Two Fish

forty two || elver

All day, Cathy bugged Elver. She’d been up at five, woken by Elver’s heavy footsteps on the landing, and unlike him, she hadn’t managed to get back to sleep.

“Who were you talking to?” she asked when Elver settled down for lunch.

“What’re you on about?”

“I heard you at five, on the phone,” she said, rubbing the bags under her eyes.

“If you were up at five, you were probably just imagining things.” He dug into his double decker tuna sandwich. She rolled her eyes and nibbled at her bland avocado salad.

“I was only up because you woke me up,” she said. “Your secret won’t stay secret for long, Elver James. Just you wait and see,” she said, sticking her tongue out at her brother. He ignored her and she didn’t ask any more questions.

An hour later, Elver decided it was time to go and see Alaska, especially after last night.  The wind was sharp and cold so he pulled his thin coat tighter around himself, digging his hands into his pockets. He had timed his outing badly. Just emerging from the blue front door of one of Elver’s old friend’s houses was Liam, with a brand new buzz cut. Elver watched him wave goodbye and hoped with all his heart that Liam would turn left. But he didn’t. He veered right and strode down the street and soon caught sight of Elver. He smiled as if nothing was wrong.

“Hey, buddy,” he called. Elver didn’t reply. He looked down at his boots and kept walking. Liam thought he hadn’t heard.

“Hey, Elver, over here.” Liam waved for attention but Elver just kept walking, speeding up. He would soon pass him. When they were just a yard apart, Liam grabbed his arm and Elver was forced to lift his head. He studied Liam’s face. There was a hole in his ear and a newly-done tattoo displayed itself against his arm. Liam shot him a wicked grin.

“Your little sister’s best friend is sick, man,” Liam sneered. Elver stood bolt upright and gripped Liam’s elbow.

“No, you’re sick, Liam. You’re disgusting. Just go away and never come back. I don’t want to see you again.” Elver surprised himself as he said it. He wanted to scream and kick the boy but he was so angry he was almost speechless. He carried on. “No one likes you, Liam. I used to. What happened? You were always the cool one, the one all the girls loved and teachers cooed over. You were smart and funny. Now look at you. You’re a wreck,” he spat. Liam stared. With that, Elver left Liam standing in the pavement, shocked at what he’d just heard.

The whole situation made Elver walk faster, a determined stride had wriggled into his normally slow step. When he reached Alaska’s house, he was greeted by Mrs Gouramie.

“Hi, Elver. I take it you’re here for Alaska?” She asked with a welcoming smile.

“Hi, yeah, if it’s ok with you. You know, I’d just like to talk to her,” he replied. Mrs Gouramie laughed.

“I’m really sorry, she’s still fast asleep. Goodness knows why, she must have been up all night,” she said with an easy smile. Elver knew she was joking, but he felt slightly intimidated by the fact Alaska’s mother had a knack for a wriggling out the truth.

“Ok, that’s fine, er, thank you. Can you tell her to call me when she wakes up?” He started to walk back but stopped at the end of the drive when he heard someone call after him. He glanced over his shoulder where a bleary eyed Alaska was standing, her curls strewn across her face.

“Hi,” she said, her voice groggy and her arms folded across her chest.

“Hi, Alaska.” Elver ran up to her, and now that Mrs Gouramie had gone, he pulled her into a kiss. She smiled.

“You know, I have this weird feeling that I dreamt of telling you I loved you,” she said. Elver grinned and shook his head.

“Not a dream, Lassie,” he said, using her nickname for the first time. Her right eyebrow shot up. “You rang me up at five this morning and told me you loved me. And you know what?”

“What?”

“I said it too.” He kissed her again, just a quick one.

“We’re together, Elver. Right? We’re actually together. I can’t believe it.” She sighed happily. “Who’d have thought it? The boy who knocked me into the pond is now my boyfriend,” she said, looking slightly bewildered. Maybe it was the word boyfriend but what Elver had just heard made him feel warm and happy inside.

“It’s halfway through summer. Back to school soon. I can’t believe that you go to the other one. Without you around, I’ll be a loner,” Elver said, feeling suddenly rather sad. “Well, I’ve got Cathy, but she’s my sister. It’s different,” he said. Alaska shook her head firmly.

“Don’t talk to me about school. I don’t have anyone around. Hannah was my only friend,” she said darkly. “Stay here while I get changed,” she added, horrified at the realisation that Elver was seeing her in her puppy pyjamas. He nodded – he hadn’t even noticed – and she zoomed up the stairs, shouting for him to come in. Elver stepped through the door and Alaska’s mother called him through to the kitchen.

“Sorry about her,” she said, pouring herself a mug of tea. She held up the kettle to him and he shrugged one shoulder.

“Yes, please.”

He sat with the cooling mug by his elbow while Mrs Gouramie bustled around the kitchen.

“If you don’t mind, I’ll be in the conservatory,” she said, unable to hold back a wink.

A few minutes later, Alaska appeared in a pretty red dress and a floppy yellow bow looped through her hair, a pair of brown sandals underneath.

“You look amazing,” Elver said, taking in the outfit. Alaska blushed.

“Thank you.” She sat next to him and sipped his tea, wrinkling her nose. “Why did you come over, anyway?”

“Oh, yeah, I just came to see if you were alright. You know, after the whole crazy call this morning,” he said. She thumped him playfully on the shoulder. “I really thought something awful had happened.”

“Sorry,” she said, trying Elver’s tea again. “But hey, I was tired. I don’t know what happened to me.”

“So, you didn’t mean it?”

“I didn’t mean to call you at that time,” she said, tracing circles on the back of his hand. “But I did mean everything I said.”

“So did I.”

Between them, they finished the tea in a few minutes and Elver shifted in his seat to face Alaska. Their knees were pressed together, hands hand on top.

“Alaska,” Elver said, trying to order the words the right way in his head.

“Yeah?” She ran her thumb over the creases of his warm palm.

He scratched his ear with his shoulder and pursed his lips. “Do you, uh, want to come to Devon with me?”