Johnny chews his lip and doesn't look up anymore, eyes on the sand. Nova curls closely against him and he rests his free hand against her. He wishes he hadn't agreed to this. His heart is pounding so fast and there's still twenty-four whole letters to be guessed. Yeah, unless he picks right. Unless he guesses the word. This choice was dumb. Obvious. Easy. He's so fucked.

We'll just see. Just do the fucking thing. Throw the ball, Johnny.

Abandoning the stick he draws with his finger:

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