Only twenty more minutes, I think as I glance at the digital clock in the stuffy chemistry lab for the hundredth time today.  I like school but when I’m forced to take a class I know I’ll never need for later use is just not my thing.
“What even is chemistry?” A snotty girl who sits in front of me mumbles to her boyfriend.
He just shrugs his shoulders in reply as she scoffs back at him.  I roll my eyes.  I hate this class with a burning passion.
                “Ah,” the teacher starts, “now I’m guessing everyone knows about the periodic table,” she excitedly says not turning around to look at us.
                “It’s almost as old as you,” someone from across the room muttered.
The whole room erupted in laughter.  No respect.  No one has any respect for her.  I feel so bad for her, but at the same time the joke was actually quite funny.  I didn’t laugh though, but I wanted to.  I am one of the few who are on her good side, and I don’t want that to change.   It’s not even halfway through the semester, so we have quite a few more weeks to go together.
                Mrs. Smith turns around abruptly.  “Who said that?” She half yelled staring straight at the class clown named Joey.
                “Wasn’t me,” he said putting his hands up in defense.
She placed her fingers against her temples and rubbed madly to calm down before turning back to the board and writing down things she expected us to copy down as well.  I sighed in frustration before deciding to write them down, knowing they’ll probably be on our next test.  Call me a goody two shoes or teacher’s pet, but I just want to do well.
                After a long day of having to endure the annoying class clowns and the deafening sounds of all of the teachers’ voices, I make it home after a short walk.  I walk in to a room full of silence.  It was so quiet, almost eerie.  I brush it off as I toss my backpack on the couch before making my way over to our back porch which overlooks Mermaid Lake.  Don’t mind the name; there are just many legends and stories behind it that are quite silly if you ask me.  I live with my mother and father, as well as my cat who hates everyone in a nice home in a small town.   They decided to move here when I was too young to know how to walk for some reason I do not know.  I take in the fishy smell of the water and close my eyes in the process.  I still haven’t gotten used to it, even after living here for nearly my whole life.  I sigh as I make my way down the steps toward the water.  I grab a rake and begin to clear the beach of the overpopulated muck and seaweed into a pile my dad usually picks up and disposes of later.
                Suddenly I slip on some excess seaweed which sends me flying to the ground.  I hit the sand covered earth in the shallowest part of the water which nearly knocks the air out of me.  I choke for a while on the nasty fishy water which gets into my system.  My chest kills as I heave the water back out as I rub my head.  I sit up to regain consciousness but soon I have a strange premonition.  Something seems wrong, I think to myself.  Something seems off, I feel dizzy and my eyesight goes fuzzy.  I close my eyes and everything turns black.  I am not dead, I think.  I am breathing; I can feel each heartbeat and the water seeping into the fabric of my clothes.  I feel myself drifting, almost floating?  I then remember I am in the water but I can’t be floating, I think.  I try to wake myself up but fail.  Soon I can’t move and am out completely.
                My eyes flutter open after what feels like hours of sleeping.  I attempt to sit up but my head is throbbing and I can’t remember why.  I pick up the rake that I find lying across the beach when it all comes back to me: I tripped and fell into the water and hit my head.  That means someone helped me out of the water and onto dry land.  I couldn’t have gotten out myself, I think.  I jog up the stairs to the porch and into my house.  Still no sign of anyone.  Who could’ve helped me?  I begin to panic.  We don’t talk to our neighbors; none of them would’ve helped me anyway.  I decide not to over think it and head to my room to do homework.  Five minutes into algebra problems, I start to feel hungry.  I must have forgotten to eat, I think as I decide to take a break to grab a snack.  I make a peanut butter sandwich with a glass of Coca Cola.  I scarf it down in a matter of minutes.  I wait for the feeling of being full but find that I am even hungrier than I was before eating the sandwich.  I start to freak out but that feeling gets ignored when my stomach grumbles for the fifth time since I got home.  Meal after meal, I can’t shake the feeling of hunger.  I take control and stop after two more pieces of cold frozen pizza when the front door opens.
                “Hi honey”, my mom says happily as she plops a couple of bags onto the counter.  My eyes immediately make their way over to the bags.  My mouth waters as I walk over to them.
                “Matty, honey,” she says again.
                “Oh yeah sorry mom, hi how are you?” I respond quickly.
                “I’m fine,” she starts with a look of confusion, “are you okay?”
                “Yes,” I say way too quickly, “I’m just so hungry.”
