Chapter 5

Monday came and I met Lisa at the gate determined to start things off right. I gave her a kiss and taking her had asked her how her weekend had been.

"OK," she said gruffly.

"Did you have a good time with Andi?" I asked.

"It was alright," she grunted.

"What did you do?" I asked trying to keep the conversation going.

"None of your business!" she said angrily.

"OK, just making conversation." She seemed to be in a bad mood. Maybe it was down to it being Monday.

Her mood didn't improve as the time went on. Once again she sat us away from the others and glared at them every now and then. If I had been paying more attention I might have noticed that her glare contained hints of a cold anger, the kind someone gets when they are building up to a really big explosion.

Things went okay as far as I could tell. Sure, she spent morning break with Andi but she told me where she was going, rather than storming off in a huff, which I took for a good sign at the time.

It wasn't until lunch when we were sitting in our classroom just kicking back and relaxing that it came out. "Andi saw you with Vicky on Saturday," Lisa said in a tight quiet voice that I almost didn't hear.

"We went to the cinema," I said.

"SO IT'S TRUE!" Lisa roared leaping to her feet.

"What?" I asked being so startled I nearly fell of my chair.

"You and her were sneaking around behind my back!" she shouted.

"No I went to see a film with her, Dave and Charlie. You were off with Andi, otherwise you could have come too if you'd wanted."

"You liar! You can't handle me like this now that I'm powerful. I threaten your control so you're cheating on me with someone more pliable!"

"That's rubbish! I would never cheat on you no matter what Andi says!"

She kicked my chair, knocking me across the room, then stormed off.

I lay on the ground in shock. The gang came over and helped me up. "Bert, you can't go on like this," Vicky told me.

"Yeah man. Sooner or later she's going to really lose it and hurt you bad," Dave said.

"She's just adapting," I said weakly.

"Dude, she's getting worse. You need to talk to a teacher or something," Charlie said grimly.

I said nothing. I didn't want to get Lisa into trouble. It wasn't her fault she was getting so angry. It was mine for not being more helpful I was sure of it.

I didn't see Lisa the rest of the day, but she was waiting for me when school ended. "I'm willing to forgive your slip just this once," she said.

"But I never..." I started.

"I don't want to hear any more of your lies!" she shouted.

I tried "But Lisa..." She pounced on me, grabbing me by the shoulders, her powerful fingers digging in, causing me to cry out in pain, "AHHHh! Lisa please, you're hurting me!"

"From now on you will have nothing more to do with that little tart Vicky! Or ELSE!" she said darkly. Without another word, she let go and strode off.

Rubbing my shoulders, which were now really hurting, I walked home, depressed at the turn things had taken.

The next day was terrible. Lisa kept me in an iron grip, sometimes literally. If I even glanced at Vicky or one of the others she would hit me as a warning. And they were not light taps. I was soon aching all over from the various reminders Lisa had given me.

Sometimes it wasn't even intentional. I might be glancing out a window in the library or something and if Vicky or one of the gang would happen to walk by, Lisa would angrily slap me. Nothing I said seem to make any difference to her and even when I tried to do what she wanted, it did nothing to reduce her anger and controlling tendencies. By the end of the day I was an emotional wreck, and covered in bruises from Lisa's enforcement.

She grabbed me roughly and gave me a kiss goodbye. Her constant mistreatment of me meant I no longer took any pleasure in that. I was simply afraid that she would decide she'd had enough of me and snap me like a twig.

I had to do something, but I didn't know what. Then I thought, 'Maybe I should speak to Mrs Brown. She might be able to talk some sense into Lisa without it being too much like I was trying to get her into trouble.'

I knew Lisa was going out with Andi and Co. so when I got home I called Lisa's home number. I was in luck her mother answered. "Hello Mrs Brown, it's Bert here," I said.

"Oh, hello Bert. I'm afraid Lisa's not in at the moment. Would you like to leave her a message?" she asked politely.

"No, well you see, I wasn't calling to speak to her. Actually, I wanted to speak to you."

"Oh?"

"Well, the thing is, I don't know how to put this but ... Lisa has been acting a bit strange."

"Go on."

"She's become insanely paranoid that I'm cheating on her with my friend Vicky. I'm not, but she won't take my word for it. She's becoming more and more controlling and angry."

She paused for a bit then said, "I see."

"She's also been very..." I paused not sure what to say.

"What is it?"

"Well she's become quite violent, hitting me for no reason, grabbing me hard and without any care. I'm black and blue from it all. I'm sorry to be telling you like this but I really don't know what else to do. It's like she's a different person. She is angry, violent, and out of control all the time. I don't want to get her into trouble, but I'm not sure I can take much more of this abuse."

"Oh my, I'm glad you called. I had noticed Lisa was behaving a bit odd since her change, but just put it down to her adjusting to her new body. She has been snapping at people and getting overly aggressive when told what to do. Yesterday for a moment she looked like she was going to strike me when I asked her to help do the dishes. At the time I thought I was imagining it, but it's obvious from what you're saying she needs some help. I will have a talk with her see if we can straighten this out."

"Thank you, Mrs Brown."

We said our goodbyes and I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Her mother had seen the changes too, and now she would try and help Lisa. Hopefully I would get my old girlfriend back, or at least the part that counted, her personality. I secretly found her new shape to be even more attractive than she had been before. Her new curves were amazing. Before, I hadn't been sure whether to tell her or not, since I wasn't sure if she'd appreciate it. Now, it would almost be like saying I hadn't found her attractive before, and that might have upset her. Now, what with the way she was acting I hadn't wanted to risk incurring her wrath. Maybe now with her Mum's help we could get back on track and I would be able to tell her how much I liked her new look.

The next day I went to school full of hope that things would be better now. Lisa wasn't waiting at the gate so I headed up on my own.

"Hey," I said to Vicky as I walked in the door.

"How's it going, Bert?" she asked.

"Okay, I think. I spoke to Lisa's Mother about her last night. She said she'd have a word with Lisa try and sort things out," I said.

"Oh that's good. She's been a lousy friend of late. Hopefully her Mum can talk some sense into her," Vicky said.

I was about to go on when Lisa came charging into the room, nearly smashing the door from its hinges.