First Light (18 page)

‘Are you sure we’re going to be okay, Kal?’ I squeaked.

‘Red, look down there.’

We shuffled together towards the edge, the icy air catching me off guard. I peered out and instantly felt sick. The feeling had no time to linger, however, because as I glanced over the edge, he used the motion to flip us both out the door. My stomach dropped and we were hurtling into the vast expanse of sky below.

I don’t recall how many times we spun, or how long the fall took. The experience was just too overwhelming. I’d thought being on the motorcycle was freeing, but it had nothing on this. As we plummeted towards the earth, my life, my problems and even the cold all seemed like distant memories. It was the first time I had complete and utter peace. On top of that, it was the biggest kick! I screamed out, the wind caught in my mouth, ballooning it open. I laughed into it.

The sound of the parachute opening above us came before I felt it pull us upwards, and then it was as though everything stopped. From one intense rush to an entirely different one, we floated down towards Clanots Ocean, like a feather caught in the wind.

‘Amazing, right?’ Kalen’s voice whispered in my ear, and in that moment I knew I didn’t want to live without this. Whenever I was with him, I was happy and I didn’t want it to end. Ever. I bobbed my head. Unable to form the words for how amazing it was.

As we neared the ground, which rushed up suddenly with a speed I hadn’t expected, he told me to lift my legs and we landed smoothly after just a few steadying steps from Kal.

‘Oh God,’ I said for the second time, though my meaning had changed a lot.

When I was unhooked, my legs buckled like jelly. I let myself fall back onto the grass. Kalen laughed from above me.

‘You okay?’ he asked, the sunshine framing his face like a halo. I squinted up at him, my smile practically splitting my face in half.

‘I want to do it again!’ I breathed eventually.

Grinning, he reached down, took me by the elbow and hoisted me to my feet. ‘Wait here, I’ll be two minutes.’ He jogged off towards a small reception area.

While I waited, I tried to comprehend what had just happened: I, Ronnie Rose, had jumped out of a plane. And I’d loved it! Every fibre of my body was humming, I giggled to myself.

Hearing my name, I turned to where Kal stood waving me over. I skipped across to him, feeling lighter than air.

‘I’m starving!’ I announced.

‘Yeah, it does that.’

‘When was the last time you did this?’

‘Too long ago and believe me, never in such pleasant circumstances. Come on, let’s get you something to eat.’

‘How much was that? What do I need to give you?’ I asked, scuttling to catch up with him.

Kalen frowned, making a clucking sound of disapproval as we headed towards the bike.

I thanked him again as we got on. I felt like a pro now, letting myself look around as we sped along the country lanes. I held on to him, but I didn’t feel scared anymore. I resisted the temptation to whoop with my hands in the air and settled on grinning into his back as I pressed my face against his jacket.

Underneath me, I felt the bike slow and the sound of the engine softened as we rounded a corner to the alleyway where he’d first dropped – as if out of the sky – in front of me. He pulled up to a stop. Kalen was his usual silent self as he broke the lock on the back door to the abandoned building and led us through to a staircase inside.

When we reached the top, the last door swung open easily and we were able to step out onto the roof. I stood in awed silence. High above Clanots Ocean, the liquid-gold sun had begun to set. It sparkled and shone, showing the town in a way I’d never seen it. Ahead, the ocean shimmered and behind us, building after building tapered off until there was nothing but rolling fields.

He smiled. ‘You like it?’

‘I didn’t know it could look like this,’ I said.

‘Being up high, above the churn of every-day life, I can sometimes find solace,’ he said, almost wistfully. ‘Rooftops, the sky, they’re my favourite places.’

‘I saw you once, I think you were with Nash. You were both jumping from this building.’

He smiled. ‘I remember.’

‘Do you do that a lot?’

‘I guess. It was something we were taught to help us evade people. You’d be surprised how little people ever really look up.’

‘It was amazing. You ran along a wall!’ When I thought about what I’d witnessed, now I knew what he was, I knew those things weren’t flukes. I couldn’t help but be impressed.

‘Parkour.’

‘Huh?’

‘Free running. It’s a sport – look it up on YouTube.’

‘Can you show me some now?’

His expression grew cold and serious; there was a long silence before he spoke again. ‘You’re too forgiving of people, you know.’

I sighed and sat down on the blanket he had laid out in front of us. ‘How can someone be too forgiving?’ I asked, distracted as I glanced at the sandwiches and fruit he’d brought with him.

‘Not many people are, but trust me, it’s possible. You’re a prime example.’

‘Explain,’ I pressed.

‘Your sister, for one. When we first met, you told me she lived with you. You lied.’

‘I didn’t know you then, you might have wanted to rob me... or kill me. That’s the only reason I lied. What does that have to do with me being a pushover?’

‘I didn’t say you were a pushover. How interesting that you would use that terminology.’

I groaned. ‘You’re confusing me now.’

The corners of his mouth twitched. I knew he enjoyed getting me tongue-tied. Huffing out a lungful of air, I peered over the edge of the roof, trying to clear my head.

