Violet was growing more and more concerned. Meryl had mumbled something about ‘wonderful’ and immediately passed out after her second orgasm. Violet felt a trickle of that warm, energizing high she’d felt the night before and she couldn’t shake the feeling she was draining her friend somehow. She needed to stop until she had a better idea of what was going on.

  One thing was certain, though. Meryl was not up for a night out. Violet made sure she was comfortable and pulled the bed sheets up to her shoulders.

  “Thank you,” Meryl mumbled, eyes still closed.

  Violet brought her a glass of water and sat with her for a few minutes. It didn’t take long for her to start snoring softly.

  After getting dressed and gathering her things, Violet noticed Meryl’s note from earlier that morning still sitting on the kitchen island. She found a pen in a cup on the small wooden desk near the kitchen, flipped the note over, and wrote Meryl a short message wishing her a good rest and to call if she needed anything at all. She signed it with a small heart like Meryl had, then tucked a corner of the note under Meryl’s phone on her night stand.

  Kate’s red hair was hard to miss as Violet approached Eva. Ayesha was already waiting with her as well. Kate waved then said something to Ayesha, whose mouth dropped open dramatically.

  “What in the– Vi! You look incredible!” Ayesha said excitedly, her golden hoop earrings swaying under her straight, black hair.

  Ayesha wore a black dress with slits up the sides, showing off her dark brown skin. She was a little heavier-set than her friends, her extra softness beautifully accented by her dress’s straps and slits pressing gently into her skin. Sparkly, golden eyeshadow framed her dark, black eyes, matching her earrings and the golden necklace that briefly drew Violet’s eyes to her breasts. Ayesha had always seemed extremely short to Violet, but as she took the last few steps toward them she was surprised to find she was now the shorter one. Ayesha was wearing heels, at least. They’d probably be the same height, otherwise.

  Kate had changed into an equally stunning outfit under her black, fuzzy coat. A short skirt with a lacy, maroon, surprisingly see-through top which left very little of her freckled skin or incredible breasts to the imagination, and thick-heeled boots that came up almost to her knees. Her hair was down, just brushing her shoulders, rather than the messy ponytail she’d had at work. Violet wondered if she’d shrunk again, now that Kate’s cleavage nearly was at eye level. Probably not, those were pretty tall boots.

  Did she wear those just to mess with me?

  Violet had stopped in a few stores on her way to the club, so she at least wasn’t wearing the old sneakers that kept threatening to fall off her shrinking feet and had replaced the looser jeans Meryl had given her. Both she now carried in a small, plastic bag, since she hadn’t had time to stop by her own apartment.

  The jeans she now wore were snug, black, and heavily distressed, showing off much of Violet’s ghostly pale legs. She’d been thrilled when she’d tried them on and saw the way they pressed into her thighs, similarly to Ayesha’s dress. She didn’t have the money for an entirely new outfit – her paycheck was still in her purse – and the black sweater she’d been wearing worked well enough, but she did have the collar as low as possible off her shoulder to expose more of her own, new cleavage, as well as some of the lacy bra Meryl had given her.

  In that moment, she regretted choosing these black, woven flats over some ridiculous platform shoes, though. The way both of her friends were towering over her, friends she’d been the one looking down on a day or two ago, was making her extremely self-conscious.

  Oh well. I told Kate I’d explain anyways.

  “How the actual fuck–” Ayesha exclaimed, putting her hand on Violet’s head in much the same way Meryl had when they’d first arrived at her apartment.

  “I told you! Isn’t she adorable??” Kate giggled.

  Violet felt her face growing hotter by the second.

  “Let’s go inside,” she said, pushing Ayesha’s hand away.

  “Is your friend joining us?” Kate asked.

  “No, she was too tired. Maybe next time.”

  It was way too early for there to be a line. Violet hoped that meant the club was still relatively empty as well. She’d have time to ease into the crowd as it arrived and run if it became too intense. The thought of the crowds that usually packed the club late at night still worried her, but perhaps it wouldn’t be as bad as she feared.

  As they approached the bouncer, a sudden and entirely new fear struck her. How had she not considered this before? Not only did she no longer really look like the face on her ID, basically every physical descriptor on it was now wrong. Her hair was not brown, her eyes not grey, her height nowhere near five-foot six. This was going to be a disaster!

