Dinner with grandparents
That´s right. Daniel had totally forgot. They had scheduled dinner with his grandparents weeks ago. He quickly changed into a more suiting attire (strangely enough, quite masculine) and complied with his family obligations.
It was a rather uneventful evening. As Daniel expected, not his grandparents nor the rest of his family were even slightly fazed by his feline anatomy. He ate and laughed and got into uncomfortable political discussions just as he has always done. By the time he got back home, he was quite exhausted, so he just Jake´s book on his nightstand and went to bed.
The following day was just business as usual. Daniel was looking forward to his camping trip, so he actually prepared all his equipment and had an early night. He got up at 6:00AM, which was outrageously early for someone his age. Not twenty minutes later, a laud honk from the street signaled the arrival of his friends.
"Good riddance, milady! Please board the carriage and we´ll be on our way." Said Gassan sluggishly.
"God, Gassan, are you drunk already?" Came Daniel.
"I won´t confirm nor deny that statement!"
"You know... it´s six in the morning..."
"Joy knows no timetable!"
He greeted the rest of his friends and shortly after learned that Gassan was trying out the booze they had stolen from everyone´s houses. To make sure it wasn´t spoiled, he said. Still, they laughed it off and started driving towards the forest.
"You know, we´ve got like seven bottles of scotch and vodka, but not a single cold one." Said David in a ceremonious tone.
"There´s a gas station a couple of miles ahead, there´s a seven-eleven right there and they never check for IDs." Answered Pam.
It sounded like a plan. They got to the gas station, picked a couple of six-packs from the fridge, and tried their hardest to look mature and responsible.
"Isn´t it a bit too early to have a party?" Said the store clerk as they were paying for the beer and a couple of random snacks to make it look less suspicious.
"No... I mean, it´s not for us. We ju-"
Jake was a terrible liar, luckily Daniel was ready to jump in and Gassan was sleeping in the car.
"Excuse him buddy, he´s a bit... special." Said Daniel with the sleekest tone he could muster.
"Well, you seem to be quite special too..." Came the clerk.
That was probably the worst pick-up line Daniel had ever heard, however, it was the first time another man was actually hitting on him, so he felt quite awkward. He felt so awkward, the he could only reply with a fit of nervous laughter.
"So, what´s your name?" Came the clerk once again, with a degree of straightforwardness that shouldn´t be socially acceptable.
Daniel was about to reply mechanically, but then he realized that the answer he had been giving to that question throughout his whole life was no longer sufficiently accurate. In the few seconds it took him to reply, he managed to think about his old life, his old body and his old self. He even tried to remember exactly how he looked like when he was a boy, but even that familiar image appeared to be fading. However, he was not about to let himself spiral into another existential crisis. It was a good day, he was with his best friends and they were probably about to have a blast. With his own sanity in mind, Daniel decided to just let this one slide, and replied with words he never thought he would say out loud.
"Danielle... my name is Danielle."
"Ooh, fancy. Is it French?" Said the clerk, completely disregarding the intensity of the moment Daniel had just had.
"Yeah, French for ´my crack´s so hairy shaving is pointless´" Pam promptly replied.
Written by crimsonstar on 29 February 2016
