Two Fish

thirty six || elver

It had been a long time since Elver had thought about the pond in his garden. With all the excitement of the past couple of weeks, each time he had pulled up in his drive, his mind had been focused on Alaska rather than avoiding the water like he used to. Cathy had reminded him by sitting at the edge of the water, her feet dangling in the murky ripples.

“You ok?” Elver asked, coming to sit next to her.

“Yeah.”

He pulled his socks off and joined her, hardly dipping the tip of his big toe in the water. Cathy stared at him.

“You know what you’re doing, right?” she asked, bemused. Elver smiled.

“Guess what?”

“What?”

“No. You have to guess,” Elver said, wagging his finger. Cathy threw her hands up dramatically.

“I don’t know, you ate a donkey?” She always was one to come up with the most improbable guesses. Elver laughed.

“I went in the sea.”

“You what?” Cathy asked, her eyes widening. Elver grinned from ear to ear.

“I went in the sea.”

“But you hate the sea. You hate water, and all the fish, I, don’t …,” Cathy trailed off, completely shocked.

“Are you impressed?” Elver asked, slowly lowering his feet.

“Well, I’m completely shocked to say the least. Why did you go in there?” She kept her eyes trained on her brother.

“Well, me and Alaska we-” he started, but Cathy cut him off with a cackle.

“Alaska? I knew it. You spend every single day with that girl, there’s clearly something going on,” she said, tilting her head at her brother. That turned Elver’s cheeks to the absolute max, red-wise. He didn’t know whether there was anything going on.

“No, it just means that we’re friends,” he protested hopelessly. Cathy narrowed her eyes.

“Friends don’t hold each other’s hand,” she said.

“How do you know we held hands?” Elver said before he could catch himself.

“Ha! You admitted it. I didn’t know you held hands, but you did,” Cathy said, looking proud of herself.

“Well, yeah, bu-”

“Nuh-uh, no buts, just accept it, Elv. It’s not like there’s anything wrong with having a girlfriend,” Cathy said. Elver was tired of telling lies, so he looked down.

“I just don’t know what’s going on. She’s so amazing, and we have so much fun together. She lets me hold her hand and even hug her,” he said, his words tumbling out of his mouth like a waterfall. As he spoke he realised what it sounded like. Cathy just raised her eyebrows and glanced at his submerged feet.

“Well, you’ve faced your fear. That’s good,” she said softly. Elver nodded and raised his feet out of the water, tucking them up underneath him.

“I think I’m gonna go out,” he said, pulling on his socks.

“With Alaska, by any chance?” Cathy asked, jumping to her feet. Elver turned away.

“Well, you know, only if she can come,” he mumbled.

“Where’re you taking her? The beach?” She was practically jumping up and down. “Come here Lassie, give me a big smooch. Mwah mwah,” she giggled, doing an impression of her brother. Elver rolled his eyes.

“If you must know, the pier.”

Cathy’s expression changed immediately. She shrunk back. “Oh.”

“What’s up?” Then he remembered. She had always wanted him to come and join her at the pier: when she had been on various nights with her friends or parents, she had always nagged him to come but he had always declined. The thought of standing on a piece of wood holding him over the sea freaked him out.

“Cath, I’m sorry, you come too. It’ll be fun,” he said, but Cathy shook her head and turned away.

“It would just be awkward. I don’t want to be the annoying little sister,” she said, folding her arms across her chest. From behind, she looked like Alaska. Elver knew there was no point arguing.

“Well, bye then. You can come and join us any time.” He sprinted up to his room to call Alaska, finding her name in his contact list so fast that he didn’t have time to worry about ringing.

“Hi,” came her voice. A rabble of dizzy butterflies infiltrated his stomach at the sound of Alaska.

“Hi, Alaska. I’m taking you somewhere. Meet me at the end of the pier.” Elver cut the line before she could protest and bounded downstairs. After shouting goodbye to his parents, he jumped into the uncomfortable leather driver’s seat.

Within minutes he was at the edge of the beach, searching for Alaska’s familiar face. Soon, he noticed her. She was wearing her go-to outfit of jeans and a t-shirt. He thought she looked amazing.

“Hey there. Where’re we going?” Alaska asked, smiling as she saw Elver through the crowds of people who raced to the beach every remotely sunny Saturday. Elver grinned mysteriously. He took her hand and led her onto the entrance of the pier. Alaska hung back.

“Oh, Elver. It’s lovely of you, but I don’t really do the pier,” she said, stopping a few metres from the gate. “It’s too busy. And hot. Could we go somewhere else, maybe?” Alaska said, staring out at the swarms of people on the rotting wooden planks. Elver shook his head.

“I’m helping you face your fears, right? It’ll do you good,” he said, pulling her to the edge of the railing. They looked down at the sea below them, crashing against the rusted metal legs of the pier. Alaska hesitated. After a few more seconds, he gripped her hand and weaved them through the crowds, taking care not to wander too close to big groups.

“Where are we going? The arcade’s over there,” Alaska asked, pointing to the ugly white block stuck in the middle of the pier.

“Oh, we’re not going to the arcade.” He grinned and stared straight ahead at his goal.

“Where are we going, then? Jumping off the end?” Alaska slowed down but didn’t let go of Elver’s hand.

“Nope.”

“Well, you’re gonna have to tell me sooner or later.”

“Fine,” Elver said, stopping so he could turn to face her. “We’re going on the rollercoasters.”