Arriving at Emily’s house, we rode our bikes in through the driveway, pulling up at the back of the garage and leaning them against the wall.

“Mum has the day off, and she said she’d be home all day. Where’s her car?”

“Shopping, maybe? You told her Zoey and I were coming over, right?”

Fumbling around in her backpack for the key, Emily groaned a little before pulling it out and inserting it into the door.

“She knows Zoey and… another friend are coming over, so she might’ve gone to buy snacks, since we’re nearly out. I- uhh, haven’t told her who you are.”

I paused for a moment. This is something I’m going to have to deal with, especially tomorrow when I see Grace.

“...Do you think it’s safe for me to tell her?”

“It should be fine, I think? She accepted Zoey pretty much instantly, so you should be alright.” Emily walked through the door, her voice gradually getting quieter as she left me behind. While I was lost in my thoughts, Emily called out to me.

“You coming?”

 

“Hold up, are we all sleeping in the same room?”

“Yeah? I mean, that’s what you do in sleepovers.”

Is that okay? I mean, just a few days ago I was...

While I was standing in the corner of her bedroom panicking ever so slightly, Emily was calmly carrying mattresses and arranging them in the middle of her floor, rather close to each other.

“Is it… okay for me to be sleeping in the same room as you?”

Emily looked at me with a completely blank face, her eyes screaming ‘you’re overthinking it’.

“I don’t see why not. I mean, you’re a girl now, right? But-”

Zooming towards me, she leant forward to stare intensely at me, her fox ears twitching slightly.

“You’re still only wearing shorts and shirts! You haven’t dressed up at all! I bought you all those dresses and skirts; it’s a waste to not wear them when you’re that cute!”

“But I’m wearing the school uniform-”

“That doesn’t count!”

C-close! My face began heating up as I rapidly grew more flustered. Why am I so weak to being called cute? This isn’t like me…

“I said we were gonna have a dress up party, didn’t I?” Emily stared at me like a predatory animal who had just found her prey. She started muttering and laughing maniacally.

“Both you and Zoey never dress up… It’s such a waste… wearing cute clothes is so much fun…”

“I’ve been a girl for three days, okay? Gimme a break!” I retorted, ducking off to the side out of reach.

“You don’t know what you’re missing out on!” She turned to me, advancing slowly with her tail swishing from side to side under her uniform as I backed away. Suddenly, she stiffened, and her fox ears shot upright. I strained my own ears, and heard a light rumbling sound from the direction of the garage.

 

Looking over at Emily, all of the energy she had previously displayed was gone.

 

“It’ll be fine.” Walking over to Emily, I grabbed her hand and squeezed it. “I’m here with you. Okay?”

“...okay.”

Soon after the rumbling had stopped, the clattering of the door echoed throughout the house, shortly followed by an enthusiastic “I’m home!”

Emily pulled her hand away, before lifting her hood up and tucking her fox ears inside. She grabbed my hand again, and we began walking through to the kitchen.

 

*****

 

It was a while since I had last seen Emily’s mother, Melissa, so I had forgotten what I kept thinking every time I saw her.

P-pretty.

Tall and slim, her long blonde hair gracefully flowed behind her in a ponytail as she strolled forward, a shopping bag on each arm. She paused as we walked in, taking a moment to stare at Emily, glancing up and down at her hoodie. Her eyes flicked over to me briefly, before she resumed unloading her bags.

“I saw your bike in the garage. Did school finish early?”

“N-no, um, something came up, so I left early.”

“Ah, right. Who’s this?”

I stepped forward.

“Hi, I’m Flora. I’m Emily’s friend from school. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too.”

“H-hey, mum-”

“Sorry to do this to a guest, but could you two help me unload the shopping? There’s rather a lot of bags.”

Emily held out her other hand out towards her mother as she walked off, letting it drop dejectedly once she had gone. She squeezed my hand a little tighter.

“We’ll get a chance later. Come on, let’s go.”

I pulled her forward, towards the garage.

 

“I splashed out a little bit, since you said you had friends coming over.”

“You call this a little bit?!”

There were… a lot of shopping bags in the back of the small four door sedan parked in the garage. How did she fit all of them in her boot? She began pulling out numerous bags, all filled with varying kinds of sweets, chips, and other assorted party foods.

“I didn’t know what you wanted, so… I just bought everything that looked good. We can save what doesn’t get eaten for later.”

Emily took two shopping bags from Melissa’s outstretched arms, hurrying back inside to unload them.

“Wow, she’s really nervous. Um… has she said anything to you about what’s making her so worried? She’s been acting weird the past few days, and I know I shouldn’t pry, but…”

I held out my hands, receiving two more shopping bags from Melissa as she fretted.

