Chaos Theory (Nerds of Paradise #2)(29)

Will blinked hard as his dad’s voice took over his thoughts. Not even the roar of the helicopter could tamp down the sick feeling that came with it.

“I’ll be coming around and blindfolding you.” Jonathan’s voice was barely audible above the din. “You’re not to remove the blindfold until you’ve been dropped off and the helicopter has left.”

Will nodded, giving Melody’s hand an extra squeeze without thinking much about it. Maybe she’d do better with heights if she couldn’t see how high they were.

A flicker of movement caught Will’s eye, and he glanced across to the opposite seats. Ed was staring at Melody, wearing a smug grin. The expression made Will want to punch his teeth out. It didn’t help when Ed glanced to him and his grin widened.

“You’re going down,” Ed mouthed. When Will didn’t reply, didn’t let his expression show the least bit of acknowledgement, Ed drew a finger across his neck. At the end of his cutthroat gesture, he turned his hand up and gave Will the middle finger.

“You’re next.” Jonathan had reached Melody. Will could feel her hand trembling in his.

To her credit, Melody bravely raised her chin and closed her eyes. Jonathan leaned in to tie the blindfold around her head. Will got one last look at her, sitting with her back stiff and her mouth set in a grim line of determination, before Jonathan moved on to him. Fear of heights or not, maybe he and Melody would do okay. A rare smile turned up the corners of his mouth before he shut it down and faced Jonathan.

“You’ll have to take your glasses off,” Jonathan said. “They should be safe in your pocket.”

Will nodded and removed his glasses, slipping them into the chest pocket of his shirt.

Jonathan tied the blindfold around his eyes, then there was nothing to do but wait. Will kept his eyes closed, not even trying to test the efficacy of the blindfold. The rules said that they should have no idea where they were going, and he was going to keep to that rule. The wait seemed to drag on, though. Melody’s hand loosened in his as she got more comfortable, but as soon as the helicopter shuddered and took off, she gasped and clamped onto his hand again.

The whoosh of moving up hit Will’s gut, sending his adrenaline spiking. All else aside, he was eager to get the competition started, more than ready to test himself against nature. Melody inched closer to his side, her leg brushing against his. Will’s pulse kicked up another notch. The whole event was either going to kill him or make him stronger—like everything else was supposed to do, only more so.

Blindfolded, it was hard to tell how much time passed. The helicopter flew for a while, then descended. Will tensed, waiting for Jonathan to give them some sort of order to disembark, but after a few minutes, it rose again and flew on. Maybe ten minutes passed, and they repeated the process. At one point, someone bumped against his knees as they moved to the door, so he figured they were letting other couples off at intervals. He hadn’t stopped to consider how close together each couple would be at the start of the competition and hadn’t given much thought to the likelihood of running into people in the forest. It was almost a disappointment to think that they could stumble across another pair at any point. He decided right then and there that teaming up with others, forming alliances of any sort, was not gonna happen.

Melody would probably argue with him, though.

The fourth time the helicopter landed, Will felt a tap on his leg.

“Will and Melody, your turn,” Jonathan shouted over the racket of the helicopter. “Stand up, then wait. I’ll escort each one of you out of the chopper and off to a safe distance.”

Will nodded and stood. He felt Melody stand beside him, but instantly she moved. Jonathan took her first, leaving him to stand there, heart pounding, backpack digging into his shoulders, waiting to get the whole thing started.

A few minutes later, Jonathan returned. He clamped a hand around Will’s arm and led him step by step to the door, then guided him as he disembarked. The relative softness of earth under his feet was a sharp contrast to the metal helicopter. The ground was slightly uneven, a few stones making his steps unsteady as he was led away from the chopper. The scent of pine and dirt, fresh air and the unmistakable tang of nature filled his nose. And a minute later, the flowery smell of Melody joined it.

Jonathan lifted his hand, bringing it into contact with Melody’s. They clasped hands as he said, “You’re in your starting spot. Wait here and don’t take your blindfolds off until you can’t hear the chopper anymore. Count to a hundred if it helps mark the time. Don’t forget to take pictures.”

“Okay,” Melody called out.

Will just nodded.

Then Jonathan left them.

The helicopter continued to roar. A minute later, the pitch of the sound changed and lifted. The noise diminished slowly at first, but once the chopper reached a certain height, it flew on, and the noise-level dropped dramatically. Will started counting in his head.

He’d only made it to thirty when Melody said, “I’m taking off my blindfold now.”

“We’re not at one hundred yet,” Will replied.

“So?” she shot back. “I can barely hear the helicopter now.”

“But you can still hear it.”

“Yeah, but it’s really far away. No one will know if we—”

“Thirty-nine, forty, forty-one.”