Jamie's house was the color of peach yogurt and sat crooked on a street lined with low fences and leaning mailboxes. Lian had never been invited to anyone's house before. He stood at the edge of the lawn with his hands stuffed into his jacket pockets, debating whether to ring the bell.
Jamie spotted him from the front window and burst through the door. "Took you long enough! Come on, everyone's in the backyard."
He followed her through the house. It smelled like cinnamon and something fried. Her mom waved from the kitchen, apron dusted with flour.
"Lian, right? Jamie said you're the quiet one. You hungry?"
"No thank you," Lian said quickly.
Outside, a group of kids were gathered around a patio table littered with snacks and empty soda cans. Music hummed from someone's phone. When Lian stepped out, the chatter slowed just slightly—a ripple of unfamiliar eyes. He looked down.
"Hey, everyone, this is Lian," Jamie announced. "Be nice or I'll release the fox."
She winked at him. He smiled back, awkwardly.
They played card games and made jokes he didn't always understand. Someone passed him a soda. A girl with short braids asked about his hair dye. "Did you do it yourself? It looks kind of sick."
"In China," he said. "My cousin helped."
She nodded like that was perfectly normal.
For a moment, Lian let himself enjoy it.
When the sun dipped and fireflies started blinking, Jamie pulled him away from the group and led him to a small shed at the edge of the backyard. It was half-buried in vines.
"My hideout," she whispered. "No parents allowed. Come on."
Inside was cramped, full of pillows and string lights. Posters of foxes, wolves, and anime characters lined the wooden walls. Jamie flopped down and tossed him a snack bag.
"So," she said. "Tell me what's really going on with you."
He hesitated. He could lie. He usually did.
But the glow from the string lights made the room feel safe. And Jamie wasn't like the others.
"I see things," he said finally. "Animals. Inside people. Like... their true selves."
Jamie blinked once. Twice. Then she said, "Cool."
"You believe me?"
"Why wouldn't I? People are weird. You ever met my Aunt Lupe? Definitely a parrot."
Lian laughed. It surprised him again.
"What about me?" she asked.
"You were a fox," he said. "Still are."
Jamie leaned back. "I'll take it."
Lian looked down. "But... I don't think I'm anything. Not really. I can't see myself. Only everyone else."
Jamie was quiet for a long time. Then she said, "Maybe you're still figuring out who you are. Like a shapeshifter."
The word hit something inside him. Shapeshifter.
"Maybe," he said softly.
When he left, the sky had turned to velvet. Jamie walked him to the sidewalk.
"You should come over more," she said. "You know, whenever you feel weird. Which seems like a lot."
He smirked. "Thanks."
As he walked home, he passed under a streetlamp and paused. For just a second, he saw something shimmer in the puddle below him. A flicker of wings. A flash of shifting color.
Not a shadow. Not a trick of the light.
Something becoming.
He didn't run. He didn't look away.
He just walked forward.
That night, Lian sat at his desk, notebook open. Instead of animals, he drew shapes. Half-finished creatures. Eyes peeking from behind leaves. Wings half-grown. A fox curled beside a changing figure.
He didn't know what it meant yet.
But he knew this:
He wasn't alone anymore.
And whatever he was becoming, it had already begun.