“Good,” he replies.“I wish I could’ve carved it into something more permanent.”
I stare at the ceiling after he hangs up, my hand clasping the squeal that wants to shriek from my mouth.But my dad has people downstairs, and that would probably freak them all out.
Instead, I roll over and squeal into the pillow, kicking my feet against my bed.Permanent.Really?This is… forever?I mean, I can’t imagine ever loving anyone else.I squeal again and hug my pillow to me.Forever.I like the sound of that.
Chapter Ten
What happened to your eye?”I ask Jonathan when he finally arrives at Collin’s.We’ve been waiting for him for forever.We were running out of ideas.
“What do you think?”Collin waves his colorful fingers in front of Jonathan.He let me color his fingernails with markers while we waited.“I think I’m starting a trend.”
“Doubt it,” Jonathan replies, not answering me.“I thought of a new game we can play.”
“Finally!I couldn’t think of anything to do.”Collin sounds so relieved, like he was about to die from boredom.It wasn’tthatbad without Jonathan.He just has better ideas than we do most of the time.
“Where’s your skateboard?”
Collin runs to the garage.While he’s in there, I inspect the bruise under Jonathan’s left eye.“Does it hurt?”I wince at the sight of it.Itlookslike it hurts.
“Naw,” he answers, turning his head away from me so I won’t keep staring at it.
“Found it!”Collin bursts out of the garage with the skateboard raised above his head like a trophy.
“Did you bring your jump rope?”Jonathan asks me.
Of course I did.I don’t go anywhere without it.It’s my favorite thing to do at recess.And after school.Or anytime really.I grab it from my backpack.
“I’ll pull you around on the skateboard from behind my bike.Kind of like water skiing.”
“Do we sit or stand?”I ask, not sure I can balance that good.I’ve tried to skateboard a few times, but end up jumping off once I get moving, afraid I’ll fall.
“You can choose.”
“I’m going first!”Collin announces loudly with a hand raised, like he’s in class.
Jonathan ties one end of the jump rope under the bike’s seat, and Collin holds on to the handle.He decides to stand and only holds on with one hand.
“You can’t let go,” Jonathan tells him.“Sadie, time us.You have to make it to two minutes to get a point.”
“Easy,” Collin boasts.“I could do this all day.”
As soon as Jonathan starts pedaling, Collin jolts forward, jumping off the skateboard with a staggering step, and releases the rope.“That didn’t count.I wasn’t ready.”
I roll my eyes.
“One more try,” Jonathan tells him.This time, Collin stays on the board.He’s hollering with a fist in the air, like he’s already won, when Jonathan turns.Collin keeps heading toward the curb and goes flying and nearly lands on the sidewalk.He rolls onto Mrs.Blake’s lawn with a groan.
“You okay?”I run over to him, and his groan becomes laughter.
“Sorry ’bout that,” Jonathan says, his bike set on the kickstand so he can check on Collin.
“That was awesome!”Collin says, still laughing.
“I’m next!”I declare.I choose to sit.I still fall off in under a minute.
We spend the afternoon skateboard-skiing, or street-skiing, as we decide to call it, around the neighborhood.Crashing.And laughing.My mother isn’t happy to see my skinned knees or another pair of ruined leggings.
That Monday, when we get back to school, the teacher asks Jonathan about his eye.He tells her he fell off a skateboard while playing a game with us that weekend.When she sees Collin’s freshly scraped elbow and my bandaged knees, she doesn’t ask again.And I don’t know why he lied.
