Read Falling From the Sky Online
Authors: Nikki Godwin
Falling From the Sky (28 page)
“I think that’s the last of it,” Micah says. His voice is sad.
I pull him close to me. “I’m not leaving yet. We still have tonight,” I remind him.
He nods. “I know, but we’re packing up your car. It feels so final. You’re really leaving me,” he whispers. He buries his face into my shoulder.
“Let’s go inside,” I say.
He doesn’t separate himself from me, so we stagger past the tree of skulls toward the porch. We walk slowly because I don’t want to step on him.
“We still have level twenty,” I tell him. “And next time we’re together, we’ll have to start on the human side of
Zombie Sanctuary 3.
”
This makes him look up. “You’ll be ready for that?”
I nod. “Yeah, thanks to you.” I lean in and kiss him before he can question me any further. “Level twenty?”
He nods. And smiles. Damn that smile. It gets me every time.
Our zombies feast on brains in celebration. Two months, ten horses, and twenty levels later, I survived as a zombie. And I defeated
Zombie Sanctuary 3.
I grab the flip phone and take a picture of the TV screen. I want to remember this moment.
Micah laughs at me and turns off the Xbox and TV.
“Send me that,” he says, linking his phone to mine.
I send him the picture and then 5683 pictures from his phone to mine. I have a lot of them already, but I want every last remnant of this summer. I copy over pictures of Abby and Jade. Zoey. The silly picture of Kyle the Ripper with Pax earlier in the summer. Graffiti pictures and the logo of the Krazy Korn van. The mohawk guy from Mutilated Arteries. All ten of our carousel horses. And every picture of us, regardless of how goofy we look.
Micah sets his alarm and flips off the lamp. I wish there was a way to take a picture of his glow-in-the-dark stars. He cuddles up next to me, draping an arm over my stomach. I let him sleep on my arm even though I know it’ll be numb after fifteen minutes. It doesn’t matter. It’s our last night of summer.
I pull up outside of the mall cinema. Micah decided to work a few hours this morning while I cleaned out my dorm room and turned in my VIP pass to Dunson Hills Sports camp. In the process, I got to listen to Aaron’s end of summer breakup speech with Katelyn over the phone, and I said goodbye to him without ever having to admit I wasn’t dating Zoey.
Micah waits at a table for me. “You did say barbeque, right?” he asks.
I nod and pull up a seat next to him.
“You rock,” I say. I unwrap the sandwich he’s already ordered for me.
He’s quiet today, but I expected this. We talk about the next time I’ll be able to come visit and how the drive from Markham to Bear Creek isn’t all that far. I could easily spend every other weekend up here, as long as it doesn’t interfere with basketball season.
“I mean, it’s not like I have a girlfriend to pacify anymore,” I say. “I can do what I want with my time, outside of sports.”
Micah tugs at the straw in his drink. “So, bachelor life, huh?”
I finish chewing and shake my head. “I don’t want to be,” I say. I’ve lost my appetite now because my nerves are raging, but I’d feel crappy if I didn’t eat after Micah ordered it and had it waiting on me. I take a huge bite.
He pulls his straw up and down in his drink. He can’t sit still. “What are you saying?”
He knows what I’m saying, but he gets too much pleasure out of hearing me say the words. Typical Micah. But this time I don’t mind it.
“I want to be with you. You know that,” I say.
There goes that smile again. That perfect smile that I don’t know how I’ll survive without seeing every day. He doesn’t say anything, and after thirty seconds, I feel the rush of panic.
“Say something?” I wait for a reply.
He chews on his straw and looks past me. “I’m already yours.”
We headed out those double doors one final time when I hear my last name again. Terrence runs toward us, a Finish Line bag dangling from his hand. “You headed out?” he asks.
“Yeah,” I reply. “I thought you were already gone.”
“Had to go get some new shoes for try-outs next week,” he says, shaking the bag.
