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A million dollars?
“It’ll be okay,” the man next to me says, a wide grin on his face as he straps his backpack into place. “Weren’t you at practice? This isn’t the hard part. The hard part’s going to be looking for food.”
Practice?These people practiced jumping?And why would I hunt for food?
The woman slides open the door on the opposite side of the plane and my head begins to spin as heavy wind blows past us, and below us nothing but clear blue ocean.
“I’m sorry,” I say again, unmoving in my seat, my buckle still securely fastened. “This is a major mistake. I’m not supposed to be here!” I holler toward the brunette who’s guiding other jumpers out of the plane one by one. Each of them is less scared than the one before, as though they’re enjoying this, as though this is what they live for.
Why is this happening? How did I end up here? Maybe if I just stay in place, they’ll take me to wherever I was supposed to go.
“Ma’am!” I shout, as loud as I can manage.
“Sara?” a man says from behind me. The voice is deep and comforting and it sounds a lot like Brad, but I’m too scared to turn. “What the hell are you doing here? I thought you were going home?”
Slowly, I twist back in my seat until his body comes into view. It’s him. It’s really him. I stand and wrap my arms around his neck, holding him close until my brain comprehends how real he is.
“I got on the wrong plane,” I say. “What are you doing here?” Wind whips in from the side, rain coming with it as another jumper heads off the plane.
“We’re on this show… my buddies and me. I wanted to tell you yesterday, but they made us sign all these confidentiality waivers. It’s—”
“You’re next,” the woman barks toward Brad. “Let’s go…”
Brad ignores her and holds my body against his. “What are you going to do? Are you staying on board?”
“I can’t jump,” I say, a faint nausea waving through me. “I’ll die.”
He smiles. “Well, I wouldn’t let you die…”
“Now!” There is anger in the woman’s voice, but Brad keeps ignoring her as though I’m the only thing that matters.
“What if you jumped with me and we figured things out from there? I could talk to the producer. They had a guy pull out this morning. Maybe this is fate… you need the money and—”
“You have three seconds, or you forfeit the competition! We can’t keep hovering here! This is only a break in the storm.” The woman’s blue eyes are narrowed and angry.
I look toward Brad, my entire body shaking as I take his hand, strap on the backpack, and edge toward the side of the plane. I’m not sure what I’m doing. It’s like someone else has taken over my body, or like I’ve entered some parallel universe.
Wind whips past us as we look down into the turquoise abyss, the sun now shining where rain had been falling. Brad locks his arms around my waist and kisses my head.
“You ready?” he asks, his gaze on me.
My heart pulses so fast I’m sure it’s going to burst, but there’s no turning back. I hold my hand over top of my stomach. “I hope so,” I say with a shaking voice. The only option left, is to jump.
Chapter Five
Sara
A loud rush of wind, then nothing, almost like static blowing into a microphone, or the sound you hear when you splash underneath the water. It’s not harsh or painful, but it’s too loud to carry on a conversation, and I have so much to say.
For one, this feels nothing like the roller coaster drop I was expecting, it’s more like flying, like riding air molecules, like surfing through the sky.
My dress flies up and air presses against my stomach and my thighs, pushing me closer to Brad, his gaze on mine as though he’s studying my well-being, as though he’s done this a thousand times, as though the world around us isn’t splashing with bright blues and greens.
“I love this,” I mouth, the wind catching my cheeks as I move my lips.
Brad smiles and grips me tighter as he pulls a cord on his chest, lifting us both upward as the parachute opens.
“What did you say?” he asks, his voice now audible as we slow our speed, though we’re still screaming.
