Falling In Between Read online

  “Ha ha.” I sighed deeply. “Great. I finally get to be alone with the guy and I was unconscious for all of it.”

  Sophie pressed her lips into a straight line, like she always did when she knew something I didn’t. Worst poker face ever.

  “What?”

  “Well,” she answered, hesitating, “Robert was the one that gave you mouth-to-mouth, so technically, you guys had your first kiss and you weren’t even alive for it.”

  I chuckled weakly and asked, “Was it at least good?”

  “I believe he slipped you the tongue.” Sophie winked her left eye.

  “Lovely.” I tried to rub the grogginess from my tired eyes. “So long as my virginity is still intact.”

  “Iron-clad. Sauron and his army of Orcs couldn’t break through your defenses.”

  I rolled my eyes and allowed my hand to fall, snagging some type of plastic wire that was the cause of my nose burn. I pulled gently on it and tubing unplugged from my nose.

  “Aw, man! Robert saw me in this?”

  “He saw a lot more than that. You were in your undies when you performed the Jump of Doom. ‘Member?”

  A wave of embarrassment rushed through me and I was sure more than just my face flushed. Could this get any worse?

  “Is there anything else you haven’t told me yet?”

  Sophie’s lips pursed again.

  I glared at her. “Soph?”

  Her eyes watched the ceiling intently while she confessed. “Well, Robert was the only one that knew the whole CPR thing, so he was the one that…” Sophie placed one hand on top of the other, laced her fingers together and moved her arms in a thrusting motion.

  Robert was the one that did the compressions to my chest. Great.

  “So, technically…” Sophie continued, “your little jump got your relationship with Robert to go from non-existent to rounding first base in seven seconds flat.”

  I couldn’t stop shaking my head. And now both hands were trying desperately to bury my face.

  “Good thing you wore the lace, right?”

  I groaned, moaned and cried all within five seconds. “I did die. I’ve died and gone to my version of hell. An eternity of sexual humiliation.”

  “Oh, come on. It’s not that bad. Jhett and I were there. It’s not like the guy tried to fondle you or anything.” With quizzical eyes, she added, “But he has been rather attentive now that he’s seen the goods up close and personal.”

  A nurse came in and saved me from having to continue that humiliating conversation. She was pretty, even with her chestnut colored hair loosely thrown into some updo in the back of her head. The tag pinned to her navy blue scrubs said Michelle.

  She smiled as she said, “I see you’re finally awake. How do you feel?”

  “A little groggy, but no pain.”

  “That’s the morphine. Enjoy it while you can because when you get out of here, those gashes up your back are going to itch and ache for a week or so until they really begin to heal.”

  “And my head?” I couldn’t feel anything but I remembered the pain when it slammed against the boulder and again when Robert revived me.

  “Mild concussion, but the doctor ran some scans and everything looks okay. Just a nasty bump. And now that you’re awake, you’ll be moved out of ICU. But you’ll still have to spend a few days in the hospital, just to make sure there aren’t any complications.”

  “Is that it? Nothing else?”

  “Well,” she said, eyeballing me while fidgeting with my saline pouch, “from what I got meeting that Headmistress of yours, she’ll probably give you the longest lecture of your life about teenage stupidity, so you might want to prepare yourself for something in that aspect.”

  Another groan escaped my throat. Sophie better be forced to attend that lecture as well.

  Sophie stayed with me until they moved me out of ICU, but when I woke up after my nap, it was Robert that was kicked back in the chair, completely zombie-fied as he stared at the television. His dark brown waves were tousled and there were bags under his chocolate eyes, and his hand lay gently on top of mine. He looked like he dragged himself out of bed without bothering to check the mirror on his way here. Made me feel grateful and less self-conscious about my own droopy appearance.

  “So I hear I have you to thank for the pain in my chest.”

  It took him a second to realize that the comment came from me and not the television. He dropped his legs from my bed railing and twisted the rolling chair towards me, refusing to release my hand in the process.

  “Hi,” he said, the ends of his lips slowly curling.

  “Hi.”

  Finally. A private conversation. And all I had to do was throw myself off a cliff, drown in a pond in my undies, and let him put his hands on my breasts to bring me back to life.

  Yay me…

  “So did I really hurt you? Because I’ve never done that to a real person before. I wasn’t sure how much pressure to apply to get your heart going again.”

  “It’s okay. I’ll take a sore chest over death any day.”

  “Good. Because I would’ve broken every rib in your chest if that’s what it took to bring you back.”

