Fever Dream Green (Discontinued)

3

After a few long hours of Aggie driving, Lily interrogating me about school and me wishing to be anywhere else, we seem to escape the dizzying green of the countryside.

We come into view of the ocean, contrasting perfectly with the chalky white of the coast. We come to stop at the port, where Aggie tells me that there is a ferry coming to take us to Porlemere.

The port is packed. We get off the train, and are pushed into the hive of people immediantly. This now seems a far cry from the serene ocean I saw a minute ago. The buildings here are all bright and colourful with buckets of life to them. Character. We eventually work our way into one of these buildings which is a bright shade of yellow, where a man checks our passports. On mine my surname is Pemberton. I cringe at the thought. What a dorky surname. Pemberton.

We finally get on the goddamn ferry, and I look back at the buildings. They were massive, and they had shops and shit, and they just seemed...joyful. I think I know why Lily loves it here so much. It's wonderful. Like her. A world away from the small town we came from, where nothing would've become of us. Here it seems like we could be anything we want.

Lily and Aggie go instead, while I opt to stay and look at the sights. I needed some fresh air. And I really didn't want to be caught in another awkward set of questions again. I've already spent too much time with them for one day. I really don't know how to cope with people, and it shows.

The waves are colliding with each other below me, creating a slight swaying of the floor. It's calming when you're out at sea. At least it is when the sea is calm. I suppose it's because you are so far away from anything, anywhere. Isolated. It's nice.

"Oi." I swear that's my name. Oi. Lily seems to say it to me quite often. Five times a day at least. She walks up to me and leans on the rails next to me.
"Hey." I don't carry on the conversation further. What do I say that I haven't said already?
"Hey. Looking forward to it?"
"I suppose."
"Oh come on! I know you're loving it already. You're going to love where we're living. It's an apartment block, but there's a fucking pier coming right out of it! All my uni friends live there. You know, the ones I've told you about. Oh, you'll love them. There's Eli, Doug, Dabria, and... erm, oh, Zoe. Yes that's it! Zoe."

I listen, nodding my head along. I don't interrupt her when she's talking about something she's passionate about. I can tell if she's passionate, because she'll wave her hands around and use hand actions. She looks like a madman. Or Gordan Ramsey. Gordan Ramsey always uses hand actions too. I've noticed. This always happens. I zone out and Lily will notice any second now.

"Hello. Earth to Fae."

There. Called it.

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The ferry starts to approach land. The land is lush, with lively green painted onto it in fierce strokes. The green transforms into a calming beige, as sand takes over. Then turquoise oceans sweep up the sand, eating it up. It's perfect.

We arrive at the port, which, like the other where we arrived, is strangely lively. Colourful. Happy. To be honest, it looks like I'm about to enter Disney World. I think about it. What if Lily really went to uni at Disney World? That would be epic. But, more specifically, it looks like a Disney film. If I had to narrow it down to one, I'd say Encanto.

Once we reunite with Aggie, who looks strangely flustered, we get in the van and start queuing our way out of town. There is so many people, coming in and out. Porlemere is a busy place, it seems. It's not just us who fancied living here.

Once we are outside, I take a look around. It just looks like a city, urban skyscrapers twice the height of the rolling hills to the west. The city we have arrived at, which I don't know the name of yet, is at a crossroads between hills. It's like all the villages and towns on the hills were pushed down and combined to create one massive city.

It's loud, and a million different noises are reaching my ears. There's a lot of beeping from cars, I notice, or revs of engines from fancy ones. People are talking into phones, and I hear snippets of conversations. There's women waving magazines around on the streets, and men stopping people so he can try to sell something to them. There's also the pleas of the homeless on the streets, lying across doorways. It's strange how even though they are the most miserable of the miserable, they have such vibrant sleeping bags and waterproofs. It so jarring seeing them next to the vibrance of their surroundings. The world around them is so joyful, but they are so blue. I guess not everything is happy in Porlemere

There's lots of different smells, too. Food, which makes my mouth water, but also fumes from the cars that fly by us. But before I can see anymore, Aggie drives on.

As we are going to our new home, we see glimpses of the city, and I hear Aggie getting progressively more colourful with her language as her and Lily try to navigate it. As we get closer, or what I think is closer, the city becomes more run down, less clean. Then we come to a big sign; 'Blen Wood'. I think that is the most stupid name for a district in the city. Ever. Wood? I can literally not spot a tree. Anywhere. And I look. A lot. How ironic.

We for a few more minutes. And then we are at the apartment. I can tell this because Lily points it out. The look of joy on her face is so cute. "Look Fae, look! That's it, there! It looks so wonderful!"

It does, to be fair. It was painted yellow, but the paint has peeled and has been dirtied and faded. There's a bunch of candyfloss clouds peeking out behind it. Just to the right of the apartment is the beach. It's beautiful. And Lily is right. There is a fucking pier connected to the apartment block. There seems to be a bar on there, and a couple of shops and things. It's beautiful. And it's home.