HULK GIRL

"A New Friend and a New Enemy"

A few days later, Susie was jumping rope in her backyard. The jump rope was one of the presents she'd gotten for her birthday. She wasn't very good at it so far. She'd jump maybe as many as six or eight times, and then her foot would get caught in the rope and she'd have to start over. She wondered if it was too small for her.

The fifth or sixth time she got her foot caught, she lost her balance, waved her arms wildly for a few seconds saying "Whoa…whoa…!" then fell over with a loud "Oof!"

"Maybe ballet would help your coordination," her mother suggested, coming outside to call her in for lunch. "There's a new class opening up for children your age. Maybe they still have some openings."

Susie didn't know what cor-din-ation was, but if it stopped her from falling down then she wanted some.

Susie went in with her mother to eat lunch. Her mother kept telling her about ballerinas and beautiful costumes. It sounded really nice. But then her mother gently poked her tummy and said, "But you'll have to lose some of that baby fat. Ballerinas are slim."

Susie felt her face grow warm. She clenched her little fists. She didn't like being called fat. Maybe she was a little plump, but if she'd been fat, those dumb grey bloomers of her grandma's wouldn't have kept falling off of her.

Thinking of the bloomers reminded Susie of the strange things that had happened to her the day she'd gotten them. She still had no idea how she'd gotten to that park, or the other place down the street, or why she had been starving when she went in her backyard, yet felt stuffed when she'd gotten home again. She'd seen somebody sleepwalk in a scary movie she'd watched with her daddy that her mother hadn't wanted her to watch. Was Susie sleepwalking?

After lunch, Susie's mother took her to what looked like a school. Susie had gone to kindergarten until just a few weeks ago. The playing part with other kids had been fun, but the sitting at a desk and listening while the teacher said things Susie was expected to remember later hadn't been fun at all! She knew at the end of summer she'd have to go to a new place called first grade. When she'd asked how many grades there were, and her mother had said twelve, Susie's eyes had almost popped right out of her head. Kindergarten had gone on and on and on for weeks and weeks and weeks and weeks! And soon she'd have to do that twelve more times?! At six years old, Susie was already feeling old!

Susie saw a bunch of other girls in what looked like blue one piece bathing suits, with long white socks and black shoes, holding onto a long board stuck to the wall that her mother said was a bar and kicking really high, higher than Susie could kick. Her mother talked to a lady, who said not to worry, diet and exercise would soon get rid of Susie's big tummy. The lady had seemed nice until she'd said that, but now that she'd just called Susie fat, she didn't think she liked her after all.

After her mother wrote her name on some papers in a funny way Susie couldn't read where all of the letters were shaped strange and all went together, Susie was given a costume like the other girls wore. She and her mother went into a big room with a long bench and something like kitchen cupboards that her mother called lockers so Susie could change.

The long white stockings felt kind of itchy when Susie put them on. The bathing suit, which her mother called a leotard, was kind of tight around her tummy. The shoes were also a bit tight. Susie looked at herself in a mirror that was on the wall. The tight leotard made her look chubbier than she normally looked. In fact it made her look fat. Susie felt embarrassed when she went to meet the rest of the class. All of the other girls were skinny.

The class was almost over for the day, the teacher said, but Susie could stand in front of the bar and watch and try to do what the other girls did. "Our next class with be the day after tomorrow," the teacher told Susie's mother. "I'll teach your little girl the basics then."

Susie didn't like being talked about like she wasn't there when she was there. It made her feel like she was dumb.

Susie was led to the bar and introduced to the other girls. Susie sucked in her tummy so she wouldn't look so round, but she knew she couldn't hold it in for very long.

Some of the girls seemed nice. The others just ignored her and looked like they wanted to go back to kicking really high, which seemed very strange to Susie. What were they trying to kick?

Susie ended up next to one girl that had curly blonde hair and blue eyes. She looked really pretty, like a princess in a fairy tale. But after Susie tried kicking a little and saw she couldn't get even close to kicking as high as the rest of the class, she saw the other girl smile. It wasn't a nice smile. It was a mean, nasty smile. Suddenly the blonde girl didn't look nearly as pretty as she had a minute ago.

