Two Fish

forty four || elver

“Yellow car,” Elver exclaimed. Alaska turned to him.

“What?” she asked. “Have you lost your mind?”

“Oh.” Elver chuckled. “Cathy and I have this game going, every time you see a car that’s yellow you have to say it, but if you say it when you haven’t seen one you lose a point. Simple. Let’s play.”

Alaska smiled, a knowing glint in her eye. It was just the sort of game she would have played when she was little. She would always be the winner with Minnie’s height compared to hers, as well as her competitive streak.

“Ok,” she said. “game on.”

For a minute or two they fell silent, each scanning the road before Alaska screamed at the top of her voice, shocking Elver.

“Yellow car. Ha! I’m winning,” she said gleefully . Elver smiled, cool as a cucumber.

“Er, excuse me, that’s a van,” he said, one eye trained on the road and the other waiting for Alaska’s reaction.

“What? You never said no vans,” she protested, frowning. “That’s not fair.”

“Sorry, those are the rules,” he said innocently. “I’m winning. And next time, a little quieter. I nearly crashed.”

“Oh, you cheat. The idea is you explain the rules before we start,” she groaned. Elver grinned. All they could hear was the flashy purr of the car’s no doubt pricey engine. He watched Alaska,  amused, as she scoured the road and craned her neck to look down every lane and each driveway.

“Competitive, aren’t you?” he said, breaking the silence and jostling her elbow. She nodded without tearing her stare from the road.

“I have to be. If Minnie ever wins a game she rubs it in like she’s scrubbing a stain off her shirt. It’s so annoying. I’ve learnt to win,” she said.

“Well, I’m a champion of the game of cars that are yellow. You can ask anybody around. They’ll tell you so.”

“You’re modest,” she joked.

“Oh yes, very. I don’t like arrogant people,” he retorted and turned up the radio as the traffic light switched to red. Alaska frowned.

“We’re still in Brighton?” she asked.

“Yeah, of course. We’ve only been going for half an hour. Don’t you know where you live?” he joked, though she looked a little hurt. “Sorry,” he said, back pedalling.

“No, no, it’s fine. It’s just, I get a bit weird in a car. I try to make things better for myself, which makes it worse because then I realise I’m nowhere near where I thought. It’s hard to explain. You’ll think I’m weird.”

“I don’t. We all have our habits,” he comforted. “I feel like we’ve been through this a thousand times before. I don’t care about all these little things. I love you.” He put his free hand on hers and she held it tight until the light turned green. Elver stepped on the accelerator and had to swerve as a car pulled out in front of him, forcing him to slam on the brakes. His seatbelt jarred, stopping him from flying through the windscreen.

“Now, I don’t even drive and I know that was bad,” Alaska said, shocked. Elver was angry.

“Argh! People like that just don’t even care. They could have killed themselves, or us. What if you’d died? What would your mum say? I promised to look after you but it isn’t my fault if some idiot kills us.”

Alaska stared before she burst out laughing.

“Elver, you sound like some grumpy middle aged man. We didn’t die. We were barely even close. Now, keep driving and slow down because I feel sick,” Alaska said. Elver switched from fuming to over-protective.

“Are you ok? Do you want me to stop? There’s a layby right there.”

“No, I’ll be ok. Just, you know, take it easy.”

“Are you sure?” He slowed down instantly, pottering along the road at thirty miles an hour. Alaska leant back and didn’t reply. Then, she lurched forward.

“No.”

Elver screeched onto the grass verge and Alaska rocketed out of the car, scooping her hair back. He just joined her side as she coughed and stood up, groaning. He plucked a wide, soft leaf .

“I’m really sorry. I don’t have any loo paper or anything. Use this.” He pushed the leaf into her hand and she smiled her thanks.

“I feel awful. Can we stay out here for a bit?” she asked.“Of course. We can walk.” He gestured to the sign pointing to a public footpath. She wiped her sweaty palm on her top and took his hand. He stepped forward but Alaska stayed where she was. Without warning, she stooped over to one side and threw up again.

“I’m really sorry. You must get it pretty bad,” he said as she rested her head on his shoulder and groaned her discomfort.

“Sorry, yeah. I really don’t mean to be a pain.”

“No, it’s ok. I’ll drive slowly and we’ll keep the windows open. Oh, and my mum used to put mint and lavender in the car whenever Cathy felt a bit queasy. It might help, if we can find some.”

“Thank you. But where?”

Elver pointed at a tiny garden centre across the road. “There.”

Alaska giggled at the quaint building with its tearoom, only one car parked outside. “Really?”

“It’s the centre of all gardens,” Elver joked, pulling her across the quiet road and through the old sliding doors. An old woman looked up from her magazine when they walked in and kept a beady eye on them, a woman with a natural distrust of teenagers. It wasn’t long before Elver had located the lavender and a bunch of mint leaves. Alaska inhaled their rich scent and smiled.

“That’s nice,” she said, nodding. Elver paid, ignoring the woman’s glances from him to Alaska, and from them to their greenery. He was polite to her and handed over the cash, his arm around Alaska’s shoulders. The woman’s smile was curt.

“Thank you,” Elver said, but she said nothing in return, simply nodding. Alaska took the mint and lavender and once they were halfway to the car, she turned to him.

“She was a sour old bag,” she said.

“You’re telling me. People like her, I just don’t get them. Why can’t she just smile, or say hello?”

“Don’t dwell on it,” Alaska said. She massaged a mint leaf between her finger and thumb, releasing its cleansing scent. “We’re going to have an amazing day while she’s stuck in there. She is boring because she’s bored.”

When they reached the car, Alaska rooted in her bag for mouthwash and swished her mouth out, washing it down with a gulp of water.

“Well, let’s hope that doesn’t happen again.” She curled up into her seat and wrapped her blanket around her legs, spreading the plants across the dashboard and popping a sprig of lavender into her hair. “Does this stuff work?”

“Cathy hasn’t been carsick in years, if that means anything. But maybe she’s just grown out of it.”

“Here’s hoping it’s the mint.” She sniffed a leaf, strong enough to burn her nose. Elver glanced at her as he pulled out of the layby, both windows wound right down. It was getting warmer outside, the sun peeping outside from behind a hazy sky, though there were dark clouds ahead.