The Fragile Ordinary

Tobias got straight to the point. “When is this going to stop, man? After Jimmy tries to rape Comet?”

The word rape seemed to slap Stevie. His head jerked back and his pale skin turned even paler. He looked down at Jimmy who groaned and sat up, wiping the blood from his nose. “He wouldnae dae that.”

“Jimmy’s a repulsive dickhead. He cornered her on her own and pretty much threatened to do it. He does what you tell him to do, and then takes it five million times further.” Tobias strode forward and gripped Stevie’s shirt, causing my breath to stop. But it wasn’t an aggressive move. Tobias’s words became a plea. “I’m your friend, your family. What the hell are you doing?”

Stevie looked so lost and alone, staring up at Tobias, that I couldn’t help but feel for him, despite everything that had happened. I wanted to help him but I didn’t know how without making everything worse. He shrugged out of Tobias’s hold and stumbled back, looking skinny and unwashed and neglected. He stared at the ground for a moment and then finally looked up, staring right into my eyes with his haunted ones.

“I’m sorry, Comet,” he choked out. “I’m so sorry.”

He spun on his heel and began to stride away.

“Stevie!” Tobias yelled.

Stevie started to run. Tobias moved as if to go after him but I grabbed his arm to stop him. “Just give him some time.”

Another groan brought our heads down to Jimmy. He held up his hand as if to ward us off. “I was only jokin’! Whit did ye have tae go and break ma nose for?”

Tobias stared at him in disgust. “It’s not broken. But I can change that. I will if I ever hear of you threatening a girl like you threatened Comet. It’s not okay, dipshit. It’s very far from okay. And I’m not joking. You won’t ever get away with that again.”

“Fine, fine.” Jimmy nodded, looking nothing like the intimidating vile boy who had threatened me earlier. He looked small and defeated. He looked like a coward.

He was a coward.

As if he realized that, too, Tobias gave Jimmy his back, done with him. I held out my hand and he took it, his warm fingers curling around my cold ones. Squeezing it, I turned and started to lead him away from the park.

We didn’t say anything as we walked back through town, but I knew we were both hoping that whatever had gone on in Stevie’s head back at the park, it meant the end to our torment at school.

THE FRAGILE ORDINARYSAMANTHA YOUNG

21

It’s cold here but I don’t care,

We’re surrounded by a million lights.

The glow warms the bitter air,

Our hearts set free like fiery kites.

—CC

As a wannabe poet I looked for the beauty in everything. At least, I’d always thought I had. Since meeting Tobias, however, I’d learned that sometimes my eyes weren’t wide-open when it came to different aspects of my life. The same could be said for the city I lived in. Over time I’d gotten used to it, like you get used to anything that’s in your life long enough. I forgot to see the magic in Edinburgh.

That was, until I saw it through Tobias’s eyes.

It was the weekend before Christmas, and we had our last week at school ahead of us. In all the time we’d spent together, Tobias and I had never ventured out of Portobello. I didn’t know if it was a conscious decision or if we’d spent so much time concealing our friendship that we feared going out anywhere that we might be seen together. Whatever the reason, it no longer existed, and after a week of tentative silence from our tormentors I suggested he and I go into the city for the Christmas Markets and Fair.

I watched Tobias’s face as we got off the bus early that Saturday morning. He hadn’t been happy about me dragging him out of bed at the butt crack of dawn, but the market always got incredibly busy as the day wore on. As we walked passed Edinburgh Waverly train station on Princes Street the sky was still a dark violet blue, making the Christmas lights twinkle spectacularly. It was like walking into another world. White lights sparkled in the trees like Jack Frost had danced all over their branches. The Star Flyer ride, lit up in a million different lights, stood beside—and as tall—as the Scott Monument. The ride was a pole with a flat umbrella top that moved up and down and spun. Attached to that top were bucket seats on a swing. When you were in the seat you were taken right to the top of the Star Flyer and spun out like the hem of a poodle skirt. You could see all of the city from up there—a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree view.

On the other side of the monument was the massive Ferris wheel. With somewhere in the region of twenty thousand lights all over it, it looked like it was covered in sparkling jewels. The wheel was more my speed, with little sheltered carriages to sit in so you could enjoy the view of Edinburgh without feeling like you were going to be thrown out of your seat.

“What do you think?” I asked Tobias as we crossed the street to stand beneath the Star Flyer.

He gripped my hand tighter in his and smiled down at me. “Pretty cool.”

I grinned back and hugged into his side as we continued to walk down the main street of the city. The center of Edinburgh was split into two historical areas. To our left and uphill the roads led to Old Town, the medieval area. Up there was the Royal Mile, where old tenement buildings towered over the wide, cobbled road. In between the buildings were narrow passageways and stairwells, leading to a “secret” underground world. The Mile stretched all the way up to Edinburgh Castle, perched upon its volcanic rock.

From down on Princes Street it felt like the castle loomed over all, majestic, proud, and as I looked at it through Tobias’s eyes, awe-inspiring.

“That is pretty cool,” he said as we stood at the lower end of Princes Street and stared up at the castle. At this time of the morning, warm lights placed strategically in the rock face of the volcano it sat on lit up the castle in a surreal, ethereal glow. The streets were quiet, even of cars, taxis and buses, and for a moment we just stood there, huddled together in the cold winter morning, staring at all the lights.

It felt like we were part of a wonderland. Why had I not appreciated that until I was standing with Tobias, seeing it from his perspective?

From there we walked upward on our right. Here was the other historical region of the city—New Town. It was famous for its eighteenth-century Georgian architecture. Up there, where the expensive shops, nice restaurants and luxury hotels were situated, was George Street, and my eyes widened at the sight we found.

On the west end, bejeweled in green light like something out of Wicked or Disney, was Edinburgh’s Street of Light structure. It loomed as high as the buildings with two towers at the front and two at the back. Connecting those were arches, giving it the stunning appearance of a 3-D castle made up of stained glass. At night choirs and bands played under it, making the whole experience feel so magically Christmassy that it reminded me of how different my own Christmas experience was compared to a lot of people my age.

“Wow,” Tobias said as we stared up at it.

I burrowed closer to him, not just for heat, but because I couldn’t help myself from wanting to be as close to him as possible. Always.

Not long later the fair and markets opened and we strolled back down toward Princes Street Gardens. There was tons of stuff for kids in Santa Land, like Santa’s Grotto, the Santa Train, Christmas Tree Maze and lots of little rides.

At the east end of the gardens were two markets—the European Market and the Scottish Market. There were glühwein stands selling the German mulled wine, and others with traditional German bratwursts. The smells were brilliantly overwhelming as we walked among crowds that were growing by the minute. Soon, after perusing the craft gift stalls, the crowds became too much as we were jostled and bumped and almost separated numerous times. So I bought pretzels for us and we walked along Princes Street and up into New Town to St. Andrews Square. There was a circular ice rink that provided a three-hundred-sixty-degree journey around the large square, plus a bar with hot drinks to heat up skaters when they came off the rink.

For a while we just stood and watched a very small minority show off their skills on the rink, while the majority struggled to stay on their feet.

We laughed at people’s antics, and when we were ready we rented skates and joined in. To my surprise, Tobias—whom I’d assumed because he was athletic would be good at everything physical—was as much like Bambi on ice as I was. We slid and skidded and bumped and clasped on to each other, and all the while we laughed. We laughed so hard that my stomach hurt and I thought I might bring back up the pretzel I’d just eaten.