Late Bloomer

Chapter 1

I can't believe I forgot to bring my coffee maker.

Here I am. It's my first morning at my new apartment. And I forgot to bring my coffee maker. I look through all my boxes, but I can't find it anywhere.

I go on my phone, it turns out there's a coffee shop within walking distance. But now I have to do things out of order. Now I have to shower, shave, and brush teeth, then I have to go out for coffee, then I have to get my breakfast...and then I have to brush my teeth again. Shit.

I grab my phone, wallet, keys, double check I locked my bedroom door, double check I locked my apartment door, double check I have my keys, and make sure to close the outside door. Then, in a slight panic, triple check that I have my keys.

On my way to the shop, I reach a parking lot exit. There's car there, the driver watching the main road for his chance to pull out. I'm to his right, he's looking left, I can see where this is going, I turn and walk behind his car. Just then, though, a cyclist comes in from the left, the car backs up. "AAAAAAAHHHH!!!" I shriek, narrowly avoiding being hit as the driver angrily honks at me. The cyclist ends up going behind the car too, same as me.

I can see the shop right across this intersection. I wait patiently for the crosswalk. As I do, several drivers stop as they see me. Looking at me with angry, judgmental eyes for a second or so, before they continue driving. I'm pretty sure they're expecting me to cross, but after the parking lot incident I don't wanna risk getting hit. I don't care about their angry stares, I'm waiting for the crosswalk. Finally, the light turns red, the crosswalk sign lights up, and I start walking across.

HOOOOONK

"OUT OF THE WAY ASSHOLE!" a driver screams as he turns right, realizes I'm there, and comes screeching to a halt. Alright, my near-death count for today is now 2.

I enter the coffee shop. Oh god, there are people here. A couple of them look at me as I walk in, are they staring at me? Okay, just get in line and try not to make eye contact.

As I wait in line, I start reciting in my head what I'm going to say to the barista when I get to the front. Just stay calm, know what you're going to order, it'll be fine. Oh crap, I'm gonna have to tilt my head up at an awkward angle to speak to him, aren't I? God, why do I have to be so short?

As I step forward in line, I feel the person behind me bump into me. She doesn't say anything about it, I don't even know if she knew it happened. I assume she's a she, based on what part of her body bumped into the back of my head. It's still slightly pressed against my cranium, I decide to take a small couple steps forward. Fuck, now the guy in front of me's looking back at me. I let out an awkward smile, he turns forward again. A little bit later, the line moves forward. I step forward, making sure not to step too close to the guy in front of me this time, and I feel the woman bump against me with her chest again. She still says nothing, this time the front of them is practically resting on my head. How does she not notice me standing in front of her? I mean, I know I'm short, maybe she can't see me past those things, but surely she's wondering what that haptic sensation is? I consider stepping forward again, but I don't wanna get too close to the guy in front of me again, so I just stay where I am. I start looking at my phone, hoping to distract myself and/or convince everyone else that I'm not focused on anything in particular, though I'm so preoccupied with looking casual that I forget to actually pay attention to what's on my phone. The line moves forward again, but I take a little too long to move forward and she moves anyway, causing me to nearly stumble forward. I manage to catch myself, though. She still hasn't noticed me. It's okay, the guy in front of me's at the counter now, it's almost over.

Pretty soon, he finishes ordering, and I walk up to the counter. And as I do, the lady behind me eagerly jogs up to the counter, inadvertently smushing (practically crushing) me up against said counter with her torso.

She starts excitedly spouting out her order, "Hey hey! I want a caramel macchiato with extra whipped cream! And a blueberry muffin! And a---"

"Ma'am, you have to wait your turn! It's the gentleman in front of you's turn to order," interrupts the barista.

"Huh? I don't see anyone in front of me," she questions, looking down, unable to see me past her breasts.

I let out a small grunt of pain. She gasps and quickly jumps back. "OMG, I'm soo sorry! I didn't see you there, little guy!!" she apologizes.

"I-it's okay..." I speak as I turn around to face her. As I do, I notice just how tall this woman is. I mean, pretty much everyone's tall compared to me, but I've never seen anyone this huge. She's also extremely curvy, her brightly saturated pink crop top showing off both her flat stomach and her MASSIVE chest, two features that contrast heavily. Her jorts show off her wide hips and thighs that are each wider than my whole body. Her thick brunette-blonde hair spanning all the way to her waist. And her face, her beautiful face...why does it look familiar?

The moment she sees me, her jaw drops. She lets out a gasp followed by an adorably high-pitched squeal, and then immediately picks me up and pulls me into a bone-crushingly tight hug, my face now pressed against her sizable chest, my feet dangling just above the ground. "OMG OMG OMG! MIIIIIILES! I haven't seen you in foreverrrrr!" she celebrates, jumping up and down, causing her curvaceous frame to jiggle noticeably, unintentionally burying my face deeper into her cleavage. Her voice sounds familiar. Who is this woman?

"I missed you! I missed you! I missed you! I missed you sooooooooo much! How've you beeeeen?" she asks, loosening her grip and lifting me up higher, allowing me to look her right in the eyes.

After a couple seconds, my eyes widen, "L-L-L-Lola?" I ask nervously, adjusting my now crooked glasses. As I say this, a huge smile lights up her face, and she lets out another excited squee.


