When We Were Young

One Year

"You really don't mind?"

I shook my head at Skylar for the hundredth time and finally leaned over and fixed her scarf. It was chilly for April and I regretted not listening to Skylar telling me to wear something warmer. Now I held my body tense, shivering against the cool breeze coming off the water. We neared the docs and maneuvered our way through the crowds of people waiting in line to go to the beer garden.

I was very tempted to tell Skylar that we would probably have more fun there but suppressed the notion. She had made special plans for our anniversary, since I had arranged the trip to England. After leaving my parents and spending days touring London and the countryside, Skylar absolutely fell in love with England. I thought my gift would only entail booking the flights, car and hotel, but I was wrong.

Besides taking her to every place I used to drink with my mates, I played tour guide. It's a good thing I like history so much, otherwise she would have been quite disappointed.

Now she was worried I wouldn't like her anniversary gift.

"Skylar," I said, pulling her closer to me for her warmth, and also so she didn't walk right into a group of people who randomly stopped in front of her. "I like your friends..."

"Our friends," she corrected, her pink lips spread into a little girl smile.

"Our friends. I don't mind spending our anniversary with them." It was true; I didn't mind, although other than Rachel I didn't exactly spend time with her other friends that much. The part that I did mind was being on a boat. I hadn't had the heart to tell her that I had, on more than one occasion, been seasick. And after only being told an hour earlier, there wasn't much time to break the news to her. While she was in the shower, I ran to the pharmacy and picked up some motion sickness pills.

Skylar squealed like a little girl, tightening her hand on my arm.

"It's really great. The cruise takes you all around the harbor and under the Brooklyn Bridge. You have dinner on the boat but then you stop for two hours at this cute little Cuban place where they have a band playing, and then you come back."

We were waiting on the metal plank leading up to the ship and although Skylar was talking, all that I could concentrate on was the sound of the water slapping the dock and the boat. It was loud, and drowned out all of the conversations around me. My stomach rolled, my skin prickled and I felt the bile rise in the back of my throat.

"Albert, are you okay?"

I blinked, water covering my sight. I nodded, afraid to speak.

"You just got really pale and you're sweating," she mumbled, resting her hand against my cheek.

I swallowed, hard, and barely got out the words, "Water?"

She pulled her brows together unsure of what I was asking. "You don't like the water? The smell?"

I shook my head. It was there, the bile, ready to escape. I made the motion of drinking water and her eyes lit up with understanding. She pushed her way toward the front of the line and came back in a minute, although it seemed like an hour. My body was shaking, every muscle fighting to stop from retching right there. I was crouched down, my head hanging, and trying not to breathe the rotten smell of the dirty water swishing around below my feet.

Pulling the pills from my pocket, I shoved them in my mouth and gulped down the bottle of water. I hadn't realized I had my eyes clenched closed until I opened them and saw Skylar standing in front of me. Her eyes were wide and her hand covering her mouth.

"Are you okay?" she whispered, and helped me stand.

I nodded, no longer afraid to speak. "Yeah. Sorry." My voice was hoarse as if I had already thrown up.