Mr. Peterson’s science class had gone normally enough. Well, except for Gloria suddenly being part cat. I’d heard some of the other students whisper questions of “what happened to her” when they thought she was out of earshot, but judging by the flicking of her ears, they weren’t far enough.
Gloria gave me a friendly wave as we left for different classes. MY next two classes went by like they always did, not a cat girl, or any other furry people in sight. Not that I wasn’t still distracted by that, though. I mean, all at once I learned that fairies and magic were real, and now they were making one of my biggest secret dreams come true… and I wasn’t sure I actually wanted it to happen like this.
I mean, okay, Gloria seemed really cool, and maybe I liked to fantasize about having a harem of cute and hot furry ladies, but even I know there’s a difference between fantasy and reality! It’d be a huge hassle to deal with all of them fighting for my attention all the time. Plus, in my fantasy, I’d be in a world where anthros were seen as normal, and I wouldn’t be changing random girls from my school. I know it wasn’t really my fault, but I couldn’t help feeling responsible for the comments people were making about Gloria.
So yeah, that had been distracting me for a lot of my next two classes, but when I hadn’t seen anybody else changing yet, I thought I might be home free as I stepped into art class.
I was originally surprised our small-town high school had the budget for a “non-essential” like Mrs. Annabelle’s art class, but I appreciated having some kind of “easy-pass” class during the day so I could unwind. There were occasional quizzed on art history or the names and steps of recommended techniques, but usually, we would just work on whatever painting or clay-sculpting project we’d been given that day. Speaking of…
“Today we’ll practice drawing the human form,” Mrs. Annabelle said, “You’ll be working in pairs, one as the model, the other being the artist, and you’ll switch halfway through class.”
I was quickly approached by a tall, thin girl with black hair. I’d seen her around, but she always seemed pretty shy. “Uh, hi…” She blushed and looked away. “I’m Constance, and I… uh, would you… could we…?”
“Be partners for this class?” I suggested.
She nodded.
“Sure, why not. I’m Greg, by the way.”
“Th-thanks Greg!”
“You’re welcome,” I said. Though I felt the poor girl could use a boost in her confidence. “You look cute, by the way.”
She blushed deeper and immediately left to grab the art supplies.
I took a seat on a stool, trying to hold a steady pose, as she sat by her easel. Things were going pretty normal, until I noticed a weird cyan color appear in her hair. Not only that, her hair was starting to look… different. Like each hair was branching off on either side, becoming a feather. And after that happened, feather after feather sprouted from her skin, in a pale cyan color on her forehead and cheeks, and black just about everywhere else on her head. Her ears seemed to shrink back into the sides of her head, becoming invisible under the feathers, while her nose and mouth pushed out and joined together into a narrow little black beak.
“Uh, Greg,” she whispered in a soft voice, “C-could you try to go back to your last expression? That is… if you don’t mind… um..”
“Right! Sorry!”
I tried to get back in my original pose, even as I saw Constance's changes continue. A mixture of black and deep blue feathers grew down her neck, spreading under her clothes, changing to a light grey hue on her torso (what little I could see of it). Longer, darker grey feathers grew out of her arms, becoming a new set of wings, ending in brown, thin, scale-coated hands that resembled a bird’s talons.
Her legs became incredibly thin, taking the same brown color as her hands. Her shoes vanished, revealing her toes stretching out and spreading in a wide angle as they grew talons. Behind her back, a set of deep blue tail feathers rose up, nearly reaching her neck.
Well, now Constance looked even cuter, in my book, but I was still doing everything I could to hide my surprise. Especially now that the teacher and other students were giving her odd looks, making her even more nervous.
“Hey, It’s almost time to switch,” I whispered to her, hoping to maybe take her mind off the people around her.
As I took to the easel, I began the painful realization that I’d never tried to draw a bird anthro before. Just one more tiny mess atop at least two big ones.