Naomi noticed Papa had left the garage door open and she could see his car parked inside. She decided to forego the front door and came in through the garage.

          "Papa, I'm home," she called as she set her bag down on the couch.

          "Hey, Squirt," came the reply from the kitchen. "How was your day?"

          She found him at the stove, stirring something in a pot, wearing a flowered apron around his neck. Naomi couldn't help but giggle a little. "Nice outfit," she said.

          Papa glanced down and smiled. "What, this? I thought it made me look dashing."

          "It suits you." She smiled. "What's for dinner?"

          "I was thinking chicken alfredo." He showed her the noodles sitting in the pot of hot water. "With your maman's homemade alfredo recipe. How does that sound?"

          Naomi was a little shocked. "We haven't had that in ages. What's the occasion?"

          "Well, I figured you'd want something yummy to refuel on after your tests today, and prepare you for the ones you have tomorrow. How did it go, by the way?"

          Naomi shrugged. "Alright, I guess. I think I did pretty well on the history test, but math definitely kicked my butt. After I finished, I followed your example and imagined the teacher getting eaten by a chimera. Though, I think I one-upped you."

          Papa raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And how's that?"

          "I was riding it."

          He smiled and gave her a high five. "That's my girl."

          Naomi grinned, but it quickly faded as she noticed a strange but familiar feeling in her hands. At first, she thought her fingers were just buzzing from the impact of hitting her father's hand, but the feeling was too familiar and brought too much dread into her stomach for it to be a mere sting from a high five. Her heart dropped into her stomach and her breath caught in her throat. Two days in a row? That had never happened before.

          Papa's voice sounded echoey and far away. "You okay there, Squirt? You just got really pale all of a sudden."

          "Uh, uhh, yeah, I'm fine, I, uh, just... I just realized I answered a question wrong on my math final." Naomi tried to keep the shaking out of her voice. The tingling was moving at an alarming rate. It had already completely covered her hands and was halfway to her elbows.

          "Don't you hate that?" Papa said sympathetically. The tingling was a few inches from her shoulders. "The same thing happened to me when I was taking a final in my chemistry class my freshman year of college. The question was about--"

          "Interesting as that sounds, Papa," Naomi interrupted, "I've gotta run to the bathroom. I've been holding it since lunch." She smiled apologetically and ran for the bathroom. The feeling enveloped her chest and was quickly traveling down her stomach and up her neck. Her head and face were tingling in four seconds. Her abdomen was completely covered in six.

          What is happening? Naomi thought in a panic as her legs started to shake, whether from the buzzing feeling or fear she couldn't tell. The Shift had never come two days in a row before, and it certainly had never struck so quickly and suddenly. Is this it? she thought. What if this was the time she Shifted for good? Was this the last night she would ever see her normal face?

          Don't be so melodramatic, the rational part of her brain said. The one thing that's predictable about the Shift is that it's unpredictable. It's probably nothing serious.

          But rational thought left her as the feeling reached her ankles and completely covered her toes in less time than Naomi was comfortable with. The tingling turned to warmth, and then that warmth was gone before Naomi even had time to register that it was there. She shuddered violently and it had nothing to do with the sudden cold.

          "N-gah!" Naomi let out a cry of pain and shock at the sudden and intense burning pain in her hands. It felt like a laser was burning a hole through the center of the palms. Her hands were glowing, too. Her palms always turned red during this phase of the Shift, but now her hands were burning so hot her fingertips were painful to look at, and her palms were burning so hot she had to look away. She fumbled blindly for the tap, hoping to run her hands under cool water, but by the time the spout was rushing out cold water, the feeling in her hands had exploded and all the heat seemed to be transported back to where it came from, rather than the swift traveling across her body Naomi was used to.

          It took several moments for Naomi to calm the rising panic in her chest. Her breaths were choppy and shallow and her now-glittering hands shook. She nearly jumped to the ceiling thanks to her enhanced energy and strength when Papa knocked on the door. "You okay in there, Squirt? I thought I heard you yell."

          She swore under her breath. "Yeah, I'm fine," she lied. "I'm just... constipated!"

          Naomi smacked herself in the forehead so hard she saw stars.

          "Did you say...?" Papa began.

