Page 20 of Lessons in Falling
Dude,Mike laughed.I thought you were dead!It’s ten, and you were as still as a stone out there.Literally motionless.
Caden groaned, and I turned my head toward him… at the exact second he turned his.Of course I would.
Our gazes crossed—of course they would—and for a moment it seemed like he was trying to assess something.Whether I’d turned back into a bitch, probably.Last night, I was too tired to be mean, and he might’ve interpreted it as a hatchet-burial.We’d slept by the beach together, it should’ve counted for something, right?
Yes, of course.We’dstargazed.I’d told him about my childhood roof-nights, basically the reason I’d gone into physics— apart from the fact that I’d googledcollege major that will make my family proudwhen I’d been fourteen years old, and physics made the list.Below all the stuff where you either saw blood or had to be very disagreeable.Neither was for me, and physics, apparently, had been.
I’d graduated with honors just two months ago, after all.
Unfortunately, when I’d gotten home with that exact honors degree, the first thing I’d been told was to clean out my room so my sister could move into it.Then whether I was busy (and because I wouldn’t be), if I could check what’s wrong with the dryer.It’s not working, and you’re a physicist now, aren’t you?Fix it.
I’d wanted to say,the two are not related.I’m not a mechanic.Instead, I’d checked the dryer, realized it was beyond fixing—it had already been old when I’d still been very young—and bought a new one.
The only acknowledgment of my graduation I’d gotten was from my sister (Congrats, by the way.Saw on your Instagram story.)
So maybe the Google search ten years ago had been wrong, because that physics degree had not made my family proud.And despite the fact that I’d wanted to give less of a shit about their opinion—I’d made an entireMe-Listfor this summer because of it—I still thought maybe the master’s finally would.
Anyway, telling him about roof-nights should’ve counted for something.I kind of wanted it to.And yet, one look at Iris’ unsuspecting face, and I knew it could not.
My eyes flicked back to Caden before I gently shook my head.As if to say,Nope, I still hate you.He did not seem surprised.
Well, now that you’re awake…Annika hesitated.Her eyes flicked first to Alfie, then Iris, then back to Alfie.As if she wasn’t quite sure—
Good for her, they both were.In a display of unprecedented coordination between them, Iris reached for my arms, Alfie for my legs, and I was no longer in my glorified lawn chair.Which I suddenly missed very, very much.
Any screaming and kicking was to no avail—and yet, when I was carried across the lawn and thrown into the pool, where my manic screams were drowned out, I felt I should’ve tried harder.But to escape the inevitable was impossible.All I’d managed was to pinch my nose before I felt the cold water engulf me.
I gasped as soon as I breached the water’s surface.Anni,Alfie and Iris stood around the pool, laughing and grasping for air similarly to how I was.Iris was actually sprawled across a lounge chair, holding her stomach, rolling left and right with laughter.I’ve never heard you make a sound like that before!she wheezed out between one laugh and the next.
I can’t believe that just happened.My oversized shirt clung to my body, and I’d be tempted to take it off if I’d been wearing something underneath.If it had been just the four of us, I’d probably take it off either way.But now there were guys to consider.
One of them Annika’s boyfriend.The other one… well, had actually seen everything there was to see already.
Anyway, it stayed on.Keeping every part of my body under water made the wet-shirt situation a little… not better, per se.But less bad, maybe?
Which meant that my head was the only visible part of me sticking out of the water, and it must’ve looked ridiculous, because my friends broke out into another fit of giggling and snorting and wheezing.
So distracted, they didn’t even see it coming.
One second, Iris was shaking with laughter on the chair, the next she flew into the water beside me.Alfie’s eyes widened at the counterattack, right before he started chantingI’m innocent!like that might save him.It did not.
Anni did the only reasonable thing: she started running.Around the pool, and as far away from Caden as she possibly could have—understandable, if you considered he’d just hurled her co-conspirators into the water.Unfortunately, that drove her right into Mike’s arms.One look at his face, and we all knew he was not on Anni’s side this time.
Annika raised a warning finger, and it was the last thing she did before her boyfriend threw her into the pool.When she came up and screamed,I’m single!, I laughed, and Iris actuallyscreamedin amusement.Alfie accidentally gargled water.
Caden and Mike looked at each other from across the pool, like they were congratulating each other on a job well done.There was a silent conversation taking place, I was sure of that much before the boys gave each other a single nod, and cannonballed into the pool, kind of like synchronized divers—just really bad ones.We laughed and complained and playfully hit each other (either for laughing or throwing the other one in) until one big group dissolved into multiple small ones.
At one end of the pool, Anni was playfully scolding Mike.Mike was semi-playfully begging her not to break up with him.Alfie and Iris were dunking each other’s head under water like the long-lost siblings they were.
I watched them all with a smile on my face, despite their ultimate betrayal ten minutes ago.My chest stayed underwater as I slowly paddled into one corner of the pool.My eyes closed for barely a second, and I didn’t need to open them again to know what—whowas blocking the sun.
So… was that revenge or do you just love throwing people around?I asked, my lips curving upward despite myself.
This was certainly revenge,Caden agreed lazily, his voice lower than I’d expected.Intimate, somehow, despite my friends scattered around us.But in certain situations, I don’t mind throwing…peoplearound, either.
With people, he meant me.And with situations, he meant the one we’d been in four months ago.Because hehadthrownme around, and I still remembered the way I gasped when I’d landed on his bed, and the way his lips curled in satisfaction at the sound.
My stomach dropped, everything within me felt warm and fuzzy, and there was nothing I could do about it.My cheeks were probably taking on a nice, red sheen even when I forced myself not to look at him.
