Jessica threw all of her belongings together in a flurry. "What are you doing?" Lina asked.
"I didn't expect this to turn into a freak show," Jessica stammered. "Amy, look, you're fine. It's just...I don't really feel comfortable around you right now. I'll see you on Monday, okay? I'm sorry."
With that, she ushered her things out the door and closed it behind her, leaving Amy and Lina with their sleeping bags in the living room. They shared a disappointed look and then got dressed for bed. "Do you think she'll tell anyone?" Lina asked when they had tucked themselves in.
Amy thought about it. "What would be the point? Nobody would care. I understand that she needs some time to process it. I just hope we'll still be friends."
They talked for a while longer about other things until their voices grew weaker and their eyes fell closed.
Amy dreamed that she was flying through a blue sky with soft white clouds. She zoomed through them one by one. Her horns pierced their cottony forms, leading the way for the rest of her body. After a while of feeling the wind on her fur, she settled down on a plush cloud and peered over its edge. She could see cows grazing in a field below her, and before she knew it she was diving toward them. Some of them looked up at her, and she could make out the faces of Lina, Jessica, Geoffrey and Mrs. Henderson through their bovine features.
She startled awake when Lina snapped her fingers close to one of her large ears. "Mom's got pancakes," Lina said before bounding out of the living room. Amy slowly picked herself up. She was in loose pajamas, which felt fine on her, although her tail felt a little restricted. (She hadn't bothered to poke a hole in the seat.)
When she took a seat at the table she had to shift the tail around inside her pajama bottoms so she wouldn't sit on it. Lina's mom asked her what she wanted to drink, offering the usual choices of orange juice and milk. Amy surprised herself by answering "Milk, please," when in her mind she would have preferred the juice. A nagging feeling the back of her mind didn't want her to gulp down citrus.
"I'd like to go back to the store," Amy said after Lina's mom had left them alone.
"To finally stop this magic spell thing?" Lina said hopefully.
"No, not really," Amy answered, although at this point she was beginning to consider it. "I need to get some wider shorts, preferably ones with tail holes. I was also considering a nose ring."
The last sentence wasn't serious, it was only meant to make Lina choke on her milk. Which she did. When she was finished blowing milk from her nose into a napkin, Lina punched her laughing friend lightly on the shoulder.
The two girls walked together to the store. Just as they reached the block where it was located, Amy asked Lina if she'd like to try being an animal.
"You know, I was wondering that last night. I dreamed that I was a cat, trying to walk along a fence, and there were lots of angry dogs waiting for me to fall into their jaws. I think I'll stay human for now."
Amy smiled in understanding as they reached the store.