          "Yep, constipated," she grunted; it was too late to rescind the excuse, so might as well play it out. "I may be a while."

          Good, now she had an excuse to hide in the bathroom until the Shift was over. The bad news was that she no longer had any dignity left.

          "Oh, um, well, let me know if you need anything, I guess." Papa's voice sounded as awkward as Naomi felt.

          "Thank you," she called. She rested her forehead against the door and released the breath she'd been holding when she heard her father's footsteps fade at the end of the hallway. "That was close," she whispered to herself.

          Naomi looked down at her hand, which was still shaking, and glared at the light she saw reflected in it. What had just happened? Why was the Shift so sudden? Why had there been next to no warning? This Shift had been even faster and more intense than yesterday's. What was happening? Was this the beginning of the end? Would she one day Shift and then never return to normal, caught forever as walking glitter? The idea made her feel sick and her stomach churned.

          I'm overreacting, she told herself. The only predictable thing about Shifting is that it's unpredictable. Naomi took a deep breath to calm her nerves. This wasn't the end. It was just a fluke. All things in nature had flukes, mistakes, or mutations from time to time. There was nothing wrong with Naomi's Shifting-- well, nothing more wrong than usual. Naomi repeated the reasoning over and over to herself like a mantra. She had just gotten her heart rate back to normal when the hairs stood up on the back of her neck and a shiver went down her spine. It was the feeling she got when she felt she was being watched.

          Naomi pulled her hood up over her head, pulled the strings tight, and turned away from the mirror. She pulled her hands inside her jacket sleeves and ducked her head down low. "Papa, is that you?" she called. The was no answer. "Papa?" she tried a bit louder.

          "You need something, Squirt?" his voice called from the kitchen. Too far. It couldn't have been him. But who else could it be? There was no one else in the house, and there were no windows in the bathroom. It must have just been her nerves, Naomi decided.

          "Uh, never mind!" she called. "I found another roll!"

          I hate myself, she thought.

          "There's air freshener in the hall closet if you need it," Papa informed her.

          "Thanks," she replied.

          I really hate myself.

          "You should turn the fan on, too," he suggested.

          "Got it!" she said through grit teeth.

          Naomi sighed and sat on the counter. I really, really hate myself.

          It was just then that the telephone rang. Naomi could hear Papa's voice answering. "You've reached the Walkers. This is Alan speaking. How may I help you?"

          Silence for a moment.

          "I'm well. How are you, kiddo?"

          A pause.

          "Naomi? Why do you want to talk to her when you could chat with me? I thought we were friends," he teased.

          Another pause.

          "Yes, she's here. Let me just get her for you. It was nice talking to you, kiddo."

          It was a few moments later that papa was knocking on the bathroom door. "Hey, Squirt, Darcy's on the phone for you. I'll leave it outside the door."

          "Thanks, Papa," she called through the door. She waited until she heard him whistling some song with two parts, which he was trying and failing to whistle at the same time. When Naomi was satisfied that Papa had out of view of the door she ducked down below eye level, opened the door, snatched it, and quickly closed and locked the door again. "Hello?"

          "Hey, it's me." Darcy. "What's up?"

          Naomi tried to keep her tone conversational and light. "Oh, nothing much. But, why did you call my house? I have a cell phone, you know."

          The phone crackled as Darcy sighed. "Hale dug my phone out of my bag and erased half my contacts. That's actually why I'm calling. Can you shoot me a text real quick so I can get your number again?"

          "Yeah, sure, just a sec." Holding the phone against her face with her shoulder, Naomi dug her phone out of her pocket to send the text when she saw her hands a stopped short. She had expected them to be all glitter-fied, but they were completely normal. She looked in the mirror at her face. Not a speck of sparkle to be seen. Naomi let out a relieved laugh-sigh. She had expected the Shift to last hours, given the intensity and suddenness of it, but apparently that wasn't the case.

          "What's so funny?" came Darcy's voice from the phone.

          "Oh, uh, just your contact picture in my phone," she said nonchalantly.

          "What? What is it?"

          Naomi didn't answer.

          "Naomi, what did you put as my contact picture?"

          "Aaaannnnnddd.... sent! Okay, see you tomorrow, Darcy."

