Carefully, she picked up the cup and brought it close to sniff at it. The drink smelled sweet, and like alcohol.

Emily made up her mind.

She took a sip.

And then she almost gagged at the taste, while Melanie broke out into uproarious laughter.

Maybe new things weren’t for her after all.

CHAPTER FORTY

Everyone Poops

Athena grunted as she took on her sister’s full weight. Teddy, for all that she was about as big as Athena herself—a bit shorter even—was heavy.

It probably had something to do with the way her belly was protruding, making the bear on her hoodie look almost three-dimensional. “You’re fat,” Athena remarked quite sensibly.

Teddy’s head turned around and she leveled a flat gaze at her. “No, you’re fat.”

“I am not,” Athena said. She patted her perfectly flat stomach. “See. Nothing.” She reached out and poked at Teddy’s stomach. “But here it’s full of food.”

“Don’t poke it,” Teddy said. “It’s not ready to come out.”

Athena heard Big Sister Emily sigh from behind them and she turned her head all the way around to look up at the taller girl. “Please . . . just . . . watch what you’re saying?” Emily asked.

“I was talking about needing to poop later,” Teddy said.

“Yes, I know. We all know,” Emily said.

“Well yeah, everyone poops,” Teddy said.

Athena poked Teddy again. “Big Sister wants you to stop talking about poop,” she said.

Teddy shifted. “Oh. Well, she could have just told me that.”

Emily walked around the two of them and to the door to their room, which she opened up for them. “Okay, everyone inside,” she said.

Athena helped drag Teddy over to the mattress, then paused next to it. “Want me to dump you here?” she asked.

“Yeah, I need to sleep this off,” Teddy said.

“Oh no,” Emily said as she closed the door. “No sleeping before taking a quick shower.”

Teddy groaned. “But I took one . . . recently.”

Athena’s eyes narrowed. “What’s recently mean?” she asked.

“Like, yesterday, maybe?” Teddy glared. “You never took a shower in your entire life. You’re probably covered in summon goop or something.”

“I am not!”

Emily coughed, cutting the argument off before it could really start. “You’re both taking showers. Come on, start finding some clothes. Put your dirty stuff in that box over there and . . . and we’ll find out where the cleaners is tomorrow. Thank God it’s Saturday.”

There was some running—and in Teddy’s case waddling—around for clean clothes and stuff, then because she was the fastest, Athena jumped in the shower first. When she came out and let Teddy in, it was to find Big Sister Emily at her desk, looking at her laptop.

“What are you looking for, big sis?” Athena asked.

“Oh? Ah, I’m looking at the profiles for some of the new Heroes,” Emily said.