Two Fish

sixteen || elver

Elver sank onto his bed and almost laughed in disbelief: Alaska hadn’t pushed him away; she hadn’t said no; she hadn’t even complained. It was true that she hadn’t exactly fallen at his feet, but still. Cathy flounced in at that moment, her bangles jangling in a familiar rhythm.

“What happened? You look happy. It was Alaska wasn’t it? I knew she liked you,” Cathy said, grinning gleefully. Elver just smiled before spilling  out the whole story.

“It’s so romantic,” Cathy said dreamily.

“Er, Cath, we only held hands, it not like we’re engaged,” Elver said. “And even then, it was only to annoy her friend.”

“I bet you’ll make a really good couple,” Cathy said, ignoring Elver.

“Cathy, snap out of it, we’re not a couple,” Elver said, though he couldn’t keep the smile off his face. The two stayed in his room for another couple of hours, just talking about everything. Their mother came in, dumping a pile of laundry and muttering something about supper. His room grew gradually darker as the sun sank lower behind the golden fields and mossy hills.

Cathy hammered on his bedroom door the next morning. “Get up, we’re going to town,” she shouted at him. Elver just groaned in response, wishing he hadn’t stayed to watch the entire collection of Lord of the Rings last night. He had a quick shower and pulled on something vaguely clean before trundling down the stairs.

“Do I have to come?” Elver asked, devouring a slice of toast.

“Yes, we’ve got a surprise for you,” said Cathy, manically brushing her hair before scraping it into a messy bun on top of her head.

“What is it?” Elver asked stupidly. Cathy just gave him a look, and grabbed his sleeve, pulling him to the car.

“Er, Mum, you’ve gone past the car park,” Elver said, craning his neck round to where they always parked.

“I know.”

He leant back in his chair, starting to get his hopes up. It was hard, trying to not expect much. His mother pulled up by the garage and Cathy put her hands over his eyes.

“Ta da!” Elver’s mother and Cathy chorused, pushing him forward slightly.

Elver opened his eyes to find himself facing a slick black car with a rosy ribbon tied around it, the bonnet gleaming in the light and the black tyres framing the silver wheels perfectly. Elver gasped and Cathy giggled in delight.

“What the heck?” Elver said in awe, completely mesmerised. He stepped forwards and ran his hand over the smooth bonnet.

“Do you like it? I knew you’d like it,” Cathy said, grinning like a maniac.

“But … what? My birthdays in six weeks, why? What?” Elver choked, now pacing around the car as though he were a detective checking the suspects.

“Well, we knew your car was getting a little old now, and you’re a good egg Elver, you really are,” his mother said, smiling warmly. She knocked her elbow against Elver’s and he stroked the car in adoration. 

“Where did you get it? It must have cost a fortune,” he asked. His mother shrugged.

“Roger and Julia from down the road didn’t want it any more, they were going to just get rid of it and I stopped them just in time.” She grinned at her son. “They said seeing as they had a new car I could have it for free – they don’t need the money.”

“Dad’s been working on it for days, doing it up and getting it ready for you. See it as a pre-birthday treat,” Cathy said, handing him the keys. But instead of the elation he should have been filled with, Elver just felt really sick. He didn’t want a new car; he loved the car he had, it was like an old friend that took him from A to B. He’d intended to keep it until it wore down completely. In fact, he had been planning to tell his parents not to get him a car for his birthday but now they had gone to all this effort, getting it nice for him and thinking he would love it when really he, well, he hated it.

He felt all churned up inside, fighting the frown that was battling to take over his. Instead, he switched on a smile and gave both of them a big hug.

“Thank you, Mum, it’s awesome. Thank you so much,” he said, pretending to look ecstatic.

“You’re very welcome, Elv, you’re very welcome,” his mother said, draping her arm around his shoulders. At Cathy’s eager request, Elver clambered into the uncomfortable leather front seat and ran his fingers over the steering wheel.

“This is far too nice for me,” he said. His mother just flapped her hand at him.

“Don’t be so silly. It was free, anyway.”

That was the only consolation for Elver, that they hadn’t paid for it. He looked up, “I’ll have to get insurance,” he said, hoping it hadn’t been sorted already.

“All done and dusted, hun,” his mother replied, shutting the door. He felt like he was going to vomit. They had paid for his insurance – and it was a nice car, and he wasn’t even going to enjoy it. He got out and his mother wound the window down of her car.

“Mum, what are we doing with my old car?” he asked. Cathy had lost interest after the initial excitement and was sitting in the car with her earphones in.

“Oh, sorry, I forgot to tell you, It’s been on eBay for days, someone’s coming to pick it up tomorrow.”