          "No, I am not hanging up this phone until you tell me what my contact pic is," Darcy said stubbornly.

          "Have fun listening to the dial tone, then."

          "Naomi!"

          "Just look at the text I sent you," she told her.

          Darcy let out a half-sigh/half-growl. Naomi could hear her muttering things that ought not be repeated on the other end of the line as she checked her phone. "I... I'm confused," she said when she came back. "That's just us that the water park. How is that funny?"

          "Because I remember what happened right after the picture was taken," Naomi said with a sly smile. "Someone had jumped into the pool right behind us and splashed us. The funny part is you had gotten the bulk of it."

          "I remember that now," Darcy grimaced. "It was really cold."

          "It was really funny," Naomi corrected.

          "Naomi, you jerk! You had me all worked up! I thought you had set something embarrassing for my contact photo."

          "Not my fault if you jump to conclusions, Darce," she said innocently. "I should go. Papa's probably waiting dinner on me. Was there anything else you needed?"

          "No, that was it. Enjoy your evening, jerkface. And say hi to your old man for me."

          "Will do. See you tomorrow."

          Naomi sighed and slumped against her locker.

          "So, how'd your biology test go?" Darcy asked.

          Naomi let out an unintelligible groan.

          "About as well as expected, then."

          Naomi groaned again and nodded. "I stayed up all night studying for that stupid test, and I didn't even make it passed the first question without panicking."

          "What was the first question?" Darcy asked. "'Name?'"

          "No. What, is my life a meme? It was, 'Which of the animals in the following diagram consumes the most energy?' And underneath that it had a bunch of pictures of rabbits and eagles and stuff. I don't even remember covering that in class!"

          Of course, lack of preparation hadn't been the only reason Naomi had performed poorly. She'd been so wound up about last night's sudden Shift that she had been more focused on waiting for the tingling to appear in her fingertips and developing an escape route than the test itself.

          "Look on the bright side," Darcy said cheerfully. "Only a few more hours and then we're off the hook for a whole two weeks! And," she added, "we have the lodge waiting for us just a short, four-hour trip away!"

          Naomi managed a small smile, but it wasn't her test failure that made it a challenge. It was the Shifting. The Shift last night had shaken her more than she would admit, and she was worried that they would continue to get more intense and closer together with less warning. But most importantly she was scared of what would happen if someone found out that she turned into ... whatever it was she turned into. The fear was almost enough to tell Darcy she'd changed her mind about the lodge and just stay home locked in her room all day. The only things that stopped her from doing so were that Darcy would be heartbroken if she did, and that Naomi would likely receive answers to all the questions that had been forming since she'd overheard Darcy's conversation with Sunshine at the lodge.

          The day passed slowly, and when the release bell finally rang, Naomi was out of her seat and out the front door in a matter of moments.

          "Nomi, wait up!" Darcy panted as she struggled to match Naomi's pace. "Geez, girl, what's your hurry?"

          "I just want to get home," Naomi mumbled.

          "How come? Is your dad home early today?"

          "No," she said honestly.

          "Then why are you making a mad-dash for home? Finally gotten sick of me, huh?" Dacy gently elbowed Naomi's arm.

          "Sick of school's more like it. If I had to take another test I was going to scream." She shuddered to emphasize the point.

          They reached the part of their journey where they went separate ways, Naomi to the left and Darcy forward. "I'll see you on Monday," Naomi said as she began to walk away. "Eight o'clock, right?"

          "Yeah, but I'll be seeing you sooner than that," Darcy said behind her.

          Naomi froze and turned around. "What do you mean?"

          Darcy just smiled as the walk sign turned green. "You'll see." She winked, and was crossing the street before Naomi could demand an answer.

          "Well, this is foreboding," Naomi said to the empty street.

          Surprisingly, Papa was there when Naomi got home. "Hey there, Squirt!" he called from his office as Naomi was about to throw her bag into her room.

          "Papa?" Naomi asked, stepping into his office. He stood from his desk chair and gave her a hug with a kiss on the head. "What are you doing home? I thought you had that session with the retired police officer today."

          "He called and cancelled," Papa explained. "Something about a leaky faucet that had to be fixed. I'm glad you're here. We only have two hours before we have to leave, and we things to do before we go."

