𝙸𝚁𝚁𝙸𝚃𝙰𝙱𝙻𝙴. ➪ 𝙴. 𝙿𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚎

𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎

Phillis sat on her bed, Tommy perched on the end of it. He had come over for the day as the weather was bad and they were both bored out of their minds. "Do you happen to have a girlfriend, Tommy?" she asked, looking up at him.
"No. I'm not very popular amongst girls," he told her.
"Why, I'm a girl," she said.
"Well, yes. But you're the complete opposite to me," he shrugged.
"How?" Phillis asked, slightly confused.
"Well, firstly, you're very popular and you have a boyfriend. You have a lovely smile and you're always laughing," he began.
"But, Tommy, you have a lovely smile and a laugh that ignites a room," she told him.
"I suppose I do, don't I?" he said jokingly, causing Phillis to laugh.
"Yes, of course you do!" she replied.
Tommy lived with his grandmother as his parents had died in the air raids two years ago. He was an only child, so was sent to Irene, his grandmother. Irene was a lovely woman and Phillis had met her on a handful of occasions. She cared deeply for her grandson and often wouldn't let him out of her sight. "How did you get that?" he asked suddenly.
Phillis looked at where Tommy was pointing. Her dress had risen up above her knees slightly, exposing the white scar she'd received in Narnia on her last visit.
"Oh, uhm, when Elmer and I were little he got hold of a knife whilst Mother was in the garden with Father," Phillis said, lying straight through her teeth.
"Goodness," he muttered. "And the one on your cheek?"
"I fell a few years ago," she shrugged, "Straight into a rock."
"I see," he nodded.
The door swung open suddenly and Virginia emerged. "I was thinking," she began, "when the weather clears up, a new public swimming pool has opened, would you two want to go? For something to do?"
Tommy glanced at Phillis, as if to say 'I'll do whatever you want to do'. Phillis shrugged. "Sure. Not like there's much else to do."

So, a few days later, Phillis met Tommy at the communal swimming pool. She wore a black two-piece. Despite being fifteen, it was quite out of her comfort zone. The bottoms were high-waisted, so covered her stomach scars. She grabbed Tommy's hand and climbed in with him. He was the first to splash her, to which she gasped and splashed him back. He smirked and dove under the water, grabbing her ankle. He pulled her under the water, trying not to drown as he laughed. She chuckled as they emerged, the fear of drowning subsiding. Since her first visit to Narnia, she'd feared drowning, and since her second, she'd feared being abandoned. Though, when they appeared above the water, they were no longer in a pool with a couple of elderly swimmers, they were in the ocean. Tommy looked at her, as though ready to have a heart attack. However, Phillis knew where they were. Narnia.