Over the next couple of weeks, Oliver observed his classmates as they attempted to get through a normal school day without chasing a neighborhood cat or climbing a wall to spin a web. Most of the children were finding tests and exams impossible at this point because their heads and bodies weren't yet in harmony; holding a pencil was still awkward. If a kid had broken out into wild instinct during one of these activities (like Alice, prone to brief chimp rampages), classes would have stopped until the teachers settled the cacophony.
A couple of days later on a quiet Friday afternoon right before the weekend, Oliver visited Liza at her house. He received quite a shock when Liza answered the door. She was completely naked! Only wearing her punk wristbands and choker over her yellow-and-black half-human body. "Oh hi. I was just taking a dip in the pool."
"You... mean just in your backyard and not out in public, right?" Oliver blushed. In any other situation, she might flash him like this in an attempt to embarrass him. But seeing her like this only made him feel... more comfortable around her somehow?
Liza raised an eyebrow, sensing his discomfort. "Uh, yeah. My parents and I thought it might cool us down with this stifling heat wave." She winked, then vanished inside; she'd enjoy making him squirm a bit longer.
Behind her, Oliver caught sight of something else: three colorful iridescent butterflies fluttering in circles around the biggest zinnia flower in her front garden. He stood staring at them for a moment, then thought again about what he'd just witnessed.
No matter how wild or uncontrollable his transformational powers seemed, the more positive changes it led them all to! This was evidence enough that ridiculous evolution-phobia had nothing on these incredible human-animal nomadic creations - people moving around from town to cityscape or landscape in search of shelter and necessities like food...that sounds pretty cool if you think about it! Why fight against your genetics; instead embrace them, pal… go out there looking for adventure!
Oliver shook himself out of his reverie and followed her inside, saying aloud, "Y'know...I think I've got nothing to be ashamed of!" followed by lifting his shirt up over his head to reveal his own spotted upper body, unfortunately hidden by dripping wet pants due to his naturally moist amphibian bloodline. He pulled his shoes off so that his webbed feet swung free as well; dang his feet size had grown though!
Liza burst into laughter upon seeing him. "You actually have embraced it," she said, smirking playfully at him. Oliver grinned, feeling strangely liberated by displaying this new aspect of himself. Maybe they would become real friends after all. This isn’t so bad, Oliver thought to himself, as he unzipped his pants and stepped out of them, standing before her with his privates hanging halfway out of an amphibian slit. "Well... What do you think?" he asked, feeling vulnerable.
Liza's eyes widened in surprise and then she raised an eyebrow. "Well, you're definitely different," she replied, pausing for a long moment before adding, "I guess that means we have a lot to learn from each other." And she grinned again, extending her hand for him to take once more.
With hands clasped, the two exited the house and began to walk towards the park near the school's main entrance, slow but deliberate. Oliver couldn't help being surprised at himself. He thought he was just going to relax in the nude inside Liza's house, but here he is exposing himself in the city. These days, he realized, nothing really seemed impossible after all. Their once ordinary lives had transformed into something exciting and unpredictable.
As they entered the park, a group of boys playing soccer saw Oliver and Liza approaching. They must have been taking the same treatments, as one was half-bird and another half-plant, their peculiarity exuding an aura of confidence. The boys seeing Oliver's bare lower body almost tripped over themselves; clearly, they were not used to seeing such things. Amused, Oliver approached the ball, leaped into the air like a frog, and smacked it back onto the field. The shocked faces of their opponents turned into a 'wow'.
Time definitely moved different now. It felt like years had passed since they had first met in that classroom at Muncie Middle School, but at the very same time, it had only just started. No one could tell what would happen next, not even Oliver and Liza themselves.