"Horns" by Renee Reizman

 Jamie didn’t especially like growing horns. First of all, they weren’t close to being fashionable. They were dark; in fact, they were almost unnoticeable next to his jet-black hair. Second, they were quite uncomfortable. The process of them growing was like when his wisdom teeth came in. Or perchance it was like when he had his wisdom teeth pulled out. In any case, Jamie’s horns weren’t a pleasant experience. He felt as though he had a migraine for weeks, and maybe he did, but no matter the situation, it was all the fault of the horns.

Perhaps this was beneficial. When Kari came over to mess up his carefully tamed hair, she jumped back, nursing her palm. Her complaints began instantly.

“How much gel did you put in your hair? It’s like you’ve got some small rocks in there!”

Jamie slowly placed his hands to his horns, gently massaging them. “I think they’re bone, actually.”

Kari gave her friend a harsh look. The girl didn’t liked being corrected; it was never in her nature. “Bone? Or is it cartilage?”

 The fact that she had even used a word remotely scientific, and in the right context, was startling. “Well…” Jamie reasoned, now tapping the horn on the right side of his skull thoughtfully, “Maybe they are mostly cartilage, but that does have something to do with bones. I’ll look it up later.”

“Whatever the case, they’re painful. Why’d you want to grow those things, anyways?” Kari looked around the room, searching for and leafing through the dusty, out-of-date fashion magazines that littered the basement floor. “Is it a fashion statement?”

Jamie gingerly brought his hands down, staring at the blonde blankly. “I don’t follow trends.”

“Oh.” There wasn’t much time for silence before continued. “Is it a weird puberty thing? I thought you went through that ages ago.”

This comment was followed by about ten second of awkward silence, before Jamie scoffed. “Weird puberty thing.” He repeated, rolling his eyes towards the water-stained ceiling. “You really know what you’re talking about.”

Clenching her fists, Kari looked towards Jamie threateningly. “Come off it! I probably know more about growing horns than you!” A slight pause, and then for good measure, “Jerk!”

Taken aback, Jamie reared back in his spot. “Hey, hey! Calm down! All right, if you know so much about horns, tell me: what do I do?”

Kari pondered.

“Do you feel smarter?”

One moment of concentration, “No.”

            “Do you feel stronger?

”Flexing his muscles, “No.”

            “Can you fly?”

A rather hard and clumsy smack!

Rubbing is head, “No.”

Shrugging her shoulders, Kari stood up from the couch. She simply shook her head, starting her way up the rickety stairs. “Take two Aspirin and call me in the morning.”