Next day, the three teens set out early in the morning to search for the PISS. They figured the best place to start was at the heart of the city. Warrick was left on squeezing duty again, but even after hours of roaming about, the POOP didn't get any softer than chilled cookie dough. It seemed the PISS was just out of their reach.
"Okay, it's way too fucking hot now," Warrick groaned when the sun was at its peak. "Let's go to that café over there and cool down for a bit."
"Alright," Walt agreed, wiping the sweat off his forehead.
The teens entered the café and grabbed an empty table before Walt and Ever went to the counter to order their drinks. Warrick practically melted into his seat from the heat. He should have ditched being stylish and just borrowed one of his brother's running shorts. Instead, he was stuck in his thick, dark jeans. Ever was in a similar attire as him, but she barely broke a sweat. He wondered if it had anything to do with the fact that she was technically not alive. Dead bodies did tend to be cold.
"Thanks," Warrick said when Walt and Ever came back with three refreshing lemonades. He gulped down half of it at once and smacked his lips. "Man, that hits the spot!"
"There's supposed to be a heatwave today," Ever said, checking the weather on her phone.
"No wonder..." Warrick reached into his pocket for the brown pendant and tossed it to his brother. "I doubt we're going to make any progress today, so I'm done squeezing that turd."
"It's the POOP, idiot," Walt corrected. "The TURD is The Text for Understanding Real Dragons."
"Dragons are real?" Ever asked.
"Well, it's a book on how to talk to reptiles and reptilians."
"Oh." Ever took a sip of her lemonade and let that statement sink in. "Wait, what?"
Hissss.
She turned her head to a man that passed by their table. He blinked, and his golden reptile eyes were gone. Ever blinked a few times herself in disbelief when Merlin's words came back to her.
"The world is full of strange and amazing phenomena, you know! You just have to be willing to open your eyes to them."
"PISS, POOP, TURD," Warrick said. "Wizards must all have the humor of a third-grader."
"What makes you think they chose those names to be funny?" Walt said.
"Come on, you can't just choose a name like POOP in all seriousness."
"Then, what about the FART?"
Warrick giggled.
"Look who really has the humor of a third-grader. You just laughed at the word 'fart.'"
"Did not! A giggle and a laugh are different!"
"You're missing the point, idiot."
Ever watched the twins continue their bickering, all the while thinking about Merlin's statement. She definitely had a different perspective on the world since meeting these two boys. It made her realize just how closed off her own world used to be.
She was always stuck wearing a mask in front of her friends and being voiceless at home. She assumed it was because she had no one to listen to her. But now, she wondered if it was actually because she never risked letting anyone into her world to hear her in the first place.
"It's The Feather of Artistic Realization and Talent."
"Fuck you! You just made that up!"
Ever snorted, immediately grabbing the boys' attention. She took that snort into a full-on laugh.
"Wow..." Warrick said in awe.
"W-What?" Ever replied.
"I just never heard you laugh before. This is the first time I'm seeing you smile, too."
Ever immediately lowered the corners of her mouth.
"Hey, you actually have a really nice smile."
Walt nodded. "You do."
"Never stop smiling, Forever. You have such a beautiful smile."
"I didn't even know you had dimples," Warrick pointed out.
"Yeah..." Ever's voice trailed off, feeling herself tear up at the memory of her grandma. She cleared her throat and said, "Anyway, it's the last day of summer break."
Warrick groaned, "Don't remind me..."
"When are we supposed to look for that pendant once we start school?"
Walt replied, "We'll have to squeeze in time after school and make use of all our weekends. This is regarding your life, so we can't slack off."
Ever felt rather sorry that Walt and Warrick would have to give up so much of their time for her. And yet, the boys didn't look that disappointed about it at all. If anything, Warrick was just sad he would have to sit inside a classroom for hours every weekday again starting tomorrow. But at least it would be senior year.
"I can't believe it's going to be our last year of high school," Warrick said. "But hopefully it won't turn out to be the last year of your life, Ever."
"Jeez." Ever shook her head with the slightest grin, which she hoped the twins wouldn't notice. "Yeah, thanks."
• • •
We have reached the mid-season finale!
3W1Z will return in about a month with the second half of the story. I'll make an announcement on my profile with an exact date soon, so please consider following. And check out my other stories in the meantime, too. :)