“Hey,” she said quietly.

  “Hey.”

  I paused.

  “What? What’s up?” she asked.

  I shook my head quickly snapping out of a thought I had just gained.

  “N-nothing…” I said quickly.

  “You sure?”

  “Do you wanna go down to the river tonight?” I asked her curiously.

  She smirked lightly before replying to my question by taking my hand and escorting me out of the park. Her hand was soft but warm to the touch and I gripped it lightly as we walked down the road, past the school and down the hill towards the little pub near the waterfront. The roads were almost completely deserted apart from one or two cars every five to ten minutes.

  “Watch yourself!” Elise laughed as she jokingly pushed me towards the road.

  I stumbled slightly and swore at my surprise of what she had done. She poked her tongue out at me before pulling me back towards her, my arms gripping around her for stability. She laughed at me cheekily.

  “Oh, don’t worry, I’m not going to kill you… yet.”

  “I hate you so much,” I replied trying to capture my breath.

  She giggled at this and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek.

  “River this way?” she asked, pointing to a gate near the side of the pub.

  I nodded and lead her forward, through the gate and onto a grass bank overlooking the calmly flowing river. A couple of shipping containers were docked over the other side of the river, silhouetted against the bright moon above where we lay. It was calm, peaceful, like there were no life left on the earth.

  “Once upon a time,” Elise said softly.

  I smiled and closed my eyes, pulling Elise close to me as I listened to the sweet melody that was her voice. She told me a short horror story about a team investigating a cargo-ship that lost contact with the port. Once on board they found that a cannibal had murdered and skinned the entire crew. The story gave me a few chills until it eventually ended with the cannibal being burnt alive by the sole survivor of the investigation.

  “Damn, that was dark,” I said once Elise had finished.

  She looked at me slightly worried.

  “I-is that a bad thing?” she whispered.

  “No!” I said turning over to smile at her beautiful face. “No, it was an amazing story and I loved it. I just didn’t know you had such a dark side.”

  She sheepishly smiled at me and shrugged.

  “Everyone has dark days, I guess…”

  “Well, I love your dark side. Evil yet beautiful… perfect combination!”

  I winked at her.

  “You think I’m beautiful?” she asked softly, keeping her eyes locked on mine, trying to figure out if I’m lying or not.

  I don’t blink as I nod smiling at her.

  “You are.”

  I leant towards her and kissed her lips lightly for a moment before she returned the kiss and wrapped our bodies together using her arms as bindings. We were locked in moments of intense bliss as we lost ourselves to the touch of our souls. It felt like I was on the edge of reality, that moment when everything fits into place perfectly yet you don’t know whether to believe it or not. Her grip tightened around my waist, pulling at my t-shirt as we both clung to the moment like it would be our last.

  “Wow,” she whispered as the kiss ended, almost paralysed by the sensation.

  “Wow!” I agreed, swallowing my nerves before they surfaced.

  “We should head back home soon.”

  She smiled softly.

  My expression downed a little at the thought of this night ending but a faint smile formed on my face.

  “Sure… your last day of your first week is tomorrow!” I smirked.

  “Ooh!” she sarcastically exclaimed. “Big day! Wait, do we have to bring in cakes then?”

  I laughed.

  “I’m not, but if you do, I don’t think anyone would complain.”

  She rolled her eyes before loosening her grip on me and sitting up slowly, groaning from the stiffness. I copied.

  “We should have just stayed down,” I said pretending to have been shot, my hands covering invisible bullet holes where the pain was.

  “You sure you don’t want to go to hospital?”

  She laughed, poking my chest at the invisible punctures.

  “Oh, god no!”

  I groaned lightly as I stood up, my head spinning slightly from spending too much time lying down. I reached an arm down to where Elise sat and she took it lightly, quickly jumping to her feet as if she needn’t require my hand in the first place.

  “You sure?” she teased poking me again.

  I smirked lightly while shaking my head at her, loving her cool tone soften the already peaceful night. She copied my actions before we both laughed and began walking slowly back, first walking up Caramel Avenue, then along Alexander Lane.

  “So why don’t you like hospitals?” Elise asked as we trekked along Norfolk Street, a single car parking up on the opposite side of the street.

  We both glanced over as we saw a small sized family or two men and a sleepy little girl walk over to their front door and into their house. It was a sweet moment that echoed a future that I had wanted for as long as I can remember, a family that is mine with seemingly no troubles and just perfect.

  I know that perfect can seldom be achieved. But even so, I would have given anything to try and reach that perfection. I thought Elise was my perfect. My own personal miracle that I had never been in reach of until she showed up opposite me only a few days before.

  “I grew up in one,” I said quietly as we crossed the junction onto Castle Hill.

  “You grew up in one?” she wondered.

  “Not exactly,” I said honestly. “But it did feel like I was there more often than not. I used to have extreme breathing difficulties when I was younger… sometimes still do.”

