6 CHANGES

                                 Karen is in the dinning room with aunty Milan, she's holding an apple on her hand, taking a big bit that made a loud sound, ''thanks for the laundry'' aunty Milan wears an appreciative look, ''he is my boyfriend'' Karen says shyly ''kinda my duty'' A knock hits the door, ''I'll get it'' Karen says as she goes to open the door, ''Andrew! How are you? Come on in'' Karen says  giving Andrew a hug, he walks in ''good day aunt Milan'' Andrew greets ''Good day, how are you doing?'' She asks ''fine, how is Derek?'' Andrew asks, ''he is okay'' aunty Milan says ''can I... See him?'' He sighes ''sure'' aunty Milan says looking certain, he rushs up the stairs, as Karen sits back with aunty Milan.                                                             

             He opens the door, he sees  Derek is deep at sleep, he walks up to him ''Derek?'' He calls Derek opens his eyes, his eyes were so red, ''whoaw! Are you okay man?'' Andrew as he hesitantly took a step futher, ''I'm fine, what about Jesse?'' Derek asks in a low tone, ''he had to help his father in the granite company, today is Saturday, he sent his greetings, he promised to come tomorrow'' Andrew informs, ''that's good to know, I am not dismissing you but my head is pounding, really need to sleep'' Derek says tiredly, Andrew nods in agreement "sure, have a good rest" he leaves. Derek sighs, he closes his eyes to sleep again, he begins to feel hot and uncomfortable, he decides to take a bath, he removes his shirt and pulls down his trousers, He has only his  underwear on, he walks to the bathroom grabbing his towel, he  noticed a glitter on his laps, he took a closer look, he saw scales allover his legs down to his toes, he becomes confused and scared, he looks around like he was expecting to blame someone, he rushes to the bathtub, leaving his towel on the floor, he didn't even remove his underwear, he takes a sponge and begins to scrub his laps, he looks seriously paranoid, he grabs the liquid soap close to the faucet and puts it in the sponge and keeps scrubbing till his laps turns red, he opens the faucet using his hands to wash away the foam, he hopes that the scales would have gone, but they weren't, like it was part of his skin now, he sat in the bathtub examining his leg, fear engulfing him.

            Jesse sits in Derek's room, Derek covers himself in a blanket, his eyes were even reder than the previous day, he thought about telling Jesse but he is scared, ''I am happy you are getting better, I am so sorry I couldn't come earlier man'' Jesse apologizes ''it's no problem dude, I know you would have if you had the chance'' Derek says forcing a smile, ''so when would you resume school, don't worry about assignments and notes, I and Karen got that covered'' Jesse says proudly, ''thanks so much, I was thinking of that'' Derek says ''we are friends, that's what we do, we need you in the baseball club, we are so lacking behind'' Jesse complains, ''I'll try coming tomorrow'' Derek says with uncertainty, ''what?!, that is not nice, besides it's too early and aunt Milan would not give her permission'' Jesse says ''it is not doing me any good staying at home all day, I am sure school will help in my recovery, and I can't be letting you guys get all my works done, I have to do something'' Derek insists, ''I am sure you are damn happy'' ''of course I am!'' Jesse says hitting Dereks shoulders ''I think I'd stay home a bit longer'' Derek teases, he forgets his problems for a second ''why?'' Jesse asks with a worried frown ''you punched me man! That's why'' Derek says feigning annoyance, ''you are sure crazy'' Jesse says as they both laugh, ''I've gotta go man, see you in School tomorrow'' Jesse says leaving the room ''thanks for coming'' Derek was almost yelling ''anytime man'' Jesse closes the door, Derek sits up removing his blanket and drew up his trousers checking the scales on his leg, Jesse opens the door, Derek immediately covers himself, ''what's the problem?'' Jesse asks suspiciously, Derek nods ''nothing'' ''sure?'' He presses on ''totally fine'' Derek says trying to control his breath ''well I just wanted to tell you that I'll be borrowing your boot for tomorrows match my little cousin spoilt mine so... But just this week, would get a new one during the weekend'' Jesse informs innocently, ''sure! But your legs are bigger than mine, are you sure you can manage the tightness?'' Derek asks ''do I have a choice? Thanks man'' Jesse says leaving, Derek lets out a sigh of relief.       

             Candice sits in a bench just in marks corridor, mark is her boyfriend, he is a white boy, with brown hair, he is a senior. ''things are not just right back there at home, I feel that something is wrong, like a wrong situation is on it's way'' she places her head on his chest, ''you've just been going through a lot lately, but all is going to be fine'' he assures, she is not convinced, his words had never really comforted her but she allows him kiss her anyway, he places his hand on her chest, ''stop! I told you we won't be having sex anytime soon, I am still a virgin and you know'' Candice warns but not seriously, ''you've been saying that since last year and we've been dating for two years'' Mark complains ''but it should not be today, I need to get my mind off some things, this is getting weird, I got to go'' she stands up moving her hair to her left shoulder, she picks up her school bag and kiss mark on his  chin which immediately turned red, she turns to move, mark holds her back ''I promise this would get your mind of most things'' he kisses her lips slowly, she couldn't resist, she kiss back, she stops, their lips were swollen from sucking, ''I am not ready'' she says ''trust me you are'' he tries pulling her to another kiss, she resists "in as much as I want to, you know this is my vulnerable state, wouldn't want to regret a thing Mark, it's late, I need to go" and with this, she leaves.

     Derek sits up on his bed writing on his diary ''I feel a whole lot different, I have never really been scared of anything but now I am scared of my own self, who is Derek Corbett? Or what is he? I might be my worse nightmare. How can I keep hiding from everyone, how can I explain this scales on my legs? Things seems to be confusing, how can I get answers? Where can I get them? Many questions leaving blank spaces in my head, I feel cursed by nature, who can explain this new me? I can't act like all is well forever when they are certainly not... What does tomorrow hold? what about if there are many things that will still go wrong? Blank spaces are all I see... I'm sure I can pretend for some time but not too long...'' He closes his diary, putting it inside his side drawer, using other books on the bed to place on it. He sighs as he looks at the scales on his legs, he fell over the bed frustrated covering his face, he is stronger today but the frustration he feels is over his whole sense of reasoning, he strokes his hair in deep thoughts.