In another room on the third floor of the boy’s dormitory, another freshman student was laying on his bed and staring at the ceiling, trying to come to terms with everything that was going to happen to him by the end of the month. This was Todd, an 18-year-old with short brown hair and brilliant blue eyes that were overshadowed by a pair of rather thick glasses. He wasn’t very tall; in fact, he was an average 5’ 10”. He was rather shy, preferring to be alone rather than with other people. There were a lot of things Todd hated about himself, but by far the thing he hated the most was his cowardice. He could never find the courage to do anything that took him out of his comfort zone, and he absolutely hated himself for it.
It seemed like a blessing, then, that Todd was suddenly thrust into a new world where he would become a new version of himself; and to an extent, that was true. While Todd was excited for the opportunity to be an entirely new person, a small voice in the back of his head continually told him that things would never get better. And that was the thing that was holding him back from fully embracing this new chance. He wished he could be more confident about himself, like…
The door to the dorm room burst open suddenly, causing Todd to jump slightly. “DUDE! TODD! YOU’RE NOT GONNA BELIEVE THIS!” Speak of the devil.
Standing in the doorway was a tall, well-built jock with sandy blond hair and brown eyes. He stood at an impressive 6’ 3” and had a massive grin plastered on his face. That was Todd’s roommate, Sam.
Sam was the complete opposite of Todd. He was tall, fit, strong, and absolutely loved trying new things. He was a social butterfly, seeming to make friends almost everywhere he went. He was everything Todd wished he could be…which made Todd incredibly jealous.
“Dude, okay, so I need to tell you what just happened!” Sam said eagerly.
Todd sat up in his bed, trying to be polite. The sooner Sam stopped talking, the sooner he could be alone again. “Okay, what happened?”
“Okay, so, I was walking around the campus after our orientation from Stripes, right?” Sam started. “I really felt like I needed to clear my head since the dude just laid out a whole heaping host of bombshells on us. I was feeling kinda bummed, you know since I like my normal body. I worked really hard to get it and I don’t want to transform into something that would make me lose my muscles. So I was so lost in thought that I accidentally found my way to where some guys were throwing a football. There was a lion, a panther, and a snow leopard, right? So one of them threw the football too far and it was heading right for me, but I caught it without looking! I totally caught it dude! And the cats were all like ‘woah man, nice catch’ and I was like ‘thanks bros’ and threw the ball back to them and they were like ‘damn bro you throw great! You want to pass the ball with us for a bit?” And of course I said yes, so I…”
Todd found himself beginning to tune out Sam’s rambling. Sure, the guy was really nice, but he could ramble on and on and on.
“…and they were so impressed that they told me I should try out for the football team, so I said ‘of course I’ll try out!’ And then we…”
Todd found himself staring off into space as Sam continued.
“…breakfast burritos were so damn good! And then, while we were eating, I sat on something funny. So I stood up, but nothing was there. So I sat down again, and I sat on something weird again. So then I reached into my pants and found…”
Sam turned around and revealed the entire point of his long and drawn out story: a long, thin appendage covered in white fur and black stripes that was coming out of his tailbone.
“Is that…?” Todd started.
“It’s a tail!” Sam said enthusiastically. “And it’s not just any tail! It’s a white tiger tail! Can you believe it bro?! I’m gonna be a tiger! How badass is that?!”
“It’s…pretty cool…” Todd said, staring at Sam’s tail, watching it as it flicked from side to side. “Did it…hurt?”
“Nah, not at all! It actually felt really good actually. I totally wouldn’t mind if the full transformation felt that good. But anyway, I’ve been talking way too long. How do you feel about all this stuff?”
“Oh…uh…it’s alright I guess,” Todd said dismissively, still not entirely sure what to think. After all,he hadn’t had any transformations of his own yet.
“Really? That’s it?“ Sam responded. “You aren’t looking forward to embracing an entirely new side of you?”
Todd shrugged. “That’s only if anything about me decides to change,” he said. “I could just end up being the same shy, socially awkward person I’ve always been, with the only difference being that I became an animal.”
The two of them sat in silence for a minute or two until Sam spoke up and asked “Do you want me to help you?”
“Help me with what?”
“Your social skills, dummy! If you don’t want to end up as the same old person with a new look, then you’ve gotta get yourself out there and talk to people! Come on!”
Todd started to consider Sam’s offer, when that small voice in the back of his head began to speak up.
”Nothing you do will make a difference.”
“You’ll never be able to change.”
“You’ll always be a sad, lonely coward, no matter what you look like.”
“You’ll never be happy with yourself. Just give up coward.”
“I guess it’s worth a shot,” Todd said, giving Sam a shy smile. The jock’s face lit up and he threw his arms around the smaller male, pulling him into a bear hug. Todd tried to get out of the hug…until he started to realize how good it felt. Maybe…he really could change.
The young man was so lost in his thoughts that he failed to realize his ears shifting to a more triangular shape and moving to the top of his head. It was only when Sam broke the hug and stared at him with a dopey grin that Todd realized something had happened.
“What? What’s wrong?” He asked. Sam just laughed. “Nothing’s wrong bro! Just look at yourself in the mirror!”
Todd got up off his bed and walked over to the door where Sam had hung a full body mirror, and he gasped in shock when he saw his reflection. Reaching up, he touched his new ears and gently stroked them, amazed how good it felt.
“They look like dog ears dude,” Sam commented. “Like, wolf maybe?”
“A wolf?” Todd repeated, still staring at himself in the mirror. Was that really what he was becoming? Could he really fit the role of an animal that symbolizes power and courage in some cultures?
“A wolf…I like it.”