“You should hear what’s going on from her, rather than me.”

“So there is something going on.”

I shouldn’t have said that. My hand shot up to cover my mouth as I realised my mistake, the handle of the shopping bag sliding down to my elbow.

“...Please don’t pressure her about it.”

I ran inside.

 

“Wait up.”

Unloading the bags onto the kitchen counter, I called out to Emily. Maybe I’m overthinking it, but I don’t want her to be alone right now. Not when I just said that to her mum!

Running through the corridor, I caught up to Emily, who had slowed down to wait for me. She flinched as we walked outside, seeing her mother standing there regarding her with a suspicious gaze. I reached over and squeezed her hand again.

“H-hey, mum, um, can we…” Looping my arm around hers, I interlocked my fingers with hers in an attempt to comfort her as she trailed off. Taking a deep breath, she continued.

“At some point soon, c-can I talk to you about something?”

Melissa narrowed her eyes, before responding in a voice that was suspicious, and yet somehow playful.

“...Are you two dating?”

…

Wait, what?!

I quickly pulled my hand away from Emily, jumping back a few steps as the blood rushed to my face.

D-dating? I mean… I haven’t even thought about the idea of dating now that I’m a girl!

“N-no, it’s not that!” Emily stiffened, her fox ears pushing up slightly on the back of her hoodie. She twitched a little, and I watched the outlines that they made on her hoodie move up and down. The back of her school dress expanded out slightly as her tail bristled, and peeked out a tiny bit from under the hem. She took a deep breath, glancing back at me before letting out a small giggle at my very red face.

 

Walking over to me, she grabbed one of my hands, which I was using to attempt to cover my face, and pulled it down to her side. Taking another deep breath, she walked over close to her mother, taking me along with her.

 

“Um, mum-” Reaching her other hand up, she pulled her hood down. “A few days ago, I… grew fox ears and a tail.”

Melissa had stopped all movement, staring completely focused on her ears. She recoiled slightly at her mother’s frozen, blank expression, squeezing my hand tighter and curling her shoulders inward as she turned her head away, averting her gaze.

“...Please don’t hate me.” She choked out, tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

Melissa flinched, her face immediately becoming filled with worry. She leaped forward, pulling Emily into a tight hug.

 

“You’re my one and only daughter. I could never hate you.”

“Thanks, mum.” Emily wrapped her arms around her mother, tears of relief streaming down her face. My own eyes began welling up as I watched the scene unfold in front of me.

 

After about half a minute of hugging and sniffling, Melissa pulled back a little, holding her daughter’s shoulders at arm’s length.

“Actually, I do have an interesting story to tell you.”

“Oh?” Emily raised her hands up, wiping the tears off her face as she responded.

“I’m probably not as surprised as I should be. That’s because, two nights ago… I had a rather strange dream.”

 

All thoughts about how sweet the sight in front of me was disappeared from my mind, and I leapt forward to grab her hands.

“Tell me everything! Tell me all the details!”

“Um, okay. But only once we finish unloading.”

 

*****

 

Just as we were finishing up bringing all of the shopping bags inside, a voice emanated from outside the garage.

“Emily!”

Zoey ran up to us just as Melissa closed the boot of her car. She was wearing a simple set of shirt and pants, along with a backpack that seemed to be bulging slightly. Emily narrowed her eyes a little, glancing up and down at Zoey’s attire.

“...We’re definitely having a dress up party.”

Zoey recoiled slightly. I placed a hand on her shoulder, giving her a sympathetic gaze.

Don’t worry, she’s probably going to dress me up too.

 

“Oh, hey Zoey.”

“Hi, Melissa. Um, am I late?”

“No, you’re right on time.”

Do they know each other well? Zoey seems very… comfortable and at-home here.

Melissa glanced towards me as I stared, one shopping bag on my arm.

“Oh, did I not introduce myself? My name is Melissa.”

No, not that! Wait, I can’t exactly say that I already knew, can I…

Emily glanced out past Zoey towards the street, watching as the car that was parked in front of her house slowly pulled away.

“Elena dropped me home so I could pack, and then gave me a lift here. She kept complaining about her…” Zoey's voice trailed off as she glanced at Melissa, who was walking back inside with the last two shopping bags. She waited for her to get far enough away, before speaking again.

 

“You told her about the… ears and tail thing?”

“Yeah.” Emily smiled, relief clear on her face.

“How did it go?”

“It went great, better than I could have ever expected!”

“That’s good.” Zoey exhaled heavily, the tension leaving her body. She must’ve been really worried. I wonder… was it a similar thing for her?

