When I opened my eyes, everything was blurry. My head pounded like I’d been hit with a sledgehammer, and my mouth was dry. I blinked a few times, trying to get my brain to work.
Where was I?
Slowly, things came into focus. I was in my room… but it wasn’t my room.
The posters on the walls were different—gone were my old boyband posters, replaced by art prints I didn’t recognize. My bookshelf was crammed with thick novels instead of comics. There was even a makeup mirror on my desk, surrounded by makeup brushes. And the bed I was lying in was bigger. Taller.
I sat up quickly, heart racing. My legs swung over the edge of the bed and—holy crap. My feet touched the ground.
No. No way.
I jumped up and ran to the mirror, barely noticing how much longer my stride was. And then I saw her. Me. But older.
Not just taller—though yeah, I was tall, way taller than I’d ever been—but my face was sharper, more grown-up. My hair was longer. My pajamas didn’t even fit right anymore; the sleeves only went halfway down my arms, and the shirt was pulled tight across my chest in a way it had never been before.
I stood in front of the mirror, staring at myself. I wasn’t tiny little Mollie anymore.
I had curves. Real ones. I looked like a high schooler. Maybe older. My chest—oh my god—was way bigger than before. I didn’t even have a chest before. Now? Easily a C-cup, maybe even more. I didn’t know whether to be shocked or… okay, I was mostly shocked. I tugged at the stretched fabric of my pajama top, blushing.
And my height? I glanced at the measuring chart Mom had drawn on the side of my closet door when we were little. The top of my head was above the 5'6" mark.
I stepped closer to check. Yep. Five foot seven.
I was five-seven.
I backed away from the mirror like it might shatter. “What the…”
“Mollie?” A voice came from the hallway.
I froze.
The door opened, and Hillary walked in.
But it wasn’t twelve-year-old Hillary. She was taller. Different. Her face more mature, her hair tied back in a messy braid. She looked… sixteen? Seventeen?
And she was tall. Way taller than she used to be.
As she stepped fully into the room, I realized she was standing almost eye-to-eye with me. Maybe even a little taller.
She must’ve seen the look on my face, because she gave me a small, crooked smile. “Yeah. I’m five-eight now.”
Five-eight. My little sister was five-eight. A full inch taller than me, even after everything that had happened.
She stared at me like she’d seen a ghost. “Oh my god. You’re awake.”
I opened my mouth, but no sound came out. Finally, I croaked, “What happened?”
“You’ve been asleep for three years,” she said quietly.
The floor dropped out from under me. “What?!”
“You passed out,” she said, stepping closer. “We couldn’t wake you up. Mom and Dad took you to doctors. No one knew what was wrong. We didn’t think you were ever coming back.”
I shook my head. “No. No way. I just put the bracelet on last night—”
“It wasn’t last night!” Hillary snapped. “Mollie… it’s been three years. You missed everything.”
My stomach twisted. “School?”
“You graduated middle school in your sleep,” she said. “You should be in high school now.”
I staggered backward until I hit the wall. “No. This can’t be real. You’re messing with me.”
“I wish I was,” Hillary said, her voice cracking. “But it’s true.”
I looked at my hands again. Older. Stronger. My body wasn’t mine, and yet it was. I ran to the window and looked outside. Our street was the same—but different. New cars. A different neighbor mowing the lawn. Was that a freaking flying drone delivering a package?
“What is going on?” I whispered.
Hillary came over slowly. “It’s the bracelet,” she said. “It didn’t just grow you. It… fast-forwarded you.”
“So what, I’m stuck like this?”
She bit her lip. “I don’t know. But we need to figure it out. Fast.”
A sudden sharp pain stabbed through my wrist. I cried out, grabbing at it, and saw the blue gem on the bracelet flashing—faster, brighter.
“It’s still working,” Hillary said, panic flashing in her eyes. “It’s not stopping.”
“What does that mean?” I gasped.
“It means you’re not done growing.”
I looked at her, my heart pounding. “How much time do I have?”
She swallowed hard. “Not much.”
And that’s when the room started spinning again.
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