Page 46 of The Rebel
“Jade won’t let us.”
“I’ll tell him I forgot to give Volley his worming tablet, and you’ll come over with me. I can take Mom’s car.”
“I don’t know...” Ollie said, but I was up off my bed and reaching for my jacket that was slung over the back of the chair.
“Come on. Let’s go.”
“I can’t take my sled,” Ollie whispered. “Jade will see.”
“I have two. Quick, get your jacket.”
Ollie knocked on Jade’s bedroom door. I stood back, but it was fully open and I could see him lying on his bed, wearing headphones and talking to someone. Probably his English girlfriend.
Ollie told him about the worming tablet. I tiptoed out to the front door to wait for him, slipping on my boots. Ollie raced after me, holding his hat and gloves.
“He didn’t say anything, he just nodded,” he whispered with a grin as wide as the Grand Canyon. I quietly opened the door, slammed in the face by the brisk evening air.
We raced through the orchard like we were fugitives on the run and didn’t speak until we’d scrambled over the fence.
“Are you sure this is okay?” Ollie asked, out of breath.
“Yeah. I’m allowed to drive Mom’s car,” I proclaimed with authority. “I drove to school today. As long as we’re back before Dani.”
“This is so cool,” Ollie said as we each took a sled from the garage and put them in the trunk. “I hope Jade won’t notice.”
“What was he doing?”
“Talking to his friends.”
“We can say we couldn’t find Volley,” I said, “if he asks.”
“We won’t be too long, will we?” Ollie asked, the first hint of uncertainty creeping into his voice.
I grabbed my phone out of my pocket to check the time. “If we just stay an hour, Jade won’t even miss us. And we’ll be back way before your mom.”
“Okay,” Ollie said, his confidence returning.
As I drove into the Oak Brook parking lot, Ollie put on his beanie and his glove. “Where’s the other one?” he asked, checking his pockets and looking on the floor under the seat.
“Maybe you dropped it in the trunk?” I pulled my hood up, a gentle snow starting to fall. It was perfect conditions for sledding.
Ollie couldn’t find his other glove. I offered him mine, but he said he was okay. His sweatpants and my leggings weren’t waterproof, but we weren’t intending to stay long. We could endure damp pants for the thrill of sledding.
We were fearless on the hill, flying down, racing each other from the top slope. It was the buzzing of my phone that made me check the time. It was only a group message from Kelsey commenting about a tv show we were all following, but wow, Ollie and I needed to get a move on. Time had flown by and we needed to get home before Jade got suspicious.
“Last one,” I said to Ollie as we dragged our sleds up the path.
“I’m soaking,” Ollie said with a grin, pointing to his wet pants.
“Same,” I said, but a bit of cold was a small price to pay for the fun we’d had. “Winner takes all.” We slapped palms, his gloveless hands quivering and presumably freezing.
“Let’s go,” Ollie shouted as we lined up at the top.
We counted down 3, 2, 1...and whizzed down the hill, shrieking in exhilaration. Of course I didn’t care whether I won, just enjoying the ride. Ollie surged ahead and would have been proclaimed the winner, had he not crashed out right at the bottom. He tumbled off, parting ways with his sled, but looked to be okay.
I slowed to a stop, careful to avoid other sledders. Picking up my sled, I jogged over to check on Ollie.
Except I wasn’t the first to him. Oh no, the long legs of Jade were striding toward him, his green unzipped jacket flapping against him. My already elevated heart rate shot up into another stratosphere, wildly beating as Jade’s gaze met mine.
