Closer.
Terror rips through me. I should be stopping. My arms flail out, uselessly reaching for something to grab onto. An inhuman noise escapes me, drowned out by the wind in my ears.
And then I’m soaring back up.
Sweet relief floods my system as I bounce away from the ground, then back toward it again. Based on the way the track heaved when the others jumped, I would have assumed I’d feel a jerk when the rope caught, but the whole thing happens in one fluid motion—I’m falling, and then I’m not.
I did it.
A million different emotions swirl in my chest. Nothing half as exciting has ever happened to me before. And in this moment I don’t care about all the unknowns.
A hundred thousand dollars.
Enough money to pay off some of my mountainous medical bills before I die and leave Mom with an unbearable burden. Enough money to go far, far away. To travel the world, put my French lessons to good use. Enough money to live.
I stretch my arms out and let the wind push against me as I bounce, a silly smile plastered across my face. Laughter bubbles up in me, and I suddenly know why I came out here tonight. It’s not just because I was curious, or because I wanted to impress these girls, or even because I needed the money—it’s because I needed this, an escape. Some control.
“All right, we don’t have all night,” Farrah says.
I wish I could swing here for a minute, but she’s right: there are still two others to go, and the issue of getting home before sunup. I unsnap the buckles on my chest and shrug out of the harness, then pull into a crunch that makes me woozy so I can loosen the straps on the ankle cuffs, pulling one foot out, then the other. I drop and feel a zing up my spine as my feet hit cement. When I push up, I take a deep breath and do a careful inventory of my body for possible damage. But I feel fine. I feel…good. A smile bursts over my face.
The cord rattles as the harness travels up the tower. I imagine Nikki shaking her head in surprise at my success, impatiently checking the time, and Lyla smiling with pride. Strange how I know both of them so well after so little time.
I limp out of the way and collect my purse and the flashlight from the grass, then go over to where Hartley and Farrah wait.
It’s too far to see who’s next, but a figure moves to the ledge of the coaster. I keep waiting for something to happen, but minutes tick by and no one jumps.
“God, would she hurry it up already?” Farrah says.
Hartley puts her hands around her mouth and yells, “Come on!”
I look at the time on my cell. It’s almost two in the morning, and there’s no missed call, no text from Mom. She hasn’t noticed I’m gone yet, but it’s only a matter of time. Every minute that passes takes me closer to months of complete isolation, zero contact with the outside world. Zero Ethan. Everything that makes life just a little bit tolerable. But I can’t think about it right now or I’ll start hyperventilating.
“Finally,” Hartley says.
I look up. Someone jumped. The body soars toward the pavement, then springs back up. When the bouncing slows, I see the satin-mesh shorts bunched around muscular thighs: Lyla.
She unclips her harness and falls to the ground.
“What took so long?” Farrah asks.
Lyla jogs over, her blond ponytail slashing from side to side. “Just got nervous, I guess.”
I frown; she didn’t seem remotely nervous earlier.
But pretty soon it becomes clear why it really took so long. There’s still no movement up top from Nikki. Hartley gets bored and starts doing back handsprings, and Farrah narrates all the ways Hartley might accidentally kill herself. While they’re distracted, I whisper to Lyla, “What really happened up there?”
Lyla makes sure the others aren’t listening before she answers. “Nikki froze. I tried to talk her into it, but it wasn’t happening.”
Just as I thought.
“How long are we supposed to wait?” Farrah asks after a few more minutes have passed.
“You can go if you want,” Hartley answers. “It’s not far to the freeway, and I’m sure someone would pick up a pretty girl like you.”
Farrah rolls her eyes.
“I think she’s going to do it!” Lyla says suddenly.
Nikki has appeared at the ledge.
Lyla cups her hands around her mouth. “Come on, Nik! You can do it, girl!”
“What the hell are you doing?” Hartley says.
“What does it look like?” Lyla answers.
All it would take to eliminate Nikki from the game and make it that much easier for Lyla to take home a hundred thousand dollars would be a little jeering. Instead she encourages her. Exactly as she did for me.
I put my hands around my own mouth. “Come on, Nikki!”
“Woo, female solidarity!” Farrah says dryly, doing a little cheer.
“Don’t fall on your face, Nikki!” Hartley yells up.
“Hartley!” Lyla snaps.
“What? There’s only one winner.”