Page 115 of Pick Me Up On Tuesdays

She nodded solemnly, then reached out, pressing a cool hand against Ethan’s forehead. A faint glow pulsed between them, and for a brief moment, his usually cocky expression flickered with something I couldn’t quite place.

She turned back toward me, her gaze softer now, as if she saw something beneath the surface that even I couldn’t. Without a word, she reached out, pressing her cool palm against my forehead.

A glow—just like Ethan’s—pulsed between us, threading through my skin like ripples on water. A strange warmth settled deep in my bones—not burning, not suffocating, but steady. Comforting.

"A blessing of protection," she murmured again, her voice carrying the weight of something ancient. "May the tides always guide you home."

Then, just like that, she turned away, her silhouette dissolving into mist, leaving only the fading glow of her blessing behind.

Chapter 33: The Great Burger Battle

The mist clung to the air like breath on glass, curling around the rocks and trees and swallowing her form until only silence remained. I stood there, forehead still tingling with the echo of her touch, trying to make sense of the calm now coiled inside me.

Ethan exhaled a slow breath. “Okay, that was... kinda intense.”

I glanced at him. The usual glint in his eyes was dulled, like the glow had left a mark deeper than he wanted to admit. He caught me looking and offered a crooked smile.

“You felt that too, right?” he asked, voice softer now.

“Yeah,” I murmured. “Like something ancient reached in and said, ‘Hey, don’t die.’”

“Comforting,” he muttered with a snort.

We stood in silence, just long enough for the park to reclaim its chaos. A bird called from the trees. The wind stirred the mist, dragging it apart like smoke across a battlefield. And just like that, nothing was left of the Neravine and her kid.

“Clark! Ethan!” Joy came running, Shun, Mia, and Max close behind, panting and wide-eyed. “Please tell me you found the kid.”

Of course. Amid all the drama, I'd skipped the one thing that could actually cause more drama—the kid in the group chat.

Ethan gestured behind us. “He’s safe. Little dude scurried off with his mom.”

Max stopped cold. “Wait—you found him?Where is he? Is he okay? Is he, like… a plant? Do Neravine kids photosynthesize?”

“None of those, actually,” Ethan said with a smirk. “Kinda adorable.”

Shun blinked. “You found the mom too?”

Joy gasped. “Please tell me she showed up dramatically through the fog.”

Ethan and I exchanged a glance.

“Shewasfog,” I admitted. “Well—she camewithfog. Left behind mist like a signature. Her form kind of… melted into it.”

Max squinted. “So... like a cryptid ninja?”

Joy nudged Shun. “You’re getting this down, right?”

“I’m literally transcribing in real time.”

Joy turned back to us. “Start from the top. You found the kid—where?”

Eventually—after a long interview about the occasion—we decided to walk back to the bus. The walk was mostly silent. Thanks to the impromptu search exercise, everyone seemed to be out of steam and hungry.

"You look like a kid who just got grounded," Joy said, nudging me.

"We are grounded. Or whatever the school trip equivalent is," I muttered, glancing toward the front of the bus. Mr. Dax sat with his arms crossed, jaw clenched in seething frustration.

Instinctively, I knew this was not a good sign.

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