When the class was over, Susie's mother started to follow her into what she had called the locker room. Susie saw some ladies come in that she assumed were the other girls' mothers. She noticed none of them went into the locker room with their daughters. "I can change by myself, Mommy," she told her. She wondered why her mother looked sad when she walked away.

In the locker room, Susie went to the locker her mother had put her clothes in. It turned out to be right next to the blonde girl's locker. Susie sat down on the bench to take off her shoes. Maybe she should ask for a bigger size, because her feet kind of hurt. She stood up and pulled off her leotards. While she was rolling down her stockings the blonde girl leaned over and whispered in her ear, "You're fat!"

Susie felt her face grow very warm. Why would she say such a mean thing, even if it was true? Didn't she know she'd just hurt Susie's feelings? She looked over and saw that same mean smile on the girl's face. Susie realized the blonde girl not only knew that she'd hurt her feelings, but she had enjoyed making Susie feel bad. Susie had seen mean people like that in movies but until now she'd never met any in real life.

Susie got dressed quickly, holding her stomach in until she had her dress back on. It wasn't her fault her tummy stuck out!

The blonde girl walked away while Susie was putting her socks on. "See you next time…fatso!" she called.

Susie clenched her little fists. "Fatso?" How rude and mean and nasty! The blonde wasn't pretty at all anymore to Susie. Just a stupid skinny doo-doo head!

Susie started feeling funny. She remembered suddenly she'd felt like this before. When the bees had stung her on the birthday, just before she'd found herself at that strange park. Her hands were clenched so tightly that her nails were hurting her palms. She looked at her hands and saw that they were shaking, she was so angry.

Susie struggled to calm down. Her mother and daddy always told her getting mad was wrong. And the last time she'd gotten mad crazy things had happened. She looked at her hands again.

They looked…green?!

Susie was sure her hands weren't supposed to be green. What was wrong with her? Then she remembered that weird guy with the torn purple pants. The one her mom had almost run over on her birthday. That weird toy he'd had. And that light that had come out of it when she'd pushed a button. It had been green, hadn't it?

There was a sink over against the wall. Susie hurried over to it and looked at herself. Her face was really sweaty. She noticed her eyes. They were normally hazel with just a little bit of green in them. But now, they were all green! And her face here and there was kind of greenish, like she'd gotten a sunburn, only her skin had burned green instead of red!

Susie turned on the sink and splashed some water on her face, trying to calm down. She didn't know what was happening to her, but she knew she didn't want to suddenly black out again and then find herself in a strange place and have no idea how she got there or how to get home again. She splashed some more water on her face, then sank down to her knees, praying the whatever was happening to her would stop.

"Y'all okay?" came a voice behind her.

Susie jumped. Had somebody seen her start to turn green? She was sure that wasn't normal. She was already being picked on for being fat, she didn't want to be picked on for being green, too!

"Candace shouldn't have said that, that was mean," the voice said. "Ah'm sorry. Ah would have said something but she scares me."

Susie looked over at the person speaking to her. The other girl was skinny but pretty and wore her black hair in long braids. "Ah'm Mary Ann," she said. "We just moved here from Texas and my momma put me in this class hoping Ah'd make some new friends. Candace made me feel bad too. She says Ah talk funny."

"I'm Susie," Susie said, feeling a lot calmer now. Whatever had started to happen had stopped. "And I think you talk cool. Candace is a big dumb stupid doo-doo head!" she added. She made a face as she felt it start again. She struggled to calm down again. Now she was sure that whatever was going on with her, being mad made it happen. It wouldn't be easy, especially if she had to keep coming here where this Candace was, but she had to keep from getting mad. She was scared of what might happen.

Mary Ann laughed. "Y'all right about that," she said. "But Ah wouldn't call her that to her face. She's mean."

"I can be mean too," Susie said to herself. That thought surprised her. Susie had never been mean or rude to anybody in her life. The last few days, though, she'd felt different. Like she wanted to be angry. Like she wanted to hit and throw things. That scared her. That man with the purple pants. Who was he? What had his weird toy thingy done to her?

Mary Ann got a paper towel. She wet it in the sink then put it on Susie's forehead. "Y'all need to calm down. You don't want your momma to see you all mad and everything."

