After working up the courage to face whatever may come, Joe finally emerged from the restroom. Courage that rapidly left every ion of his being when he opened the door and looked down to see Laine staring up at him with her jaw nearly resting on the ground. With an awkward chuckle, Joe decided to break the silence. "Morning Laine. Sorry about that, took longer than I'd expected to get ready this morning. Heh."
Realizing she had been staring as if in a trance, Laine immediately blushed before turning to rush to the kitchen. "Mom! It's Joe. H-he changed! I didn't even know it was him at first..." Hearing the commotion coming from down the hall, Joe steeled himself before slowly moving his way towards the rest of the family. With each step he felt his legs grow heavier. His heart rate increased rapidly. He decided just before turning the corner to the kitchen that whatever they decided, he would respect the decision.
Standing awkwardly in front of the girls, Joe was at a loss for words. He decided he should give them a moment to take in what he had become. Allison who appeared to be coming out of a literal mental shock was the one who broke the silence first. "Happy birthday Joe. Guess it's a coincidence that I made you favorite for breakfast today. It'll be ready soon so go ahead and sit down."
The relief came like a flood sweeping over his very existence. With an abashed smile, Joe took his regular seat next to Sarah. Moments later, Allison placed a plate of waffles and bacon in front of each of them. Without a word, everyone began to indulge in the meal. Once all of the plates were free of food, Joe took the dishes to the kitchen to begin washing them while Sarah and Laine returned to their rooms to finish getting ready for the day.
"We can go shopping for some new clothes this weekend. I can only imagine that nothing you used to wear will fit now. You're growing into a very handsome young man. You take good care of the girls and are constantly helping me around the house too. I'm proud to have you as a part of my family." Allison walked next to Joe and began drying the now cleaned plates as Joe handed them to her. Despite the changes, she treated this as any other morning.
When Laine and Joe arrived at school, all eyes were transfixed on Joe. Most within his year had yet to go through the same changes he has so to them he just gave off a calm and cool aura. The upperclassmen were an entirely different story. The older guys immediately saw Joe as a threat to their popularity. Where he had seemingly been reborn over night, they merely grew a few inches and had their voices deepen. Jealousy flooded every cell in their bodies. The older girls, who had become painfully aware of the guys around them nearly began drooling as they watched him walk by. Some were convinced he was in fact a transfer student and not an underclassman.
After seeing Laine walking next to him as she always did, many quickly pieced together who the guy was. That enraged the guys. Not so much at Joe himself but more so at the unfair workings of life. With the same realization, the girls began to believe that he had been blessed by some unknown God. If this was an act of God, then they were ready to believe for the first times in their lives.
For Joe, the day progressed filled with awkwardness. The glares from the guys around him as well as the number of times he'd been approached by girls he'd never spoken to before took its toll on his mental state. When he finally got home, he hurriedly at his dinner without a word before retiring to his room. After knocking off all the homework for that night, he slumped down into bed and drifted off into a deep sleep.
The following morning, Joe awoke at his usual time and began dreading the day to come. He never sought excess attention while at school. He enjoys his quiet life too much to risk it by mingling with everybody at school. Yet, all of that was shattered simply by him showing up. With lazy steps, Joe worked his way across the hall to the bathroom and grudgingly got ready for the day to come. Despite the anxiety, Joe knew he couldn't just stay home. That would worry Allison too much. After yesterday, he just wants to keep making her proud.
Just as he'd expected, the day dragged on no different than the day before. After arriving home, Joe just wanted to disappear to his room for the night. Just as they finished dinner, Allison came back from the kitchen with a small box in hand. Placing it in front of Joe she simply smiled before indicating him to open it. Inside was a magic reading device. They were quite common in the market and were not all too pricey. Their existence was highly debated because once it was known just how strong someone's abilities were, they would be cemented in their "rightful place" within society.
Seeing Joe hesitate to pick it up, Allison chimed in with reassurance. "No matter what it says, nothing changes for any of us. You will always be you and we all know that. You don't need to tell anyone about it either and the girls will keep your secret for you. It just helps to know your own limits, so you don't end up overexerting yourself." With a trembling hand, Joe reached into the box and took the gauge in hand. Closing his eyes, he focused on the power circling within him and aimed it to the gauge.