Two Fish

seventeen || alaska

Alaska dipped in and out of the conversation going on between her parents. It was boring but she always listened, scared that she might miss something otherwise. They talked about money and holidays and food and work. Boring. She was far more entertained by her laptop, reading the latest gossip with one earphone directly feeding her the latest tunes. It was inane, a complete waste of time.

Noah was upstairs on his computer and Minnie was in town with a friend. It would inevitably end in a sleepover and Alaska was in for either a night of peace or one of no sleep. She hoped that if Minnie came home that afternoon, it would only be to collect her things. Her friends were all of a similar calibre to herself – annoying. Alaska hated their whiny voices and promiscuous make-up, one thing Minnie thankfully didn’t buy into. Her mother wouldn’t let her out of the house if she came down looking like  a streetwalker. They wore short skirts and hot pants, tops that flashed their midriffs and heels they had yet to learn to walk in. Alaska was embarrassed to be around them.

Her phone rang, startling everyone in the room. Her parents’ conversation stopped abruptly.

“What’s that?” her mother asked.

“My ring tone.” Alaska flipped open the case her phone sat in. Her mother turned to her husband.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard that before,” she murmured. He smiled.

“Who is it?” he asked. Alaska was staring at the screen. It was Hannah.

“Nobody.” She pressed the red button and dropped her phone into her lap. Since the encounter in the corner shop, Hannah had rung five times. Alaska had declined every call, each time rushing to the phone to answer it. It was never who she hoped it might be.

“You look bored, honey,” her mother said.

“I am.”

“How about we go out? Just the two of us.”

“What about Dad?”

“I’ve got to get back to work,” her father said. His rich voice easily carried across the room. He was always working, it seemed. Whenever he got an ounce of time off, he treated it like the holiday it was. He wore polo shirts and shorts and allowed his stubble to grow. His emails were checked only once a day and he didn’t consign himself to any sort of schedule. The time was to be treasured, spent with his wife and, if they allowed it, his children.

Of the three, Minnie retained the strongest relationship with their father. He had been an outgoing sportsman in his youth and shared many characteristics with his youngest child. They had a strong work ethic where Alaska and Noah were lazy. It was odd, as he had married a powerhouse of a woman who remained officious even outside the classroom, yet their oldest two had no drive to do anything.

“Go where?” Alaska asked. Her mother shrugged.

“Out for a drink, perhaps?” She was sitting opposite her husband, their legs entangled.

“What about Noah?” She closed the lid of her laptop, a battered cast off of her father’s, and put it on the coffee table.

“Well, you can ask but I’m sure he won’t want to come out.”

Alaska stood up and put her phone in her pocket.

“Does that mean you want to come out?” Her mother’s face brightened.

“I guess. I’ll go ask Noah.” Her phone rang again, the irritating tune blaring out from her behind.

“Who is that?” her mother asked. Alaska cancelled the call.

“Just Hannah.”

“Why don’t you answer? Maybe she wants to see you.”

Alaska snorted. “No, thanks. I don’t need her.”

“Have you two fallen out?” The look she gave her daughter said it all: you can’t afford to lose friends when you have so few.

“Yeah.” She left her phone on the table. It was another technological reject from her father. In his line of work, he got through a lot of gadgets and his children enjoyed the leftovers. It was never the latest model or the in thing, but it did the job.

Noah had his headphones on, talking loudly to his friends as they shot each other on screen. He took them off when Alaska tapped his shoulder.

“Hang on a min, guys,” he said. Alaska heard a chorus of Noah’s friends’ voices out of the headphones round his neck. “What?”

“Mum and I are thinking about going out,” she said, glancing at the bloodied screen. “D’you want to come?”

He narrowed his eyes in thought. “Where’re you going?”

“Out. Have a drink somewhere, perhaps.”

“What’re you doing?”

“I don’t know, Noah. Jeez, this is like a blooming Spanish inquisition,” she said, throwing her hands up. “Whatever you want to do.”

“How about the beach?”

She shrugged. “I guess. Yeah, probably.” It was a miracle that Noah was willing to leave the house when he had all his friends gathered on the screen. “Come on, then.”

“Give me a minute. I’m not ready.”

“Ok.”

He put his headphones back on and resumed the game, laughing to his friends. Alaska went downstairs.

“What’s the verdict?” her mother asked.

“He wants to come out, if we go to the beach.”

Her father stood up and kissed his wife. “I should be off, Karen. I’ll be back late, I imagine.”

“Oh. Ok, see you later.” She hugged him and he left. She turned back to her daughter. “The beach, you say?”

“Yeah.”

They both looked outside. The sun was out and the sky was blue.

“That can be arranged.”

As the three of them stepped out of the door, a battered green car swung into the driveway and nearly knocked Alaska’s mother off her feet. Elver jumped out amongst a flurry of apologies.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you there, Mrs –”

“Gouramie,” she finished.

“Haven’t heard that one before,” he said with a surprised smile.

“People never have.”

He headed over to Alaska.

“What’re you doing here?” she asked.

“I, uh, needed to see you. I didn’t know who else to come to.”

Mrs Gouramie and Noah looked on in shock as Elver put his hand on Alaska’s elbow and she didn’t flinch.

“What’s wrong?”

“Mum’s sold my car and I don’t want to let it go.”

Alaska couldn’t help but laugh. “But it’s so old. Has she got you a new one?”

“Yeah, and it’s a nice car, but this is my car.”

“Well, we’re going to the beach now, if you want to come. You can leave the car here.”

Elver momentarily wrinkled his nose at the thought of the sea, but his heart exploded at the thought of going out with Alaska. “Ok, then. Let’s go to the beach.”