Blue Mirth

Harmonies

John Kenneth

"So, I got a question.", she says, turning the key in the ignition. I tense up. Please don't ask about my tattoo. "Um. Ask.", I say, settling back in my seat. I notice that the passenger seat is way more comfortable than the driver's. That explains why Ivy was all cuddled up on here three days ago. I rest my head back, and close my eyes, pulling the seat belt over my body.

"Favourite food."

"Dumplings."

"Roger that."

"What are you doing?"

"Patience, Grasshopper."

I open my eyes, to see what's going on for myself. The GPS reads 'The Monk'. That's a Chinese restaurant next to the bridge. "Ivy. What are you doing?", I ask, seriously confused. She sees me staring, and says, "Shush. Don't make me blindfold you, because I will not hesitate." I lie back again, tired of this curiosity. I trust the driver, and she knows that. I'll go wherever she takes me. I think back to the whole Greenhouse incident, when we pass it on our way out. I remember the way she just fell. I don't know why, though. The cut wasn't that deep, thank God. Maybe it was the sight of her blood? I don't know. I open my eyes again, and stare at her while she drives. She catches me peeking again, and stops the car. She takes off her seat belt, and climbs into the back, behind my seat.

She returns with a... tie? I thought she was going to get another Cherry Cola. I feel like drinking it, to be honest. She gets the cloth towards my face. "Wha- Ivy, what are you..?", I don't get to finish. "Just trust me.", she says, in a low murmur. I relax. I realise I've been on edge ever since I told her about the... well, that. I exhale. I shouldn't give her a hard time. It isn't her fault, it's mine. She pulls me closer, gripping the front of my shirt, and for a moment I just freeze. Chill, it's Ivy. She pulls me closer, and all that while, I look at the bandage on her collarbone. I also note that she's still wearing my sweatshirt. I'm pretty sure she got blood on it, but it's black, so she wouldn't have noticed. I see the way my sweatshirt is just so big on her, it drops down her right shoulder.

I lift my head to her face now, aware now of the fact that her hand was on my head, caressing my temple. The moment I look at her, she smiles warmly, and brings the tie towards my eyes. A moment later, she's tying it to the back of my head. And I'm blind. She pushes me back in my seat, and I panic. I hate the dark. I was always the kid who slept with the night-light on. I don't have any shame in admitting it, because, it's true to the point where I start hyperventilating. I reached out into nothing. And then it starts. I stop feeling my legs, my hands are numbing, and my throat goes dry. "John!", Ivy yelps, and then I feel something. My fingers hold something small and lukewarm. I squeeze it, letting the sturdiness comfort me. I feel around this comfort-object, and find that in gets thicker and warmer.

And I just hold it, and it transports me back to the car I'd forgotten I was in. my breathing slows down, and feeling returns in my legs again. I hold the object closer still, touching it to my face and neck. The tie is off me a second later. When my vision adjusts to the surroundings, I find that the comfort-object is Ivy's arm. I look at it, mentally slapping myself for squashing her tiny fingers, and for leaving more scratches up her arm. "Ivy, I-", I don't know what to say. There is no way that she's going to believe my fear of darkness. Which eighteen-year-old is afraid of the dark? She sits there, staring at her arm too, making me feel even more terrible. The way she looks at her arm is the way I look at crying children. She looks up at me, and I hold my breath. This is it, she's going to kick me out.

But she doesn't say anything. She just stares at me for so long, I start thinking that she's starting to do the Mannequin Challenge. When I start panicking again, she holds my hand, and brings it to her left wrist. She straightens two of my fingers, and touches them to the inside of her wrist, right below her thumb. She holds it there for a moment. And then I feel it. The blood pulsing through her veins. "Feel that?", she murmurs. "Yeah.", I say, my voice just barely audible.