A/N: New chappie!! And this one's a biggie! But there are even bigger things to come!! ;P Thanks to all who review!! R&R =D

Disclaimer: Same as previous


She didn't know just how big a change was to occur.


As Courtney woke on Saturday she couldn't help but to lie in bed and watch the sunrise. There was a light mist that floated along the ground, covering the grass and flowers with dew, giving the garden a magical feel. She watched as the sky gradually changed from purple to pink, to orange to a baby blue. As she gazed at the cloudless sky her thoughts drifted to Trent and the others who would be at the beach bonfire later on in the day. She smirked. Seeing as it was a nice day she guessed that everyone would be taking a dip in the ocean- regardless if they wanted one or not.

I definitely picked right by bowing out of that particular activity.

She sat up and stretched continuing to gaze at the kalidescope of colours in the sky. She took advantage of what she was seeing, knowing that many others would be sleeping through this magnificent event. She giggled.

Including dad...It is Saturday after all... no wait Sleepday!!

She smiled and reached over her shoulder to stretch her back before brushing something that shouldn't have been there. Emitting a small shreik her other hand flew to join the first in confirming what she had felt.

The bump was gone.

There was something else though.

Something long and cool.

And much bigger than the bump had ever been.

Courtney twisted and turned trying to see what it was, but only saw a flash of white. She threw on a thin dressing gown and rushed to the bathroom, locking the door. As she pulled off the robe Courtney's jaw dropped. She didn't even need to turn to see it.


Courtney was horrified and mesmerised as she stared at the pale things, onyx eyes wide.

She slowly turned around to see the things properly. When she did she gasped aloud.

Petals.

Beautiful petals making a four pointed star on her back. They were curved gently, giving the illusion of movement. The longest petals were peeking over her shoulders and around her waist. There were smaller petals, spiralling around the centre, filling in all of the gaps. She lifted some petals where they connected to her skin, and saw some small green leaves.

She continued to study the strange phenonemon.

The petals were a deep purple in the centre, which faded to a pale violet, before ending at the tips with the purest white. There had to be at least twenty petals, maybe more. She turned once again to face the mirror. The petals floating beside her head were almost too beautiful for words.

They look almost like wings...


She continued to stare until a loud rapping on the door brought her to her senses.

"You done yet sweetheart?" Her mother asked sleepily, before letting out a pent up yawn.

Courtney bit her lower lip and began pacing nervously to and fro. Her nails dug into her palms as she frantically tried to figure out what to do.

What do I do? What do I do? This is a million times worse than the bump. I mean they're pretty... beautiful actually... but I can't exactly tell mum... How am I going to hide this?? Maybe they'll come off...

In her desperation Courtney grabbed a petal and pulled hard. She tried to contain her scream as pain shot down the petal and into her spine. The pain was too strong, and to her horror a whimper managed to escape her lips, alerting her mother.

She heard another knock. "Court? Honey, are you ok?"

Courtney took ten deep breaths, until the pain had subsided to a dull throbbing.

"I'm fine mum." She murmured. "I'll just be a miute more."

She frantically looked around the room trying to find something to cover the giant flower growing out of her back. The gown she had before was too thin, and even though her mum was probably not fully alert, she would definitely notice something. She spotted her pink, oversized towel and threw it over her shoulders, sighing in relief as the flower disapeared from view. Courtney then nodded to her reflection, forcing a smile on her face and opened the door to face her mother.

Bridgette blinked a couple of times trying to clear her sight further. "Did you have a shower? I didn't hear the water running."

"Oh... yeah, umm." Courtney fumbled for an excuse. "It was short!" She blurted out. "And I uh... didn't get my hair wet?" She added weakly, smiling nervously at her mum.

Bridgette nodded slightly before letting out another yawn. "Okay sweetheart. Just come down when you're ready and dressed and I'll make you some brekky." She said, softly stokring Courtney's hair. "It's going to be a beautiful day." Courtney smiled at her mother before rushing into her room.


Cursing that she didn't have a lock on her door, she grabbed her desk chair and lodged it under the handle as a temporary lock of sorts. Once she was sure it was as secure as it could be she let the towel drop from her shoulders and examined the petals. They were slightly creased due to the way she slept and being crushed under the towel. She grabbed one of the longer petals from behind her shoulder and examined it.

It was beautiful. That she couldn't deny. She also couldn't deny the sweet scent that was filling her room. She hesitantly sniffed the petal.

Fruit blossoms...

It smelt like a fruit blossom. Well not one. More like when all the flowers on a tree were blossoming at the same time, it was intoxicating.

Thank goodness it doesn't stink!

Courtney let go of the petal and thought the situation through.

I have a huge flower on my back... which came out of the bump!! How the heck am I going to hide this thing??

She rushed to her cupboard and searched through her masses of blouses. All of them were too thin, or wouldn't provide enough cover. She groaned in frustration before grabbing a bunch of tops. She then threw the towel back over her shoulders, and for the second time that morning, Courtney rushed to the bathroom.


Once inside she slammed the door shut, quickly locking it. She pressed her ear to the door, waiting for a few minutes to hear if someone was coming to inspect the noise. When there was still no sound, Courtney turned to the mirror and threw on the first shirt. It didn't even get past her shoulders. Neither did the second. She turned to the mirror and tried to work out what to do.