  Aww…I didn’t know what to say to that. Did he really like me then?

  “Look, we’ve only got a few minutes before Sophie comes back from lunch. When you get back to the dorms and start feeling better, you want to catch a movie with me or something?”

  Uh, hell yeah! “Yeah, I suppose.”

  A soft smile grew on his face and he tightened his grip on my hand. “So what would you want to see? That new Rachel McAdams movie?”

  “She doesn’t want to see that lovey-dovey crap. What she really wants to see is that new zombie movie, though she’ll never admit it.”

  Robert and I hadn’t bothered to break our eye contact when Sophie interrupted, but now that she had neared my bed, I could sense something strange about her in the corner of my eye. I shifted my eyes to her and my jaw immediately dropped. Embarrassed, my eyes darted back to Robert. So of course his eyes narrowed and turned to see the source of my panic.

  Sophie stood there all perky with her hands on her hips in a model-like stance, and a smile that showed way too many pearly whites…and a helium balloon that shouted It’s A Boy!!!

  “Nice balloon, Sophie,” he said, slightly amused.

  “What?” she asked, all innocently. “They were out of Get Well.”

  The hell they were. This little stunt was so Sophie. I knew exactly what that balloon meant – that I came into this hospital alone but I was gonna leave it with a boy wrapped in my arms. Sophie probably thinks he’s ready to suckle my breasts too.

  Luckily, Robert had no clue to the workings of our inner monologues. I threw her a contemptuous glare before his head returned my way, but he caught part of it anyway. He quickly returned to Sophie and caught her sticking her tongue out at me.

  “Yeah, I’m going to go now.” He squeezed my hand tightly and stood up. “Let me know when you’re feeling better and ready for company, okay?”

  “You don’t have to go.” God that sounded kind of pathetic, and a little whiney.

  “It’s alright. I’ve got a swim practice to make up, and Sophie,” he glanced her way – she stood all innocent-like, “can clearly keep you entertained. I’ll see you later.”

  “Thanks for coming.”

  He lifted his hand in a ‘good-bye’ motion before he walked out the door. Once gone, I threw Sophie another disapproving glare. “I hate zombie movies. They creep me out.”

  “Which means you’ll spend the entire movie burying your head into his neck and his arm wrapped around you. Win-win.”

  Two weeks later I was feeling pretty good. The numbing meds had run out but the throbbing in my head and down my back seemed pretty much gone. Sophie drove us into Rutland so we could spend the afternoon soaking up rays in the city park. Being Vermont, we didn’t have long before the cool weather began to push out what little warmth w
e had.

  The nice thing about being seniors now was that we weren’t restricted to the academy grounds. Only seniors could leave the property on week days. All other class levels had to wait for the weekends. So there we were on a Thursday afternoon, laying out on the grass watching a group of guys play Ultimate Frisbee in the park by the large pond.

  “So have you made a date with Robert yet?”

  “No. I’ve been waiting for the humiliation to fade. I’ll probably go find him sometime this weekend though.”

  That and the meds had made me really groggy, and I seemed to have slept away most of my time outside of class. Hopefully he won’t think I blew him off.

  “You could always take him down to the pond and have him strip down to his Speedo. Tit for tat, you know? Speaking of Speedos, we really need to go to a few swim meets this year.”

  “Eh. With my luck he’ll be wearing boxers, so what’s the point?” I joked.

  Sophie lowered her sunglasses and flashed me those gorgeous blue eyes. Some of her dark brown waves fell over her cheeks, and the red in her hair shimmered in the sun. “You’re assuming he’s not going commando under those jeans. Just think about it. You take him to the pond and get him all hot and ready to go. You think he’s gonna actually say no if you suggest skinny dipping at that point?”

  “Heads up!” a male voice shouted.

  I saw Sophie’s eyes stretch and her mouth fall open, but it didn’t matter. Something smashed into the side of my head before I had the chance to react. A moment of pure pain was immediately followed by nausea. I groaned as I bent over, reaching out to assess my head as shots of pain radiated outward from the point of impact.

  Sophie gasped and ripped my hand away to cradle and inspect my head herself. “Oh-my-God-are-you-ok-aaaaayyyyyy?!”

  The inside of my head was absolutely throbbing. Moaning, I grumbled, “It’s like a jackhammer in here.”

  A pair of running feet suddenly slid to a halt on the ground I was staring at. Clearly male feet by the black and white sneakers and dust-filled socks.

