Several minutes are spent catching Clay up to speed on what you and Lee have already figured out. The two of you take turns explaining parts of the story to Clay, who simply looks at the two of you like you're telling him that pigs have learned how to fly.
"And all of this...is real?" he says once you're finished.
"Of course it's real!" you say as you walk across the room. "See for yourself. Don't I look like a girl?"
You're now standing directly in front of him, and suddenly you realize how much taller he is than you. Clay seems to notice this as well.
"Okay, that pretty much clinches it," Clay says. "I'm not supposed to be looking down at you."
What was once a minor difference in height has become an entire head's length. You're currently at eye level with his shoulders. Feeling somewhat intimidated by his proximity, you take a few steps backward.
"Have you been noticing his changes as well?" Lee asks him. You look over at her and realize for the first time that you two are roughly the same height.
"Sort of," Clay says, scratching his head. "Like he said, the hair seemed to be the biggest difference, but I did notice something more girlish about his face. It just wasn't obvious until now. Plus, he didn't sound so much like a girl this morning."
"What?" you ask. "What's that mean?"
Clay stares at you. "You don't hear it?"
"Hear what? I don't sound like--." You stop once you actually listen to yourself talk. That's not your normal voice. It sounds a lot like the fake female voice you used earlier at the grocery store. "Oh no, my voice changed too?! When did that happen?"
"You've sounded like that ever since I got here," Lee says.
"But I didn't sound like that in the store. I had to fake it. It must have happened on the way home...the same time I had that last bit of hair growth..." Something starts connecting in your brain. You feel like you're stumbling upon a major clue.
"So what's making him change?" Lee said. "And why hasn't he changed since I've been here? It's been, what, two hours at least? Didn't you say your hair grew really quick at certain times?"
"It did," you confirm, beginning to see a pattern. "When I was walking through the rain, it was suddenly longer."
"The rain?" Clay repeats. "But it's been raining on everybody."
"No, that's not it exactly," you say, still thinking. "It happened after I showered, too, both days."
Lee's face brightens into a eureka expression. "So it's the water! When you come in contact with water, you start to change!"
"Don't sound too excited about it," Clay says sarcastically. Lee's face droops again.
"She's right," you say, somehow happy for a chance to defend her. "It has to be the water. That's the only thing in common with every time I noticed a major change. The minor ones, they probably happened then, too. I just didn't notice those until later."
"But that's ridiculous," Clay scoffs.
"Hang on," Lee says. She goes into the kitchen and you hear the faucet run for a few seconds. When she returns she's holding a glass of water. Before you can figure out her intentions, she strides over to you and dumps the cold liquid onto your head.
"Yaaaa! What the hell?!" you scream in a high-pitched wail. You run your fingers through your hair to alleviate the icy chill on your scalp. You're surprised to feel your hair growing against your palms and between your fingers.
The three of you freeze in place, not speaking a word as you witness an impossible sight. Your hair is growing at an incredible rate, spilling over your shoulders and crawling down both your chest and your back. It reaches its previous length at mid-back, but doesn't skip a beat as it travels even further, stopping only at your thighs. It's straight, light and fluffy. Each strand is perfectly smooth, like fine thread. The familiar long, curvy bangs fall over your face. You try your best to brush them out of your eyes, but some of them persist. In a matter of seconds, you've seen Lee's haircut be completely undone.
"What the fuck." Clay says.