"Didn
"Didn´t you feel funny at any point?"
"I felt funny as fuck after you left and we cracked open one of Pam´s father José Cuervo bottles!"
"... so everything was normal?"
"Sure, I guess."
Jake took another hit and started playing some music from his cell phone. Daniel simply couldn´t understand why everyone´s world was still the same, as if nothing had happened.
"I would suck a dick for a good burger right now..." Said Jake out of nowhere.
"Well, suck mine."
Daniel answered almost instinctively. That was the kind of joke they used to crack on each other since they were kids. Still, as soon as Daniel remembered his current situation, he froze for a second and waited attentively for Jake´s reply.
"Sure, as soon as you grow one..."
Strangely enough, that was the exact same answer Jake would have given him not three days ago. Daniel could tell Jake was fully aware of the fact that he was a walking tigress, and yet, he was still his best friend, and he wasn´t treating him any differently.
"I may need some help with that. How is yours coming along? Are you done or is it still a work in progress?" Said Daniel jokingly.
"Oh, fuck off..."
They both stayed there for at least two hours, laughing like kids and smoking like grad-students. Eventually, Jake passed out on Daniel´s bed, and Daniel decided to just doze off next to his friend.
By noon, Jake woke up violently and ran back to his house while rambling about how his parents were going to kill him. They probably would, but still, after being left alone in his room, Daniel felt an strange sense of peace that he hadn´t felt since the transformation. It was as if everything was going to be just fine.
"Danielle, get down here!" Screamed Daniel´s mother from the first floor.
Daniel was already awake, but it was still hard for him to muster the courage to go downstairs. His mom was a really nice lady, but when she got mad, she got really mad.
"Yes, mom...?"
"You are in real trouble young lady!"
"Troub- Why? What did I do?"
Daniel´s mom held an unnaturally stern face, way out of character even if she was actually livid. She looked at Daniel right in the eye for a good ten seconds and then slipped into a short burst of laugher.
"I´m sorry sweetie, Jake told me it would be fun to do that... If he could have seen the look on your face..."
"Really...?"
"Come on, don´t be such a downer!"
Daniel´s mom loved Jake, she had known him since he was a little boy, and their relationship was a bit too close even for Daniel´s liking.
"... is that all?"
"No, no... he also told me to give this to you when he left. He said that you would like it." She was still giggling.
"What is it?"
"I don´t know, it looks like a book."
"Erm... alright... thanks, mom."
A book? Jake wouldn´t read a book out of his own volition even if he had been stranded in a deserted island. Still, it was quite a thoughtful detail. Daniel took the package back to his room and unwrapped the plain brown paper covering with an almost morbid curiosity. A geographical history of tigers and how to tame them. It was definitely a flashy title, and the book seemed old and used, as if it had been read more time that it should have. Daniel started to read the first the page, but before he could get even the slightest gist, his father´s voice boomed through the corridor:
"Danielle, we´ll be leaving in fifteen minutes, with or without you!" He said jokingly.
Written by crimsonstar on 28 February 2016
