“I’m not, but you are.”He pushed the board in Elodie’s direction.A leaf stuck to one of its neon wheels and deposited it at her feet as it rolled to astop.
Elodie pulled her arms further up her sleeves.“I don’t knowhow.”
“I’ll teach you.”Aiden brushed his hand through his mohawk.Rain sprung from his tight curls and dusted the air like glitter.“You’re going to step onto it like this and then push off.”He said as he mimed stepping onto the board with his left foot and pushing against the sidewalk with his right.“When you start moving, pivot and bring your back foot onto the deck.”Aiden shifted his feet and held out his arms like he was flying.“Easy peasy.”
Before she lost her nerve, Elodie sucked in a breath, balled her hands in her sleeves, stepped onto the skateboard, and pushed.
“Make sure you’re solid and balanced beforeyou—”
Aiden’s advice came a second too late.Elodie squealed as the board surged out from under her and careened,riderless, into the grass, and her butt smacked against the concrete.“Ouch,” she groaned as she inspected her hands.
Aiden kneeled down next to her, concern widening his eyes.“Are youokay?”
“Yeah, sorry about that.”Elodie grimaced as she got to her feet.“I’m fine.My jacket, not so much.”She offered her ripped sleeves as evidence.
“You sure you’re okay?”Aiden asked as he stepped onto the curved tail of the skateboard.The board pointed straight up and he grabbed thenose.
The underside of the deck was the same neon green as the wheels, and littered with various scratches and divots.What drew Elodie’s attention wasn’t the proof that Aiden had taken similar, albeit far less embarrassing, spills.It was the beautiful, hand painted script that seemed to dance across the board’s middle—after the storm comes thedawn.
“That’s really pretty.”Elodie motioned to the board.
Aiden dropped the nose and pushed the skateboard back onto the sidewalk.“The river’s a few feet higher than normal.Want to go to the pier and check itout?”
“As long as I don’t have to get there on that thing.”Elodie smiled.
Aiden caught up to the board and gave it another push.“Are you saying thatwasn’tthe funnest thing you’ve ever done?”he asked, his eyebrow arched.
Elodie joined him, kicking the skateboard as they neared it.“It comes in second, right behind running face first into a glassdoor.”
“You know, I’ve heard crashing into a door is a wild ride.”Aiden angled the board toward the pier and gave it a final tap before he strolled onto the dock.Wooden slats creaked and groaned as he headed toward the edge and stared out at thewater.
Like Aiden had done, Elodie stepped on the end of the skateboard and lifted it by its nose before joining him on the pier.“Did you always want to work in the morgue?”She sat down with the board stretched across her lap.Her legs dangled over the edge of the pier as she absentmindedly traced the board’s fancy lettering.“I mean, unless you don’t want to talk about work.”She shook her head and moved the skateboard behind her.Of course he didn’t want to talk about work.People didn’t leave work to then keep talking about work.Rhett never wanted to hear about her day and, most days, she didn’t want to tell him about it anyway.“Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.”
Aiden sat down next to her and tapped the toe of his boot against the river’s rippling surface.“You apologize alot.”
“Sorry.”Elodie pressed her teeth against her bottom lip.Could she be any more predictable?
“Have you thought about saving them?”He dipped the toe of his boot into the river and flicked up a splash of graywater.
Her brow creased at the question.“Save my apologies?Forwhat?”
“They’re heavy, apologies.At least they should be.And meaningful.”
Elodie shrugged.“They’re just words.”
“But words have power.”He lifted his foot.Water rolled off of his boot and rained back into the river.“That’s something Echo tells me all thetime.”
Elodie smoothed the ends of her hair between her fingers.“Who’sEcho?”
Aiden plunged his foot into the river.Water sprayed around his boot.Elodie jerked backward and yipped when the cold splash foundher.
He clapped his hand over his mouth.“Shit!I did not think it would reach that far!”he exclaimed, the words muffled between his fingers.
Laughter shook Elodie’s core and she collapsed back against the wooden slats.The clouds had cleared and left behind a pale blue sunlit sky.
“Seriously, that was a total accident.”He joined her on his back.“I completely miscalculated.”
Elodie shielded her eyes and stared into the endless blue.“Don’t even think about saying you’re sorry,” she said through a final bout of giggles.Her cheeks ached as she lay there, still smiling, river water soaking her pants.It was nice, just being there with Aiden.There were no expectations or harsh judgments.There was only freedom, room to be whoever she wanted to be, room to find out who exactly that was.“Sometimes,” she began, “I feel like this planet is the entirety of outer space.Like, the beginning of Zone Seven is the edge of our atmosphere, and it’s just black nothingness until the next city or country.I mean, no one can survive in or beyond Zone Seven, so from our Zone Seven to the next city’s Zone Seven is...”Elodie tossed her hands in the air.“Emptiness.”