I scope out each bag looking for anything tasty.  “Well I bought noodles and sauce, because I was planning on making pasta for dinner.”
                “That will take too long,” I sigh, “but I’ll still eat it.  Is there anything I can eat in the meantime?” I ask as I start to pull objects from the bag.
“Aha,” I say as I find a carton of mint chocolate chip ice cream.  I grab a spoon and immediately dive in.
My mom just shakes her head as she makes her way over to her room.
“Boys,” she mumbles.
After eating about a quarter of the ice cream, I hit a wall and decide to go to bed early.  I look in the mirror to notice my shirt is slightly smaller.  I don’t work out and I can’t play sports, and this shirt has always been big on me, I think.  I brush it off as I wash my face and brush my teeth.  I yell a goodnight to my mom before hopping into bed.  I grab my phone and check the time to see 7:30pm.  My dad isn’t even home yet, but I am so tired.  I fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow, but when I wake up it feels as though I’ve only had five minutes of sleep.  I turn to look at my clock to see 6 o’clock on the dot.  I groan before deciding to get up.  As soon as I do the feeling of having an endless pit inside of me comes back.  I smell the sweet aroma of bacon and I sprint to the kitchen.
“Good morning sweet parents of mine,” I announce proudly.
“Morning,” my parents say in unison.
“Bacon and pancakes?” My mom asks as I nod happily.
As soon as she puts the food in front of me at the table I devour it, leaving my parents breathless and confused.   I get dressed within seconds and brush my teeth before jogging out the door and basically sprinting to school.  What has gotten into me?
                I get through my first hour which is math but I now have to deal with the embarrassment of not knowing how to play sports in physical education, also known as gym.  I toss on my shorts and tennis shoes before heading to the gym.  Today we are playing basketball and I’m usually the slowest boy on the court.
                “Come on twinkle toes,” the biggest jock and jerk of the school mocks as I take the ball out.
I ignore him as I start down the court.  My eyes are on him the whole time, as I try my best to intimidate him.  I keep my dribble as I speed up a little bit.  Next thing I know I fake one way making him go that way, spin and go the other, passing him and then every other person on defense to the wide open basket.  I see the look of shock on every single person’s face as well as my own after I make the shot. Just then the star of the basketball team named John narrows his eyes at me.
                “That was a lucky shot, let’s see if you can do it again,” he says to me.
I don’t say anything before we start playing again after the coach blows the whistle.  Shot after shot and play after play, our team is up by 20 points.
“Two minutes to go,” a girl named Lindsey who is on the team smiles at me.
I smile back as we high five each other before making yet another successful play.  Two minutes go by and we win 35 to 12.  As I’m walking back to the locker room to change, a few of the guys tell me I had a good game and hit me on the back.  I turn around to see an angry John.
                “Good game John,” I say as I stick out my hand.
He ignores me and brushes right past me toward the locker room. I start behind him before I get pulled aside by our teacher who is also the basketball coach.
“Matthew, may I have a word with you for a moment?” He asks.
I nod as I make my way over to him, keeping in mind John is attempting to hide the fact he is eavesdropping.
“You must’ve been practicing, because it seems you’ve improved on your skills.  And have you grown?”
“Thanks coach,” I start, “I practice sometimes in the driveway.  I may have gotten a tiny growth spurt as well.”
“Practice makes perfect,” he says in his deep and intimidating voice.
I am unsure of what to say next so I just nod and smile.
“So,” he starts again, “one of our best players just got injured during a game last week.  I am in need of a power forward for tomorrow’s playoff game.  I understand it is late notice but I think you have what it takes and can be very useful for our team.  Would you be interested?”

I think about it.  I think about how I could actually be popular and be noticed.  I do like the sport of basketball and I don’t know what happened on the court today, but whatever it was I ate for breakfast I need more of.
“I am interested as a matter of fact,” I say excitedly.
“Good,” he says while handing me a bag, “this is number thirteen.  Is that okay?”
I accept it and thank him before saying goodbye.
I head to the locker room to change before third hour.  I put my jeans on even though they are a bit tight.  When I get them on I look down to see they come up to my ankles.  Why are they so short? They fit me this morning. I am so confused.
                “Waitin for a flood dude?” Some guy asks as they walk in.
I roll my eyes.
“No, they’re just short. I’m sorry you are done growing.”
                “I was just kidding man, calm down,” he says again.
He walks away as I try to figure out the solution for all of this.  First I get the urge to eat a lot more than usual, and suddenly I’m one of the best players in gym class.  Best of all I’m offered a spot on the team for playoffs.  This stuff never happens to me.  I bite my lip as I try to remember anything that could’ve caused all of this.
