"What's taking her so long?" Warrick asked. He and his brother were waiting for Ever in the car while she went off to grab a couple of stuff from home.
Walt frowned at the impatient boy to his right in the passenger seat. "She's only been gone for fifteen minutes."
"Ugh, but I'm pretty sure I already swiped through a good hundred profiles on Howlers at this point."
"Any luck?"
Warrick glared at Walt. "You think? How the hell is an app meant for werewolves so devoid of actual wolves? Everyone's just like me on here looking for a wolf partner. Seriously, I didn't even know the term lupusexual existed until today!"
"Is this your second coming out, then?"
"Hey, the first didn't even count!"
"True. There wasn't really a need for that after already being caught in a threesome with a girl and a guy. Especially if you were caught bottoming for both of them."
Warrick opened his mouth only to close it right away, not wanting to continue recollecting that one drunken night any further. It was Stacy's idea, and he lost in rock paper scissors against Ryan. He knew he should've gone with rock...
"Okay, forget about that," Warrick said, "and just listen to these people's profiles. 'Lupusexual. Not looking for a furry.'" Swipe. "'Wanting some of that lupussy.'" Swipe. "'Looking for someone to get wasted and roll around with in a fursuit.'" Swipe. "'Woof, woof. Bark, bark. ;).'" Hesitate—swipe.
Walt shrugged. "Well, what did you expect from an app called Howlers?"
"I was hoping I could find at least one werewolf on here. Why are they so damn hard to meet these days?"
"Probably because they don't have to shift during a full moon anymore with all those new inhibitors on the market these days."
"Yeah, I can't really say anything about that. It must suck having something to worry about every month."
"You're lucky I'm not a girl twin."
"...Oh."
"Anyway, if you really need to get your lupenis fix—"
Warrick gave Walt a disturbed look that read, Did you really just say that?
Unfazed, Walt continued, "—I saw this wolf dildo ad online the other day."
"What the fuck, Walt?! Send me the link."
Just then, the backseat door opened, followed by a backpack being tossed inside the car. Ever entered shortly after. She was in her own clothes now with her hair damp from a quick shower.
"Did you get everything you need?" Walt asked.
Ever shrugged as she looked at her bag packed with some clothes and basic necessities. "Yeah, more or less."
"Are your parents okay with you going on this trip?"
"Why? If they're not, am I allowed to stay here?"
"Right, good point."
"They weren't home," Ever sighed in relief.
She had been worried walking up to the front door earlier not knowing what to say or how to react to seeing her parents. There was still that bitter aftertaste on her tongue from the argument she'd had with her father about not going to visit her grandmother's grave today.
"Did you leave them a message, at least?"
Walt received his second glare in five minutes. He took that as a signal to start the car for their long journey to Wisconsin.
It wasn't until they were a few blocks down that Ever finally spoke, "My parents don't really care what I do. They don't care about me at all."
Walt simply nodded while Warrick pretended to be too preoccupied on his phone to have heard her.
The car fell silent while Ever's thoughts grew louder. She had no clue why she just opened up to these two boys about her private life. Her goal was to make it through her four years of high school behind the "normal" mask she wore around her friends. This mask was usually smiling and easy-going, with popular friends that didn't try to pry into her life too much and the occasional boyfriend that didn't try to take things too seriously, either. Everything about her was just seemingly typical in everyone else's eyes. No neglecting parents. No nightmares. No thoughts of suicide.
At least that was how it was until she finally gave in to her demons and jumped off that bridge.
Perhaps that was why she found herself telling these boys about her true self. They already witnessed the darkest side of her, yet they came to help her instead of walking away. They didn't seem all that judgmental of her actions, either. As long as they could keep quiet to the rest of the people at school, maybe it wouldn't be too bad to just be herself around them.
"Hey," Ever eventually said.
Walt sent her a brief glance through the rearview mirror. "Yeah?"
"You'd better not tell anyone you know me at school."
"No worries. I'd prefer to keep the fact that Warrick and I are psychics a secret, too."
"Yeah," Warrick added, "there's so much you can get away with when you're secretly a psychic."
Ever said, "Alright, you keep my secret, and I'll keep yours."
"Deal," the twins said together.