The Flynn Effect

21 | practice

Jo

"RELAX," FLYNN WHISPERS. "You keep doing that and you'll scare them all away."

I retract my hand from the water and look sideways to meet his gaze. His face is blue. The floor is blue. Everything is blue except for his eyes. Right now, despite the deep blueness of the aquarium, his eyes are a translucent green.

He asks me to watch him and I do. He dips his hand into the small bag filled with fish feed and scoops out a small quantity. Then he gently spreads the brown crumbs into the water and then slowly, the small fishes gather round his area and consume it.

"They won't bite," he assures me and urges me to try.

I lean forward on the glass and stretch my arm forward on the railing without resting too much of my weight on it. I open my palm and mimic Flynn's movements on the surface of the water. He's silent next to me, watching my every move and then slowly, two of the little creatures turn around and advance towards their treat. The rest of the squad turn around and glide towards me, abandoning Flynn, tails waddling as they do so and then they gather round my hand and feast on the crumbs that float and sink into the water.

I dip my hand a little lower into the water and a few of them swim towards it and nibble away at my fingers in an attempt to capture what is left of their food. A slightly ticklish sensation travels up my fingertips as they nibble on and I grin a little, before taking my hand out and watching beads of water roll down my fingers.

"That was nice," I mumble. "You come here often?"

He nods. "Yes," he hesitates before he continues. "Sometimes, I bring my sister along."

"You have a sister." I say, turning to him and he nods.

"Yes."

"Older or younger?"

"Four years younger."

My head does a little spin. "Is she Ellie? Your mum's store is named after 'Ellie' and she's Talia. Except, Ellie's like her middle name or something."

He smiles like he remembers something. "Yes. The store was named after my sister. The whole bookstore was her idea. Hence, the name."

"Oh," I nod thoughtfully and then I frown. "How come, I've never seen her though? She's never been at the store before. Unlike you."

Now that I think about it, no one has ever mentioned Flynn having a sister. Not Eloise, not Otis and not him, until now, that is. I tuck in my lips when he doesn't respond immediately. I don't want to appear nosy or anything, especially if he's not ready to talk.

"She's got a private tutor at home and has extra lessons after school. So she doesn't really have the time to be at the store like I do."

I nod and decide not to ask any more questions about her. That explains it, really. But with the way he stares at the fishes and doesn't meet my eye, I'm convinced otherwise. Still, I don't push it. Instead I say, "Craig isn't buying this."

Flynn doesn't look surprised. He spreads a few more feed into the water and gives me a sideways glance. "He's not."

"You knew?"