Bittersweet memories... Everyone has them, I think. A lot of good things happen our lives, but not everything that's good is wholly good. Depending on who you ask, no things are. Like, maybe you remember that killer joke you made some time ago, made the whole room roar!.. And then you remember that one kid who ended up roaring so much he peed himself, kinda ruining the moment. Okay, maybe that isn't as poetic as the term 'bittersweet' ought to be, but you get the idea. Point is, a lot of the time, happy memories have unhappy parts. Despite that, I find that those bittersweet memories often end up being the sweetest. At least, once you learn to accept that some bitterness 'aint so bad.

'Course, not all bitterness. Like that pee story. That's just gross. Ew. 

Anyways, the hour of pizza draws ever closer. 'Bout 12, 13 minutes to go, I'd wager. 

I crack open one of my colas. 

Ahhhh...

That sound never gets old, I swear. 

"Right, y'know, that, coler or whatever of yours has quite the smell to it." S said as the freshly opened cola smell wafted through the air.

"Divine." I said, simply.

"Riiight..." S began. "Maybe I oughta try one of those. Could you pass me your o-" 

Before he could finish, I'd already purchased another, and held it out to him.

S looked shocked.

"Drink." I said. 

"R-right..." S said, grabbing the can of cola. He stared down at the top of the thing, seeming rather confused. "So... How do you get the stuff out?"  He said, inspecting the can. 

Oh yeah, guess he doesn't know how to open these things. "Oh, you gotta lift this thing here, with your pointy finger. The side towards the edge." I said, pointing to the pull-tab.

" 'Pointy finger?' " S said, chuckling.

I felt my face get a little hot. "Shaddup, just do it." 

"Right, right... ah." It took him a moment, but he got the thing up. The lid creaked open a bit. 

"Next, you gotta lift the thing some more. I like to put my thumb at the opposite end." I explained.

"Like... this?"

"Yeah, yeah. Now, push down with the thumb, and push the thing up with your pointy." 

S was a little cautious, so it took him a moment to actually get the thing open. The scent of freshly opened cola was present once more. 

Man, this is oddly kind of nostalgic... I remember when I needed help getting my first can open. I think it was, like, sparkling orange juice, or something. Took me ages to get it right... I was a little shrimp, and probably a good bit scared, too. Thought the thing would fly at my face or I'd get splashed or something. Took several minutes of trying. But, eventually, I did it. I got the thing open. The sound was... Euphoric. I still remember that first drink, too. I was never a fan of orange juice, and I'd never had a carbonated drink before, so it hurt like heck to drink, Think I coughed something fierce, but... Something about that drink... for some reason, it was the sweetest thing I'd ever tasted. 

Beyond that... I think I began recall someone laughing... And clapping... And I recall a smile... It felt so sweet, so dear, yet... I can't picture it. Not for the life of me. 

"Blech, blech, augh!"

I heard S coughing.

"Oh, geez, what is this?" S said, coughing a little more. 

It appears that while I was lost in thought, S had taken his first sip of cola.

And he coughed something fierce.

"Ah, man, what a vile drink... What're you smiling at? This some sort of joke?" S said, a little angrily.

"No, no. It's an acquired taste. You have to get used to it." 

"As if I'd want to get used to this!" S said, tossing the can towards me.

I caught it.

"Ey! No sense wasting good cola, I'll finish it." 

"Right, go ahead. Anyways, should we head back." S said.

"Oh, uh, yeah." I said. I took a sip of my drink. It just happened to be the drink I grabbed last.

S's former drink. Where he put his lips.

I felt my face run hot for a moment, again.

"Yo, you comin'?" S said, a bit ahead of me.

"Oh, uh, y-yeah." I said.  

Thus, the two of us headed back to Charolette's place. 

"Yo, we're back." S said as we came in. Charolette and Zramazos seemed to just be finishing up talking about something.

"O-oh, hi." Zramazos said.

"Welcome back." Charolette said. 

"I RETURN!" Michaus said, exiting the bathroom. 

"Welcome back." Charolette said, again, with a hint of sarcasm.  

The 3 of us, returning from our endeavors, sat back down at the table. In the same places as before, of course.

Charolette turned to me as I put my cola cans on the table. "Why you got 2 of 'em open?" She asked me.

"Oh, I got one. Vile drink, though." S explained. That's rude to the cola!

"Really? What's it like?" Charolette asked.

Michaus also seemed to listen in, excitedly.

"Right, well, it was cold, like ice, but it burns like fire on your tongue and your throat!" S explained his experience. "And the taste was... Weird! It was like an assault of all this... weird stuff! I've never had anything like it!"  

"Whoahh! Can I try one!?" Michaus asked enthusiastically.

"That does sound interesting. Maybe I-" Charolette began, unaware that I had already used my holes to purchase another 2 colas. 

I slid them across the table, and they landed right in front of them. Then, I looked up at Zramazos. He shook his head profusely. 

"S, you show Charolette, I'll show Michaus." 

"R-right." S said, caught a little off guard.

The two of us quickly explained how to open the thing. Michaus was about to tear the thing in half, but, fortunately, I was able to stop him in time and show him the proper way. 

The two of them were able to get their things open with relative ease. Ah man, I'm getting to smell that freshly opened cola smell so much today... It's intoxicating. 

"Well, here goes..." Charolette said before taking a sip.

"FOR GLORY!" Michaus shouted.

Charolette reacted much in the same way S did, with the surprised coughing and all that. But, unlike S, she didn't seem actively repulsed by it.

Michaus, on the other hand didn't react anything like the other two. 

His first sip, he took a fat swig of the thing, it had to have been, like, half the thing, and just gulped it down. This was followed by screaming. Which was followed by another, even fatter swig. 

In the blink of an eye, he'd drank the whole bloody thing. Hah. He learns fast.

He started coughing, a good bit, but a loud and incredibly proud, "I AM TRIUMPHANT!" could be heard through the coughs. He then crushed the can on his forehead, like they do in cartoons. It was a sight to behold.

The rest of us simply sat there in awe for a few moments.

Yeah, colas pretty rad.

Charolette and I took another sip of our colas.