          Naomi reeled back. "Leave? Where are we going?"

          "The Jogahs invited us over for dinner tonight at six. I told them we would supply a loaf or two of bread. Do you want to help me?" He made his way to the kitchen and Naomi followed, surprised she didn't even notice her legs moving.

          "So that's what Darcy meant," she muttered to herself as she prepped the mixer while Papa gathered ingredients. She slipped an apron over her head, and Papa bent down to allow her to do the same to him.

          After mixing flour with eggs, sugar, and yeast, they left the dough to rise beneath a clean hand towel. Papa dusted off his hands. "Well," he said. "I'm going to go take a shower. Will you knead and form the dough into loaves when it's ready?"

          "Sure."

          "And you might want to consider cleaning yourself up a bit, too," he added.

          Naomi looked down at clothes beneath her apron. "What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"

          "It's got flour on it," Papa said.

          "I don't see any--hey!" Naomi coughed and sputtered at the flour Papa threw in her face. She sighed. "Yeah, should've seen that coming."

          "Probably." Papa had a mischievous grin on his face.

          Naomi shook her head and put her hands on her hips. "Who's supposed to be the adult here? 'Cause I keep forgetting."

          "Ah, but adulting is no fun. Besides," he added, "who said you had to act like an adult?"

          "Someone around here should," she said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna get in the shower first." She flung her apron in her father's chest and raced off to the bathroom, laughing as she went.

          At precisely six o'clock, two steaming loaves of bread wrapped in foil in hand, and ponytail still damp from her shower, Naomi stood beside Papa on the Jogahs' front step. Just as the sun was starting to slip behind the mountains in the distance, Papa rang the doorbell. Fifteen seconds later, the cherry red door swung open and Mr. Jogah greeted them. Mr. Jogah looked like what you might expect a Native American chief to look like. He was a tall man, and sturdily built. His copper skin was weathered, and his dark hair hair was long and better cared for than Naomi's. His dark eyes were nearly black, but they shone with light as he smiled and welcomed them inside.

          "Thank you for inviting us," Papa said as he removed his jacket and hung it on the coat rack.

          "Our pleasure," Mr. Jogah said. His voice was deep and rumbled like a distant, friendly roll of thunder. "Darcy was actually the one who suggested it, and I'm glad she did. It's been far too long since we've sat and enjoyed a meal together." He turned to Naomi. "It is good to see you again, Naomi."

          Naomi smiled. "You, too, Chief."

          Mr. Jogah laughed at the nickname as he led them through the house. The Jogah residence was very cozy. The top half of the walls were painted a dark brown and the bottom half was made of smooth river stones. On the walls hung paintings of beautiful landscapes, bison grazing in a field, and a deer pelt or two. There was even a finely beaded satchel hanging from a nail, showing off colors of dark red and vibrant blue. All the wood in the house looked to have been skinned and whittled, and gave Naomi the feeling that she had just walked into a naked forest. The house smelled amazing, too. It smelled of rich spices and cooking meat, and it made Naomi's mouth water.

          Mr. Jogah led them into the living room, where three young boys all the same age were playing with Lincoln Logs on the soft hide of an elk that had been made into a rug. Nine-year-old Hunter, Hale, and Lenny were triplets, and they were each the spitting image of their father. Their matching dark hair and dark eyes made them hard to tell apart, but Naomi had come to learn to identify them by the differences in their behavior.

          One of the boys noticed their entrance and gave Naomi an evil grin before elbowing on of his brothers next to him. That one was Hale, for sure; the little imp was always up to something mischievous, and tonight was no exception, for the brother he had elbowed took one look at Naomi, turned beet red, and tried and failed to pretend he hadn't noticed her. That one was Lenny, the most soft-spoken and shy of the triplets. He also just so happened to have a bit of a crush on Naomi. Hale, noticing his brother's reaction to seeing Naomi, snickered and made no effort to try to hide it. The third brother, Hunter, looked up from his pile of logs and smiled pleasantly. "Hey, Naomi. Hi, Mr. Walker."

          "How are you, young man?" Papa asked.

          "Hey, Hunter," Naomi smiled. "Hi, Hale. Hi, Lenny."

