Page 86 of The Good Boy

“There is that thing about being in love with Miles but not telling him because you think it’s noble. But how it’s noble to not tell a bloke that is in love with you that you are in love with him, I don’t know,” Rory says.

“Miles has moved on,” I say. “I am too late. Accepting that is actually the hardest part of this whole true-purpose thing so far.But once I’m back at college and making garments again, then I’ll be busy, and it will get easier. A person’s true purpose is not another person.”

“No, but a person’s true love might be part of it,” Nanna says. “I’ve never seen two people more right for each other than you and Miles, but I have to admit you do make it hard to work out what’s going on. Like two pieces of a puzzle sitting side by side turning in every direction except for the one that would lock them together.”

Rory and I look at each other, stunned.

“But... but...” I splutter. “You’ve meddled in every little bit of my life from the moment I was born, and yet didn’t think to mention that the love of my life lived next door?”

“With a cat,” Rory adds.

“Two things,” Nanna Maria says. “Firstly, when have you ever listened to my advice on anything? And secondly, you can’t rush love, Genie, you can’t make it happen any sooner than it will. You both have to be ready to turn to each other and fit.”

“Well, I’m not going to ruin things for Miles. We’re fine as we are.”

“You’re not fine,” Nanna Maria says. “How do you expect there to be a harmonious balance in the universe if you refuse to be honest about your feelings and what they mean to you? All these negative emotions swirling around the psychosphere, it’s bad for everyone. Bad for the planet, bad for world peace!”

“I refuse to take responsibility for the state of the world,” I say. “I recycle!”

“If you care for that young man at all,” Nanna says, wagging her finger at me, “you will tell him that you are in love with him and let him make a choice. Don’t deny him that, Genie. It’s not fair.”

“Oh, okay. I will do that,” I say. “Right after I’ve poked my eyes out with rusty nails.”

“I think it’s worth a go,” Rory says. “You’ve come so far, be a shame not to finish the last little bit of your quest.”

“Being in love with Miles isn’t part of my quest,” I remind him. “I told you, it’s quest-adjacent.”

“Darling, if you want to truly free yourself from the emotional chains you have been struggling under, then you must be honest. It might be the only way to release Rory from the wish. And anyway, doesn’t Miles deserve the truth?”

“But whyyyyy is it so awkward?” I whine, slumping forward. “Why can’t I just hide away from my feelings and the consequences of my actions indefinitely?”

For some reason Nanna Maria mimes zipping her mouth shut as she stares fixedly at me while shaking her head.

“Why do I have to face up to things and deal with them head-on?” I carry on complaining as Rory is slashing his hand under his chin, eyes wide with a silent warning. “I just don’t know how I am going to be able to look Miles in the eye and tell him that I...”

It dawns on me several seconds too late.

“He’s standing behind me, isn’t he?”

Nanna Maria and Rory nod in unison.

“Look me in the eye and what?” Miles says.

“That you are the best,” I say very slowly as I turn around to look at him. “As a neighbor. And friend. And geologist. You are the best geologist I have ever met. And I’ve met at least four.”

“Really?”

“Really,” I say, taking an unconscious step toward him.

“You’re the best future fashion student that I have ever met,”he says. “But that’s not why I am here. I’m here because I think I’ve got a new lead that might help Rory.”

“I got a new lead too,” Rory says. “But just after I got it, Genie turned me into a human. And now that I think about it, a lead might be a violation of my human rights.”

“Well, anyway,” Miles says after a moment. “As you know, I’ve been traveling around collecting stories of local folklore for a new exhibit at the museum, and today I met a very interesting man. A very interesting man indeed.”

“David Attenborough?” Rory asks.

“A druid called Steve,” Miles says. “I was talking to him about some of the ancient rites he practices, and he told me that even as recently as his great-grandfather’s times, local people would hold rituals in which they became the animal they were hunting or fishing for. Or they’d become the predator that would catch it. Sort of a part-psychological thought experiment and good-fortune ritual where you pay homage to the old gods.”

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