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He reaches an arm out from under the towel and grasps my forearm. He pulls me closer to him, and everything in my brain says to fight him off, but my body screams out for him to just hold me close to him and not let me go. His other hand brushes over my bare shoulder, and I glance toward the sky to avoid eye contact with him. I see the towel fall from his shoulder out of the corner of my eye, and I know he’s inches away from pulling his bare chest against mine.
In this second of almost touching, I realize that falling for Micah – or any guy for that matter – will be a thousand times worse than falling from the sky. I have a girlfriend, and never in my life have I been attracted to a guy. At least not before now. No one has ever gotten to me like Micah does. His hands run along my arms, and I take the chicken way out.
“Will you jump with me?” I spit the words out quicker than I process them in my head.
Micah pulls back and inhales deeply. He’s not smiling with excitement or dragging me to the top of the bridge. He just stares at me with those sad puppy dog eyes filled with disappointment. He almost had me, and he knows it. That’s the point of a toxic green elephant – everyone sees it, but no one talks about it. However, he’s not talking at all, and the hurt in his eyes actually hurts me in return.
I look back to the bridge so if those brown eyes of his start pouring, I won’t see the raindrops. His hands leave my arms, and he steps beside me. He’s in my peripherals, but I don’t dare turn my head. It looks like he’s staring at the bridge, which means he’s either debating jumping with me or he’s refusing to look at me for the same reasons I won’t look at him.
“You sure you’re brave enough?” he asks.
I nod, even if he isn’t looking. “Yeah. As long as I don’t have to jump alone,” I say.
“If you jump, I jump,” he replies.
I really wish this hadn’t made me laugh. “Did you like Titanic?”
He laughs too, and I feel a world better. “I admit, I did…except for when Jack died. I mean, I get that it kind of made the movie, but I prefer happy endings.”
Hopefully this falling from the sky experience will have a happy ending for me, as in not smashing my head against a rock or drowning or being eaten by an alligator. Now is a good time to let my “what if” scenarios play out, and it’s an even better time to talk myself out of this.
I look over at Micah to suggest my many wild reasons on why I shouldn’t jump, but he’s smiling. Damn it. Why does he have to smile and actually want to jump off a bridge?
Once we’re at the candy stand, Terrence places his order while I scope out the scenery. I keep a low profile until I see Micah. He leans against the edge of the carousel booth and motions someone over to him. It’s a guy. He’s shorter than me, about Micah’s height. Brunette. Thin but somewhat athletic. Then Micah hugs him.
“Uh oh,” Terrence says, following my gaze. “You better go squash that now or someone else will be playing your Xbox games.”
“Shut up,” I mumble. But he’s right. Micah is all too friendly with this guy.
It physically stings. What the fuck is wrong with me? There’s no way I’m jealous. I mean, yeah, if this dude showed up at his house and crashed an Xbox session, I’d be pissed. But Micah is free to talk to whomever he damn well pleases.
Except this guy.
I tell Terrence that I’ll be back and make a beeline for the carousel. I slow down once I’m a bit closer, shake my hair like an emo kid to look a little more natural, and stand tall – because you know, male dominance and all that. Whatever that other guy says is in one ear and out the other the moment Micah sees me.
“What are you doing here?” he asks. He smiles, though, so obviously this isn’t an awkward moment…unless he’s expecting an orgy.
“Terrence had to bring something to his cousin, so I just tagged along,” I say as nonchalantly as I can. “Busy night?”
Micah shakes his head. “Nah, dead actually,” he says. “Oh, this is Tyler, Emilia’s boyfriend. You remember my cousin Emilia, right? Pax’s sister?”
I swear, something inside of me literally crumbles like a broken statue. I don’t know if it’s my lungs or my heart or maybe my entire ribcage. I should have the words ‘fucking idiot’ permanently inked into my forehead, branded like a goddamn cow.
