✅ The Last New Start [NaNoWriMo2021]

2. Asking for Help

"I'll miss you," Spike whispered. Tess just nodded, and held him tighter. She wasn't smiling now, but she felt like it was an option. Just being with him, even when they were sitting together on a bus, waiting for the town centre gridlock to clear.

"I'll miss you too," she said a few minutes later. "I don't want to leave while you're here."

"Then call me. Every day, if you can. Send me souvenirs from this island. I hear the weather's great, or pictures when you're lying on some Mediterranean beach. Keep in touch, and say it's a long holiday. We'll be together again when it's over, and we can go to college together."

"I hope so," she mumbled.

"I asked my family if you could stay with us. For the rest of the school year, you know, so you're not disrupting your education."

"You did?" She gasped, eyes wide for a moment. Then she thought about Spike's dad; about the reasons she didn't come round to his house when they had any other options. She glanced down, and saw a faint bruise on the side of his arm. What would Mr Torrance say about a suggestion like that. "Really?"

"No. You know what he's like. But maybe one of your friends could. Middle class guys with a spare room, or whatever. Your folks would pay for your food and that, right? Never give up. Unless you really want to see San Lorenzo..."

"I'd like to visit. Dad made it sound glorious, but not somewhere I want to live. But you're right, I'll ask everyone I know. Might get lucky."

The phone in her pocket buzzed, and it was in her hand instantly.

"What's that, got an answer already?"

"No, it's... Oh! It's from Aunt Mary. I asked if she had any ideas. You know, she gives good advice sometimes. Or crazy. She probably said the same as you."

She looked down at the screen, and swiped across to see the message. The first line that caught her eye was the subject.

"Fwd: Cousin Gabby"

"Who's that?" Spike asked. "You don't talk about your family much."

"Oh, she's... my dad's cousin, I think. I've got dozens of cousins, but we barely talk to them. Some kind of argument about church, they never told me the details, but most of my aunts and uncles don't want anything to do with my mum. It's only Mary who keeps in touch. Gabby... I kind of remember her, she used to babysit. Like, when I was really little. I bet she's an adult by now, that's weird to think."

"Maybe she wants to get in touch. You want to read it?"

"I better. Aunt Mary's not good with email, you know. Worse than Grandma sometimes, they'll write about a dozen things so it's like you're reading a novel, and the thing in the subject line might not even be mentioned if you're looking at a third-hand message. Never know, Mary could have wanted to send me some idea for dealing with moving, and instead of hitting 'new' she forwarded an email from somebody else and added her message in the middle."

"People really do that? I... wait, my brother does that. I guess it's not that weird, so..."

Tess already wasn't giving him her full attention. She was skimming over the email, desperate to see if there was anything that might help. And then she was scrolling back up to the beginning, to read in more detail. Spike sat and looked out of the window, never giving any sign of impatience or boredom. He was so happy just to be there with her that he didn't need to demand her attention; a feeling unfamiliar to both of them, but strangely comforting.

As they got off the bus and started walking around the shops, Tess tried to explain what she had learned. It was hard to put into words, after reading such a jumbled series of messages that had apparently passed through six different aunts and cousins. But she thought she had the basic gist of it:

"Cousin Gabby lives in Palmerston."

"What, Palmerston, Oregon? Like in the TV show?"

"No. Like the trashy development north of Pine Ridge. I had no idea she was so close."

"You should tell your parents then, it would be weird to live like a dozen miles from a cousin and not even pay a visit before they leave the country. And..."

"And ask if she's got a spare room. Right. She's looked after me when I was little enough to need it, but I'm not a baby now. I can do my own food, do my share of the chores, all that stuff. Dad can't be upset about me staying with family, can he? If I can stay there, I'm still in the catchment area for the school and I don't have to change. Avoid disrupting my studies, they'll care more about that than not leaving my friends behind."

"Think she'll go for it?"

Tess paused to think. She barely remembered Gabby from the last time they'd met. She remembered having a lot of fun, but more details were buried in the mists of ancient history. More than ten years ago; it was more than two thirds of her life. She had a vague impression of an older girl with a range of glittery T-shirts, a lime-green streak in her hair, and a room practically wallpapered with Paramore merchandise. But beyond those superficial details, she really had no idea what kind of person Gabby might be, or how far she would be willing to go to help a distant relative.

"I don't know," she said eventually. "I remember her being fun, but that was years ago. She's not some fashionable teenager now. And even if I say I can do everything myself, she won't know I'm there, I bet to her it'll seem like looking after a kid again. That's a big ask for anyone.

They kept on talking, going over and over the possibility of a plan. Refining the things that she could say, trying to think of the best way to convince her parents, and her cousin, that this was a good idea. By the end of the day, they were mostly retreading old ground, saying things they'd already said. But Tess didn't mind; she'd happily listen to Spike reading a phone book if he sounded interested. She loved talking to him whatever the subject was, and planning to stay in the country was a great excuse to keep on talking. She felt safe, and she felt hope. That was one of the reasons it would have been so hard to leave her friends behind, and now if everything went right she might not have to.