  “Well, one day I am sure you’ll never have to go back again.”

  What made me smile after those words was that she wasn’t being condescending of any kind. She was honestly saying what she believed like most had never done. Normally it was that standard you’ll get better soon rubbish that people use when they know things would never get any better. Elise was different though, like Jenny. They both never made me feel frail or stupid or anything negative to do with my past medical things, they honestly empathised with me in a way that gave me hope that one day things could get better. And a year later they did because of Elise and Jenny’s confidence in me. Or so I told myself.

  “I’ve never actually ever been to hospital before,” Elise said curiously, trying to remember if she ever had.

  “What do you mean never?”

  “I mean, after I was born, I have never needed to go back.”

  She coughed slightly and then again, a lot rougher, like a bark of a dog.

  “Crap!” I cried as she suddenly bent double and spat up some clear liquid.

  I held her steady and asked if she was okay, holding her hair behind her head to stop her hair from being covered in spit. She coughed and spat once more before crouching down on her knees and taking in deep breaths clutching her chest.

  Panic inserted itself into my mind as I quickly began to fuss over her. I repeatedly asked if she was okay and crouched down next to her, trying to pat her on the back. I’m not sure if that even works on people at all, but I did it anyway.

  Her coughing ended almost as quickly as it started and she wiped a little saliva drool off her quivering bottom lip. She closed her eyes for a while as I continued to try and sooth her, her breathing softening every second.

  “Are you okay?” I asked softly, calming down at the same rate as her.

  “You sure you want to continue that no hospital streak? Or just streak?”

  She coughed once more but nodded.

  “You want to streak?” I gasped sarcastically.

  “This is the most time I’ve spent in clothes this year,” she replied quietly with a sheepish smile. “Don’t worry, I’m fine. Help me up?”

  I did as I was asked. She stumbled a little on the way up but managed to straighten herself. After about a minute she spat once more.

  “Taste like mouldy cheese?”

  “Wait, that taste, wasn’t you?”

  “Oh! So, you do have a sarcastic side?” I laughed as we began walking again, taking it slightly easier this time.

  “Yeah, you just have to see me puke and boom, charade gone.”

  She sniggered back.

  I wrapped my arm around her lovingly as we continued to walk back up to our houses. We laughed up Emerald Avenue until we decided to sing on the final road before our homes, Richmond Lane.

  We arrived back at Elise’s first and she pulled out a key to her home. She rolled it around in her left hand before holding it up to me.

  “One day… we can have one together… maybe.”

  I was taken aback for a while but smiled. I couldn’t think of anything to say to her yet again, my nerves of my fear to lose her kicking in again.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow?” I blurted out suddenly.

  “Oh, sure!” she said with the same reaction to me.

  I didn’t know what I should do so I quickly kissed her.

  “I’m sorry I’m such a bum,” I said softly after the kiss.

  “You’re my bum,” she whispered as she kissed me once again.

  Before I turned and left though, Elise asked for me to come around the following afternoon.

  “My parents have a work party to go to and they won’t be back till late,” she explained.

  I agreed and thought it would be quite a fun time as we had never been in each other’s houses before that day. She suggested that I came over about five so we could have an hour or so till we ate the pizzas that her parents had left her for dinner.

  “Alright,” I said getting excited about the meet up. “So, I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

  I grinned as I went into a hug.

  “I love you!”

  I smiled softly, planting a light kiss on her lips. She suddenly looked uncomfortable and sheepishly said good night quickly before scuttling into her house without repeating the words to me. I felt conflicted and wasn’t certain on which emotion I should have been feeling so I decided not to think at all. I wiped my mind of all thoughts, closed my eyes and took a deep breath of the cool night air, wondering home in silence.

  Chapter Eleven

  “She what?” Jenny asked, surprised by my words as we slowly walked towards Elise’s house.

  “She didn’t say it back,” I said again, making sure that she understood. “All she did was run and I don’t know what I did.”

  My mood plummeted again suddenly as it had the night before. Jenny put her arm around me and pulled me into a hug. She tried to cheer me up by saying that it must have only been nerves, but I had a feeling that something else was going on.

  “She was sick as well on the way home. Like, she just collapsed in front of me and started being sick. I didn’t know what to do and I’m seriously worried about her, Jen.”

  “How about I talk to her later?” she asked, trying to be helpful.

  I smiled softly and thanked her for caring. She replied with a little quip about the job of a best-friend.

  Taking a deep breath, I ended the hug with a sense of reassurance that I might have completely misread the situation of last night. I had actually stayed up for another couple of hours thinking of a multitude of paranoia induced thoughts that Elise never once cared about me. That she was just using me for an end game that I had no chance in guessing. These thoughts plagued my dreams all night. In them she confessed her love for me. I wanted her to move closer to me but she only stepped further and further away, her cough morphing into a laugh and sneer that, even as we stood outside her house, continued to whisper dread in my ear.

