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“I won’t,” he promised.
Jeremy kept telling us all the ins and outs of what was going to happen, but my mind wasn’t listening. I was one hundred percent focused on the drop I was about to take. The bridge was over a running river—a slow-moving river—but a river, nonetheless. My mind was buzzing. There are rocks down there. The cord can snap. You won't get to design wedding dresses if you're dead!
“Um, Clay,” I muttered as he wrapped his arms tight around me. I snaked my arms around his waist and buried my face in his chest.
“I’m going to start to rock you, and then when I say three, you’ll fall. You’ll feel a pull with the cord. . .”
“Clay,” I said again.
“. . . and you’ll fly back up. That's the best part. Then you’ll go back down. That will happen a few times until the cord relaxes. . .”
“Clay,” I said a little louder.
“. . . and we will guide you back up.”
Jeremy, shut up!
“Sounds like a blast.” Clay smiled.
No, it does not.
“Clay.” I pulled my head up to look at him.
“Okay, here we go,” Jeremy shouted, putting one hand on my back and one on Clay’s, slowly starting to rock us back and forth. “One. . .”
“Clay, I'm not doing this,” I said, catching his attention.
“. . . two. . .”
“Oh, yes, we are.” Clay smiled, placing a small kiss on my forehead. His lips left my skin faster than they touched, but the feeling was still there. And for a second, half a second, I forgot what I was about to do.
“Three.”
And just like that, I was falling.
Clay was shouting “whoo” as we soared through the air, my head buried in his chest, his arms never once losing their grip on me. I felt the tug and jerk as my body flung upward again. I began to shake.
“Phe,” Clay screamed. “Phe, open your eyes! Shout it out at the top of your lungs!”
I let my breath loose. Finally, being brave, I opened my eyes just as we began to fall back down. The world around me moved like a blur, and the air whooshed past my ears. My hair was flying uncontrollably, and Clay’s eyes, somehow, were focused on me. I looked up—or down—at the water as it came closer, a blue blur of motion. I was flying.
“Shout it, Phe,” Clay said again, the wind blocking his voice.
I took a deep breath as our bodies jerked once more, and I shouted at the top of my lungs for the entire world to hear. . .
“I AM OPHELIA FULLER!!!”
Clay’s arms tightened as the words fell from my tongue, and he buried his face in my neck. I could hear as he laughed, letting out the most contagious sound I had heard all day. Our bodies blended together as we slowed down, the world coming into focus, my brain putting all the pieces together. Every nerve in my body was on fire. I could feel everything as the world came back into focus, but all I could see was Clay.
We were gently pulled back up onto the landing, Clay letting go of me so I could grab Jeremy’s hand. Once my feet were firmly planted on the ground, Clay standing tall next to me, the adrenaline surging through my every cell, I took one last look at the river below.
I did it. I flew.
Jeremy bent over at my feet to begin to unhook all the straps, but if I were honest with myself, I was tempted to jump again. Run off the board with my arms spread wide, eyes open, just to fly again. I looked up at Clay, his hair completely out of sorts, his face flushed but the same smile, the same look of thrill and adventure in his eyes that I knew I had.
I could fly again. . .
Ignoring Jeremy at my knees, I stepped forward and closed the gap between Clay and me, wanting to take that fall again.