‘You’ve always taken care of your sister and now there’s no one to take care of you. You don’t see the bad in people. Your kindness is going to be your downfall.’

I felt him sit down next to me, but continued to stare down at the road as his words spun in my head. I didn’t think I was too kind – how was that even possible? I shook my head adamantly. ‘Rachel doesn’t have bad in her, she’s maybe a little selfish, but that’s all.’

‘What about her husband?’

‘Jared? They’re not married, though she always refers to him as my brother-in-law,’ I said. ‘He’s not bad either.’

‘What about me?’

‘What about you?’ I glanced over my shoulder at him. He didn’t meet my eyes and I watched as the muscles in his jaw tensed.

‘Am I a bad person?’ he managed eventually, his voice tight. He threw a small stone. It bounced on the rooftop and over the edge.

‘No,’ I answered confidently.

From the set of his frown, I could tell he wasn’t satisfied with my answer.

‘You’re too nice,’ he concluded.

‘Well, I must be balancing out the universe in compensation for you then!’

It was the first time he’d really laughed. He laughed so hard he threw his head back and clutched his stomach. It was a wonderful sound. My irritation vanished.

When he was quiet again, he glanced at me from the corner of his eye, hiding a mischievous grin.

‘What?’ I asked.

From where he sat, Kalen launched himself into a crouch and upwards into a flip, landing back down into the same sitting position he’d started, as though he’d never moved.

I stared, open-mouthed. We both burst out laughing again.

‘Show off!’

‘Hey, you asked!’

I replayed his stunt in my mind as we ate and watched the last rays of sunlight melt like butterscotch behind the buildings ahead of us. Finally, the daylight disappeared completely.

As I wrapped my arms around myself to ward off the chill that came with the absence of the sun, Kalen took off his jacket, draping it over my shoulders. All he had on underneath was a thin T-shirt. I sneaked a glance at the scar that showed just above the neckline, pale in contrast to his sun-kissed skin. I forced myself to look away, desperate to ask about it, yet too scared to know. Lying back, I stared at the sky and tried to stop my mind from racing.

‘If you’re cold–’ I began.

‘I’ve never felt so warm,’ he interrupted simply, his body falling back next to mine. ‘Tell me about your house. What’s going to happen to it?’

‘I really don’t know. We owe a lot of money on it. I can’t afford it, Rachel can’t afford it.’

‘How much is a lot?’

I faltered at that. The solicitor had told me but the number was so large that I had let my mind forget it almost as it had been spoken. What difference did it make how much, when the figure was too much?

‘About one-hundred thousand, I think.’

‘Do you want to live there?’

‘Where else would I live?’

‘I don’t know, there’s a big world out there, do you want to stay in Clanots Ocean all your life?’

He sounded impatient and I had no idea why, but I got lost in thought at that point anyway, mumbling something about it being all that was left of my dad and therefore I wanted to do what I could to keep it, but I was thinking about the world. I had always wanted to travel and assumed that one day I would. Now, if I took on the responsibility for keeping our family home, I’d never go anywhere.

The stars began to blink down at us and I felt his fingers intertwine with mine, the sensation breaking through my depressing thoughts and almost taking my breath away.

I woke up with my head resting on his chest and quickly sat up. ‘I fell asleep?’

‘It’s not been long,’ he said. ‘An hour, maybe. I should get you home.’

I didn’t want to leave, but it was getting colder by the minute and he had to be freezing. I stood up grudgingly, handing him his jacket without letting go of his hand, which had remained in mine.

The ride back felt strange. I felt strange. Something about him was tense and I could feel it through the leather of his jacket. When we arrived in my driveway I slid off and removed my helmet, shaking out my hair.

‘I don’t want this day to end,’ I told him.

‘Everything has to end.’

My eyes flashed to his. I’d enjoyed what felt like one of the best days of my life, definitely the best day since Dad had died. I couldn’t bear to think it was going to end badly. ‘Are you okay?’

‘I’m fine,’ he said, as he took the black helmet from my hands. ‘I – I had a good day,’ he struggled.

I wanted to reach out and touch him, but I reminded myself we were just friends. I had made it that way.

‘It’s been so great, thank you, Kalen.’

‘I hope it took your mind off everything?’

‘It did, it was everything I needed. Do you want to come in and hang out?’

‘I have some things I need to do tonight,’ he said softly, his eyes lowering.

I was disappointed, but he pulled me towards him, his hand slipping behind my neck as he gently pressed his lips to my forehead.

The action was so sweet, so careful, that my breath caught. Something felt terribly wrong, but before I could get a grip on myself enough to speak, he was sliding his own helmet back on and the sound of the engine put an invisible wall between us.

Then he was gone.

PART II

19 – Time and Punishment

'I heard they left town,' said Lara, the office temp.
I'd managed to avoid this topic of conversation for the two weeks I'd been working at the Travel Shop, but today they'd been talking about nothing else since work began an hour ago. Thankfully Lara wasn't speaking directly to me, so I was able to keep my head down. I mustn't have been doing a good job at hiding my feelings though, because I looked up to find my coworker, Alex, staring at me with interest.