Tyler reaches out to shake my hand, mumbles something about Emilia wasting too much time looking at nail polish, and how he better get back and find her. I finally catch a bubble of oxygen about the time he walks away.
“So, Fourth of July? You coming?” Micah asks, completely oblivious to my male dominance and green glow of envy.
Terrence’s shadow closes in on us just as the question leaves Micah’s mouth.
“What’s happening on the Fourth?” he asks, looking at me instead of Micah. Terrence is damn good at playing dumb as shit.
“We’re having a cookout on the res, pretty huge,” Micah says. “And then we go down to our side of the river for the fireworks show. It’s epic. You should come too.”
“Hell yeah,” Terrence says, nodding along like this is such a freaking brilliant idea. “McCoy here can give me directions. I’ll definitely swing by.”
And then, as quickly as he popped over here to seal the deal for my weekend, Terrence makes some lame excuse about going to look for some Adidas shorts and that he’ll wait for me at the sports store but “no rush.”
When I finally break away from Micah fifteen minutes later, I take the walk of shame down the mall to find Terrence. I dread having to look him in the eye when I know, without a doubt, that he was right.
I want Micah to want me.
“You really think I can explain all of that to you in a few minutes?” he asks.
I glance at my cell phone. Curfew is in two hours. “I have time,” I say.
He laughs and shakes his head. “I need more time than what you have tonight. It’d seriously take all day just to tell you about one horse, much less ten. You know, I could just show you instead,” he says.
“What are you suggesting?” I ask.
“Give me ten days this summer,” he says.
“I don’t know if I can. It’s going to be a busy summer,” I say.
Really, I just don’t know if I can handle Micah for ten days of the summer. He talks too damn much, and I don’t want him latching on to me like I’m his best friend.
He doesn’t buy my excuse. “You practice when, Monday through Friday? Do you plan on going home every weekend? Where are you from anyway?”
Yeah. Already getting on my nerves.
“Yes. Maybe. Markham,” I answer.
Weekends on campus will get boring. I don’t plan on going out with the guys at camp and getting drunk. Terrence won’t be around much. And I’m sure as hell not going home on the weekends to deal with Mom’s crying, Jordan’s complaining, and Samantha’s attempt to fake a relationship with me.
But Micah doesn’t need to know that.
“I can work my schedule around yours,” he offers. He scribbles his phone number down on the back of a mall pamphlet. “Just in case you change your mind or get bored.”
He pulls the lever again, and the horses stop spinning. The girls climb down from their mounts and run back over to us. I have to get out of here before they disappear, and he traps me with more Xbox conversation. I glance down at the mall pamphlet in my hand.
“We’ll see,” I say. “I’ve gotta head back, so I’ll see you around.”
I don’t give him a chance to persuade me any more than he’s already tried to.
Room eleven is still silent when I get back. Terrence won’t be back until morning. I don’t mind the silence, though. I’d rather be alone. When I’m alone, I don’t get fake sympathy and “it’ll get better” speeches. I don’t get asked stupid questions about how I’m holding up or if I need to talk. It’s probably written all over my face that I’m alone and need pity, even here, away from annoying brothers, grieving moms, distant girlfriends, and rainforests that eat planes. That’s probably why Micah wants to be my friend this summer. I probably sweat tragedies the way my summer teammates will sweat alcohol.
I empty my pockets and crumple up the mall pamphlet. Micah’s phone number falls from the sky and crash-lands in the metal garbage bin by the door. I flip off the light.
I’d rather be alone all summer.
About the Author:
Nikki Godwin is a Young Adult author from the southern USA. She is a city girl who can't live without Mountain Dew, black eyeliner, Hawthorne Heights, and candles from Bath & Body Works. When not writing, she's not-so-secretly internet-stalking her favourite bands. She is slightly obsessed with rock stars and surfers. She no longer hides her love for One Direction.
GIVEAWAY:
2 ebook copies of Falling from the Sky (INT)
Title- The Book Thief
