Page 51 of Distortion
She looks scared.
I frown as he looms over her and he says something I can’t hear through clenched teeth. She deflates, her eyes finding me and Blake before she closes them. Then she nods in resignation.
‘Great!’ Shade exclaims. ‘I knew you’d come around, sis.’
He smirks as he turns away and gives Blake and me a wink. We wait as he quickly shucks his outer clothes for something more appropriate for the river and throws them in his car. If she’s wondering why she hasn’t been given the option to change into anything else, she doesn’t voice it.
‘Come on! The water should be pretty high from the rain we’ve been getting,’ Blake says, pulling the boat toward the nearby trees.
Shade takes hold of one of the raft’s handles and we walk from the deserted parking lot along the trail for a few minutes to the river. She follows behind us slowly until we come to a halt. She watches while we lay the boat down by the shore and put on our life jackets.
‘I don’t have one of those,’ she says from just behind me. She sounds relieved.
Shade’s grin is malicious. ‘Don’t worry, Daisy. Mav bought one just for you.’
‘How thoughtful,’ she murmurs through clenched teeth, and I smile while my back is still to her.
She sounds like she’d love to strangle Shade and me both.
‘We better keep an eye on Daisy, here,’ I laugh. ‘She might try to drown us.’
But as I turn around expecting her to be at the very least rolling her eyes at us, I notice instead that the color hasdrained from her face. Her eyes flick to me and then to Shade.
‘I wouldn’t,’ she says quietly, looking at the ground.
‘I was kidding.’
I’m missing something. I look over my shoulder at Shade who just shrugs.
‘Here.’ I hold out the smaller life jacket to her and she takes it hesitantly. She puts it on and eyes our clothes as if she’s only just realizing that the three of us are dressed for this.
‘I’m not dressed for this,’ she says, echoing my thoughts. ‘I could just wait by the cars.’
‘You’re coming,’ Shade says firmly. ‘You might even like it. Some fresh air will probably make you feel better.’
She nods with the enthusiasm of a child being made to do homework, and I step forward. ‘Want me to make sure it’s on right?’
‘Okay.’
I ignore the guys’ eyes I can feel on my back as I check that the clasps are all locked in place. She stiffens when my hands delve underneath to make sure it’s tight enough but doesn’t look at me. I see her nostrils flaring, though, like she’s smelling me.
‘Good to go,’ I say as I step away. ‘What time are the pledges coming to grab the cars?’
‘In about thirty minutes. They’ll be waiting for us downriver later.’
‘Okay,’ Blake says, punching the air. ‘Let’s go!’
We put the boat in the water and pile in. I’m at the back with Daisy, and the other two are at the front. I glance at her as Blake throws her an oar that she fumbles to catch.
‘Don’t drop it in the water, and try not to fall out, princess.’ She misses his sneer. ‘The river’s freezing.’
Shade’s lip curls as she grips the oar like she’s never heldone before. ‘You have our packs at your feet for weight distribution since you’re lighter. Don’t lose them.’
I hold my oar up so she can see how to grip it and she adjusts her fingers.
‘Perfect. This is gonna be fun,’ I grin, but I falter a little when she looks out at the rushing river and her scared eyes widen.
The first time I did this, I was a sophomore in high school, and Dom took me out because he knew I was hung over as shit. I felt like hell and the bouncing around made me want to die. I glance at Daisy a little worriedly, but I shake it off.