"No, I don't," Susie said. "Thank you."

"Y'all welcome," Mary Ann said, smiling at Susie. This wasn't a mean smile like the way Candace had smiled at her. This was a friendly and happy smile.

Susie smiled back. She'd made an enemy that day, but she'd also made a friend.

When Susie felt like whatever had almost happened was over, she and Mary Ann left the locker room together. They were the last two girls to leave, and their mothers were just going in to see what was taking them so long.

"Sorry we was so late, Momma," Mary Ann said to her mother. "This here's mah new friend, Susie. We was just gettin' at a'talkin' and forgot about the time." She looked at Susie and put her finger to her lips. Susie knew that meant to be quiet and realized Mary Ann was telling her not to mention she was mad at Candace. Susie wanted to complaint loud to everybody she could about the blonde girl being such a meany, but maybe Mary Ann was right. Susie wished she could think clearer, but her head hurt.

Susie's mommy and Mary Ann's momma talked about the girls visiting each other. Susie and Mary Ann both liked the idea, and it was decided that Mary Ann would stay at Susie's house all day Saturday then come home when it started to get dark, and then Susie would stay at Mary Ann's house all day the next Saturday then come home when it started to get dark.

Finally it was Saturday, and a van parked in front of Susie's house after breakfast and Mary Ann got out. She ran and hugged Susie. Their mothers talked for awhile, then Mary Ann's momma told Mary Ann to be a good girl and she'd see her soon. Mary Ann kissed her momma, then waved bye-bye as she watched her drive off. Then she went with Susie and her mommy into Susie's house.

Mary Ann loved flowers and begged to water the ones in Susie's garden. Mary Ann hadn't brought a bathing suit, but she was skinny so Susie gave her the suit she wore last year that didn't fit so good now because of Susie's big tummy. Susie put on her new suit, and the two girls went in the garden.

"You gotta watch out for the bees," Susie warned her friend. "On my birthday I got stung twice!" Again she felt strange thinking about that day, but still couldn't remember why.

"Mah momma told me if you leave bees alone they'll leave you alone ," Mary Ann said. "Ah don't think they'll bother us if we don't step on them."

Susie was nervous about watering the lawn. She hadn't really been in the backyard since that day. Thinking about it made her head hurt and her stomach feel funny. But she soon forgot about worrying as she and Mary Ann watered the lawn and the bushes and the trees and the flowers, and then each other.

Time seemed to go by very fast. Soon it was lunchtime, and after lunch they watched some cartoons and then colored some pictures with crayons.

Before they knew it, it was almost dinner time, which Mary Ann called supper. Susie was unhappy, because she knew that Mary Ann's momma would be coming to get her soon. But then the phone rang and her mommy talked for a little bit, then said, "Well, yes, that would be fine. No, she wouldn't be any trouble." She listened some more then handed Mary Ann the phone and said, "It's for you, honey. It's your mommy."

Mary Ann took the phone. "Hello, Momma," she said. Susie couldn't hear what Mary Ann's mother was saying, but Mary Ann looked surprised. "Really? Ah never done that before." She listened some more then looked embarrassed. "No, ah won't, Momma! Ah promise!" Susie wondered what Mary Ann had just promised her mother.

Mary Ann listened some more, then said, "All right, Momma. Ah love you too, Momma." She kissed the phone then handed it back to Susie's mommy. "Ah hope ah won't be too much trouble, Ma'am."

"I'm sure you won't, honey," Susie's mommy said. "You're a very sweet and polite little girl. Susie, you could learn a lot from her." She talked to Mary's Ann's momma some more, just saying things like, "Yes," "Sure," and "Of course we love having her." Finally she said goodbye and hung up.

Susie was very curious now, but she knew she couldn't ask what was going on while Mary Ann's mother was on the phone. Now that she wasn't on the phone anymore, Susie asked, "What is it, Mommy? What happened?"

"Mary Ann's daddy has to work very late tonight," her mommy said. "His sister is coming to visit and needs somebody to pick her up at the airport, so Mary Ann's mommy is going to get her. It's a very long drive, and she won't be home until way past Mary Ann's bedtime. So Mary Ann's going to spend the night with us."

