The Big Fish by Madison Henley (best free e reader .TXT) 📕

they approached their gate. Silence was building but it had not yet become awkward. Keliah took another swig of her coffee while Georgia scrolled through her phone. Keliah hoped there wouldn’t be a dispute between who got the window seat. Keliah loved looking out of the window. Sure enough, Georgia noticed and gave Keliah the seat she wanted.

***

The plane took off and the passengers got comfortable in their seats.

“Your family seems really nice. Your mother seems like a nice woman too.”

Keliah put her surfing magazine down and scoffed.

“Please, she was only nice because you complemented her on her sweaters which by the way, big mistake. She’s probably knitting you one right now.”

“I thought they were nice.”

Georgia laughed.

“Seriously, Georgia? I’m itching my ass off over here.”

“Yours is the cutest. It fits you perfectly. The little bear trying to hang up the star on the Christmas tree—because you’re short.”

Keliah wrinkled her face in disgust. The audacity Georgia had calling her short.

"I’m not short.”

“Then what are you?”

“I’m not short, Georgia.”

“Fine, you’re not short.”

“Everyone isn’t blessed with goddess-like features and intimidating heights.”

Georgia chose to ignore the fact that Keliah had just called her a goddess for now and grinned while opening her book app on her tablet.

“Whatever. Anyways, you never told me if you were Canadian.”

Georgia raised her eyebrow but continued to read.

“Didn’t think I had to.” “

"So why are we going to Canada? If you wanted snow we could've found a place in America."

“It's not about the snow,”

Georgia looked up from her iPad and turned her head towards Keliah. She noticed that Keliah’s hair hadn’t been brushed and her eyes drooped a little and wondered if she had gotten enough sleep.

“Canada is just a beautiful country to me. I came here while I was in college and I think you will enjoy it just as much as I did.”

“Thanks for inviting me.”

Keliah sheepishly muttered.

“You’re welcome.”

“What’s in Alberta though?”

“A lot of fun things.”

“Is it cold?”

“It’s not California but I think you’ll be okay.”

“I brought everything just in case. Ski coat, mittens, scarves—a lighter.”

“We’re not staying outside.”

“No camping?”

“No! It’s December! We can camp in front of the fire place inside.”

“Not the same.”

“Too bad.”

“So how are we gonna do things and travel the city? Do you have more Porsches sitting around collecting dust?”

“I only have one. And it’s a pretty small town. But I do have my Rover up there.”

“You know, Ferdinand Porsche actually made his cars for the average people, not for the rich and snobby people of today.”

 “I did not know that but thank you for the history lesson.”

“Also he- -“

“Keliah?”

“Hmm?”

Georgia pushed Keliah’s head into the window and grinned.

“Go to sleep.”

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

 It was her custom of a Sunday to sit by the fire in the morning and reflect on her thoughts until sleep found her again but her sleep remained strayed. She had her blanket wrapped around her firm shoulders as she sat with her legs crossed and stared into the orange flames. It was nine o’clock in the morning and Georgia patiently waited for Keliah to awaken. She had walked past her door a couple of times, feigning a sneeze or accidentally running into her door but Keliah wouldn’t budge. She stayed wrapped up into the covers, snoring softly. Georgia had rested her shoulder on the hinge of the door, watching her with an involuntary curve of the lips until she began to feel her admiration was turning into an obsession. She went out to sit in front of the fire instead. In this moment where there was nothing but the sound of crackling wood and a faint tap of the snow hitting the windows, Georgia’s eyes stared off into the distance and she couldn’t help but let her dark thoughts consume her. Georgia did sorrow, Georgia did pain, Georgia did heartbreak. Being happy, having that inner peace hum within her chest whenever she spent time with Keliah—it just wasn’t her. Georgia wasn’t made to feel happy so she wouldn’t know how it worked. Pain was all she knew.

It felt wrong to feel anything else. She told herself that Keliah bringing her coffee every morning was just her doing a good deed, her offering to be one of her aids was only to get in her good graces. Georgia ignored all signs that pointed to Keliah having attraction towards her but she couldn’t ignore the fact that her entire body ignited the moment Keliah walked in the room, or how Keliah bringing her coffee was the brightest part of her day and how she loved that freckled smile of hers that was so damn contagious. She had never felt such profound attraction towards anyone as she did towards Keliah. What terrified her wasn’t the fact that she had invited Keliah on this trip but the fact that she didn’t care. Her walls were slowly crumbling, her heart melting and the dichotomy between fearing the outcome and excited by what came with it was all too much.

“Is this what jetlag feels like?”

Georgia saw Keliah’s faint reflection through the fireplace and smiled as she turned to find Keliah yawning. The impression of