  Her door slowly opened and she looked pale. I was shocked by the look of her but she gave a weak smile to us and we both had to smile back. As she turned back to get her bag, I turned to Jenny.

  “What happened?” I asked worried.

  “I don’t know,” she admitted. “But; she looks really ill…”

  We silenced ourselves as Elise almost stumbled towards us. She smiled again and I pulled her into a tight hug, really concerned about her current state of health.

  “Are you okay?” I whispered softly in her ear so Jenny couldn’t hear.

  She made a slight nodding motion on my shoulder before coughing lightly.

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” she whispered back. “My mum just thinks it’s a cold.”

  I smiled at the reassurance her words gave me and broke up the hug to continue walking to school. I took her hand in mine and she didn’t protest.

  “Just don’t give it to me!” I joked as we began walking.

  Once we arrived at the corner shop, we decided that we should buy something fizzy to drink during the day so we could keep awake during the tedious lessons ahead. Jenny bought a lemon and lime flavoured bottle of fizz; Elise bought an orange flavoured one and I being me bought a cola flavoured one. Back then I never had anything different as I never liked change or trying new things. Well, if I’m honest, I guess that just summed up my life!

  Anyway, once the fizzy drinks were purchased, we quickly trekked to the front gate and into the school playground. There seemed to be a strange buzz around the place and it wasn’t until we finally got into form when our tutor said that the entire year group was being invited to a theatre show in the city.

  I hadn’t often been to the theatre back then but I thoroughly enjoyed watching everyone tell a story in such magical ways that I was enveloped completely and felt I was a part of whatever was being acted out. To me it was like watching a movie, except that sometimes the humans on stage interacted with us – although, that was mostly just during the Christmas holiday weeks.

  “It tells a story about a young girl having to leave those she loves most for a journey of discovery,” he said. “I don’t know much about it honestly, but I know that it is an inspiring piece of work which you are all invited to attend.”

  I looked at Elise who smiled and nodded subtlety, showing her interest in wanting to go. I smirked in response as he continued rambling on about the details. It was only two weeks on from that moment but we both felt like that was forever. After all, look how much had happened within just a week of school.

  After form, Jenny and I had art but Elise was required to go to computers as she was on a different set than us and the classes swapped around; so every time I had art, she had computers and vice versa. She was a higher set than what Jenny and I was – just in case you were wondering – but to us it didn’t matter as it was only one lesson apart.

  “See you in an hour.”

  Elise smiled positively, still looking as pale as she had all morning.

  “See you soon, Hun,” Jenny said. “Piss off Mrs Herbert for us.”

  We all laughed and Elise agreed before entering her classroom while Jenny and I walked away towards the art block at the opposite end of the school. Several so-called rebels were hanging around the food court and jeered at us as we walked past.

  “Oooh,” they said. “Looks like he’s getting lucky later!”

  Jenny and I simply smirked and continued on, ignoring them completely. We often laughed at people who presumed we were dating. Of course, we knew we weren’t but it was amusing for us to see how many people a week would say something like that.

  “I’m surprised no one has tried joking about you and Elise.”

  She smirked.

  “You know… since you two are such love birds.”

  The sudden thought of last night appeared again in my head and I stopped still for a moment.

  “Oh, Olly. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”

  I have her a soft smile and began plodding on.

  “No, don’t worry,” I said smiling at her. “It’s just weird, you know.”

  We reached the classroom and entered. Inside was a mess of people not doing much else than what Jenny and I were doing. Talking. There was no visible sign of our teacher so we just walked to the back corner of the classroom and sat down. There were pencils and paper on the desk and an animal sculpture which we had guessed we would need to try and draw.

  “Yeah,” Jenny said after the pause. “I guess it is a little weird because of how you two are and things.”

  She thought some more as we began trying to sketch the sculpture. Jenny was always better than me at art. She had an eye for beauty and was able to capture it perfectly in almost every form, from a photograph to a painting and even just drawing. It was a skill I had admired a lot over the years as I was never good with images, just words.

  “What do you think is wrong then?” I asked her after a little bit more silence between us.

  “Well maybe she’s just scared.”

  She guessed.

  “Scared?”

  “Yeah,” she said putting down the pencil so she could try and explain more simply. “Well, you know how you were before you met her? You were scared of getting close to anyone new in case you lost them, correct?”

  I nodded in response, knowing that she was correct about me as she always was.

  “Well maybe she is the same. She is basically you in every way as I already explained. So why couldn’t she be like you on this matter too? I reckon she is just scared of losing you.”

  “So, what should I do?” I asked as we continued drawing.

  “Well, are you two meeting up tonight?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Well try and show her in any way you can that you would never leave her. Make tonight so special that she knows you truly do love her then maybe she might allow herself to believe it.”

  Jenny fell silent as I thought about what she had said. Then I heard a little sniff from her before she rubbed her nose a little.

  “Are you okay?” I asked her.