Melissa’s knees were locked, and she’d sucked in her lips so hard they were white. “Seriously, Colin,” she said shakily. “I hate heights.”
Colin ran his tongue over his teeth. He stared at Melissa for almost a full refrain of the heavy metal song that was blaring from the speakers. Spencer held her breath, watching Colin’s features change as the picture Melissa had painted of herself chipped into something less interesting. It reminded her of the time Spencer’s father had been all set to buy a vintage Ferrari from a guy two towns over but had discovered the undercarriage was full of rust and the car actually didn’t start.
She pushed around both of them. “I’ll jump.”
“You?” Melissa looked shocked.
“Great.” Braided Hair stepped aside so that Spencer could climb aboard the little elevator that would carry her to the top of the tower. She tried her best to remain relaxed as he shut her into the compartment and the carriage began to move. Melissa glowered at her. Colin, on the other hand, looked impressed. Good luck, he mouthed.
The ride to the top took about a minute. Spencer watched as the people on the dock got smaller and smaller and her view of the bay expanded. When she reached the jumping-off point, an instructor harnessed her up and told her the basics of how to jump—try to remain relaxed, put her arms straight out, and jump into a swan dive so as not to hurt her back. And then it was time to go.
Spencer shuffled toward the edge of the tower, her pulse pounding. The waves lapped peacefully a zillion feet below. The water looked so dark and endless from up here. Suddenly, she was reminded of when she’d dangled over the edge of Falling Man Quarry with Mona Vanderwaal. How black the abyss had been. How certain she’d felt that she was going to plummet to her death. Mona’s shrill, desperate screams as she’d fallen, the full four-Mississippi counts until she’d hit the bottom.
A faint giggle pierced the silence, and Spencer whipped her head to the right. People on the dock craned up to watch her. A seagull landed on a white and red buoy. Spencer shook her head. There was no way someone could be laughing at her, all the way up here.
“Are you ready?” the instructor asked, giving the bungee cord another tug to make sure it was secure.
Spencer’s mouth felt coated with wool. Her hands began to feel slick, and sweat prickled under her arms. But she couldn’t chicken out now.
“Ready,” she answered shakily.
The instructors counted down from three. Spencer swallowed hard, thrust her jaw upward, and stepped off the ledge. At first she felt weightless, and then her stomach swooped into her throat. She heard screams around her, only realizing a few milliseconds later that they were her own. The water below her approached faster and faster, her body felt heavier and heavier, until thwock—the rope caught and bounced back upward. Soon she came to a stop, and she was dangling over the water. She’d made it. She was alive. She breathed out, listening to the sound of her rocketing heartbeat in her ears.
A cheer rose up from the dock. “Yeah!” Spencer extended her arms. She felt exhilarated and free, like she’d just left all her baggage at the top of the crane. She swung around toward the dock, searching for Colin and Melissa, but she didn’t see them anywhere. Suddenly, it didn’t really matter.
The crane slowly pulled her back up to the top. The instructor loomed over the edge and unhooked her harness. “That was awesome,” Spencer breathed.
“Told you it was amazing!” a voice said behind her.
Spencer peered over the instructor. Colin was standing on the platform, all harnessed up. They were the only two jumpers on the deck. “So I guess Melissa didn’t want to jump, huh?” she asked.
Colin twisted his hands at his waist. “Actually, she left.” He let out an uncomfortable laugh. “I don’t think she really wanted to stick around after what I said to her.”
Spencer’s heart stopped. “What did you say?”
Colin’s blue eyes locked on hers. “That my feelings have changed. That I picked the wrong sister.”
The same rush that Spencer had just felt on the bungee jump swelled over her once more. She tried to keep a neutral expression on her face, but she could feel her lips pulling into a smile.
Colin stepped closer and took her hand. Spencer could smell his sandy, sunscreeny scent and tried not to swoon. Just like that, in front of the grubby instructors, hundreds of feet in the air, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. Spencer’s eyes fluttered closed. Her heart hammered in her chest. She could feel the instructors shift impatiently behind them, but she didn’t care.
The kiss was over too soon, and Colin pulled away. “Want to jump in tandem with me?”