“Come on, I’ll drive nice.”
I looked as his sweet smile that I knew so well. Just another one of his five hundred and twenty-seven ideas of fun that would probably get me killed. Jess slowed his foot on the accelerator to a reasonable pace.
“You promise?”
“Yes.”
I took a deep breath and took my seat belt off. Balancing against the door, I climbed to a standing position on the dash. My fingers grasped the roll bar at the top. Strands of my red hair whipped around my face in every direction. Wedging a thigh against the window, I lifted my hands high above my head. The darkness engulfed my body, and I felt wrapped in a cocoon from everything else in the world. My palms pushed back against the rushing breeze. A slight smile curved across my lips as my head dipped back.
It was a magical sensation of flying high above the ground. For the first time since coming to Arlis, I finally had that moment. It was the freedom I once knew so long ago, sitting in the garden tree. One by one, the cells in my body jumped to life.
I hung from the top of the Jeep until Jess parked in a field area on the outskirts of the bridge. Seclusion was a big draw for the weekend parties, and the abandoned bridge had the perfect cover nestled down a small ravine. Jess grabbed a box out of the back, but I couldn’t see the contents in the dark. I followed him down the gravel side, sliding a few times. My knee came down on a large rock, ripping a layer of skin from my leg.
“You ok?” Jess reached out and wrapped his arm around my waist to trying to keep us steady.
“Yeah,” I said, holding tight against his arm.
It was an impressive drop off the side that would make me scared to death to experience it drunk. We made our way to the center of the bridge and sat with our feet dangling over the edge. Jess pulled something out of the box making my skin crawl.
“Are you crazy? You swore no more firecrackers. They’ll put it together if we get caught out here.”
“They’re just little ones,” he grinned.
Back in June, Jess and I snuck out to the north side of the ranch with homemade bottle rockets. The Landrys had a group of round bales across the dirt road. The air and grass held the dryness from a record breaking drought. After the third shot, the hay burst into flames like an explosion in a desert. Jess and I ran back to the house. Two kids were no match for a fire of that size. We kept silent as the arson rumors circled through the lines of Arlis gossip. We agreed there was no point to confess when it didn’t change the fact the hay was gone. Jess and I swore never to shoot off fireworks again.
“Jess, I still feel bad about the Landry’s.”
“I know, but we ain’t gonna hurt anythin’ tonight. Here, hold this.” I held the small tube as he lit the match and touched the end. “Hurry up and throw it.”
I threw the fireball forward and watched the explosion a few yards below the bridge. The pink sparkles illuminated the creek before falling into water.
“See, it’s all in the water so stop worrin’. I’m not gonna burn somethin’ up.”
His smug grin made me laugh. “Yeah, ok…give me another one.”
I tossed a second stick off the bridge. It sizzled white, all the way down to the creek bed. Everything was quiet except the bang of the firecrackers. I looked at this fourteen-year-old boy. Jess was older now. He looked older and definitely sounded older. My best friend was changing right before my eyes.
“Jess, are you going to come out here with everyone, you know on Fridays after the game?”
“Maybe, I guess. If that’s where everybody’s headed.” I felt his shoulders shrug against mine.
“You planning to do a lot of stuff with the football team?”
“Maybe, I don’t know.”
I still couldn’t believe he caved into the whole football thing. I had an interesting summer watching Jess become friends with the people he’d always hated. It wasn’t long ago that he ran away to a treehouse, to avoid the superficial families who tried to associate themselves with the Masons.
“You gonna come watch me play?”
“If you insist.”
I got a whack to the arm on that one. This sucked. I wasn’t sure how I felt about everything at this point. I wasn’t sure where I fit into his new life.
“You could’ve been a cheerleader, you know. Could’ve rode the bus to the games with me.”
“You really see me, dancing around, showing my ass at the games?”
“I just think you should make some new friends beside Natalie. She’s all…you know.”
“Dark and dreary, like me,” I replied.
I never thought it possible, but Jess Mason might be on the verge of becoming a snob. Looking down at my fingers, I knew some of her influence affected my choices, but they were mostly harmless. My nails were painted in her favorite shade of crimson black.
“No, you ain’t like her. She’s just a little too, I don’t know. It’s like she’s dressin’ up for Halloween every day.”
“So you’re calling Natalie a freak. Stop it, Jess,” I spat. “I like her because she’s nice to me.”
“I didn’t mean it like that. I like Natalie. Most of the time, anyway. But I got a little afraid today, the pool might turn black from her hair,” he laughed.
“Really? A hair joke? Maybe I should just dye mine black, too.”
“Yeah, maybe you should,” he taunted back.
I didn’t reply, but I pulled my ponytail holder off my wrist to tie back my hair.
“You should leave it down. You never do,” Jess said, looking over at me.
“What’s with your dumb hair obsession tonight? You’re being more annoying than usual.” I wrinkled up my nose as I pulled it back anyway. He rolled his eyes and dropped another red explosion off the bridge.
“Al, I just think next year, you should be lookin’ at all your options. There’s other people out there. Some of ‘em might be nice if you gave ‘em a chance.”
“Like who? Ashley Cartwright? That’s not happening.” My temper edged up by the second. Jess was close to getting himself shoved off Nickel Bridge.
“Ashley’s not that bad if you took time to get to know her.”
Picturing her blonde, curly hair, I threw up a little in my mouth. “No, I’m pretty sure she’s all bad. You’ve always thought the same thing too. When did you start drinking the Ashley Kool-Aid?”
I got up and walked down the bridge. It was too hot, and I’d decided I’d had enough of his thoughts. I had wanted this to be fun tonight. My gray tennis shoes threw up dust as I stomped down the dirt path. I had a deep fear about the way things were changing. I knew Jess spent time with other people over the summer. Practicing with the team as a freshman was a big deal, and it brought attention from certain people like Ashley. I just didn’t get it.
“Al, wait.” He caught up in only few steps and grabbed my arm.
“What, Jess? You want to change how I walk now too?”
“What’s gotten into you?”
“Into me? What about you? You’re just…just…” I looked down at the ground. Now that I had the floor, I didn’t know what I even wanted to say.
“I’m what?” He stood in front of me, but I refused to look at his annoying face.
I knew it would be different in high school. The magnitude of the difference scared the crap out of me. I couldn’t lose Jess even if he was a Mason.
“Al, look at me. Are you worried? You shouldn’t be. I’ll still be me.”
“It’s already changed,” I mumbled. “Everything is already different with you.”
“I know. I get what you’re sayin’. It’s just playin’ football has made things different. For the first time, people notice me for me. It’s got nothin’ to do with my family. It just feels different and I like it. But that’s not gonna change us.”