Page 187 of Brighter Together

She squeezes her eyes shut.

“No. Open them.”

“Why?”

“Because you came all the way here to see this.”

Slowly, reluctantly, she opens them.

I look at her rather than the drop.

“We’ve got this.”

Her eyes stay on mine.

“Don’t let go.”

“Not a chance.”

The instructor begins the countdown.

Three.

Ella inhales sharply.

Two.

Her fingers tighten.

One.

I jump.

Ella screams directly into my ear.

Then I’m shouting too because there is no ground beneath us and the whole world seems to disappear in a rush of wind and water and mountains.

For a few seconds, there is nothing but falling.

Then the cord catches.

We fly upwards again.

Ella’s scream turns into laughter.

Wild, breathless laughter.

“Holy fuck!”

I laugh with her. “Do you still hate me?”

“I changed my mind!” she shouts.

We bounce again, swinging above the river with Ella still wrapped around me.

Her forehead presses against mine.

“We did it.”