Letters to Nowhere(30)

“This is our second date, by the way.”

“So our first date was buying tampons? That kind of sucks.”

I shrugged. “That’s what you get for dating a freshman.”

“Are you even in a grade?”

“Technically, I’m a senior like you, but the age of a junior. And apparently the inevitable size of a freshman.”

He dropped his hands from my shoulders and leaned down to whisper in my ear, “But a freshman dating a senior, that makes you pretty freaking cool.”

His breath tickled my neck, giving me goose bumps all over and tugging at my stomach in a weird, unfamiliar way. I held my breath, waiting for it to pass and shaking off the shiver that threatened to run down my spine.

No way could I get a real crush on this boy.

“Are you in, Bentley?” Tony asked, pointing toward the huge hill behind the house.

Jordan scratched the back of his head, glancing at me for a second. “Not tonight.”

“Come on!” another guy said, then he tugged on my coat sleeve, demanding my attention. “You have to see this guy sled down the hill. It’s unbelievable.”

Jordan laughed. “It’s not a big deal.”

“I made fifty bucks last time. I’ve got a video game addiction to fuel,” the guy said.

“What’s the trick?” I finally ventured to ask.

Tony grinned at me. “See? The little girl wants to see you perform, Bentley.”

Little girl?

Tony glanced at my face and then backtracked, trying to fix his insult. He held his hand up waist height. “I just meant short…shorter…”

“Tony’s part ogre,” Jordan said, glaring at his friend. “Everyone looks small to him.”

“Anyway,” Tony said, changing the subject back to Jordan’s infamous trick. “See all those trees at the bottom of the hill?”

I looked down the steep surface and saw virtually no opening for a sled to go through. “Wow, there’s no avoiding hitting something, is there?”

“Sure there is.” Jordan smirked at me. “If you’re quick enough.”

And that was all it took for Coach Bentley’s son to accept a challenge he had originally refused. Or maybe that was part of the game—get everyone begging you to do it. Because that’s exactly what happened.

Ten minutes later, all the party people were lined up on the snowy grass beside the hill chanting Jordan’s name while he trudged up the hill, an orange plastic sled under his arm.

“I’m getting a video of this,” someone beside me said, pulling out a cell phone. “I’ll get twenty thousand views on YouTube by tomorrow morning.”

“A hundred thousand if he doesn’t make it,” another voice said. “Can you imagine the awesome bloodshed if his head slams into a tree?”

My fists clenched into balls as Jordan hopped onto the sled, standing up and riding it down the hill like a surfboard. I’ll admit, I let out a small gasp as he came within a couple feet of a tree, but he jumped off quickly and rolled sideways in the snow. It was a cool trick, but from where I stood, it didn’t look that difficult to time the jumping–off part.

Everyone cheered as Jordan stood up and ran back over to us. I folded my arms over my chest, watching him bump fists with Tony and the other guy who had originally egged him on. Jordan gave me a small bow, looking cocky as hell.

“What’d you think, Karen? Pretty awesome, huh?”

“Looked pretty easy to me,” I said.

We got several “ooohhhs” from his friends and Jordan’s cocky grin fell from his face.

My eyes stayed focused on the hill, forming a plan. The blood was already rushing to my head, making the tips of my fingers tingle. But this time, unlike the tucked back full on beam, I could do something that wouldn’t cause me to miss my parents more than ever.

“Tony,” I said, looking right at him and not at Jordan. “Fifty bucks says I can do a little better than Jordan. I’ll get a foot closer to the tree before I jump off.”

“No way,” Tony said.

The other guy laughed. “That’s cute. How much did you let her drink, Bentley?”

“You know how freshman babies get at their first party,” Tony said. “They end up in the ER getting their stomachs pumped.”

“You’re not drunk, are you?” Jordan asked, dead serious.

I flashed him my best “judges smile.” “Nope, not drunk at all.”

Then I took off to retrieve the orange sled. Of course Jordan jogged after me. “Is this gonna be like the triple back?”

“No, because your dad’s not here to yell at me,” I said, heading up the hill. “Besides, what did you call my routines again? Clean and safe?”

He laughed and kept following me. “Okay, okay! Forget I ever said that. You sure you want to do this?”

“Positive.”

When we got to the top of the hill, I almost chickened out after seeing how steep it really was and estimating the speed I’d generate halfway down. But I didn’t want this awesome rush to fade. Not yet. Jordan gave me a few pointers about when to shift my weight at certain points on the hill. I think most of the kids watching thought I was pulling some corny girlfriend move, sending Jordan off with a kiss or something. So I’m sure there were plenty of shocked faces when it was me who took off, surfing down the hill.