Jennifer kept her head down, trying to keep the queasy feeling within her gut down and assuring herself that the worst was over. She had misshapen cow hooves for feet among a host of other problems, but the virus is done with her. She felt sick because of all the others looking at her, there could be no other reason.
As the class dragged on, the sensation within her stomach shifted from her organs tumbling about, graduating into a terrible bloating within her stomach. Jen refused to even look at what was happening to her, because not knowing preserved what little hope she had that it was nothing.
About 20 minutes into the class, whatever was happening below started to press into her waistband, she instead opted to become more involved in the class. She normally didn't participate, but anything to distract her from her situation was better than watching it happen, not that anything was happening. Since it was focused in her gut, the worst would be her organs shifting to that of a cow, so she'd be stuck eating grass for the rest of her life. Or it could be her uterus and vagina shifting to that of a cow. Another awful possibility was an udder. She hated helping her uncle milk the cows. What if it was her gaining the weight of a cow, and she'd be gaining half a ton of meat and fat? What if-
She internally cut off her train of thought. Dwelling on something that wasn't happening was just asking for it to happen. Nothing was happening, and she went back to contributing to Ms. Scott's discussion as she could. After the first few times, she was slowly called on less and slower, with her teacher sometimes ignoring her raised hand during some questions even though she was the only one.
Forty minutes into the class, there was only a scant 15 minutes left until school ended. The bloat had just kept increasing, cutting so deeply into her waistband that it now shoved the band downwards, as it had also done with her undergarments. Her shirt was raised based on the sliver of chilly air she felt against her stomach, and it was starting to push into the wooden top of her desk. Jennifer imagined this is what feeling pregnant might be like, as she could feel her gut laying heavily on her legs. Still, she refused to look down, instead placing her book open, faced down on top of whatever growth her stomach was experiencing to keep herself from seeing it. She was almost certain she knew what the virus had done to her, but the meager layer of control kept her calm enough. The delay gave her the time to come to terms, more or less, with the fact that she'd received all three mutations. She wasn't sure how people would react now, but whatever was going to happen, it was by no means her fault.
Her gut continued to expand outward, pressing deeper into the desk and even trailing over the sides of her closed legs. In the final few minutes of the class, Jen knew she had to see what she was working with. Lifting the book off her poorly-concealed gut, she was met with what she assumed was a fully-grown and fully-filled cow udder, except what was normally on a 1500 pound bovine was firmly anchored to what used to be a 140 pound human girl. Two thick, 4-inch long teats were poorly concealed by her shirt, and based on a cursory feel, the other two were dangling off the sides of her legs.
She placed a hand on the mass, trying to determine how heavy it was. Her fingers easily squished into the mass, though the pressure caused a strange unease in her new appendage. Jennifer dreaded what she'd need to do to maintain this, assuming she could even lift it. The mass was easily larger than a basketball. If she got up, how would her pants handle it? It was mostly below her hips at this point, meaning there was a real chance she might lose her pants shortly after standing up.
The final bell rang, meaning she was about to find out. She opted to wait for the other students to leave before she got up, since she knew it'd likely be a messy event. Every student that passed her looked down at her, presumably more closely at her udder than her face. A few gave token goodbyes, while others seemed to hang around behind her. Cassandra chose to stand next to Jen instead of continue past.
Jen shifted uneasily. Cassandra was part of the cheerleading squad, but their relationship was always more...Competitive than friendly. Jennifer never really enjoyed how much drama Cassandra constantly pulled up, and while she tended to keep herself out of the crosshairs, she knew this kind of thing was going to spread like wildfire with Cassandra behind it.
She intentionally started coughing to play up her sickness. "Hey, Cassandra. What's up?"
"What's up? what's up?!" Cassandra slapped both hands on the desk. "What's up with you?! What happened?!"
"I, uh, contracted a pretty bad virus. Makes you more like your most-hated animal. Was told it's contagious." Cassandra physically recoiled her hands from the desk, but before she could start a shouting match, Jennifer continued. "Kyle-fucking-Perkins did this to me. And I know what you're thinking next. I'm going to be stepping down from cheerleading until I get over this thing, and don't you dare tell Brad about this before I do, or I'll make sure you get what I have."
Cassandra paled even further, but quickly regained her composure. "Well, at least you're smart enough to plan ahead. Guess it's up to Elise or me to take your spot until..." She dangles her fingers in Jen's general direction. "All of that gets fixed. I'll even escort you to Brad so you know I don't tell him first!"
Jennifer looked down at herself. She really didn't want to dump all this on Brad in a public area. "Actually, I think I'll send him a picture by phone right now."
She took out her phone, snapped a selfie of her fur-covered face and hand, then another of her squished udder with her hand on it. She carefully considered what she was going to write. 'Brad, I've come down with a pretty serious sickness, and it's a little contagious. Please don't freak out, but it has changed my body pretty significantly. See attached pics for why I'll be out of commission for a while.' With that, she sent both photos and put her phone back.
Cassandra looked at her expectantly. "So?"
"Cassandra, I have a favor to ask. Don't spread stuff about me being a victim or dying. Just make sure you put Kyle's reputation at least six feet underground. He deserves everything he gets."
Cassandra gave a slight smirk. "Alright, Jen! But a favor requires payment..." Jen furrowed her brow, trying to figure out what more she wanted. "First, I want you to tell the other cheerleaders that you want me taking your spot. Second, I want a gallon of your milk."
Jennifer was shocked at what was being asked of her. "What?!"
Cassandra's smirked graduated into a wide grin. "You heard me. Looks like you'll be quite the 'productive' one, so what's one gallon?"
"You know that it's probably contagious, right?"
"Oh, I'm counting on it."
Jen shook her head. "No way am I helping spread this thing. Besides, it would trace back to me."
Cassandra gave a sour glare. "You're no fun. You get me that seat, and I'll play nice. Otherwise, I'm doing things my way."
Jennifer sighed in return. "Fine, it's a deal. I'll tell them during tomorrow's practice." Cassandra gave a bubbly smile and left, leaving only Jen and Ms. Scott in the room. She looked down at her squashed udder. The bus ride home was definitely going to suck.