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“I’m scared,” she admitted. Chris held out his hand, and she gripped it tightly. The shivers were all over her skin now. Sickness pitted in her stomach, and her legs shook, making her pedals rattle. She took a deep breath, and as the air left her nose, a tiny smile formed on her lips. “But how can I be the exception if I don’t do it?”
He puffed out a chuckle and held her hand tighter. “That was the last thing I thought you’d say. You’re amazing. Do you get that? I’m so glad we met, even if it meant your dad shouted at me.”
“Me too.” She laughed. “Let’s hope I make it to eighteen tomorrow, or my dad will be shouting a lot louder at you. He’ll write insults on your plaster casts because I won’t be able to complete my A-Levels and go to university like he wants me to.”
Lucie took another deep breath. Then, between pursed lips, she let all the air out of her lungs. “Come on, Chris. Let’s go together.”
She released his hand and ran her hands through her hair, temporarily tying it back into its ponytail. Imagine her dying because her hair was covering her eyes. She caught Chris staring at her out of the corner of her eye. His gaze was unreadable, but it made her blush anyway. She was about to plunge to her death with a blushing face.
“Right, let’s do this,” Lucie whispered. She clipped the waist strap of her rucksack together. Lucie never used it, even when her mum insisted she took a break from studying and joined her on walks in the local countryside. Then she gripped the handlebars tightly and positioned her shimmering blue bike at the top of the hill. Chris did the same, this time fixing his gaze below.
It was no longer the slope of a hill. Instead, it was as if they were at the crest of the steepest mountain with all their fears preparing them for failure.
“We go on three,” he said with a shaky voice. His nervousness gave Lucie a smidge of confidence. It was an example of what he’d said before. He wasn’t always confident but good at faking it. He was convincing. Although scared, she wasn’t on the brink of an anxiety attack. Her pulse was quick but not out of control, and her thoughts were clear. Maybe it was a blip. She’d take time to work out what was going on later.
“Okay,” she said breathlessly. “On three.”
“One,” they said in unison. Be the exception. “Two.”
Reach for the stars. You can do this. Be the exception, Lucie.
“Three,” they shouted.
She let go of the brakes and began to fly.
Chapter Nineteen
Lucie’s ponytail flapped in the breeze.
She reprimanded herself for not wearing a helmet. Would that be her last thought before she died? The road wasn’t entirely smooth, and she flew into the air a couple of times before banging back down. Her hands hurt from gripping the handlebars, and her forearms shook when she hit the rough road. The bike rattled, and her eyes watered against the wind. Air rushed in her mouth as she took deep breaths, and she swore something lodged in the back of her throat. She coughed to dislodge it from her mouth and spat to the side, remembering to pick the side that Chris wasn’t on. Her heart sped up and was teetering on frantic. This hill was not the place for an anxiety attack.
After a couple of deep breaths, she let go and soared above everything clouding her joy. She glanced at Chris, and he smiled back at her. Her bike wobbled, and she focused on the road. Her fear of falling held tightly to her fear of going back to everyday life. If she’d turned around at the top of the hill and headed a different way, she would have been sitting at her school desk next week hating herself.
Instead, you were brave, and you did it.Pride and wonder overtook her fear.
She imagined Emma at the bottom of the hill, cheering her on. She couldn’t wait to tell Emma all about it when she got back to the lodge. But would she leave out the bit about doing it with Chris? No, she wouldn’t. He’d helped her, and they didn’t know him like she did. Wasn’t that what the naïve girls at school said about their boyfriends before getting hurt?
None of that mattered because he might not want to meet tomorrow. Was this their last day together? Should she force her number on him? What if he handed it back and laughed at her?Thoughts streamed through her mind as she neared the bottom of the hill.
Suddenly she focused on a shape that looked like a tree. Lucie gasped. But it wasn’t a tree. It was a real person, and they were waving their arms up and down. They were next to a sign that said “No Entry.” Lucie and Chris hadn’t seen that from the top of the hill. Had a dip in the road hidden it?
Chris looked back with wide eyes and a grimace. They were careening closer to the man and the “No Entry” sign. His shouts were like whispers. They barely carried over the wind rushing through her ears. Chris mouthed something.
She squinted back and forth at the road.
“Can’t stop, don’t stop.”
“Okay,” she mouthed back before clenching her teeth. A spark of happiness surprised her.
As they neared the bottom of the hill, Lucie’s bike wobbled out of control. Chris soared past the park ranger, missing him by an inch. The ranger’s hat flew into the air as Lucie zoomed past.
“Stop,” he hollered. Lucie searched him out, but he wasn’t scrabbling for his hat in the dirt; instead, he was chasing them.
“Chris, don’t slow down,” she called out. “He’s trying to catch us.”
Chris must have reduced his speed a little because she suddenly found she was level with him.
He smiled at her before glancing over his shoulder. “Oh my God, he’s not stopping. Come on, Lucie.”
