Chapter 10: Steam
NUDGE
I slipped my hand into Aaron's as we walked down the park path. Looking at him, touching him... my already-freaky heart rate was breaking records.
We didn't talk, but we didn't have to. Our first conversation, at the Monster Convention, had been filled with awkward pauses and silences, but from the first time he held my hand, those silences became the most perfect moments of my life.
An old woman walking her dogs gave us a huge smile as she passed. I tried to look at the two of us from an outsider's point of view... yep, I'd have to say that we were pretty darn cute.
"Oh, look, Aaron!" I said. "Pelicans!"
The two large white birds stood upright as we approached, their baggy beaks flapping around and their wings spread.
"Cool," he said. "Let's get 'em!"
"Get 'em?" I repeated with a laugh.
Aaron bolted towards the pelicans and tackled one. He had given up his ancestral shape-shifting gift, but he was still big, strong, and fast. The boy and bird both tumbled into the lake. I laughed my head off - oh, God, laughter sure came easier ever since I met this boy. I swooped in on the second pelican and grappled with it under the water. Aaron and I surfaced, and the two pelicans flew away indignantly.
"See, look at that," I said. "Most couples exchange cards and flowers, and go to movies or restaurants. Us? We wrestle pelicans."
Aaron swam up and caressed my face. "You're so pretty," he said.
My heart pumped seventy-nine thousand times in the next quarter of a second. "Thank you," I whispered.
I turned around, planning to swim to shore, but he pulled me back. He rubbed my shoulders.
"Mm, Aaron," I muttered. "That feels good, but I can't fly with wet feathers."
"We have time to dry you off," he replied.
"Yeah, we do," I admitted. "When I'm with you I feel like I have all the time in the world."
He kissed my shoulder and my neck. "Hey," he said. "What are those numbers on the back of your neck?"
I shrieked. "Numbers? I can't be expiring! What are the numbers?" I whirled on him and I saw that he was laughing hysterically.
"What?" I asked. "Were you joking? Did you seriously think you could joke about that?"
His laughter died slightly. Very slightly.
"Never do something like that again, Aaron!" I said. "That's something I really worry about in my life. You can't know how much that freaked me out."
His face glowed with laughter. "You stop that!" I roared. I punched him in the face and leapt out of the lake.
My wings were still too wet to fly. I ran all the way back to the Lerner's dormitories.
"Nudge?" Iggy said as I came in. "Hey, what's the matter?"
He was in a large flowery armchair. I squeezed in next to him, sobbing.
"Did something happen?" he asked. "I thought you were on a steamy date with Aaron."
"Steaming with anger, maybe," I muttered. "He made this totally horrible joke... he pretended that he saw my expiration date appear."
"Oh my God. That's bad taste."
"He could see how freaked out I was, but he... he just wouldn't stop laughing." I sniffed. "I've never seen that side of him before. It's confusing. I'm just so in love with him." I looked up at Iggy.
"Um..." he said. "I'm not so good with the advice. Could I interest you in a sarcastic remark?"
I chuckled weakly.
"Listen, Nudge," he said. "You and Aaron are at a transitional point of your lives, one that Max, Fang, and myself have been enjoying for a while now. You've seen what goes on between Max and Fang. They're not crazy. They're just fourteen."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that you're going to be doing a lot of dumb stuff for several years now. There's some freaky stuff messing with your brain now, and Aaron's, too. Just try and let a couple of things slide, okay? Hang onto him as long as you can. Because if your relationship with Aaron can survive puberty, it can probably survive just about anything."
I hugged him. "Thanks, Iggy," I said. "Love you."
He tousled my hair. "Good night, Nudge."