Monday morning arrived, and Amy jumped up out of bed in anticipation of waking up with her teenage body.
She rushed into the bathroom and turned on the lights.
"No!" she cried out when she saw she still had the body of an old woman. She wanted to die right there when she saw the sight of the wrinkled face skin, bags under her eyes. Then she wanted to scream when she noticed more spider veins that developed on her inner right thigh. She grabbed her hairbrush and combed her hair. She almost screamed again when she saw some strains of white hair in the brush.
She removed her pajamas and stepped into the shower.
After Amy was finished with her shower, she went downstairs where Kate already had breakfast waiting, which consisted of Cocoa Krispies and orange juice.
Amy was quiet while she ate breakfast, and sad thoughts on missing spring break filled her head.
The ride to the doctor's office was quiet between Rick, Kate, and Amy. She wore another pair of Kate's jeans and blouse since all of Amy's clothes were too small for her new, more significant body. Amy also wore a scarf and dark sunglasses to make sure nobody noticed her in the back of the mini-van.
Thirty minutes later, Amy sat in an examination at the West Valley Hospital. This was the first time Amy was anxious about visiting a hospital. Kate and Rick observed in chairs on the other side of the room.
Doctor Kathy Adams examined Amy's wrinkled face and white hair after she drew some blood for further tests.
The doctor pulled and tugged on Amy's wrinkles. "It could be some allergic reaction to makeup," Doctor Adams said while she looked a little closer at Amy's face.
"Her hands and legs appear okay except for some spider veins," Doctor Adams said while she looked Amy's hands and legs over.
Doctor Adams looked at Amy's gigantic butt. "I can't explain the sudden weight gain that happened overnight."
"Any ideas on what caused this Doctor Adams?" Kate asked.
Doctor Adams thought for a few seconds. "Well, it could be Werner Syndrome, which is a rare autosomal recessive disorder. But I'm not sure," she replied.
"Ah what?" Rick asked while he looked lost.
"Progeria of the adult. It's the most common premature aging disorder," Doctor Adams replied.
Amy looked depressed with the doctor's inability to have a confident answer and solution.
Kate and Rick looked worried.
It dawned on Amy what the doctor said, and she looked scared to death. "Premature aging disorder?" Amy asked the doctor to make sure she heard correctly.
"Yes," Doctor Adams said while she held Amy's hand for comfort. "But I can't understand why the symptoms would suddenly appear overnight. So I'm not exactly sure. I'm hoping the tests I want to run will show something," she said.
"If it is, can she be cured?" Rick asked and looked worried.
Doctor Adams lacked a confident look while she stared at Amy. "If her condition doesn't reverse itself in a week, I'll send her to a Werner Syndrome specialist in Los Angeles. I don't believe that syndrome can be cured," she replied.
Amy started sobbing.
Kate and Rick rushed over and comforted her.
"I'll call when I get the test results," Doctor Adams said then left the examination room.
Later that day, Kate had Amy in her bathroom. They just finished coloring Amy's hair back to blonde, but she still had the face full of wrinkles and baggy eyes.
Amy looked in the mirror and frowned. "I look like an old beach hag," Amy said while she stared at herself in the mirror.
Amy's eyes widen in shock when her hair magically returned to white. "Why can't I dye my hair?"
Kate looked baffled at the sight of Amy's white hair. "I don't know what to tell you, honey," she told Amy who looked like she wanted to cry.
An hour had passed, and Kate, Rick, and Amy sat on the couch in the living room while they watched a soap opera on the TV.
"I'm on spring break looking like this. What am I going to do?" Amy said while she pouted.
Rick and Kate felt so powerless that they couldn't help their daughter.
Tim ran into the living room and screeched to a stop when he saw Amy. "How come Amy's still in that old lady costume?"
"Leave!" Kate and Rick yelled at Tim in unison.
Tim turned around and walked away, disappointed. "You never tell me the neat stuff!" he yelled out while he left the room.
Amy's cell phone rang on the coffee table. She reached out and grabbed it and checked out the viewfinder. "Hi, Laurie."
"Are you feeling better? I was thinking of coming over," Laurie replied from the cell phone.
"That's not a good idea right now. I'm afraid it might be contagious," Amy replied.
"You don't sound like you have a cold or flu," Laurie responded from the cell phone.
"It's something else."
"What?" Laurie asked a little concerned about her friend's health.
"The doctor doesn't know for sure, but she's going to run some tests."
