Evolution.

It's hard to describe how I felt when I woke up that morning. Tired, for starters, which was weird considering it had been a long while since I woke up feeling any sort of tiredness. But it wasn't that I was physically exhausted, rather it was more akin to that relief after getting out of a stressful situation. My head felt light, not from any sort of dizziness or nausea but from a sensation like I'd just gotten something important done.

I knew I had a dream of some sort, but I couldn't remember it well. I think Alice and Noelle were involved in ways that weren't exactly appropriate, but after that it was even blurrier.

Well, strange dreams weren't exactly uncommon for me these days, so I decided to let it go. I had to get ready and make breakfast, so I hurried to get my morning routine done. I took a piss, showered, brushed my teeth and went back to my room to get dressed.

As I was putting on my boxers, I started laughing from hearing my sister's groans and Cake's loud meowing in the other room. Cake knew it was time for breakfast, and if she had spent the night in Isabelle's room, well, she had to wake her up to get out. Cake was a better alarm clock than a phone because she wouldn't let you snooze for 5 more minutes.

"Alright, alright…!" Isabelle groaned. Thanks to Cake, she was waking up at around the same time as mom and I.

My laughter was replaced by annoyance when I put on my shirt and felt it tight around my back and shoulders. It wasn't the first time I noticed, but it was the moment I knew I couldn't put it off any longer. I needed to buy new shirts and T-shirts. It wasn't extremely drastic, but I was bulking up. My shoulders, my back, my arms and even my legs were getting a little bigger, at least enough that my S sized clothes no longer fit well. Before you start picturing dumb crap, no, I was nowhere close to looking like Thomas or Ben. I was building muscle, but not to that level. Well, if my growth-sprout continued, I would've had to make a wardrobe change anyway, so it couldn't be helped. For now, though, I would have to put up with tight shirts.

When I was walking down the stairs to make breakfast, Cake was already free from Isabelle's room and ran past me, heading directly to the kitchen. I put on a black apron and left my jacket on the backrest of a chair like usual, just in case I got dirty. Changing a shirt was easier than changing my one school jacket.

The screaming cat had to make sure she was served first. There were times when she still tried to jump on the kitchen counter out of pure impatience, but she mostly held the urge back. I served the wet kitten food on her plate and set it down on the floor. Her purring as she ate was as close to a lawnmower as an animal can get, only cuter than a lawnmower.

After five minutes, while I was frying eggs, Isabelle came down and entered the kitchen.

"Good morning…" she greeted with a big yawn.

I turned my head back to her and greeted her as well. "Good morning. Cake didn't scratch you this time?"

"I learned my lesson, okay?" she said. Then, as her eyes were focused on me…

{His shoulders really are broader…}

I almost threw up my own heart, and you would've, too, if you'd just felt what I felt. I was watching Isabelle, okay? I had my eyes on her and I was well awake, yet this still HAD to have been my imagination.

I heard her voice, yet her mouth didn't move. I heard her say my shoulders were broader, but she didn't actually say it. No, saying I heard her is wrong, too. I didn’t hear any words. It was… It was like an idea, a thought that I was sure didn’t come from me, but from Isabelle, yet I ‘heard’ it, too.

When we think, we sometimes word our thoughts, right? But we also fill them with ideas that don't need to be explained, because they're only for ourselves and we understand them. But I got a short glimpse of Isabelle's thoughts, and understood them. I understood the feeling of melancholy, longing, and even pride that, if put into words, would be 'His shoulders really are broader'.

"Oliver? Are you okay?" Isabelle asked me. "You look pale."

My hands felt cold, and in trying to hold them to warm them up, I noticed they were shaking.

"I… I don't know," I said. "C-Can you finish the eggs? I need to go to the bathroom."

Without waiting for an answer, I hurried up the stairs with Cake running after me. I walked past mom, ignoring her morning greeting and closing the door behind me. Cake managed to get in.

I looked at myself in the mirror. Yes, I was pale, and with damn good reason. That… That had to have been my imagination, but the sensation wasn’t completely foreign. It was like my sixth sense, only… clearer. No longer a vague feeling, but something more concrete.

I’d grown used to it all, and nothing had changed much since that one morning. I had almost forgotten…

“I’m a freak…” I muttered to myself with a humorless chuckle.

Thankfully, this didn’t make me hyperventilate or anything. It almost did, and my head did hurt, but… after the initial shock, it wasn’t as surprising. Like I said, the feeling was familiar. Was my ‘sixth sense’ evolving or something? Was it a good or a bad thing?

Cake’s meow as she rubbed herself on my legs called my attention. Was she trying to cheer me up? I picked her up and looked her straight in the eyes.

“If I ever start hearing your thoughts, I’m turning myself in to a mental hospital.”

Cake meowed, and thank fuck I didn’t understand it. If I started hearing animal voices in my head, I don’t think I would’ve been able to handle it.

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