  As she handed over her ID her thoughts raced on how she could possibly fix this. Surely she couldn’t just walk into the DMV and update all the info on her license without question. Maybe with a doctor’s note of some kind? How on earth would she get something like that? And how would she renew her license when it expired in a few years? She knew she was panicking, her ears ringing and vision dimming, but that didn’t stop her heart from racing faster and faster. Surely her life was over now. How would she continue to get jobs with no ID?

  She almost didn’t feel her ID as it was placed back in her hands, her awareness slowly returning while Kate lead her through the doors and into the blue and purple lights of the club.

  “Are you ok, Vi? Vi?”

  Kate guided her into one of the circular booths along the side of the room. Music was playing, but it wasn’t terribly loud, yet. Only about a dozen other people were even in the club, most standing near the bar. Ayesha sat down across from her, and she felt Kate’s hand on her shoulder.

  “Yeah, sorry…” Violet answered after a moment. “I’m fine.”

  How did he let me in. Did he not even look at my ID?

  “Alright, Vi, spill it!” Kate said as Ayesha slid farther into the booth and she sat down.

  “Drinks first,” Violet demanded, pressing her face into her palms as she leaned on the table with her elbows.

  “You’re so right,” Ayesha agreed.

  Kate laughed, standing back up, “I’ll get this one.”

  Violet and Ayesha shared an awkward silence as they waited for Kate to return. She didn’t know Ayesha as well as she did Kate.

  “So, what’s new? How are things with, uh…” Violet asked.

  Shit.

  “Ethan. We’re great! We moved in together a couple weeks ago and that’s been a whole thing, but it’s great to finally be unpacked. Well, mostly,” she finished with a nervous laugh.

  “Ugh, moving is the worst.”

  “Yeah. It’s going to be so much cheaper only having one apartment between us though, and it’s really cute! What about you? Weren’t you seeing someone new last time we went out?”

  “Yeah, but I think it might have ended yesterday.”

  “Oh no, I’m sorry.”

  “Nah, it’s fine. Besides, I think someone else already has a little bit of a crush on me,” Violet smiled, but didn’t answer Ayesha’s obvious curiosity as Kate walked back to their table.

  “Three whiskey sours,” Kate said as she set the drinks down.

  Ayesha lifted hers, excited for the night to begin, “Cheers!”

  “Cheers,” Kate and Violet echoed.

  As Violet lifted her glass to her lips a powerful wave of nausea hit her, much like it had with Meryl’s dinner. She grimaced and put the glass back down, drawing worry from Ayesha and Kate.

  “Uh, I’ll be right back,” Violet said as she scooted back around the other side of the booth.

  Am I getting more sensitive? Jesus, have I really not eaten a thing in two days?

  She tried to remember what all the ingredients in a whiskey sour even were.

  “Vodka shot, and a water,” she requested once she had the bartender’s curious attention.

  She picked up the shot and held it to her lips. Unpleasant, as shots always were, but no sudden nausea. Violet downed the shot, then asked for a second, gave the bartender her thanks, and took the water and second shot back to their table.

  “What’cha got there?” Kate asked.

  “Vodka! One of you take this, I can’t drink it,” she said, sliding the whiskey sour toward them.

  Her friends shared quizzical a look. What she seemed to be replacing all her food with she absolutely was not going to tell them.

  “Since when? You hate shots!” Ayesha protested, probably because she was usually the first to start calling for rounds of shots on their nights out, and Violet usually tried to get out of them at all costs.

  “I know,” Violet grimaced at the second shot as she turned it slowly in front of her. “But it seems to be my only option right now, and I intend to get drunk tonight.”

  They still felt confused, but Ayesha at least seemed to appreciate her resolve. Violet held up the shot glass and Ayesha tapped her glass against it. Kate just stared at her with a raised eyebrow. She downed the second shot, grimacing again. Then she bit her lip, catching both of their attentions again with an intensely anxious look as she decided how to start.

  “Ok, so… Fuck, this is going to sound stupid,” she said, then paused.

  “This, uh… isn’t a costume.”

  She said the last few words quickly as she gestured toward herself and her heart started pounding in her ears again.

  Well, this is awkward.

  “What?” Kate asked, the same thought written on Ayesha’s face.

  “All of it. My height. My hair. These,” she pushed her hair back behind her ears as her friends’ mouths hung open. “Don’t ask me how, seriously. It’s been a weird two days.”

  “Fuck off,” Kate replied, leaning onto the table to look closer in the dim light. “How?”

