One Moment
Authors: Kristina McBride
First published by Egmont USA, 2012
443 Park Avenue South, Suite 806
New York, NY 10016
Copyright © Kristina McBride Purnhagen, 2012
All rights reserved
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McBride, Kristina.
One moment/Kristina McBride.
p. cm.
Summary: Rising high school senior Maggie remembers little about the accidental death of her boyfriend, Joey, but as she slowly begins to recall that day at the gorge with their long-time friends, she realizes he was keeping some terrible secrets.
ISBN 978-1-60684-086-3 (hardcover) — ISBN 978-1-60684-269-0 (ebook) [1. Secrets—Fiction. 2. Friendship—Fiction. 3. Dating (Social customs)—Fiction. 4. Amnesia—Fiction. 5. Death—Fiction. 6. Family life—Ohio—Fiction. 7. Ohio—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.M1223One 2012
[Fic]—dc23
2011034335
Printed in the United States of America
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher and copyright owner.
To my parents, who have spent many moments
listening to, supporting, encouraging, and loving me.
contents
16. A Slice of Something Beautiful
17. The Earth Spinning Beneath Me
20. Surprises in the Strangest Moments
23. The Very Center of Our Lives
25. Spinning Through the Stars
1
So Close to Flying
“So you’re gonna do it?” Adam looked at me, his sun-blazed cheeks aglow with a daring smile.
I was sitting on Joey’s damp towel near the lower bank of the gorge, squinting at the large rock wall fifty feet away, my hands propped behind me on a cool patch of grassy ground. Light sparkled off the rippling water swirling in a deep pool before us, flashing me a warning I would never decode. Joey was there, tangled in the message, floating on his back and squirting water up from his mouth like he was some lazy fountain.
“I said I’d do it.” My eyes trailed up the wall, stopping at a tangle of trees and vines. Bright patches of azure sky peeked through fluttering leaves, like a child searching for a long-lost promise. My head was heavy from the beer I’d drunk, the heat of the sun, and the twang of Kid Rock’s “All Summer Long” coming from the iPod dock beside me. My body practically screamed with the twining fear that had curled itself into every space within me.
“You sure?” Adam playfully swiped my damp bangs into my face.
“No freaking way she’s gonna do it,” Shannon said. She was lying on a fuzzy yellow towel, lazily running her fingers through her thick tangled brown waves, her sunglasses propped on the bridge of her nose.
“Maggie’s full of surprises.” Tanna stood from her towel and drifted toward the edge of the water. Her long blond hair, tied loosely in two braids, fell forward as she turned. “Isn’t she, Joey?”
“What’s that?” he asked, standing. I imagined mud squishing through his toes.
“Maggie.” Tanna smiled, scrunching up her tiny nose. “She’s a wild one.”
Joey laughed. “My Maggie?”
“She’s gonna do it this time.” Adam offered me a hand and pulled me up. “You’ll love it. Total free fall. It’s like you’re flying.”
“Last time all she did was stand up there and hyperventilate,” said Shannon. “You don’t have to do it, Mags. We’ll love you anyway.”
“Of course we will.” Joey stumbled as he made his way up the bank, water dripping off his tanned skin with bright sparkles. “But if you jump, we’ll think you’re a rock star.”
Tanna laughed. “Maggie’s already a rock star.”
“I know exactly what Joey’s thinking,” Shannon said. “If she jumps off the cliff, he might finally get her to jump into his bed.”
“Shannon!” I leaned down and smacked her bare thigh, dying to tell both Shannon and Tanna to shut up before they ruined the plan I’d been working on for weeks.
“What?” Shannon asked, sitting up and adjusting the strap of her bikini top. “It’s not like we don’t all know that you two haven’t sealed the deal.”
“You have nothing to be ashamed of.” Tanna twirled one of her braids between two fingers.
“Of course not.” Shannon tipped her head back, turning her face to the sun. “I’m just being honest is all.”
“Because you’re always so honest?” Joey snorted.
Shannon didn’t respond. Just whipped her hair from one shoulder to the other like she couldn’t care less what anyone thought of her.
Joey rolled his eyes, then looked toward me with a wide grin. I tried to focus on the shimmering droplets of water falling from his longish brown hair, instead of the ball of panic that was coming to life in my chest. But it was difficult.
“Ready?” he asked, reaching his hand out and snagging my arm in his. It felt nice, his warm skin sliding against mine.
I nodded, unable to speak. I wasn’t sure if I would ever be ready. But I knew I had to do it.
“Clear?” A deep voice echoed off the walls of the gorge, tumbling down the rocks.
We all looked up, Joey and me, Tanna, Adam. Shannon, too, though it seemed as if she was focused on something beyond the cliff top, her eyes sparking in the rays of light cascading from the blue, blue sky.
“All clear.” Adam cupped his hands around his mouth to shout the familiar go-ahead. “Jump on!”
Pete, who was standing at the edge of the cliff looking down, gave us a thumbs-up before turning away, his thick dreadlocks swaying with his head. He disappeared after only a few steps, the height and angle of the cliff hiding him from our view. And all we could do was wait.
I held my breath as I stood there, watching in silence as he flung himself out into open air, spun around a few times, and dropped through the plane of the water with a glittering splash.
When Pete surfaced, his laughter pinged around us in a crazy dance. That was one of the things I loved most about the gorge. The way it took sound and distorted it, flung it around like it was something tangible but as light as air.