Diane Young [Camp NaNoWriMo July 2014]

Diane Young [14]

14

"We are going to IKEA." Elijah declared.

At this present moment, we were sat in the middle of the park finishing off double scoop soft ice cream cones. Mine was strawberry (of course) and Elijah had gotten chocolate.

"What are we going to do in IKEA?" I asked. I had long since learned not to question his motives, because it would lead to intense confusion and perhaps even a brain injury.

"We are going to go window shopping... And we'll pick up a vase for my mom."

"How exciting."

Elijah rolled his eyes and crunched down on his wafer cone. I watched, slightly shocked, considering I hadn't even finished off half of my scoop yet and he was basically done. Either I was a painfully slow eater or he had a knack of eating too fast.

Duke, who had once again joined us on our adventures, bleated in Elijah's hair, bringing my attention to him.

"They don't allow animals in IKEA, though." I stated. "We can't get in with Dukey."

"We can. They won't see him."

"How come?"

Once again, he rolled his eyes. "He's a chameleon, remember? They bl-"

"Blend. Got it."

Then we sat around talking (or he spoke; I was too busy finishing off my ice cream) about hair and school and other things Elijah liked. He told me about his other friend from school that had ditched him to go to another country, Berlin specifically. Once he started talking about Tiffany I stopped him and quickly finished my ice cream.

"Why don't you wanna hear about Tiffany?"

"Why would I want to hear about Tiffany? We're not friends."

"So?"

"I don't think we like each other."

"But you have to!"

"Why?"

"Because she was - " he clamped his lips shut and then shook his head. "Forget it. Ready to hit IKEA?"

I stared at him curiously before looking up at Duke and smiling. He was a bright and leafy green. "I think you should ask him."

We entered IKEA with determined expressions on our faces. Elijah started doing it and I copied so I didn't walk awkwardly beside him. I've recently learned that if I acted like him, he became less weird. A logic that I don't understand, but hey, I've got to go with the flow.

The security guard didn't even notice Duke when he glanced over us with firm eyes. I think that being a little bit weird gets you places.

Elijah took a very long time to find a vase for his mom. It was bright pink with purple flowers that looked disgusting.

"Your mom won't like that. It's absolutely horrific." 

He shot me a grin. "That's the point, my darling."

Then we went 'window shopping', but without any actual window panes. We linked arms and he wore his dark sunglasses while dissecting pieces of furniture around nervous shop assistants.

"If I had that in my room," Elijah West started, pointing at a green and yellow table. "I'd probably let Duke poop all over it."

"If I had that in my room, I'd probably burn it." I muttered, and he laughed.