Steven and Connie were screamed as they backed away from the terror inching its way toward them. It suddenly retreated, and they saw their chance and took it. They darted forward, ready to attack before it leaped at them again. It was too late. The waves lapping the shore caught up to them, soaking the hem of Steven's jeans and of Connie's long white sundress. Connie tripped over the flowery fabric and backed into the young teenager's arms. "Thanks Steven." Connie giggled. He felt his heart leap at the sight of her smile. She was so beautiful. The pearly white grin shone bright against the dark face.

"No problem", he said with a shy smile of his own. He looked into her eyes for a moment and then he did something even he didn't expect. He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. He drew back and looked at his friend. She looked surprised, but happy. They hugged each other for a long moment and rested their heads against each other's foreheads. This was wonderful. Suddenly Steven began to glow and when he fazed back into view he had grown about a foot.

"Steven! What are you doing? You don't need to stretch yourself out like that again!" Connie scolded him, but this time he hadn't meant to do it. "I'm not shapeshifting" Steven explained in an older, more mature voice. "I guess I just really did have a magical growth spurt!"

Steven and Connie strode hand in hand to sit on the dry, powdery, part of the beach. "So, um… why do you think you grew all of a sudden?" Connie asked enthusiastically. She was happy for him, but she was still a tad concerned.

"I well… I don't know" Steven said awkwardly, suddenly very interested in the texture of the sand he was running through his fingers. "I guess I was just thinking about you… and I… and I was just about to ask if you might want to… I mean would you like to be…

"Hey kiddos!" Jamie waved at them, oblivious that he was interrupting anything important. Steven sighed and walked over to greet him. He loved it when Jamie came to deliver the mail and they could catch up on things, but he could not have come at a worse moment.

"Woah, Steven! I must have been gone for a really long time! You've grown like two feet!" he said, genuinely shocked. He put a hand on the smaller boy's head to measure his height against his own. Steven almost came up to his chin. He stood up as straight as he could, proud of his new appearance. "But dude, seriously. You need to get some new clothes" he laughed, pointing at Steven's exposed gem. Steven looked down at his too-small outfit. Jamie was right. His blue jeans were giving him a real wedgie, come to think of it. "Anyway, here's your mail" he said, dropping a massive stack of envelopes in his arms. "Oh, and this is for you too!" Jamie said with excitement, holding out a separate sheet of paper.

"Wait, Hold on a sec. I can't see." Steven said, fumbling with the precarious stack of mail. He placed it on a nearby boulder that was sitting o few yards from the mailbox. He took the piece of paper from Jamie's hands.

"It's a flyer for Hamlet. I thought you might want to come and try out since you did so well in the last play. I had a lot of fun working with you. Mayor Dewey's play was alright, but I've always been partial to the Shakespearian classics." Jamie gushed, with a goofy dramatic pose. Steven just stared blankly. As he didn't have any formal education, he had no idea who Shakespeare was. He felt a little self-conscious as Jamie and Connie discussed the playwright's works. Connie told Steven she would have to get a copy of Romeo and Juliet so that they could read it together. Steven agreed to check out the play later and try out for a part. He'd loved it the last time he'd been in a play with Jamie, and he really wanted to learn more about this stuff so he could talk about it with Connie. He loved the way her eyes lit up when she talked about the things she'd read or learned in school, and he wanted to understand. He didn't like to admit it, but she made him feel rather unintelligent at times.

Just The First Chapter. More Coming Soon.