 

“Flora, what about you?” She turned to me as we began walking inside. “Have you decided if you’re gonna come out- I mean tell her about your situation?”

“I haven’t yet, but I think I’m going to… even if it’s just practice for tomorrow.”

“Do you want me to come with you? There’s no tests tomorrow, so I can skip school.”

Emily dashed up to me, looping an arm around my shoulder.

“I’ll come too. I…” She paused, leaning onto me slightly, “I really appreciate you being here for me. Thanks.”

“It’s alright. And… I think I’ll take you two up on your offers.” I leaned into Emily’s weight as we walked.

 

Melissa was moving around in the middle of the kitchen, unpacking items from the various shopping bags to put them away. She turned to us as we walked in, smirking slightly at the sight of Emily and I leaning into each other.

“...Are you sure you’re not dating?”

I froze. Emily kept walking forward, causing me to stumble slightly as her arm pulled against my neck.

 

“No, um, I’m-” I spluttered, trying to find an excuse. “I’ve been relying on Emily recently, so… and we’re close friends…”

Zoey giggled at my embarrassment as she watched me fidget and flail my arms around.

“And it doesn’t help that both of you keep calling me cute!” I yelled. Zoey paused for a moment, staring at me.

“Well, you are.”

“Yeah, she is.” Emily added.

“I agree.” Melissa chimed in. Not you too! Alright, fine!

 

I stepped forward, crossing my arms and stubbornly ignoring the heat that had yet again risen to my face.

 

“Melissa, you already know me. I introduced myself as Flora, but a few days ago I was Felix.”

She glanced briefly at Zoey, before looking back at me. After a few moments of staring, she jumped forward with a start.

“Wait, really? You’re like, 20 centimetres shorter! I don’t believe you!” Her mouth was hanging open in shock. I continued, shaking off my previous embarrassment.

“A few days ago, literally the day before Emily grew her ears and tail, I woke up one morning… looking like this.”

“Seriously?”

“Yup. And, I think it’s related to the dream you had, since I’d wager the dream I had was very similar to yours.”

“Oh.” She leaned back a little, appraising my current appearance. “I did always have a hunch that you had a bit of a crush on Emily.”

Just stop with that already!

 

“Right, anyway, Melissa. Your dream. Tell me all the details.”

After everyone had finished packing away the shopping, and once the blood had stopped rushing to my face, I called out to Melissa. We moved through to the living room as I talked, taking a seat on the various couches and chairs.

“Okay. It was two nights ago, though, so I don’t know if I can recall all the details.”

“That’s alright, I just need to know a few things.”

Melissa leaned forward in the armchair she had just flopped down into.

 

“So, two nights ago, in my dream, I was standing on the porch of someone else’s house. Next door, I saw Emily sitting on the roof.”

Emily snapped forward, whispering “That’s the same as my dream.”

“This really loud noise started coming from next door, and a whole bunch of stuff, I’m not really sure what, came flying over the fence, knocking me over. I looked up, and saw a transparent outline of a fox go flying towards Emily, and then there was this really bright flash. Just before I woke up, I saw you curled up on the roof, with the same ears and tail that you have now. For a while after the dream, it felt like my eyes were burning.”

“That settles it!” I clapped my hands together, startling Emily, who jerked upright. “All these dreams are connected. You both saw the same dream, just from a different perspective. The day before, I saw a dream from the other end of the portal.”

 

“Oh, one more thing.” Melissa spoke up again as I finished talking, “you know my reading glasses?”

“Yeah?” Emily responded, Zoey nodding slightly next to her.

“I don’t need them anymore. Whatever happened in that dream made my eyesight so much better.”

“Huh?” I gasped. Did she go through a change too? Just… one that was less extreme than ours.

“...Lucky. Both of you stayed human after changing…” Emily’s head was drooping as she spoke. I recalled my earlier words about being part non-human, and grimaced. I really shouldn’t have said that. She’s taking it really bad.

 

“I’m not so sure I did.”

“Huh?” She quickly turned to face me, her ears snapping upright.

“You remember my weight, don’t you? I think that’s pretty big evidence that I might not be entirely human anymore.”

“Well…” Her voice trailed off. Zoey clapped her hands at that point, causing both of us to jump in our seats.

 

“Alright, that’s enough moping. We’re here to have fun, remember?”

“That’s right!” Emily shot upright, her ears twitching and tail swishing from side to side, pushing her dress out. “Dress up party! Mum, help me restrain these two unfashionable girls.”

Before I could even slightly move to escape my seat, Emily had pounced on top of me, holding my arms down. Looking past her, I saw Melissa slowly creeping towards Zoey, who had accepted her fate and merely sighed. I shared a worried look with her.

 

Please be gentle…