I look down at my Nikes. Thank God for needing new shoes. Thank God for crappy shoes stores with stupid songs about falling from the sky. Thank God I’m an idiot who shot a penny into a fountain.
“Good luck, try-outs and all that. I’ll call you after it’s all said and done, and if Coach Wildcat ain’t starting you, I’ll drive to Markham myself and kick his ass,” Terrence says. “But don’t get all NBA on me now that you perfected your three-pointer.”
“You know better,” I say. “You’ve known me long enough to know I won’t get all Zach Perry on you.”
“Good,” Terrence says. “If you do, you better have an air pump because I’ll sure as hell flatten your tires too.”
Micah laughs a bit too loudly, and I crack up. I never would’ve guess it was Terrence, but the bigger part of me is happy that he got to see it.
“Because that was you, I’ll let it slide,” I say. “But he and the entire baseball team accused me of it, so you owe me.”
We part ways with Terrence and stroll toward my car at record slow speed. I ramble off all the times I’ll see him again – Halloween, Christmas break, possibly Thanksgiving depending on how long we’re out of school, random weekends when we can meet up, basketball games that fall in between Markham and Bear Creek, and obviously next summer. But I know nothing I say will make this easier.
“Let me know when you get home,” he says. “Even if you just text me, just let me know you made it so I won’t sit here thinking you’re dead somewhere and that I’ll never see you again.”
I push him against my car door. “You’ve been around me too long. You’re starting to sound like me with my theories.”
He attempts to smile, but it doesn’t really work. I lean in and kiss him. His fingers lock behind my neck, and I know he’s going to hold me here as long as I’ll let him.
“I have to go,” I whisper as I pull away.
“I’ll miss you,” he whispers back. He wraps his arms around my waist.
“I’ll miss you too,” I say. “But I’ll text you as soon as I’m home, and once I get past my mom, I’ll call you.”
He just nods along. I offer to return the flip phone, but he tells me to keep it. I don’t argue. As ancient as the damn thing is, it makes me feel just a sliver closer to Micah. It’s a reminder of this summer and everything we are and everything we’ll be.
I wait for him to say something, to say those three words he’s avoided all summer, but we stand in silence. I’m afraid those three little words will break me if I say them first.
“Okay, I’m going,” I say again. I untangle my arms from his and reach for the driver’s side door. “I’ll let you know as soon as I’m safe in my driveway.”
His hand falls from mine in surrender. “See you, Jump Shot.”
I close the car door behind me. Micah stands in the mall’s parking lot, and just like Abby and Jade, I know he’ll stand there until he can’t see my car anymore, just like I’ll watch him in my rearview mirror until he’s a tiny dot on the horizon.
Our driveway feels lonely and cold when I pull into the garage. I miss my usual parking place next to the tree of skulls. No one rushes out to meet me. No open arms or excited smiles or five-year-olds hugging my legs. I check my eyes in the mirror. I don’t look like I’ve been crying half the drive home. The other half I spent listening to the CD of Mutilated Arteries that Micah burned me. Micah. I should’ve told him I loved him while I had the chance.
I pull the flip phone from the cup holder and open a blank text. I let him know I made it home, I listened to his CD most of the way, and I’m perfectly safe so there’s no need to worry. But I don’t send it yet.
It takes longer usual to type a text on a numeric keypad. It feels so foreign, and it makes me wonder how we ever survived without keyboards in phones and touch screens.
4…
The letter I appears. I space over.
My fingers tremble as I attempt to spell the next word.
5…6…8…3
.
5683. Those all-too-familiar numbers.
“This one reminded me of you.”
Love. That’s Micah’s PIN code. That’s the one that reminded him of me.
I hit the backspace button and rewrite the last line of the text: “I 5683 you.” Send.
I know Micah. He’s glued to his phone waiting for my text. So when he doesn’t reply instantly, I begin to worry.
Then the worry fades when his picture pops up on my screen. He’s calling.