          Hale grinned as Lenny mumbled something that must have been a greeting to his Lincoln Logs and turned red. "Hi, Naomi," Hale said. "I like your shoes"

          Naomi looked down at her plain, dull sneakers. Hale didn't mean the compliment, obviously-- he never did. He was only saying it to get a rouse out of Lenny. "Thanks," she said. "Whatcha building?" She sat cross-legged on the floor across from them and studied each of the boys' creations, setting the warm loaves of bread on her lap. Hunter's was long and short, like an Iroquois longhouse. Lenny's was tall and perfectly square, like a skyscraper. Hale's looked like a campfire.

          "I'm building a home for Twitch," Hunter said proudly, showing her his building.

          "Twitch, your hamster?"

          Hunter nodded. "What do you think?"

          "It looks great, Hunter. What about you, Hale? What's yours?"

          Hale shrugged. "Well, it used to be a cabin in the woods, but then I got bored and decided to turn it into a teepee. See?"

          "Very nice," Naomi complimented. "What about you, Lenny?" she asked gently. "What did you make?"

          Before Lenny could even turn red Hale jumped in. "It's probably his future house that he and y--"

          "Hale, I was asking Lenny," Naomi cut him off before he could embarrass his brother further. "What's yours, Lenny?" she asked again.

          Lenny mumbled something indistinguishable and refused to look at her.

          "Speak up, son," Mr. Jogah said. "It's rude to mumble."

          "I'm making a tree," Lenny said, a little louder this time, just loud enough to be understood.

          "A tree made out of logs? Very clever."

          It was just then that Mrs. Jogah came in from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel, the wonderful smell getting stronger as the kitchen door swung open and closed. Mrs. Jogah was as thin as she was tall, and her eyes were a light shade of a burgundy, like Darcy's. Her hair was long and dark as night, and tonight it was pulled back into a neat, single braid down her back. "I thought I heard the doorbell ring." She smiled pleasantly. "I see you brought the bread. Wonderful. Dinner will be ready in a few moments. Thank you for coming, you two."

          "Thank you for the invitation," Papa said. "It's smells wonderful, Tarcha."

          "Just wait until you eat it," Mr. Jogah said. "Tarch's cooking can make even the most severe of people weep. Speaking of severe people," he said, looking around, "where's Darcy?"

          "Ha ha, very funny, Dad." Darcy entered the living room behind her father. "I was finishing up my bedroom. You wanted it clean, remember?"

          "And is it clean?"

          "Well, it's clean-er," Darcy said slowly. "There's just a few things on my bed that need taking care of," she added quickly at her father's face. "I'll take care of them before bed. Promise."

          "Darcy, look what I made," Hunter said. "It's a house for Twitch!"

          "Nice," Darcy said with a glance at her brother's creation.

          "You barely even looked at it," Hunter whined.

          Holding back a sigh, Darcy took a long, hard look at Hunter's longhouse. "It's great," she said with a smile plastered across her face.

          Naomi held back a chuckle as she rose and greeted her best friend, shifting the bread to her hip. Mrs. Jogah excused herself to finished dinner and Mr. Jogah offered them a seat on the couch behind the triplets.

          "Why didn't you tell me about dinner earlier?" Naomi whispered to Darcy as they sat down.

          Darcy grinned. "Consider it payback."

          Naomi laughed softly until Darcy nudged her and tilted her chin passed Naomi's ear. Naomi turned just in time to see Lenny duck behind his Lincoln tree.

          "I think someone has eyes for you," Darcy whispered.

          "Not you, too," Naomi whined. "Hale already teases him enough. He doesn't need you to, too."

          "I didn't say anything to him!" Darcy said defensively. "I never have. I just think it's sweet, that's all."

          "Boys," Mrs. Jogah's voice came from the kitchen. "Go wash up for dinner. Darcy, would you set the table, please?"

          All the Jogah children rose to their feet, the boys toward the bathroom to wash their hands, and Darcy towards the kitchen. Naomi followed her through the kitchen door, and the wonderful smell that had filled the house intensified. Her mouth started to water.

          She had been planning on offering to help to speed things along, but before she could, Mrs. Jogah stopped her.

