It was Friday, ergo the school day dragged on. With Jen and Lisa back in school, things were returning to normal.
Yvonne Garrett was, outside of the cheerleader clique, Jennifer and Lisa’s best friend, along with Don Bentham, her boyfriend of two years.
“Are you shitting me,” Yvonne asked incredulously. “Her little sister?”
“I swear that’s what she told me. Course I begged her to stop,” answered Jen.
“And she’s been having seconds…but hasn’t been affected like you,” asked Don.
Lisa mused. “She’s been affected; it’s just that it affected her somewhere else first. I’d reckon that we’re all going to wind up the same, it’s just that Kelly started with her breasts.”
“And apparently drained her brain,” added Jen. “Silly girl. At least she’s coming to the meeting tonight.” Something clicked in Jennifer’s mind. “Don. Do you know of any guys who aren’t dating?
“Sure, Kyle Perkins. He’s available. But with a 60/40 split in favor of you ladies, you can’t be too picky, can you? I’d just wait for college, all things considered.
“Wait for college,” thought Jen. She would turn eighteen on July 20, Lisa’s eighteenth would be on April 4. Waiting for college would really…really be pushing it.”
“You had asked him out before Jen,” Lisa said reprovingly.
“That was a prank, Lisa. A cruel prank on my part, I’m shocked that you allowed me to do that to poor Kyle, you should be ashamed of yourself, Jen said with mock haughtiness.” Everyone in earshot snickered at that one.
“Don, tell me honestly. If Yvonne were going through this…how bad would it have to be before you broke up with her?” Jennifer asked him with an odd pleading tone in her voice. Don looked at her sympathetically.
“Ah, Jen you’re asking me a question I can’t answer very well. I can honestly say that I wouldn’t…but only because we’ve been dating for two years and I know her so well. It’s gotta be different for you and Lisa and the other eighteen girls. Both of you, Lisa, Jennifer, both of you are very very pretty young women…but of course you know…by society’s standards anyway…” He took a deep breath, exhaling slowly, “you’re not…going…to remain that way.”
Jennifer swallowed tightly. She knew he was telling the truth. She and Lisa might be wonderful people inside, but they would probably need to be physically attractive to attract someone long enough to show off that wonderful interior – if indeed they had it. All things considered, Lisa might. Jennifer, she had to admit, had little more than cheerleading and grades. She was as shallow as most of the student body, probably more.
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At long last, the school day ended. Upon arriving home, they were warmly greeted with moussaka, baklava, and dry Cheerios.
“Aww,” said Jennifer. “I love it when you guys get Hellenic on me!”
“Well, it was Andrea who cooked up most of this for you, she’s out doing some shopping. I just poured the Cheerios.” Carol sat with the pair. “Are you comfortable in those long sleeves?”
“I am,” answered Jennifer. “But this is the time of year for it, fortunately. I’d hate to have to wear them during the summer.”
Carol felt the dark fuzz on her daughter’s hand. “How fast is it growing, sweetheart?”
“Mmm, I figure about an inch per month, give or take a quarter. What I want to know is: how long is the growth cycle. Some hairs will fall out when they hit two inches, some ten inches. And then you have Crystal Gayle.”
Their snacking done, they figured that since they had another three hours before the meeting, they should get some homework completed.
The girls began arriving a little after six-thirty. Last to arrive was Kelly, looking a bit concerned when she saw Jennifer and Lisa.
There were eleven of them. Except for Lisa, all had blonde or reddish hair.
Jennifer took the lead. “Thanks for coming everyone. I guess I should explain why I called this meeting. Of course, we’ve all been affected in some way by the hormones we’d been unknowingly taking these past few months. We just want to get an idea of how we’re doing physically…and we want to support each other emotionally as well.”
She took a deep breath and continued. “Ok, except for the one girl who mentioned it to it last night, who has not yet been to their doctor about this?” Jennifer didn’t want to embarrass Kelly.
Kelly promptly raised her hand, Lisa’s eyes rolled back in their sockets. Two others, freshman JV cheerleader Rose O’Brien and senior Tonia Welles raised their hands. Strawberry-blonde fuzz was evident on Tonia’s hand and wrist.
“OK, well, we really encourage you to go get checked out. This was really really dangerous stuff she used on us. Just to get a show of hands, how may of you are freshmen? Rose, Katie Reynolds, and Amy Adderly raised their hands.”
Jennifer smiled. “You’ll still want to get checked, Rosie. But you’re probably out of the woods in the long run at least. She turned to Katie and Amy. “You’re not producing it naturally are you?” They shook their heads, it hadn’t been running through their systems long enough. Nor have the freshmen noticed any effects, at least not yet.
Sophomores? Sarah Griggs, Connie Ogilvie, and Lydia Meadows raised their hands. Connie was producing the hormone naturally, but all the sophomore girls had seen some changes.
Juniors? Ariana Simpson, Mary Cohen, and Beth Tyler were all in trouble. Beth, platinum blonde, petite and bespectacled had noticed no effects. Yet.
Kelly, Jennifer, Lisa and Tonia Welles rounded off the list as the seniors.
“Doctor Perkins has been nice enough to answer any of your more technical questions by phone. But before we cover the effects of the hormone, does anyone have any questions that someone else might take a shot at?”