"Really?" Susie said. She'd never gotten to spend the night anywhere before.

"Ah didn't bring nothin' ta sleep in though," Mary Ann said.

"You can borrow one of Susie's nighties," Susie mommy said.

"Is that okay?" Mary Ann asked Susie.

"Of course it is," Susie's mommy said before Susie could answer. "Now why don't you two go wash up for dinner?"

After dinner (which Mary Ann kept calling supper) Susie and Marie Ann played some games and colored and watched cartoons until it was time to get ready for bed. Susie started to give Mary Ann her green nightie, because she wanted to wear her pink one herself. But then she saw Mary Ann looked sad and forced herself to give her friend the pink one.

"What's the matter, Mary Ann?" she asked as they got dressed by bed.

"Nothing," Mary Ann said quietly. "Ah just…never spent the night no place without my folks afore."

"Oh," Susie said. Neither had she. Now that she thought about it, it did sound pretty scary. But she did her best to make her new friend feel happy until the two of them fell asleep in Susie's bed.

Now what neither Susie nor Mary Ann knew was that Candace lived not far away from Susie's house, and had seen Mary Ann's momma taking her to Susie's house. She'd followed their car and seen the two girls hug and go into Susie's house.

"I'll bet they're saying bad things about me!" Candace said to herself. Because people like her always think everything is about them. "I'll get even with that hillbilly and that fatso!" And so she'd made plans to pick on them that night.

Once Candace's parents (who of course thought their rotten brat was a sweet little angel) went to bed, Candace decided it was time to get even. She was sleepy, but a chance to be mean and evil was more fun to her than getting a good night's rest. So she took the things she'd planned to use to get even and snuck out of her house and hurried to Susie's house.

When Candace got to Susie's house, she started tossing rolls of toilet paper over Susie's trees and bushes, and had soon made a horrible mess of Susie's front yard. Then, checking to make sure Susie didn't have a dog that might bite her, she climbed over Susie's fence into her backyard, and did the same thing there.

Now as luck would have it, Susie had just woke up a few minutes before. She was very sleepy, but she realized she had to go to the bathroom. She sure didn't want to wet the bed with Mary Ann sleeping right beside her! So she got softly out of bed and tiptoed down the dark hallway to the bathroom.

Just a few minutes later, Mary Ann had woke up, and decided that she'd better go to the bathroom so she didn't wet Susie's bed. Susie came out of the bathroom just as Mary Ann reached it.

"You had to tinkle too, huh?" Mary Ann said. "Ah guess we drank too much water."

"I guess so," Susie said, embarrassed that Mary Ann had caught her. But if Mary Ann had to pee too then it was okay that Susie had to, right?

Susie went back to her bedroom, eager to get back into bed and go back to sleep. She felt very sleepy. But in her room she looked out the window, and saw something in her yard. Actually she saw several somethings in her yard. They were all white and ghostly looking!

Were they ghosts?!

Susie was just about to scream when she saw somebody moving around in her yard. Who was it?

"Whatcha lookin' at?" Mary Ann asked.

Susie jumped. Then she pointed. Mary Ann joined her at the window.

"Why, somebody's tped your yard!" Mary Ann said. "That makes me madder'n a hornet's nest!"

"There they are!" Susie said, pointing, as Candace came out from behind a bush.

"Ah do declare!" Mary Ann cried. "Ah think that's Candace!"

Susie couldn't believe it! The pretty girl from ballet class was throwing toilet paper all over her yard? What a brat! "I'm gonna kick her butt!" Susie said, hurrying towards her backdoor.

"Ah'll help you!" Mary Ann said, following her. "Ah never did like her no how!"

As Susie ran out the backdoor, she could feel the strange thing happening again. But this time she was too angry to care. How dare that brat do that to her home!

Susie's head seemed to get fuzzy. Everything turned green. Mary Ann, following Susie, saw her shaking and thought she was crying. "It's okay, we'll get her for this," she promised.

But Susie wasn't listening. She was too busy hulking out again!

…

Susie has turned into the Hulk girl again! Candace better be a fast runner! What will happen next?!