“Strong,” I whisper.
Elliot looks at me. “What?”
“The surname for my alter ego is Strong.”
Elliot nods. “Ah, OK. Yes, that’s good. How about the first name?”
I think for a moment. How do I want my alter ego to make me feel apart from strong? Calm, I guess. But Calm Strong is a rubbish name. As I think of feeling calm, the image of the sea pops into my head. “Ocean!” I blurt out.
Elliot nods. “Ocean Strong. Hmm, yep, that could work.”
Ocean Strong. As I roll the name around in my head, I picture a comic-book superheroine wearing a skintight sea-green bodysuit and cape, with long auburn curly hair spilling over her shoulders. I am Ocean Strong, I tell myself, and, incredibly, it starts to work. My heart rate starts to slow back down to normal and my mouth doesn’t feel quite so dry. I am Ocean Strong. I picture my alter ego surfing a huge wave, calmly surveying the horizon while adopting a superhero stance.
Just at that point Mum and Dad get back to the table with the drinks.
“Everything OK?” Mum says, looking at me.
“Yes,” I reply, and I even manage a smile.
While Mum, Dad, and Elliot chat about New York and all the places they want to see, I focus on a breathing exercise Mum taught me and continue adding details to Ocean Strong in my mind. If Ocean Strong had to get on a plane she wouldn’t bat an eyelid. She’d just stride on board, head held high, gaze fixed straight ahead. If Ocean Strong had been in a car accident, she wouldn’t let it ruin the rest of her life; she’d be fearless and brave and keep on fighting evildoers. I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket, breaking my daydream; it’s a text from Megan.
Hi, Penny! Kira told me you’re going abroad for Christmas. Is it true? Can you get me some Chanel perfume in duty free? I’ll give you the money when you get back. Thanks xoxo
This is the first time I’ve heard from Megan all week. Even though I haven’t been to school since the play—she hasn’t bothered asking if I’m OK. Even Ollie sent me a message on Facebook to see if I was all right. There’s no apology about the video either, although she did take it down from her page.
I turn off my phone and put it in my bag. If Ocean Strong had an embarrassing video of her put online, what would she do? I picture my alter ego laughing it off before leaping on her surfboard and heading off in search of new adventure. And suddenly something weird happens—I start feeling really good about myself. Some rubbish things have happened to me recently but I haven’t let them beat me. And not only have I not let them beat me but I’m going off to New York to have an adventure. I might be clumsy and panicky and make some terrible underwear choices but what I’m about to do is actually pretty cool. I am pretty cool, because I am Ocean Strong.
Chapter Thirteen
Thankfully, all four of us are seated together in the middle section of the plane and I’m sandwiched in between Elliot and Dad. This instantly makes me feel safe but as soon as the plane engines start firing up I feel that horrible tightness start gripping at my throat.
“So, tell me more about Ocean Strong,” Elliot whispers in my ear.
“She’s got a really cool surfboard,” I say, gripping onto the armrests.
Elliot nods appreciatively. “That’s nice. I think she needs some kind of catchphrase too.”
The pilot’s voice comes over the PA system. “Flight attendants, prepare for take-off.” His voice is deep and clear, and reassuringly reminds me of Dad’s.
“What do you mean?” I say to Elliot.
“Well, like Batman says, ‘To the Batmobile, Robin,’ and Judge Dredd says, ‘I am the law.’ ”
“Oh. Right.”
The engines are screaming now and the plane starts to move.
I close my eyes and rack my brains for an Ocean Strong catchphrase.
“And the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles had ‘Cowabunga’ and Lobo has ‘Bite me, fanboy.’ ”
I open my eyes and glare at Elliot. “I am not having ‘Bite me, fanboy’ as my catchphrase!”
The plane starts hurtling down the runway. I get a flashback to our car screeching across the road in the rain and I hear Mum screaming. I turn to look at her but she’s chatting and smiling to Dad.
“How about ‘Here I come to save the day’?” Elliot asks.
“Whose catchphrase was that?”
“Mighty Mouse.”
I laugh. “Ocean Strong can’t have the same catchphrase as Mighty Mouse!”
“ ‘My spider-sense is tingling’?” Elliot suggests with a grin.
Now I’m laughing and scared all at once. The plane is tilting up into the air and the ground is sliding away.
“You OK?” Elliot whispers, placing his hand over mine.
I nod and grit my teeth. “Please can you keep telling me catchphrases to take my mind off it?”
Elliot’s eyes light up. “Of course!”
By the time the plane has stopped climbing, I know the catchphrases of every single superhero from Captain America to Wonder Woman to Wolverine.
“All right, Pen?” Dad says, looking at me anxiously.
I nod and smile, and think to myself that having Mum and Dad and Elliot makes me the luckiest girl alive . . . as long as we make it through this flight alive.
Elliot turns out to be the best flight companion ever. He just talks and talks for the whole six hours. Even when we watch a movie together, he provides a hilarious running commentary all the way through. And at the odd moments where I feel myself starting to get anxious, like when the seat-belt sign pings on when we hit a spot of turbulence, I just focus on my breathing and conjure up the image of Ocean Strong in my head.