a few thud, thunks and 'ouches' later, she reappeared with the sewing machine and a few more sheets. Before she could say anything, the doorbell rang.

"Ugh," Megan said with a frustrated sigh. "I'll take care of this. This better not be some door-to-door guy. Just hide for a minute."

The doorbell rang a second time before Megan reached it and flung it open. She was greeted by a young guy carrying at least a half-dozen pizzas and a few two-liter sodas. The two stared at one another silently for a minute.

"What the heck is this?" Megan spoke up.

"Your order," the man answered. He looked at the number on the door to double-check. "Room 157." Megan narrowed her eyes. "Um, look, I'm sorry, but we didn't order pizza."

"Pizza?!" Amy popped up from behind the couch and immediately gasped.

The man went wide-eyed. "Y-you're that girl that's been on the news!"

Megan slapped her forehead hard enough that she regretted it. "Look, you didn't see this, okay? And I'm sorry, maybe someone's pulling a prank on us, but we're not paying for something we didn't order."

"But...m'am, you already paid for it. "

"I...we...you know what, sure. Can you put this stuff on that table? Don't be afraid of her."

The deliverer nodded. He slowly approached the table, instinctively wary of Amy, and placed the items down on it before backing away at the same pace.

"Again, you never saw this, okay?" Megan handed him a ten dollar bill as an extra-large tip.

"O-of course. I wouldn't want to cause you two any trouble! I'll be off!" The man hurriedly left the room and Megan shut the door behind him. She turned around and glared at Amy, who had already cracked open a box and was drooling over the pepperoni pizza inside.

"Did you order this and forget to tell me?"

"No!" Amy exclaimed, shaking her head vigorously. "What would I even pay with?" "Yeah, I guess so. But in that case, who the hell did?"

"Maybe Nolan did it as a surprise? He knows I looooove pizza."

"Yeah, no kidding. Only you could stuff your face with pizza all the time, spend all day inside studying and still only weigh a hundred pounds."

Probably more like eight hundred now, Amy sighed.

"Anyway," Megan continued, "we didn't have to pay for it, so no point worrying about it. I'm pretty famished myself, so let's dig in."