John walks in which interrupts my day dream. 
“Do you need something?” I ask trying not to be rude.
“What was that out there?” He forcefully says.
“What do you mean?” I shoot back.
“So you’re just going to randomly start doing well and now you’re on my team? What’s the deal Matty?”
I try to think of a solid answer but before I could think any longer, my mouth opens and words spill out.
“First of all it is not your team, and second of all coach asked me.  I am not going to refuse a spot on a team that I could make better.”
“Trust me,” he starts, “you’re not that good, and you’ve only got a few skills.  That’s all, so don’t get over confident.”
It all hits me.  The head ache and pangs of hunger all started after my fall.  What could it be? I think I have the solution, the water.
“Whatever,” I say as I grab my gym clothes and brush past him.

My whole body aches and I have a splitting head ache.  What’s going on? I fast walk down the hall making sure not to run into anyone and out the door.  I’m taking a half day.  As soon as I get home I rush to my room and whip out my laptop from its case.  I need to figure out what’s going on with my body.  I search for possible chemicals that could’ve mixed with my DNA and caused my body to act weird.  Everything seems smaller than me.  I search for a measuring tape and somehow measure myself.  I am five inches taller than normal, making me 6 foot.  I panic again as I rush back to my bright screen and search through article after article.  After a couple of hours of searching, I find nothing but stories on how chemicals I’ve never heard got into someone’s system and mixed with their DNA.  There was nonsense about how they turned into a sea monster.  It seems dumb but my situation doesn’t seem too different.  I come to the conclusion all of this has to do with the mysterious water. 
I grab a couple of empty bottles and take them down to the lake to fill for the game tomorrow.  If a few ounces of this water can make me grow a few more inches and gain popularity, I’m all for it as bad as it sounds.
It’s now Friday and game day.  I throw on my uniform which is already a bit small on me but it works.  After drinking a cup of the dirty water before bed last night, I’ve already grown another two inches.  My parents greet me the morning of the game and the first thing they ask is if I’m wearing platforms.
“I don’t know what happened, I guess just some random growth spurt that I’ve been waiting for for a few years,” I say nervously.
It could be true, but most likely not. 
Right before we warm up for the game I take a swig of the dirty water from my water bottle and head onto the court.  Coach names off the athletes who were meant to start and I hear my name unexpectedly.  Every player turns their heads toward me in shock.  We start immediately as the referee blows his whistle and the game gets intense quick.  The crowd starts going wild even before we make our first play.  The first play is made and I get the pass under the basket.  I lob it in easily.  Next thing I know we are up ten to two.  I get the ball and drive up the court.  My legs suddenly feel shaky and I swear I’m growing.  I almost lose the ball but before I do I make a perfect pass to the point guard who shoots a three which puts is at 13 points. Six minutes into the game my head throbs and my arms extend out farther than normal.  My legs are getting skinner, everything is growing so fast; before my teammates eyes as well as everyone in the crowd.  I’m breathing heavily.  The game goes on.  No one stops it.  Half time comes around and everyone questions me.  I have no solid answer.
“Keep doing what you’re doing,” the coach reassures me.
I take one more gulp of the water and cringe at the terrible taste before going back on after half time.  Time goes by so fast and it is now the fourth quarter, one minute and thirty seconds to go and we are down by one.  Sixty five, sixty four.  John passes the ball to me and I fumble with it but I feel so weak it is tough to grasp.  I am at half court and my body is literally growing way too fast for my mind to keep up.  I somehow take control and hold on tight to the orange ball.  I pick up my dribble and no one is open to pass to.  I take a chance and just throw it hoping for the best. The crowd is going insane.  This is so exhilarating! The ball hits all sides of the inside of the hoop before finally going in.
Everyone runs out of the stands to the middle of the court to congratulate us.  At this point I collapse.  Everything turns black.  Before I go out I hear hundreds of gasps and moans before finally shutting down completely.  I feel my body shrivel up back to my original size.  My last thoughts occur as I feel weaker and weaker by the second. I’m not dead, I know I’m not.  I can’t be..I can’t be. This can’t be happening. 
I am now dead but I know my body has been donated to science.  They found my water bottles and were able to find out how my body changed so quickly.  After research, they figured out that by DNA mixed with a newly discovered chemical that got into the lake water somehow.  The lake has been drained as well, so no more deaths can occur from it.