James was puzzled about Kayla's strange words and her incantations but he assumed it was all harmless. He stood by the front gates, smoking a cigarette, waiting for something to happen or his friends to arrive, whichever happened first.
Meanwhile, Kayla eyed the top hat in the corner of her father's office. It wouldn't do much, but it was enough to maybe kickstart her own brand of magic. Keep her out of her father's thumb.
James sneezed as he watched a car pull into the lot nearby. His nose suddenly felt a lot more sensitive, and he twitched it while he stubbed his cigarette out. He really should quit. He smiled and forgot about his troubles as Garrett and Melanie, his friends, stepped out and made their way towards him. "Hey, Jame!" Garrett cried as he slung his arm around his shoulder. "Sorry we're late, Mel needed to do her makeup. Let's get going, shall we?"
James was suddenly more sensitive to Garrett's scent close to his mouth, and he snuffled as he smelled the whiskey on his breath. Makeup, indeed. He sneezed again and put a hand up to wipe the snot away. His nose felt...flatter than normal, his nostrils...longer? He had trouble justifying it in his mind. Before he could ponder it further, Mel swept him around the shoulder and into the circus.
"I'm sooooo hungry. Can we get some food?" Mel pleaded as she hung onto Garrett's arm. He sighed. "Well, we can't ride the rollercoasters if we have nothing to throw up! What do you say, Jame?"
James had been scratching at his ears, which suddenly felt itchy, but disregarded it as he put his hand down. "Yeah! Let's get something!" he followed his two friends as they made their way towards the concessions.
They passed truck after truck of popcorn, fries, elephant ears, burgers, and any other food you could imagine. Garrett spotted a wing truck and was drawn immediately. "One plate of spicy buffalo, please. You want anything, Jame?"
James found himself eyeing the plate of celery and carrots that came with the wings more severely than the chicken, but shook his head. "I'm...I'm on a diet. I'll just stick with the veggies." Despite Garrett's strange look, James was looking forward to the vegetables that stared looking more delicious every minute he stared at the image on the menu.
Twenty minutes later, James was chowing down on the carrots and celery while Garrett and Mel gave him odd looks with Buffalo sauce smeared around their lips. "You okay there, Jame?" the former asked with concern. But James continued eating, noting the strange pain in his lips each time the juice soaked his mouth. By the time he was on his eight carrot stick, his teeth were actively scratching his lips and he felt hot under his clothes for some reason. "Um, excuse me..." he mumbled, before running away from his confused friends and towards the bathrooms.
In front of the mirror, James chewed on the last remains of his carrot stick and looked at himself in the mirror before gasping. His nose was flat and had an oddly pinkish hue . He rubbed the soft spot on his lips and was shocked to see his front teeth had grown by half an inch, nearly jutting out from his top lips. Just as he registered this, he felt the surge of heat from under his T-shirt and pulled it off. There seemed to be some kind of thick, white fuzz growing around his upper chest region. "What the hell?" He mumbled.
As he watched, the white fuzz thickened even further, obstructing his skin and cascading further over his shoulders and down his stomach. Just then, he felt something else.