Page 68 of The Edge of Always

‘Isn’t it a bit unfair that we’ve got to fly high at school and look amazing the whole time,’ Mae had complained to Mum.

‘That’s the cost of being a woman in the modern world, Mae,’ her mum had replied without a hint of irony.

Now, her mum and dad had started their regular A1 argument about their dad driving too slow. Luna tried to tune them out. She’d sent Earl and Emmett a drawing a couple of weeks ago. A small canvas where she’d sketched Bamburgh Beach at night, even though landscapes weren’t her thing. She hoped Emmett got it. On the back she’d written their arrival date.

‘Chill out,’ Mae muttered. Luna was sitting on her hands by the time they pulled up to the cottage. He was there. Emmett was living with Earl this year, since Tanya had gone to prison.

Luna was out of the car, Mae too. ‘Emmett!’ she called. He was taller again, and his hair was longer than ever, curling over the tops of his ears. He looked better than he had for years. Clean and bruise-free.

He wrapped Luna up in a big hug. He was thin, but Luna couldn’t feel his ribs for a change.

Mae barged into them, and he let out a small ‘oof’.

‘You’re here,’ he said, looking at both of them and smiling.

Yes, Luna thought. And even though she was an enigma to herself, one thing she knew to be true was that here was exactly where she was supposed to be.

After they’d unpacked (read – dumped their bags at the foot of their beds), they decided to walk to see Earl in the workshop.

Luna couldn’t stop looking at Emmett. It was always like this. The first few days, he didn’t quite seem real.

He caught her looking and smiled.

‘You look so different, Luna.’

Mae butted in and coughed something that sounded like, ‘Glam Plan.’

‘I know,’ she carried on, ‘she’s ditched the black. Makes her look a lot cleaner, I think.’

They all laughed.

‘Everyone’s entitled to an Emo phase. I was always clean, aside from paint. And Monster Munch dust,’ she added as an afterthought. She used the conversation as an excuse to ogle Emmett. ‘You’re taller.’

‘Er, that tends to happen when people get older.’

His face had more angles to it too, though Luna didn’t say so. Instead, she went to punch him in the arm, except Mae got there first. ‘Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, Emmett.’

‘And how are you doing, little Mae?’ he asked her, which was plainly ridiculous. Mae was taller than Luna now.

They rounded the corner past the walled gardens, a few minutes from Earl’s studio.

‘Smashing life as per,’ she answered.

It was true. Mae moved through life as if running through a slipstream.

They could see the garage door open ahead. Mae took off at a run, shouting ‘Earl, Earl!’ as she jogged.

‘How were your exams?’ Emmett asked as they walked towards the garage.

‘Awful,’ Luna answered truthfully. ‘I’m so worried that I’ll fail Maths. Mum will have a fit.’ Luna worried, moments after the fact, that she was being insensitive. ‘Sorry,’ she tacked on. Tanya was in prison, after all. Emmett’s problems had always been so much worse than her own.

‘Don’t be. Honestly, it’s easier living with Earl. And my exams went pretty great, thanks for asking.’ He was smiling and Luna thought that Emmett too, had lost some of his anger too. He seemed lighter, brighter. Hopefully, with Tanya gone, there’d be less fighting, or maybe it was just that fourteen and fifteen are dark years for everyone. As he walked, Emmett’s hands waved about, his head constantly twisting. But his movements seemed more restrained than before. Less frenetic.

‘No need to be so smug about it,’ Luna said, but she was smiling. Seeing Emmett happy made her happy. It was as simple as that really.

They were at the garage now and Earl was right there, same as always in his shirt and trousers. His hat propped just next to his painting. ‘Is that a…’ She asked.

‘Graveyard.’ Earl answered right away. ‘The Pere Lachaise in Paris, though I admit, my memory of its paths is becoming hazier now – I’m not completely happy with it. Hello to you, Luna and Mae.’