I Do Until I Don't

Chapter 21

   "The key to flirting is to get the other person to flirt back. Consciously or not," Fannar explains once we've ordered our milkshakes. He's still full of sand and, when he brushes it off form his white t-shirt and tropical-print shorts, some sand falls from his hair. I guess it's a good thing I tied my hair up into a ponytail and that I'm wearing a dress (with shorts under, off course).

We're regulars now, at the milkshake place I have yet to know the brand name, and all the waiters and waitresses know our order. I alternate between the double fudge milkshake and the cookie dough milkshake, and Fannar always takes the milkshake of the day unless it's vanilla and then orders the Oreo one. "With Alex," Fannar continues, "it's sure to be conscious flirting. To get him to flirt back with you, since you lean more on the shy side, you need to seem like you don't know you're flirting."

"Right." I pause. "How do I do that?"

A mischievous gleam appears in Fannar's eyes. "You act clumsy." He says it like it's the greatest plan in the history of greatest plans when, really, it seems kind of... bland. "Before you go all judgy-judgy," he says, "let me explain."

The waiter, Tommy today, gives us both our milkshake which he puts in the middle of the table because he knows we like to share. He's about to give us two extra straws, but I've listened to Sabrina's We Waste Too Many Straws And We Will Kill The Ocean speech too many times to accept. Besides, for all he knows, we're a couple, which means we've exchanged silva in ways that don't include drinking from each other's beverages.

"Let's say you get up from the sand," Fannar continues, taking a sip of my milkshake, "you can, I don't know, trip and steady yourself on Alex. But only if he's the closest to you."

I nod. "Do you use this technique?"

Fannar shakes his head. "I get girls by being myself."

"Than why can't I do that?"

"Because... I have no idea. I guess it's more fun to do it this way. Besides, you'll get Alex's attention faster. He notices when a girl flirts."

"But then─"

"If you do the steady thing, he'll know you're flirting, but will think you don't know you're flirting which will make you look ten times cuter than you already are. Cute in a good way," he adds quickly.

I swear, it's like he went into my brain and answered all the questions I had.

I take a sip of my cookie dough milkshake and then tap on the table. It's our signal. One tap means switch milkshakes. Two taps means no more trades. We never used two taps so far. He smiles his dimple smile and glides the milkshake for me to catch. "You'll like it," he says, talking about his drink. "You've never tasted that one, it's banana and peanut butter. Heavenly."

It is.

"So do I steady myself by taking Alex's shoulder or arm?" I ask.

"Whatever you want."

"I'll go with shoulder."

Fannar smiles. "Right answer."

"I thought there weren't any."

Fannar shrugs. "There isn't. There is just an answer that is... more right than the other."

I take another sip from his milkshake. It's so good, it's the perfect amount of banana not to overpower the peanut butter, but not too much peanut butter that I feel like I'll choke from its thickness. It's cold but not too cold I'll have a brain freeze, and oh-so-delicious.

"I think it's my favourite milkshake."

Fannar laughs. "You can finish it."

"Oh, no. I can't..."

"You can." He takes my milkshake and taps twice. "I'll finish yours. Compromise. Like a real-life couple."

I don't why, but this thought makes me beam. "Tell me about Iceland," I say to change the subject.

"I already told you everything," Fannar reminds me, sipping on my/his milkshake.

"Okay. Then... tell me about... something."

"Like what?"

"Whatever you want."

He looks around the room, gathering inspiration and then looks straight into my eyes. "I love math."

I blink. I was not expecting that.

"Wh─What?"

"I love math." His eyes shine with passion. I wonder if that's how I look like when I talk about... What am I passionate about? I wonder if that's how I look like when I talk about the world or my family. That's how Sabrina looks like when she talks about movies and the environment. That's how Fannar looks like when he talks about Iceland and, apparently, math. "It's just so fascinating. Tell me if I bore you."

I shake my head. "You won't bore me."

Fannar doesn't wait for me to insist. "It's like the internal sum of the angles of any triangle, any, is 180o. There is not one exception. Or, any math equation works all the time. How cool is that?"

"I haven't thought of that," I admit.

"No one does. I don't even know how come I thought of that, but I do. Every time I learn a new equation, I feel like I'm one step closer to solving the mystery that is Life."

Woah.

"I know it's crazy," he continues. "How can I love math and believe in magic all at once? I don't even know. I just think that there are things that we can explain and others that we can't." I didn't know Fannar's eyes had a gold ring in their center. "I like that. I like that we'll never know everything. It's humbling. But, at the same time, I like that we can know so much, it's motivational." He clears his throat. "Sorry. I'm sorry, I got lost in my thoughts."

I put my hand on his arm, he looks at it, and then at me. I take my hand off his arm. "Never apologize for talking about something you love. Not when you're with me."

Fannar beams and blushes a bit.

"Alex would be lucky to have you, Ella-Mae. You're a good friend."

I don't know why, but his words sting and they are all I think about as we walk back home.