The house was getting no less stuffy, so Grace took her laptop with her to get some work done at a picnic table in Frendwich park. She probably looked like a mid-2000s hacker, but it was easier to drown out the townsfolk if she had a project to focus on. Every thirty seconds, she would switch to another tab to check Reddit or Twitter for anything aside from the constant mire that was the default state of social media.
Skipping breakfast had seemed like a good idea at the time, but her growling stomach made focusing on the code difficult. There were a couple of places around town that served breakfast. Even if her pockets were hardly overflowing with cash, a nice sit-down brunch would be a very welcome change of pace.
All eyes were on Grace as she entered the mom-and-pop diner-restaurant-combo. An uncomfortable waitress took her to a table-for-one in the corner and left her with a menu. No matter how hard she tried to hide her animal features, the air around her was tense. She understood; they thought she was like the primal who paraded around town making asses of themselves. There was nothing she could do to help the fact that they were going to judge her based on the behavior of people who didn’t care about being respectable.
While she waited an awfully long time for someone to come take her order, the bell above the door rang. She looked over on instinct and had to do a double take. The griffon morf and antler-rabbit-guy had entered and were walking right up to the counter to ask about an order they’d placed. The chef greeted them with a hearty laugh as though they were the closest of friends and reached over to grab two hefty bags of food.
Where was the hostility that Grace received? Nobody seemed to bat an eye at these two much stranger creatures. Grace had done her best to be invisible, polite, respectable, and she was singled out for cold stares?
They must have felt her death glare, because the rabbit turned and met her gaze before bumping the griffon beside him. Grace gulped and grew very interested in the menu as they approached.
“Hey, Grace.” She jumped. The rabbit continued, “Louis. You remember me, right? And Griff–uh, Cody. Congratulations on the transition, by the way. Sofia told us.”
“...All of you?”
“Huh?”
“Nothing. Um… Yeah, I remember you.”
Louis and Maddox had both been on the football team, but Grace would never have recognized Louis if she saw him in isolation. His face had never been this expressive in school. Had she ever seen him smile before this?
“Griff” was even more surprising. Cody had always been a nerd who cared way more about card tricks and board games than sports. Had he really fallen in with the former football stars because they were all morfs? He was certainly a lot bigger now; you’d be forgiven for thinking he–instead of the short and slender Louis–had been the jock.
She let them know, “You’ve both changed a lot.”
“Oh good.” Louis touched his earring, flashing a toothy grin. “You noticed. I was worried it was too subtle.”
Griff, still carrying two garbage bags of food containers like they were nothing, told her, “You should come hang out with the rest of us. We’re headed to the abandoned K-Mart parking lot, thinking about doing some urban exploration.”
“No, I’m good,” she said, looking down.
Louis nodded. “Alright. We’ll see you around.”
While Louis walked away, Griff reached into one of the bags and pulled out a carefully wrapped pastry. He placed it on the table and nodded at Grace before following Louis. She stared at it for a moment as they departed, taking the positive atmosphere with them.
Grace opened and slowly ate the peach turnover while waiting for someone to take her order. A waiter approached a couple who had been seated after her. When the pastry was gone, Grace left the wrapper and stood up. She could breathe immediately once she was outside.
She knew where the old K-Mart was. Other things had changed since Grace had left, but the rotting giant had been as much a staple of her childhood as the creek in the woods. The primals–April, Sofia, Griff, Louis, and Maddox–were visible from pretty far away, playing on the abandoned shopping carts or nose-deep in their phones.
Swallowing the hard lump in her throat, Grace stepped onto the asphalt and approached them. She knew better than to pour gasoline on an open flame but was desperate for someone to treat her like a normal person, and so far they had come the closest. Grace could, if she were feeling charitable, describe their attitude toward her as more civilized than the humans around them.
They saw her approaching and waved, but it wasn’t until Grace had stopped in front of the group that they really turned their attention toward her.
“Hi,” she said, not looking at any of them. “I’ve met all of you, and you know who I am.”
“It’s great to see you again,” Maddox said. “Grace, right? You look happier.”
She couldn’t help but grin stupidly. Louis whispered, just loud enough for her to hear, “You see her tail flick just now?” There were a few chuckles as Grace’s blush deepened.
“I’m just in town for a few days,” she said quickly, nearly stumbling over her own words. “My apartment in the city, where I live, is being fumigated, and I’m staying with my dad until it’s safe to go back. I know a bunch of primals probably don’t want a domestic hanging around, but I promise I’m not one of those collar-pilled showmorfs looking to pick a fight. I’m actually very preened. Like–”
“Woah, hold on.” Sofia threw her hands up to stop her. “I don’t understand half those words you’re using. Am I the only one who’s lost?”
“It’s just Reddit-speak,” April explained.
Maddox said, “You don’t need to be so nervous, Grace. We’re your friends.”
Her heart melted, and her legs turned to jelly.
“Y-Yeah, I just wanted to be sure that we’re all Gucci, you know? I’m not gonna call the cops and get you caged or anything.”
