The next day was Saturday, and Hunter came over to play with Oliver. His parents were happy that he had made a friend so soon, but wondered how long it would last, since Oliver was turning into a shark and Hunter into a wolf. Oliver led Hunter back to the pool.
"Your parents are really cool for buying you this so soon." said Hunter. "You're lucky they can, too. My parents can't exactly have a forest installed in our backyard."
"We should time each other." said Oliver. "You time how fast I can swim and I'll time how fast you can run."
"That sounds like fun." said Hunter.
Hunter stood on the lawn next to the clear pool as Oliver ran up. He took off his clothes and left only his bathing suit on, which he had started to wear under his clothes. Oliver jumped into the pool and began to swim in circles around the pool gaining speed. After a few laps, he shot to the surface and yelled back to Hunter.
"Put the speedometer right up against the pool." said Oliver. Oliver swam around a few more times gaining speed and then shot down to the bottom of the pool, pausing, then swimming over to see Hunter through the side of the pool. Hunter gave him a thumbs-up. Oliver shot up to the top of the pool and climbed out. The two boys ran to the front of the house. Hunter gave Oliver the speedometer and ran down the block.
"Ready?" called Hunter.
"Go!" yelled Oliver. Hunter immediately jumped down on all fours and started sprinting as fast as he could. As he passed Oliver he was going so fast that Oliver couldn't see him clearly. He stopped a few feet away from Oliver.
"Did it work?" asked Hunter, whose tail was wagging.
"I think so…" said Oliver, pressing buttons. "There." He looked up at Hunter.
"Why do you smell like fish all of a sudden?" asked Hunter.
"Hunter," said Oliver slowly. "I think you need to see something."
Oliver led Hunter back to the pool in the backyard and led Hunter up to the side so he could see his reflection. Hunter didn't see anything different at first but realized that the tip of his nose was black! It was flatter than it used to be as well.
"I think you just got your wolf nose." said Oliver.
"I think I just did too." said Hunter. He began to take big sniffs.
"Have your parents already started feeding you chum? I definitely smell it." asked Hunter.
"Yeah, they did last night and this morning." said Oliver.
"Well I can still smell it. This pool doesn't have a very good filter. The whole thing smells like fish. So do you." said Hunter.
"I think it's going to be difficult to fool you from now on." said Oliver.
"Is your mom making pie?" asked Hunter. His tail started wagging.
"I think she is." said Oliver.
"Apple?" asked Hunter.
"I really don't know." said Oliver. "You can really smell what kind it is?"
"I can smell the sugar she's sprinkling on it." said Hunter.
"Well, I think it's time for lunch. You want to eat inside or outside with me?" asked Oliver.
"You can't eat inside?" asked Hunter.
"I can't have my food properly if I eat inside." said Oliver. "I….I can't explain it. It…doesn't taste as good when I don't eat it from the water."
"You're going to get your mom to throw it in the water so you can swim around and eat it like a shark?" said Hunter. "Your behaviour sure is changing fast. Two days ago you wouldn't even touch raw meat."
Oliver looked embarrassed. "I can't really help it. It just sort of happened."
"It did for me too. Now that you mention it, I should probably eat outside too, if you don't mind." said Hunter. "I like to eat outside as well. The food tastes better to you if you get it in the water. Well, the food tastes better to me if I eat it off the ground."
"Off the ground?" asked Oliver. "Wouldn't it get dirty?"
"I don't care." said Hunter. "It tastes better."
So Oliver and Hunter had lunch outside. Oliver's parents had bought some meat before they had decided to feed Oliver fish, so Hunter decided to have that. Oliver ran up into the pool with his mother while Hunter carried his plate of raw meat over to a spot near the pool. He got down on all fours and started to eat. From the pool, Oliver watched him eat, curious. But Oliver's mother began to chum the water and Oliver's instincts immediately took over at the smell of blood, so he didn't watch Hunter for long. As Oliver started to eat the pieces of fish, Hunter was finishing. As he was chewing his last bite of meat, Hunter looked up to watch Oliver. Oliver was darting around the pool, coming up beneath the pieces of raw fish and snapping at them, ripping and tearing as he ate. Whenever he bit down on the fish, his eyes rolled over white, just like they did at school. Hunter wiped his mouth. He watched as Oliver snapped up at the last piece of floating fish. Hunter walked up the steps of the pool to meet Oliver at the top. He stuck his hand in the water and splashed the water a bit. Oliver, who was at the bottom of the pool, suddenly turned to look directly at him. He swallowed his last piece of fish and as he did, his eyes rolled over back to normal. Oliver shot up to the top of the pool.
"It sure is convenient to be able to get your attention so fast." said Hunter. "You really go all out when you're eating in there, huh?"
"Yeah," said Oliver, looking a little embarrassed. "I can't really control myself. Once I smell the blood, I kind of lose control."
"Don't worry." said Hunter. "It happens to the best of us."
For the rest of the day they decided to just do something normal, so they went inside the house and watched TV until Hunter had to go home for his dinner.
It was time for Oliver's dinner as well, so he walked outside and up the stairs and into the pool, feeling the water on his gills as he fell in. His mother began to chum the water and Oliver's instincts took over. His mother looked away as her son bit down on a piece of fish and his eyes rolled over white.