His alarm woke Derek the next morning. He felt a bit more tired than usual, but considering how late he had stayed up, it was no surprise.
A surprise was, however, waiting for him at Sonya's house. He rang the doorbell at ten o'clock sharp. They had plans to spend most of the day at the beach. In his mind he was already rubbing suntan lotion across every exposed inch of her body...and maybe a bit more.
"Is that you, Derek?" her voice came from the other side of the door. He could barely make out the words.
"Yeah!" he called. "Why won't you open the door?"
"I can't go...I...I just woke up and...I just can't be seen today. I'm a mess."
"Sonya, what's wrong?" Derek tried the knob but it was locked. "Let me in!"
There was a pause, then the sound of Sonya unlocking the door. When the door didn't open, Derek did it himself. The front hall was empty. He walked inside and closed the door behind him. "Sonya? Where'd you go?"
"You have to promise not to freak out," he heard her say from the nearest doorway. She must have been standing behind it, just out of sight.
"Please, Sonya, what's wrong? Maybe I can help."
"Okay..." Sonya slowly stepped out of the doorway, but it wasn't the Sonya Derek had said goodbye to the day before. It still looked like her for the most part, but her body had somehow gone through an impossible change.