There must be a better way...

She then tried grabbing a bunch of the petals and wrapping them over her shoulders. They were too obvious, uncomfortable, and if Courtney was brutally honest, she didn't want to be trapped in long sleeves for the rest of her life.

Or however long this thing lives for...

She then tried a different approach. She grabbed the petals, and pulled them under her arms, wrapping them around her waist.

"Yeah..." Courtney smiled. "That'll work!"

She grabbed a silk scarf that was hanging on a hook and wrapped it over the petals, securing and hiding them. She then pulled on her pair of shorts, ecstatic that she had grabbed a high waisted pair, and pulled them up, the buttons covering the bottom of the scarf, offering further support. It didn't hurt, but it felt like they were being smothered. She sighed before grabbing a floaty blouse and putting it on, before turning to the mirror with trepidation.

Pretty impressive...

The fabric was loose, and prevented the small bump where her petals were bunched from being seen. As long as she didn't let the petals loose, no one would know there was anything wrong. Courtney tied her hair in a ponytail for the first time in nearly a week. She gazed at her reflection, all the while working out what to do next.

Okay... One problem solved... Only another million to go...

She knew her puberty had been different to others... but this definitely couldn't be puberty. There were no reports anywhere of people sprouting flowers out of their backs... This was going to ruin her life! Her future, any hope of being with a guy, getting married, working... all of it ruined.

She started hyperventilating slightly. She felt trapped. The room was small, her petals were being smothered. She had to get out! She rushed out of the bathroom and walked into the kitchen, grabbing a Coke and heading to the back door.

"Going for a walk honey?"

"Yeah mum." Courtney said giving her mum a small smile.

She grinned back. "Okay Court, have fun!"


Courtney went out the door and down the garden path, into the forest. She was so preoccupied with her predicament that she paid no attention to the dew covered plants that had impressed her so much earlier. As she walked she suddenly noticed that like her mum said it was shaping up to be a beautiful day. She groaned in frustration and began stomping.

"Go figure..." She mumbled grumpily. "My life is crashing down around me and Mother Nature has decided to mock me too!"

She made her way to her spot by the creek. She sat for a few minutes and when she was sure there was no one around she lifted her shirt and untied the scarf. She sighed in relief as the petals returned to their original positions. The relief was so overwhelming that she couldn't help but giggle a little. She looked down at her feet when she noticed her shadow.

"Wow..."

The sunlight was on her back and was shining through the petals, in a similar way it shines through a balloon. It made her look like an enormous butterfly with beautiful violet wings. Courtney then tried to make the wing things move. But no matter how hard she tried they wouldn't. What she did notice was that she could feel the wings soaking up the sunlight. A tear slipped down her cheek.

"Something so life shattering... it just shouldn't be like this... Not beautiful..."

As she stared at her image she pondered on what to do. Should she tell her parents? Would it make any difference? She had promised to tell them on Monday about the bump, had it still been there...

But it's gone now...

Courtney gently grabbed one of the petals and stroked it, relishing in the feel of it between her fingers. It was incredibly soft, and felt just like the finest silk. It didn't hurt her either. And it was just so beautiful...

Maybe it will just go away...

All things go away on their own eventually... Didn't her mum always say that. Maybe it's not so bad after all. Maybe it would all end up okay.

Okay! Okay??

Courtney are you even listening to yourself? A giant flower has sprouted out of your back and you think it's going to be alright? How is any of this anywhere close to being okay??

Her emotions, like her thoughts were going haywire. As she was struggling with what to do one name kept coming up in her thoughts.

Trent.

Maybe he could help... He did have that microscope. If he examined some of the flower thing, then maybe she could work out what it was. And besides she had nothing to lose... and esentially everything to gain.

She quickly wrapped up her petals and rushed into the house, almost crashing into her dad as he slouched his way into the kitchen.

"Dad!" She gasped in surprise.

Geoff chuckled, sleepily readjusting his trademark cowboy hat, before placing a kiss on Courtney's head. "Morning beautiful."

He rested his arm around her shoulders, before giving her a big hug. Despite being worried, Courtney couldn't help but hug him right back. He made her feel safe.

When they broke apart Courtney spoke up. "Why are you up?"

He groaned, rubbing his eyes. "I have to open up the shop. LeShawna needed the day off."

"Oh, okay."

She was about to walk away when her dad stopped her. He sniffed the air near her shoulder. "You smell really nice Court. You should wear that perfume more often."

Courtney nodded nervously, before grabbing the cordless phone and sprinting up to her room. When she got there she stared at the phone, trying to muster the courage to dial the number. After ten minutes her fingers finally managed to dial Trent's number. He answered after the first ring.

"Hello?"

"Hey!" She squeaked out, forcing herself not to hang up.

"Courtney! Hey! What's up?"

There was a long pause, Courtney sat nibbling her bottom lip, trying to get the courage to tell him.

"Courtney?"

"Yeah?"

He chukled. "You did call me..."

There was another short pause before Courtney spoke up.

"Can I come over?"

Trent blinked a bit, recovering from her bluntness before replying. "Umm, yeah sure. When?"

"Right now?"