Page 98 of A Dead Girl's Guide to Living
No matter what it took.
I really wasn’tsure what I had been expecting when Ellis said the words “Blue Whale of Catoosa” this morning, but it definitely hadn’t been a smiling—and mildly deranged-looking—sea creature lounging long and proudly across a murky pond just outside rural Oklahoma.
“Okay,” I muttered as we approached it. “This is kind of iconic.”
Liv was already halfway up the tail of the whale, her boots clattering loudly with the grace of a Broadway acrobat, yet with the zero caution of someone who knew she could no longer break a bone.
“What’s up,Moby Dead!” she shouted triumphantly as she stood at the head of the whale—likely near the blowhole—and spread her arms wide, looking weirdly majestic in her black thigh-high boots and sparkling sequined outfit, her pink hair flying in the wind as she whooped loudly.
I approached the mouth of the whale, where Ellis was standing, snapping photos of the giant sea creature.
“Let me get you a full one,” I offered, holding out my hand for her phone.
She handed it to me with a smile and then posed in the mouth of the whale, one hand on the brown pole, the other raised in the air, a grin on her face, the wind catching her hair just right.
I snapped a few different shots before grinning and handing the phone back to her.
“Do you want a picture?” she asked.
“Sure,” I said, passing her my phone and swapping places.
I wasn’t cute enough to pull off those kinds of poses, so I stood in the same spot, one hand on the pole, the other dangling awkwardly at my side, as I smiled.
Ellis snapped the pictures and handed me back the phone.
“This is kind of awesome,” she said, her voice echoing down the tunnel of the whale. “I don’t even know why I like it so much. Maybe because it’s random and quirky. Like, it’s not a car museum, you know? It’s just so random.”
“It’s the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen,” I agreed with a grin. “Even weirder than the Gemini Giant. Do you have some nerd history on it?”
She flushed, and my mouth went dry as she brushed a strand of hair from her face and shrugged. “Only if you want to hear it. Because obviously, I do.”
God, at this rate I wanted to hear anything she had to say.
God damn it, Dove.
“Tell me,” I urged.
“Okay,” she said with another dazzling grin. “Come here.” She stepped out of the whale’s mouth and moved to the side, closer to the water. She pointed toward the whale’s body, where Liv was currently treating it like a balance beam. “So, the whaleis actually eighty feet long and twenty feet tall. It was originally built by a guy named Hugh S. Davis, he was a zoologist…”
I watched her as she spoke, her eyes bright with animation as she recalled the details stored in that binder of a brain she had. Clearly, this kind of stuff fascinated her, and I wasn’t about to yuck her yum. Honestly, this version of her—the one geeking out about roadside attractions—was a lot nicer than the version I’d started the trip with.
“So yeah, that’s the history,” she finished, glancing down at her phone. “Okay, we should head toward Tulsa. We can grab some lunch and look around before heading to Oklahoma City. I prebooked a room there.”
“Yeah, sure,” I said, my voice a little airy as I turned back toward the path.
“Oh shit!”
Ellis’s voice was followed by a startled yelp. I spun around just in time to see her foot twist on the slick mud. She flung her phone further up onto dry ground as her arms flailed, reaching for anything to steady herself.
I didn’t think twice.
I reached out and caught her mid-stumble, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her upright, taking a few quick steps back to steady us both.
The movement brought us chest to chest.
Her breath hitched as theyelpdied on her lips.
I felt her heartbeat through her shirt, and then I wondered if it was hers or mine. She smelled like strawberry shampoo and sunscreen, and I became dangerously aware of the curve of her hip beneath my palm. Her shirt had risen slightly, and her skin was cool to the touch. My hand felt seared.
