The next month was awkward for Oliver. He felt froggy, but was stuck in a mostly human body, aside from his webbed fingers and bright red skin spreading underneath his pants legs. His parents were supportive, but his classmates were distant other than Liza, unsure how to handle his transformation.
But then, during biology class, something magical happened. Mr. Winslow, Jr. had brought in the mounted insects that day, and when he gave Oliver his specimen, Oliver couldn't contain himself. Without thinking, he lashed his long tongue forward and licked the moth clean off the display board.
It was like electricity surging through his being. Suddenly, everything made sense. This was what he needed!
As class ended, he raced to the bathroom, locking himself inside a stall. Closing his eyes, he braced himself for another evolution. Slowly but surely, his hands turned long and webbed, and the skin on his chest and arms started to turn a vibrant red and blue. As he finally emerged from the stall, he was almost disappointed that the transformation spread only a little bit. He took a deep breath and returned to class as usual.
Mr. Winslow, Jr. saw the slimy red skin peeking out from his T-shirt and asked, "Oliver, are you feeling alright?"
"Oh, I'm fine," he replied with a confident grin. "Just a frog in my throat." The classroom snorted in laughter. Even Liza couldn't help but smirk.
Oliver took his usual seat as the teacher addressed the class. "Alright, notebooks out. It's time to write down the day's lesson." Oliver leaned back and took his pencil out but... couldn't get a grip on it. He had just lost the ability to manipulate a pencil with his frog hands. He warily asked Mr. Winslow Jr, "Um, could I please borrow your pen? My pencil slipped..."
With an amused look on his face, noticing his protruding tongue, Mr. Winslow Jr. replied, "Don't worry about it. When you become fully a frog, you'll never need to write papers again. Just don't rush it, OK?"
Montgomery spoke up from the back. "It happened to me too. Pretty soon I won't even be able to use a knife and fork." He held up his hand which was oddly misshapen and covered all over in brown feathers. Crossing that bridge would be impossible now!
Everyone laughed about the mishap and saw it was only the beginning of this strange puberty that couldn't be controlled. No longer the lonely outcast, Oliver's witty remarks and confidence made him popular among his classmates, who began calling him 'Frogsley.' He even sat with Liza at lunch from time to time. They weren't exactly friends yet, but it was a start.
And as for the rest of the childrens' transformations, well, they were happening slowly but surely. One day, they would be fully transformed into different animals. Until then, they had middle school and all its dramas to navigate through.