Page 2 of Beyond the Blues
“Just a self care holiday, I guess.” I shrug.
“You?” I ask.
“Same I guess, I finally finished university, so I thought why not?” Nora answers, pulling out a bagof skittles from her rucksack and chucking a red one into her mouth.
“Do you still live here, in London?” I ask, feeling slightly nosy.
“Yeah, I moved from Carricklea but I hated it, so as you know, I studied in London, mostly to get away from my hometown, you know?”
I guess I understand what it feels like to want to get away from your hometown, away from everyone you know. At home, I know everyone is just staring at me with sympathy for ‘the girl with the dead best friend.’ I stare at Nora, wondering if the look in her eyes means she sees me as the girl with the dead best friend.
“I get you” smiling at Nora, the conversation coming to an abrupt ending. I sit without my headphones for twenty minutes in case Nora carries on the conversation, but she doesn’t. Instead, she opens Netflix on her phone and watches a film. I’m glad something distracted me as we were taking off though. I put my headphones over my ears and shut my eyes, imagining I
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was not on this plane. Closing my eyes used to be so calming, but ever since Coco left, it’s harder. I close my eyes and she pops up in my thoughts, our memories, our last day together, her funeral. I shoot my eyes open and decide to distract myself with a cheap magazine I bought at the airport instead. The type of magazine with the insane four paged long stories in them, which make you wonder if they’re real or not. I feel my eyelids heavy with tiredness. Getting up at 4am for a flight was a battle for me, someone who usually wakes up at 10am. I take my hoodie off, trying to avoid elbowing Nora in the face. Once the hoodie is over my head, I come to the horrible realisation that I didn’t just lift my hoodie up, but also my shirt, revealing my bra. I frantically pull my top down and look to my side to see if anyone was looking, and of course Nora was. She looks away quickly, keeping up with her nonchalant act, or maybe she genuinely was this chill and calm.
“Sorry” I whisper, even though I doubt she can even hear me through her headphones.
“No complaints” Nora replies, not looking away from her phone. My cheeks burn with a hot flush, which I know looks like blood on snow, noticeable from miles away.
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2
Chapter 2
The plane lands on the runway abruptly, shaking me awake in a slight panic. I grab my arm rest and clench it, turning my knuckles white. As soon as the plane stops moving, everyone bounces up from their seat, hectically pulling their bags down from the overhead lockers. As Coco always said,we’d all eventually get off the plane no matter who got off first. I sit there, waiting for everyone to leave the plane, leaving me alone. The well put together stewardesses wave me goodbye, their ruby lips showing off their very white teeth. I drag my small suitcase through the airport, making my way straight to the taxi rank.The perks of only bringing hand luggage are not waiting round for my bag. As I leave the airport doors, the warm air hits me and the sun falls on my face. I turn to the taxi rank to see Nora standing there, sunglasses on and cigarette balancing on her lips, laughing along with the taxi driver. From what I’ve seen of this woman, I wish I had the confidence to just talk to any and every stranger. Nora looks over to me, notices me staring, and waves her hand just a little. I wave mine back and smile before being interrupted by the taxi driver.
“Taxi?” the man in a blue polo shirt, hanging out the driver’s window, says. “Yes please, Sunset Hotel?” The driver nods, getting out of the car and putting my bags in the boot. I get in the back and admire the views as we drive to the hotel. The rugged cliffs and wild nature surrounding the rocky
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roads until we reach the shoreline. Then there it is. The beautiful white buildings, contrasting with the deep blue glimmering sea, peacefully singing as the waves crash against the beach. I can see why Coco always wanted to visit this place. She always loved blue, and it seems here, there’s a bit of blue dotted everywhere.I remember in her light blonde hair there were blue streaks highlighted throughout, matching her blue shell necklace she always kept on. I fiddle with my matching pink shell necklace, heart heavy with grief. A tear falls down my cheek slowly, and I try to hold back my emotions. I’m doing this for Coco. Coco would want me to be happy.
Before I know it, I’m flooding this poor man’s taxi with my tears, his confused eyes looking at me through the rear-view mirror.
*
Aged 16
Coco lies on my lap whilst I braid her hair, and she speaks about a new film she thinks we should watch.
“I just think you’ll really like it, Ophelia!”
“I’ll never like the films you like, you see. I like dramas and romances and you like nerdy stuff.” Coco sits up jokingly offended and throws a pillow from the bed at me. We fall into a pit of laughter, stomach cramping from how hard I’m laughing. As she lays her head back down on my lap, a sense of calm washes over us both. Her big green eyes stare up at me. Coco was the real life Rapunzel look alike.
“You know what film we will both agree on, though?” We smile at each other.
“Mamma Mia” we say in unison.We both sing loudly, out of tune, of course, to every song that comes on. Coco and I have watched this film well over 100 times.When it first came out, we begged our parents to take us to the cinema three times during the release week. We knew every line, we laughed and cried every time we watched the film.‘Slipping through our fingers’ plays and Coco shoots up off the bed, lip syncing a dramatic adaptation of it.The further along the song gets, the more passionate she gets. She prances around the room, picking up a hairbrush as a microphone. Her face radiating pure happiness, her cheeks flushed from laughing. When Sophie’s part starts, I
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CHAPTER 2