“Oof,” Griff said, “she’s got those brainworms bad.”
Louis suggested, “We should take her nighting with us.”
“...Nighting?” Grace asked, ears flattening.
Maddox said, “It’s our term for our late night adventures around town and the surrounding area. Great way to get in touch with your wild side.”
Grace shook her head, eyes wide. “N-No, I really can’t. I have a curfew. What if someone calls the police? I get really cranky when I’m tired. There’s no way–”
“Hey, it’s okay. You don’t have to come if you don’t want to,” Maddox assured her. “It’s probably not as exciting as the night clubs they have in the city, but it’s a great way to relax after a hard work week. We’d love to have you there, especially if you’re only going to be around for a few more days.”
Maddox wanted her to come. Grace wanted to spend time with Maddox, but this was a great way to get herself killed, or worse, arrested. Was reliving a stupid high school crush worth letting go of her principles and self-respect to… what? Howl at the moon like a wild animal?
“I guess I can come. But only for a little bit. I have work in the morning and need a full night’s sleep.”
Drying off after a shower was much harder now that her fur was starting to come in. Grace spent a lot of time staring at the foggy mirror and trying to convince herself that she really did look more feminine than she thought. Everyone told her so, and she really wanted to believe it was more than just flattery, but she couldn’t see it without lying to herself. Perhaps she could be mistaken for a baby-faced teenage boy, but that was about it.
Her mom’s old hairdryer still worked, thankfully. It had been a long time since she’d washed with shampoo and conditioner, and it was amazing how soft and silky her hair really was when not sopping with greasy oils. Going back to the mirror, Grace could see an unmistakable orange hue seeping into the roots that more closely matched the color of her incoming fur.
Back in her bedroom, Grace picked up the only dress she had. It was long-sleeved and came down to her knees with a high collar. The thick printed fabric was covered in large yellow and red flowers that Grace was starting to realize did not match either her skin tone or fur color. As much as she wanted to try it out, her stomach did somersaults at the thought.
It would look stupid. But only people willing to risk looking stupid ever accomplished anything. Did she really want to telegraph that she was trying too hard to impress her new friends? They had been accepting so far. Grace had no curves to speak of, and it would only make the dress look blocky and unfashionable; it would be a disservice to the dress to wear it before her body was ready.
Grace dressed in her jeans and a loose-fitting T-shirt. A lot of emotions were fighting for attention in her head, so she pulled out her phone to open Discord and vent about it. The sound of the front door opening gave her pause. Peeking her head out the door to see which religion was visiting at this hour, she could hear her dad talking to… April and Sofia?
As their voices got closer, her heart plunged, and Grace pulled the door closed.
“Your house is beautiful, Mister Hunt,” April said before knocking on the bedroom door. “Grace? We came to help you get ready.”
Grace pulled the door open just a crack. “I am ready. We’re not supposed to meet up for another two hours anyway.”
April looked down at what Grace was wearing, then exchanged a glance with Sofia, who Grace just noticed was carrying a pretty hefty tote bag.
Sofia grinned devilishly and asked, “You’re not just going to leave us standing here, are you?”
With a sigh, Grace opened the door and surrendered her sanctuary to them.
Looking over Grace’s collection of things to wear, April tittered and said, “The room I understand, since you haven’t lived here in a long time, but I’m surprised you don’t have any makeup or fashionable clothes at all.”
“There’s no wrong way to be a girl,” Grace said, but her face was burning.
“She’s right about that,” Sofia said, setting down the bag and unzipping it. “But it’s still a good thing we brought some of our own clothes and shit that you can borrow.”
“I have a dress…”
“If you can call it that,” Sofia said, picking up the offending article with one finger. She held it out at arm’s length like it might bite her. “Your grandma’s hand-me-downs are a little too conservative for your own good.”
“It’s not–” She sighed. “I wear what I want to, okay?”
April told her, “well, we don’t want to force you, but we thought you should have the option. You can wear that if you really want to. Your hair looks nicer, by the way.”
Grace chewed her tongue for a second before saying, “I get veto power, alright?”
In the end, she graciously allowed them to put her in a short-sleeved midriff shirt with short shorts. They tied her hair up with a ribbon like she was some high-school cheerleader. At their insistence, Grace sat aside her own ratty sneakers for a pair that was just as outdated but much cuter.
Now it was getting harder not to see a girl in the bathroom mirror.
Sparkly blue nail polish took some time to dry, and by the time April had finished applying the foundation and lip gloss, it was time to meet the boys. Grace tried to make herself as small as possible as they stepped into the living room where her father was sitting and reading a book.
There was a short pause that stretched on forever as her father blinked and said, “You look nice.”
She nodded, not trusting herself to speak without throwing up, before Sofia and April dragged her toward the front door.
'Collar-pilled showmorf' made me smile; it really rolls off the tongue! The jargon gives a vivid glimpse at the iceberg of toxic discourse in Grace's internet niche. Fortunate that her friends are willing to meet the brainwormed foxy halfway.