"What are the symptoms?" Laurie asked and sound concerned.
"It's kinda hard to explain. Listen, the doctor gave me some medicine that's making me sleepy. I'll call you tomorrow," Amy said and quickly disconnected the call.
"I'm going to take a nap," Amy said while she got up from the couch.
Kate and Rick felt terrible for their daughter while they watched her walk out of the living room.
An hour later, and Amy was sound asleep in her bed and started to dream.
In Amy's dream, she was ninety years old and sat in a cap and gown with her classmates at her high school graduation in the football field.
"Amy Bradley," the high school principal called out to the graduating class from the podium by one of the goalposts.
Amy had a blank stare and didn't hear her name.
"He called out your name," a male student next to Amy said while he nudged her shoulder.
"Huh?" Amy said with a crackly voice, not hearing the male student.
"The principal called your name, Amy. Go get your diploma," the student said while he pointed at the front stage.
Amy got up and grabbed her walker.
She inched her way to the front stage.
A little while later, Amy continued to inch her way in the walker and headed to the front stage.
Ten minutes later, Amy finally arrived at the podium where the principal handed out her high school diploma.
Amy looked at her classmates and saw Paul making out with Suzie Comer over at the sidelines.
"No!" Amy yelled out in her crackly voice.
Amy tried to run in her walker to Paul and Suzie to stop their passionate making out.
Amy tripped over her walker. "No!' she cried out while she tumbled to the ground with her feet tangled in her walker.
Back to reality, Amy tossed and turned in her bed. "No!" she mumbled out in her sleep.
Amy's eyes suddenly opened up, and she looked worried to death that she would lose Paul to Suzie Comer.
Amy got out of bed and walked into her bathroom.
She pulled down her blue jeans and panties and sat down on the toilet. While she peed, she glanced down at her legs and saw some more spider veins developed on her legs. "Oh crap!" she cried out at the sight of the ugly blue veins on the inner side of her calf muscles.
She finished her business in the bathroom and walked back into her bedroom. Walking was a little slower and a little more painful for Amy.
She walked back to her bed and did a double-take when she looked at her pillows. She rushed over to the side of her bed. She reached down and pulled off some more strands of white hair off her pillow. "I'm going to be looking like a female version of Benjamin Franklin pretty soon," she said while she looked at the white hair in her hand.
Amy walked out of her bedroom and headed downstairs, where the rest of her day was boring.
Later that night after dinner, Amy sat on the couch, staring out into space while Kate and Rick were in the kitchen drinking coffee and privately discussing Amy's condition.
The phone rang in the kitchen.
A few seconds later, Kate walked into the living room.
"Honey, Paul's on the phone. Do you want to talk to him?" Kate told Amy.
"Yeah, I should," said Amy, then she stood up and swayed a little from being a tad dizzy.
"Are you okay?" Kate asked, concerned about Amy's look when she stood up.
"Yeah, I got a little dizzy from standing up too fast," Amy said while walked toward Kate.
Kate walked with Amy into the kitchen.
Kate sat down at the kitchen table with Rick while Amy walked over to the telephone.
"Hey Paul," Amy said into the phone.
"Hey, Amy. Laurie said you were sick. Are you feeling better?" Paul replied from the phone.
"Sorta. Listen," she said while she debated in her mind on what to tell him. "I have something vital about my body that I need to tell you about, and," she told him.
"I'm there in a few minutes," Paul abruptly interrupted her sentence and hung up.
"I need your support," Amy finished her sentence before she realized Paul hung up. Then it dawned on her what he said before he hung up and she looked worried.
"What's the matter, darling?" Rick asked Amy while he watched her slowly hang up the phone with a scared look.
"I think Paul's on his way over here," she replied and looked worried. "What should I do?" she asked her parents.
"Well, if he loves you, he'll understand and stand by your side. So I would see him," Kate said.
Rick nodded in agreement with Kate's response.
Amy looked unsure about meeting Paul tonight while she moped out of the kitchen.
Back at Paul's house, he bolted out of the front door of his house and did a victory dance across the yard.
"Tonight's the night," he sang out while he victory danced through the yard to his Z-28 parked by the curb.
He opened up his driver's door and looked up at the twinkling stars in the night sky. "Please let tonight be the night!" he prayed to the stars.
He got inside his Z-28 with a huge smile, thinking he had the chance to get some forbidden loving tonight.
He started up his car with a varoom, shoved it in first gear and tires screeched while he raced his car off down the street.