          "Oh, no, you go sit down, Naomi," she said from the stove, where she was stirring something in a pot. "Darcy and I can handle this. Dinner will be ready in a moment."

          "Can I at least put the bread on the table?" Naomi offered. "Or slice it?"

          "I will take care of it, dear," Mrs. Jogah assured her. "You should go sit with your father."

          Naomi hesitated. She didn't like sitting and doing nothing while everyone else was helping, but she also didn't want to be a rude houseguest.

          "If you'd like to help," Darcy said, "would you give this to my dad?" She handed Naomi a small envelope. "He left it here in the kitchen."

          Naomi smiled, relieved. "Sure, I'd be happy to." She set the bread loaves on the counter. No longer caught between two social etiquettes, she returned with the letter to the living room, where Papa and Mr. Jogah were laughing about a story Mr. Jogah was telling.

          "Darcy wanted me to give this to you, Mr. Jogah," Naomi said once they had stopped. She handed him the envelope.

          "Ah, yes, thank you, Naomi," he said. "I almost completely forgot about this." He tucked the letter away into his blazer pocket.

          "Dinner is almost ready," Darcy said as she came from the kitchen, carrying a stack of bowls and spoons toward the dining room. "Mom said just a few more minutes."

          "Wonderful," Mr. Jogah said. "My mouth has been watering since I walked in the door!" He put his hand on his stomach and said, "Excuse me," when his stomach let out a grumble.

          Naomi laughed. She had to agree. She found herself swallowing every few moments to control her salivating mouth, and the longer they waiting, the harder waiting got.

          The boys came back from the bathroom, their hands now clean, Hunter rushing instantly back to his longhouse and Hale dragging Lenny, who was digging his heels into the floor, behind him.

          After what seemed like an eternity, Darcy emerged from the kitchen carrying a plate of sliced bread, Mrs. Jogah behind her carrying a pot of something steaming. "Dinner is now ready," Mrs. Jogah announced, and they all followed her into the dining room. Naomi noticed Lenny tried to claim the seat furthest from her, but Hale quickly stole the seat before he could. Lenny tried to shove Hale off, but Hale pushed back. They continued to fight until Darcy broke them apart.

          "That enough," she said. "You know better than to behave like that in front of guests."

          Pretending not to notice the squabble, Naomi stared at a lit candle in the center of the table. She tried to sniff it, but she couldn't smell its scent over the steaming soup Mrs. Jogah poured into her bowl.

          "It smells absolutely marvelous, Tarcha," Papa said as his bowl was filled.

          "Thank you, Alan," Mrs. Jogah smiled.

          "Your bread smells equally delicious," Mr. Jogah added as he passed around the plate holding the bread.

          Papa bowed his head humbly and accepted the plate. "Thank you, but I can't take all the credit. Naomi is one great bread baker." He mussed Naomi's hair fondly, sending her bangs into her face. The hairs tickled her face and she laughed.

          "Let's say thanks," Mr. Jogah said. He bowed his head and everyone copied him. "We say thanks for this meal, for our friends, for our guests, for our family, for our home and hearth, and love. Amen."

          A chorus of "Amen" echoed around the room and was followed by the clanking of spoons and bowls. Naomi dug hungrily into her soup and took a slurp. An explosion of spices and flavor danced on her tongue. She took another spoonful, then another, then another. She was so entranced by the soup that she didn't notice Lenny and Hale nearly wrestling across the table until Darcy snapped at them loudly.

          Naomi looked up from her bowl to investigate what had happened when she felt her fingers tingle and her stomach drop to her feet. Her extremities went cold and her heart skipped a beat in her chest. She dropped her spoon, letting it clatter into her bowl, splashing herself in hot soup.

          "Squirt, are you okay?" Papa's voice sounded far away and muffled. "You just went very pale. Naomi?"

          "Naomi, what's wrong?" The voice sounded like Darcy's but it was hard to tell. "What's the matter?"

          But Naomi couldn't respond. Her head was spinning too much, her thoughts zipping around her mind too quickly to focus on any of them. Her mouth seemed glued to the roof of her mouth and her throat constricted. Her hands shook slightly.

          No, she thought. No, no, no, no, no, no!

          The Shift.

          It was coming.