I flipped the blankets over, my body was pouring a cold sweat. I had that dream again…the one where my best friend was fading away…what if it was a dream about the future? What if…we were going to go our separate ways? I shook my head. No. He wouldn't leave me, we would be best friends forever and our children would be best friends forever right? I came out of my trance and looked at my clock. 6 AM. I could sleep a few extra hours since it was a weekend but…then what? I just rolled my eyes and climbed out of bed pulling a baby doll top from my drawers and a pair of jeans.

I slipped on my top like a breeze but man my jeans were getting harder to button! On the other hand, maybe it was because these were relatively new and a gift so they didn't fit right? I just sighed and triumphantly snapped my jeans slipping on a pair of flip-flops…hmmm…my feet look a bit funny…they looked…larger?

I chuckled, I was still maturing so maybe my feet were going to get bigger and maybe I was going to be taller!

But then again, my mother is quite short without her high heels so maybe I'm going to be short like her? I looked in the mirror and sighed. I wasn't as beautiful as she was. The only thing I inherited from her was my pouty lips, but next to that, I looked like my dad. That was embarrassing.

I trudged down the stairs, greeting my mother. She smiled and made a face of pain.

"Oh, Clara! Baby! I don't like what Barrett is doing to you, kids! Making you all stomp run! Just look at your feet! They're swollen!" I looked down at my feet…they weren't getting bigger in length like I thought, but larger in width! They were, as my mom said, completely swollen! I groaned, so maybe I wasn't going to be maturing any more. This meant I was going to be short. Damn… I wanted to be at least a little taller. Oh well.

My mother pushed me down on the chair and brought a bucket of hot water, gently massaging my feet. She honestly didn't have to. They felt fine, but nonetheless she applied a foul smelling cream to my feet that caused me to feel nauseous. Thankfully, though, I didn't upchuck like I did at the dance festival. She laughed slightly when she saw my sickly face.

"I remember rubbing this stuff on you when you were little after you got stung. It does smell vulgar, I know, but it helps right?" I nodded and she kissed me on the forehead.

"Now go have fun." She ordered me as I bounded out the front door of the house and into the barn, greeting my monsters and gently milking, shearing, and collecting the eggs and honey from my providing monsters, and brushing the rest of my monsters as well.

The pier was crowded with us, well…us teens, we were all pretty much in swimming suits and swimming in the vast ocean, I was talking to the twins, whom I've ALWAYS found amusing. No matter what the subject. My cousin was also in on the conversation, we were talking randomly about boys…typical.

"I think Orland's so handsome!" my cousin said in a relatively quiet tone, blushing a deep heavy red, Sera and I nodded in agreement, but Serena jumped into the ocean and started laughing.
"Oh, let's just forget about boys and have some fun!" she started to kick her feet as I jumped in to join her, both of us laughing as Sera and Leann joined our entertaining sport.

A splash hit our faces as the guys and Cammy laughed at us, it turned out to be a HUGE water battle, but it was still…enjoyable…and, not to mention, it was the first time I had really laughed in a long time ever since I started changing. Maybe change wasn't all that bad…maybe I just needed to know how and when to have fun instead of moping around.
I pulled myself back on the docks and dried myself off with a towel laughing at the twins sharing a towel. They shared everything, but were two completely different people; but even after all these years, I still found it quite amusing.

"Hey, Clara?" I blinked and turned around to Orland's face, he had a calm expression as I furrowed my brows, tilting my head to the side.

"Yes?" I responded.

"How have you been feeling ever since…uh…" He paused for a moment. "You know what, ne-never mind…" I blinked again and noticed the wind was blowing at him and only at him, which made me think the Sylphs were whispering something to him. I wondered if they were talking about me…or maybe he heard wrong…either way I shrugged it off and skipped home bursting through the door taking a big whiff. Apple pie! I actually hated apple pie, but I really wanted it! I remember my mother telling me that my taste buds would change as I got older! Maybe this was a sign that I was maturing!

I sliced myself a big piece of the pie, my mother noticed this and laughed.

"Clara, baby, aren't you going to have some dinner first?" but after she had said that I was already stuffing my face. The warm, syrupy apples dribbling down my chin, the flakey buttery crust seemed to melt in my mouth. It tasted amazing! How could I have hated this in my youth?

Mom just laughed, "You're just like your grandfather! As you know, he's also a big eater." She said as I continued stuffing my face; my father then walked in and did a deep belly laugh, before saying, "Slow down, Clara! We're not hibernating! There's no need to stuff your face until it falls off." I just rolled my eyes and wiped the access crumbs.

"Thanks for telling me, dad." I said sarcastically as he laughed and gave me a big kiss on the cheek.