Lola and I dated briefly back in high school. It was short-lived, but still pretty sweet. Believe it or not, back then, she was somehow even tinier than me, but unlike me, she had a humongous appetite, though still balanced perfectly by her metabolism. She always had this adorable energy to her, her every mannerism so full of motion, always hopping around, her long then-blonde hair swaying with her. Our relationship was short-lived (because of course, it was high school), but it was still pretty sweet. After our breakup, we still stayed friends. Not close friends, but on good terms. I could tell in high school, though, she never quite got over me; she'd always get so excited to talk to me. But on the summer between sophomore and junior year, she switched schools and I haven't seen her since. At the time, I was 4'10 and weighed 72 lbs, while she was a mere 4'6 and 60 lbs. It's been 6 years since then, and I've barely changed, now standing a mere 1 inch taller at 4'11, a mere 3 lbs heavier at 75 lbs. Her, though...


"I can't believe it! I never ever thought I'd see you ever again! You haven't changed at all since high school! Except your HAIR, I LOVE what you've done with it! It's so sexy!" she says, ruffling my shoulder-length black-dyed hair, the other arm still constraining me in her hug, "[GASP], I wonder if you still have the same super hot abs you did when we dated!!" she then suddenly lifts up my shirt, "YOU DO! EEEEEEEE!" she exclaims, letting my shirt back down, pulling me back into another suffocatingly tight hug, twirling in a circle, and then setting me back down. She then leans over and starts talking my ear off. I take a brief moment to regain my balance, before looking up at her, still struggling to process reality. Trying to reconcile the woman I see before me with the woman I knew in high school. The tiny 16 year old teen I knew has been replaced with a 22 year old giantess. Her long, thick blonde hair has turned into even longer, bronde hair, going down to her waist. Her face is even more beautiful than I remember it, possessing the same cuteness but...I don't even know how to describe it, her face now possesses this model-like attribute that makes her so much more intimidating. Like I feel out of my league even talking to her. Her face went from that of a high school girl to that of the young new teacher all the high school guys have a crush on. She's changed so much, yet I'm still basically the same as before. I must seem like a child to her.

"Hey! You listening? Earth to Miles, whatcha thinking about?" she asks cutely, looking down at me, still leaned over.

Crap, I just realized I haven't been paying attention to anything she's been saying. I've just been staring at her, mouth agape, for about 30 seconds. I quickly blink back to reality and desperately come up with something to say, "Um...I...um...I, just...w-wow, Lola, y-you've gotten so....h-healthy!!" I stutter. Healthy? Really? What kind of compliment is that?

Apparently a much better one than I thought, as this is immediately met with a positive reaction from her, "I KNOW, RIGHT? I was always so HUNGRY back in high school!" she says, placing her hands on her stomach, "So, I started listening to my body, and the results are sooooo good, right? I went from 4½ to 7½ feet tall! And I went from 60 lbs to 450!!"

"THAT'S HUGE!" I blurt out, before immediately slapping both hands over my mouth. Why would you say that?!?! You idiot!

Giggling, she replies, "I KNOW! I'm more than 7 times the size I used to be! My doctor says I'm technically overweight, but he also says the BMI chart doesn't really work right for people this tall. He says a 300 lb person my height would have an overweight BMI but still be super skinny! I'm, like, way heavier than that, but luckily, the other 150 lbs went to all the right places! I've got to be, like, the luckiest girl in the whole wide world!" she cheerily exclaims, jumping up and down excitedly. I nod, unable to muster a vocal response.

She continues, "You look really good, too, Miles! Even handsomer than I remember! Eeek! I can't believe it's really you! After all these years! EEEEE!" she says, picking me up yet again and pulling me into yet another tight hug. This time, she just holds me close for a few seconds, nuzzling her face against my hair.

"AHEM, sir, ma'am, you're holding up the line!" the barista interjects.

"OMG, I forgot! Okay, I'll have a caramel macchiato with extra whipped cream, a blueberry muffin, one venti hot chocolate with extra whipped cream, marshmallows, and, if you have them, sprinkles, uuuuuuuh, 3 chocolate croissants, two everything bagels, BOTH with extra cream cheese. Like, I wanna see that cream cheese THICK, okay? A cinnamon roll, warmed up with extra icing..." all while she says this, I'm still pressed firmly into her bosom. I smile slightly, appreciating how, after all this time, her appetite is just as huge as ever. Seemingly moreso, actually. That's probably what she meant when she said she started listening to her body. I guess I had no idea that, as big as her appetite was back then, she was actually holding back.

After she finishes placing her humongous order, the barista asks, "Alright, and for you, sir?"

"Um...y-yeah, I'll just have a small coffee.", I say, my voice a bit muffled by Lola's soft chest.

"Would you like cream or sugar with that?"

"Um...s-sure, a little sugar."

"Don't worry, I'll pay for it! I mean, it's the least I can do for cutting you in line!" Lola insists, setting me down and pulling out her debit card. "So hey, Miles, you wanna come sit with me? I'd, like, LOVE to catch up with you! God, you're so tiny, you're like a little toddler! Can you believe I used to be the small one?!"

"Ah ha, yeah...c-crazy..." I say, self-consciously.

"Yeah," she says, grabbing my hand and practically dragging me to her favorite table, "it's funny, I always wondered what happened to you after I moved away! I mean, I got, like super duper tall, I always assumed you'd've hit a growth spurt, too. Guess not!" she says in a nonchalant melody, giggling slightly as she skips to the table. I sigh.