  Violet really didn’t blame her for asking anyway. She had a feeling the completely impossible yet undeniable height difference was the only reason they weren’t outright accusing her of some kind of prank.

  “I really didn’t feel well, you know, when I went home early yesterday, and by the time I went to bed I looked like this. I know it doesn’t make any sense, but, well…” she gestured vaguely around herself again.

  Ayesha exploded internally with excitement as she stared at her ears and Violet suspected she’d just decided they really did look real. Externally, she slowly raised her hand in Violet’s direction.

  “Vi… Can I… Touch them?” Ayesha retracted her hand slightly as she asked, as if suddenly realizing her request may have been inappropriate.

  Violet smiled and nodded, amused by Ayesha’s intense curiosity. She shuffled around the round booth toward the other two, enjoying the attention now that she could feel how well they were both taking it. It was a self indulgence she felt she could justify in light of how weird and scary everything else had been. At least her friends all seemed to think she was amazing.

  Violet shivered as Ayesha ran a finger along the top of her ear.

  “Oh, sorry!”

  “It’s ok, they’re just really sensitive.”

  “They’re amazing!” Ayesha said, meeting Violet’s eyes.

  For a few moments they just sat there, Ayesha almost blank, apparently lost in Violet’s eyes. She felt Kate burning with the jealousy that had flared up inside her when Ayesha asked to touch her ears. The only other thing she could feel from Kate was her overwhelming attraction, even stronger now than when they’d been talking at Rose earlier.

  “Wait, so, for some reason you turned into a stacked elf yesterday,” Kate summarized, and Violet broke her eye contact with Ayesha to look at her.

  Ayesha made a quiet ‘huh?’ noise, sounding confused, and Violet and Kate each glanced at her for a moment.

  “Well, it sounds stupid when you say it like that,” Violet said, putting her face in her hands again.

  “And you realize that’s absolutely idiotic and I should tell you to fuck off again.”

  “I do,” Violet said, feigning solemnity.

  Kate’s confused disbelief was starting to shift into amusement.

  “I think I’m going to need this,” Kate said as she reached for the extra whiskey sour.

  “That– That’s why getting carded freaked me out so much. It’s not just a tonight problem…”

  Kate nodded slowly, taking everything in. Ayesha felt surprised, probably because she hadn’t yet made that connection until Violet reminded her.

  After a minute, Ayesha suddenly said, “You’re right! It’s not a tonight problem! We’re already here, and you just said you wanted to get drunk.”

  Kate smiled once Violet chuckled.

  They spent the next hour chatting, though it took a while to move on from Violet’s changes. Ayesha marveled at her ghost white hair and how it seemed to glow with the blues and purples of the club. Then she complimented Violet extensively on the makeup she wasn’t wearing, that it was subtle but the shimmer around her eyelids really complimented her purple eyes. Violet decided not to correct her.

  Eventually, though, they moved on to other things like work gossip, a show Ayesha had been watching, and dating. Violet confessed to kissing her childhood best friend and Kate almost immediately deduced – when Violet turned bright pink and fell silent to that follow up question – that it had been the previous night, after her changes. She refused to go into any more detail, though, to Ayesha’s incredible frustration. Kate had just been amused, and a tad jealous.

  Ayesha ordered fries to share, which Violet declined but secretly enjoyed vicariously. Interestingly, they weren’t quite the same between Ayesha’s and Kate’s bites. Kate’s tasted a little too salty, while Ayesha’s really would have been better with ketchup or hot sauce. She considered going to the bar to ask for some but she wouldn’t have been able to explain that request to Ayesha.

  As they talked, the club slowly began to fill. Violet’s fears had so far not been an issue. She was on her third shot and extremely content to feel the background buzz of energy blur together while she focused on her friends. It seemed the longer their conversation went the more in-sync her friends’ emotions were with hers, as well as her expectations, making the sensation much less jarring than it had been at Rose.

  What was jarring was the switch from background music to a DJ. The collective curiosity of an entire room vaguely wondering why the music had stopped pulled her out of their conversation, then that curiosity mixed with a sudden rush of excitement and the fear of second hand embarrassment as the DJ introduced themselves. The energy of the room shot up sharply as music started to play again, now much louder than before. She could feel the thumping of the bass as though she were standing right in front of a speaker, probably because someone nearby was, and the sensation of feet on the floor got harder and harder to ignore.