“Hey,” I say into the phone.
He replies instantly. “I love you too.”
###
More free ebooks @ www.superiorz.org
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The following people deserve an endless supply of blue rock candy!
*The many people who read this book in its original, messy, absolutely awful first draft way back in 2010/2011. I'm too scared to list names because I know I'll leave someone out. But thank you so very much for all of the cheerleading, feedback, and work that you guys put into making this story the best it could be. This isn't the same story you read all those years ago. It's better, and I owe that to you guys.
*Amber Hodges from Paradise of Pages – This book wouldn't even be published right now if you hadn't outted me on Twitter. For that, I thank you. I needed a push in the right direction, and you shoved me exactly where I needed to be. You gave me faith in this book again. Thank you for your support, e-mails, text messages, and above all, your friendship!
*Francine Soleil from Always Lost in Books – You have been a cheerleader for this book since the first time you heard about it, and I cannot tell you how much your encouragement has meant to me! Whenever I had a moment of doubt, you were instantly there, reassuring me and cheering me (and Micah & Ridge) on. Thank you so, so much.
*Brittany Oliver – You once asked to be a character in one of my novels. I don’t think many people could appreciate being a drama-starting, relationship-destroying drunk girl, but you laughed hysterically and told me it was perfect. I still see you in my mind, after all these years, whenever I read those scenes.
*The many bloggers who supported this book before it was published and before they even read it. I've had more fears about this publication than any of my previous books, but knowing that you guys stood behind me and the idea of this book means so much. Special thanks to Dianne, Cal, and Crystal – your reassuring tweets and kind words never went unnoticed.
*The many authors who have encouraged and supported me throughout this process: Natalie Blitt, Megan Erickson, Leigh Ann Kopans, Sarah Ashley Jones, Rebecca Lewis, J.C. Lillis, Mercy Amare, and Rob Zimmermann.
*The other two sides of my favorite love triangle – L.M. Augustine & K.K. Hendin. Thank you guys for the many group e-mails, for letting me know I'm not alone in my craziness, and for allowing your inboxes to be safe havens for me in my moments of weakness. You've shared my insecurities, political rants (L.M.), boyband love (K.K.), and a million other things in between. Words will never express how grateful I am to have you two in my corner.
*My cousins, Hannah Seely & Ben Seely, for learning to form your own opinions about the world and its issues. I'm so freaking proud of you guys.
*My BFF, Rachel Schmermund – You read my work before anyone else, still in its roughest form, while I'm developing characters and changing plot lines, and you still tell me how amazing it is (even when it's awful). Thank you for never giving up on me or this book. Thank you for all the times you reminded me that this story needed to be told. And thank you for all the future defense tactics that I'm sure you'll use against homophobic individuals who do not support this book. ;)
*And my sister, Emily – always, always Emily – Thank you for not laughing back in 2010 when I said I'd someday write a story about carousel horses. I'm sure you're the only person who took that idea seriously. Thank you for blue rock candy, for letting me borrow Mutilated Arteries (again), for being open-minded, for the many times you had to reread this book for me, and simply for being you and tolerating the insanity that comes with being my sister. Above all, thank you for being a brave soul (the bravest of all) and seeing
Titanic
in 3D with me in 2012. I know you felt left out because you didn't get to see
Titanic
in theatres with me the first time around (because you were four), but you went into that theatre knowing the kind of hysterical tears I'd cry. I'm sorry I threw up in the parking lot, but at least we made it out of the theatre. You jump, I jump, right? <3
Nikki Godwin is a YA/NA/LGBT author. She can't live without Mountain Dew, black eyeliner, and music by Hawthorne Heights. When not writing, she internet-stalks her favorite bands and keeps tabs on surf competitions. She adores pro surfer John John Florence and has made it her life goal to meet David Desrosiers of Simple Plan.
You can find her online on
Twitter
,
Facebook
, or on her
website
.
Table of Contents