Tommy didn't want to admit it. He wanted to believe what was happening to him was normal, hormonal, teenage boy stuff. He wanted to reason, wanted some logical explanation to these changes but he couldn't fathom them.
Parts of his body were littered with these delicate, colorful scales—which he thought at first was eczema, since he did suffer from the condition as a child—but he was pretty certain eczema didn't shimmer. And then, there was the growing of his hair. It was now down to his lower back. His canines and nails also began to sharpen.
And as the days passed, these changes were becoming worse. And they weren't just physical changes, but also drastic behavioral changes.
He developed, small, slightly noticeable breasts. His hips widened a little as well. But the part that freaked him out the most was the fucking vagina that replaced his dick and balls (which were small to begin with but still, having some was better than nothing).
For some reason, Tommy would just stand in the shower for hours and hours. And for some reason, it felt so damn good. But it wasn't enough. Something was missing—a place—"a home," and his instincts were telling him it wasn't the typical, usual urban one at that.
"Go to the water. The water is home," the voice in his head whispered. It was mesmerizing, convincing, and it made Tommy very very anxious. He already had a home. His home was here, with his parents, with his friends—with Ethan. He desperately wanted to ignore the voice, but it chanted to him daily. And then one day, it decided to chant something different from its usual reverb.
"Meat. I want meat. I'm hungry for meat."
His parents were worried. Insistently knocking on his door daily, but he refused to let him see him like this. They left food and water outside his door three times a day, just to make sure he would eat—which Tommy was very grateful for. And it probably disturbed them a little because he consistently asked for was raw meat, but they didn't deny him his meal. He wanted to tell his parents—but was petrified by this transformation. What if they decided they didn't love him anymore? What if they were afraid of him? Disgusted? What if he was taken away by some government agency and experimented on?
The possibilities of outcomes were endless, and none in the boy's mind were good outcomes either.
Tommy fiddled with the hem of his sweater, biting his lip as he stared at himself in the mirror.
At least my face hadn't change, he noted.
But the other changes had been more than noticeable and Tommy couldn't risk greeting his family like this. There was no hiding.
He had no where to turn to—so he did what he always did when he needed someone to talk to. The boy grabbed his phone off the bed, and looked for "Ethan" in his contacts.
His best friend could at least be there for him. He would certainly take the news better than his parents.
The boy was about to press his contact and call him, but unexpectedly there was Ethan's voice outside his door. His voice was laced with concern, and inwardly it made Tommy feel guilty that he hadn't reached out to him for all of those days.
"Tommy, your parents are really worried about you. Can I come in? Whatever you're going through, we can resolve together, like we always have."
Gulping, Tommy walked towards the door, unlocking it and pulling it open for a flash of a second, reeling in Ethan with him. And then he shut it, re-locking it. The taller boy stumbled, almost falling on the floor but he caught himself, and stood back up, dusting himself.
"What the hell, Tommy! I could have fell!"
Tommy didn't answer, and instead waited for Ethan to turn around, and once he did, his eyes opened as wide as saucers.
"Woah."
"Yeah I know," Tommy said begrudgingly, showing off his pointed teeth.
"That's new. And your hair—"
"Oh, it gets worse Ethan. Much, much worse."
Ethan's eyes were still wide—in fact, they seemed to get impossibly wider, completely stupefied.
"How much worse?" Ethan asked, dreadfully.
Suddenly, Tommy grabbed Ethan's hand, pulling it so it rested on his chest. His grip was strong, strong in a way that was very possible for someone his size.
"Ow, that hurts Tommy—oh, that wasn't there before either." Ethan seemed preoccupied with squeezing Tommy's chest, a blush and seemingly infatuated with his small bosom.
The smaller boy, slapped his hand away, beet red.
"Dumbass, don't grope them!"
Ethan seemed to snap out of his stupor, embarrassed about his actions.
"Fuck—sorry. Moving on. So—um, does that mean you have uh, a, 'you know what' too?"
Snapping his face away from Ethan, Tommy closed his eyes and nodded profusely.
"So you're a—"
"Don't you fucking say it."
"Right."
He was still a boy—well, in his mind at least.
"Did you notice the scales and claws too?"
"I was just about to mention that."
Taking in a deep breath, Tommy sat on his bed, legs dangling. Ethan sat next to him, hands in his lap.
"What am I?" he asked desperately, turning his gaze towards Ethan. "I keep having this voice tell me to go to the water, but why?"
The taller boy pondered on that thought for a moment. And then his eyes lit up in realization.
"I think–I think you're a mermaid."
"What? Those things are fucking real?"
"I mean—you're living proof of it, right?"
"I guess it makes sense. I've been feeling homesick, and I'm home. I constantly feel like I need to be near water. I've also been craving raw meat a lot."
"Well in legends and myths, mermaids were notorious for being 'man-eaters.'"
Tommy let out a laugh, and gently pushed Ethan's shoulder.
"Do you really think I'd eat a man?"
Ethan's smile did something funny to his heart, like it was beating a hundred miles an hour. And there was the strange sensation of butterflies in his stomach. It's normal, he reasoned to himself, anyone would feel intimidated by very, good-looking like Ethan. Not to say he was attracted to Ethan, because he wasn't. It was just a blatant fact that Ethan was handsome. He had girls chasing after him like bees swarming.
"Do you think I'd really eat a man?"
"I don't know, do I look appetizing to you?" Ethan jokingly glided his palm from his face to his chest.
Tommy ignored the question, not wanting to answer it to himself nor Ethan.
"I have to go," Tommy whimpered.
"I know." Ethan's smile was now sordid, and his eyes felt watery too.
"Will you help me?"
"Of course. That's what friends are for."
