High Maintenance Girl

05: A Family Reunion

     It is a bit of a drive to arrive at Lily's mother's house. Located in a more rural county, trees and fields becoming a more common sight the further in one goes. The scenery is peaceful, very different than what one would typically see when they are closer to the city. Dean is appreciating the scenery as he is driving. Lily, on the other hand, has her eyes glued to the monochromatic screen of her handheld gaming system.

        Her eyes are darting up and down, watching each piece as she is guiding them to complete rows and build up her score. Her body begins to shift; her head rising higher and her fingers are encompassing the buttons. She is so focused on her game that she is unaware that she is growing, again. Not even the increasing tightness of her clothes or her seatbelt is enough to pull her focus away from her game. "TETRIS!" she yells excitedly, watching as four lines are cleared from her screen. Her accomplishment is short-lived, her game yanked out of her hands. "HEY!" she
yells in protest as Dean slams the Game Boy onto the seat. The sound of a game over is shortly heard, her hard work, gone.

      "Lily, you're focusing on that game too much. You're growing, focus." Dean's tone is firm, indicating that he is being serious.

     Normally, Lily would have retorted; but she recognizes Dean's tone, meaning that he is in a no-nonsense mood. She crosses her arms while regaining her necessary focus on her size, halting her body's perpetual growth. Looking over at him, she can see that she is taller than him; not by much, maybe by an inch or two. She smirks, taking her increased stature as a small victory.

      "Shrink down, Lily," Dean instructs her.

     Lily groans in protest, leaning back as she is now looking at the roof of the cabin. "Can't I wait until we get to my mother's?" Her tone is practically whiney, showing her unwillingness to shed her recently gained inches.

     "We are almost there," Dean points out. Lily looks out the window, her eyes greeted by familiar scenery. She realizes that he is right. With a sigh, she begins to shrink down.

      Dean turns off the main road and is pulling up to a two-story home. Lily is looking at the house she grew up in, having fond memories of the house she grew up in. She smiles as she reminisces. The long gaming sessions she and her sister would share, how she would playfully gloat when she would win, the fights that broke out in playfulness. Her mother would even join in, acting as a referee and making ridiculous calls.

         As Dean puts his truck in park, parking in front of the two-car garage, he looks over at Lily, satisfied that she is at her natural height. Her clothes are baggy and hanging off her, the fabric stretched out from clinging to a body that was much too large for them. She smiles, closer to a smirk, satisfied that Lily listened to him. "Alright," he begins as he opens up the driver's side door, "I hope that I don't have to tell you to behave and mind your size, do I?"

     Lily steps out of the truck, "I think you just told me," she responds while rolling her eyes. She is walking behind Dean as they are walking up the stairs to the front door of the two-story house. Lily grins as she lets her mind relax, her body already filling her loose clothes as though it is eager to fill the extra space. She can feel each step getting smaller beneath her bare feet as they are expanding along with her body.

      Reaching the top of the steps, standing in front of the door, Dean turns back to look at Lily. Instead of being greeted by the sight of the top of her head, he is staring at her face, which is rising as she continues to climb up the steps. He finds himself looking up at the now statuesque woman to avoid looking straight at her chest, which is stretching the fabric of her shirt. "Lily," Dean says through gritted teeth, "you should not be that tall. Shrink back down now."