Lionade

“Groceries, groceries, always the groceries…” Tom muttered as he pushed his cart through Vons. The biggest disadvantage the 16 year old had encountered so far with his driver’s license was the fact that getting the food was HIS job now. While he didn’t have to supply the cash (except for gas, but Vons was really only up the hill) it was usually at least a half an hour, sometimes an hour out of his day. His cart was filled with some normal items; bread, fruit, cereal, but it also had some party items including a cake. His little sister’s birthday party was coming up. She should technically have been along for the ride, but the cake had been pre-ordered, all that Tom had to do was pick it up.
Tom glanced at his list, blonde hair shifting about as he headbanged slightly to his headphones. He kept them on while going through the store, because he knew where everything was. He made it a rule, though, never to wear them when he was checking out, just to be polite. Tom smiled, all he needed was drinks for the party and he was done. He pushed his cart over to the drink aisle and looked at his options. He was sure they had several 2-liters of soda at home, so maybe something else. His eyes skipped over Sunny D and fell on the lemonades. He hadn’t had actual lemonade in awhile, his family always used the ‘Just add water!’ brands.
Well, he was the one in power of buying, and he definitely had enough cash to get a couple 2-liters of lemonade. He grabbed a bottle of lemonade, and turned to grab another of the same brand, when a flash of golden yellow caught his eye. He turned, wondering what such a softer yellow was doing against bright lemon and plant-like colors. “Lionade” read the wrapper around the 2-liter. Tom checked the surrounding bottles, none of them bore the same brand. He pulled the bottle off the shelf and studied it. Well, he always had been a fan of big cats… why not? He added it to his cart and proceeded to the checkout line.
“I’m home!” Tom yelled when he walked into the garage door. His family was very big on yelling, not necessarily in anger but just because it was more convenient to yell across the house than to get up and actually find the person to talk to. A couple of his friends said they thought it was kind of weird, but he was just used to it. Silence met his yell, and he remembered that his older brother was probably out with his girlfriend, and his little sister Larissa plus Mom were out looking at decorations. Dad was at work. Tom took a couple trips back and forth from the garage to the kitchen bringing all the groceries in, then put them away. Normally it would’ve been Larissa’s chore, but when she wasn’t home, it was up to Jack to make sure none of the perishables perished.
Soon he’d put away everything except the Lionade. Tom was darn thirsty, and he figured he’d drink some, pour the rest in a pitcher, throw away the bottle, and on one would know the difference. He poured himself a glass and gulped it down as he walked to his room. Knowing his family, they might not even be back for a couple hours. He scratched absentmindedly at the back of his head as he pushed open his door and switched his computer on. He checked his email, which notified him that his friend Zeek had put something new on Youtube. Zeek’s real name was Ezekiel, but he didn’t like to go by that. Tom clicked the link to Zeek’s new video and leaned back in his chair to watch. His hand almost immediately went up to his hair and began running through it. It was a really old habit of his, whenever he was reading or watching something, it seemed impossible to keep his hands away from his head or face.
Zeek’s video proved to be quite hilarious, and Tom was nearly splitting his sides just one minute into it. Around two minutes into the movie however, he paused and frowned. It felt like something was moving under his hand. He patted his hair. Was he just imagining it or?... He walked as calmly as he could to the bathroom and flicked on the switch, staring at his reflection in the mirror. At first, nothing happened.
He gave a sigh of relief and turned to go, when for the second time that day, something caught his eye. He stared at the mirror, partly in horror but mostly in shock as his hair lengthened and grew darker before his eyes. His eyes changed color too, melting from bright blue into gentle brown. His hair continued to grow in length as an intense itching feeling spread from the top of his neck and slowly began to spread to the rest of his body.
Images in the mirror were all forgotten, Tom put his hands to his neck and SCRATCHED. He was getting close to hyperventilating, his hands didn’t even feel like they were touching skin anymore, it felt all soft and… and… The itching faded slowly from his neck but around his chest and upper back it only intensified. Tom ripped off his shirt and kept scratching. Something soft began to spring up between his fingers. He temporarily paused scratching to stare at it in disbelief. All over his chest, and springing up in his lower torso was thick golden… fur?! “What the F- AAAAAAGH!!” he began to swear but stopped as the most excruciating pain entered his head. It felt like he was having his braces tightened, but he’d had them off for a year now.
His jaw lengthened and although he couldn’t see it, a snout was growing on his face. His hair was still growing consistently thicker and bushier, it was almost a full fledged mane. He pounded the ground and yelled in a voice that was constantly becoming louder. The itching reached his hands and he stared at them as they melted into pads with fur on the back of them, and his nails darkened, sharpened, and elongated into wicked claws. He gritted his teeth as the pain entered the bottom of his spine. Something was trying to stretch it like a rubber band, but it was bone! Bone didn’t stretch… But his bones apparently did, something was filling the back of his pants, and he quickly lost those as well, leaving him in just underwear.
Something was flicking around and constantly hitting him in the back, but Tom barely noticed. His throat was emitting growls through clenched and jagged teeth, as his legs began to change. They grew pads and claws quite similar to his hands (paws, now?).  And then finally, FINALLY, the changes were over. Tom went over to the toilet, and promptly threw up. When his nausea had passed, he picked himself up and examined his changes in the mirror. A noble lion’s face stared back at him, as well as a body covered with fur, a tail swishing around in a mix of confusion and excitement, and horrid looking claws. He’d become some kind of weird… AWESOME… mix between a lion and a human. He’d been a fan of anthro art and watched several anthro artists on his DeviantArt account, but never did he even DREAM… He took in a huge breath and let out an enormous roar of pleasure. Somewhere in the back of his mind, something was panicking at what would happen when any member of his family came home, but he shoved that aside. Right now, he was determined to enjoy his new body, senses, and power… As well as hide the Lionade under his bed.