  “I am so sorry!” the guy said. At least he sounded cute. “That wasn’t supposed to hit you!”

  Sophie snorted. “What exactly was it supposed to do?”

  I had inhaled three deep breaths to calm the nausea and throbbing and the guy still hadn’t answered. I looked up just as Sophie got to her feet.

  “You’re okay, right?” she asked. “Cause that’s my cue.”

  “Huh?” Cue for what?

  Sophie winked and whipped off in the opposite direction faster than I ever thought a pair of heels in grass could go, leaving me dumbfounded and utterly confused.

  “What the hell?” I shouted out to her. Really wish I hadn’t. All I got in return was an intense pain in my head, and I groaned and buried my head in my hands.

  “Again, really sorry about that.”

  I finally glanced up at my assailant, immediately blinded by the mid-afternoon sun. I threw my hand up to shield it, but I didn’t get a clear look at the guy until he sidestepped to block the light with his body.

  He was tall, good-looking and built nicely, and I guessed the muscular calves were from years of playing soccer, seeing as how he was pressing a soccer ball into his side. It probably didn’t help that the sun hit perfectly behind his body and a warm, buttery shine surrounded him, making him look even more alluring than he probably really was.

  But beautiful shine aside, if those spots I was seeing all over him weren’t permanent, well then hot damn! I was actually surprised Sophie didn’t stay and fight for the guy. I may have been the one that got whacked but he was technically still fair game.

  Like a fool I just sat there and stared up at him, completely forgetting he had attempted to apologize twice already. Maybe he did hit my head a little too hard. I seriously didn’t think my poor head could take any more hits right now.

  “I’m Chance.”

  “Jenna.” Good. Knowing my name was good. Now he won’t think I need a drool cup.

  “Have we met before? Because there’s something really familiar about you.” He squatted down to bring his face to meet mine. Now I could see that his eyes were rich mossy green with little gold flecks splattered around the pupil. His eyelashes were thick and curled just right, which made me completely envious – mine were so thin and limp.

  “I’m pretty sure I would’ve remembered someone slamming a soccer ball into my head before. So, doubtful.”

  “Not if I hit you hard enough,” he muttered, failing miserably to maintain a straight face. I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Let me get you a treat. Or at least some Advil for your head.”

  “Forgive me, but seeing how bad your foot is at aiming, I’m a little suspect of your driving capabilities, particularly the braking part.”

  He pressed his full lips together tightly, trying to suppress a smile. “Well, how about we walk then? If I trip and fall towards you, you have my consent to push me in the opposite direction.”

  Our eyes locked while I contemplated. I really wanted to go – who wouldn’t? But the pain in my head was pulsating, like my body was trying to spell out Are You NUTZ!! in Morse code.

  “Come on,” he beckoned. “Your friend approves of me.”

  “She does not!” I blurted.

  “A strange guy kicked a soccer ball into your head and she bailed on you within thirty seconds. Trust me, she approves. Speaking of…” He stood to his feet, took a few steps and kicked the soccer ball to a group of guys across the park. Then he reached his hand out for me and cocked a lopsided grin. “Shall we?”

  That dimple was too cute. “Eh. What the hell.”

  “That’s the spirit! I love girls with low expectations. Makes them really easy to please.”

  “Uh-huh.” I allowed him to take my hand in his and he gently pulled me to my feet. His hand was smooth and warm and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like the way mine fit perfectly within his. He led me to the edge of the park, towards a snow cone shop by the water and motioned for me to sit on one of the benches.

  “So which snow cone will it be? Or do I need to go buy painkillers?”

  “Uh…” Funny thing was, my head didn’t really hurt that much anymore – just a mild vibration remained. Maybe I was becoming accustomed to head injuries. “Grape.”

  “Grape? Just grape? You’ve got like fifty flavors to mix up and you just want grape?”

  “Yep.”

  “Alright. Just Grape Jenna. It suits you.”

  He returned a few minutes later with one snow cone shaded purple and a second striped with several colors.

  “Ooh. What’s that?”

  He cocked his eyebrows and smiled before he scraped his teeth across all the flavors. After he licked his lips clean of the colored ice, he replied, “This is the Chance Special. Five flavors you would never think to put together, but when blended, they make an awesome new flavor. Really, it’ll change your life.”

  “Wow. Life changing. Mind if I try?”

  “Sorry Just Grape Jenna. You’re cute and all, but we just met and I’m not looking to swap spit with you just yet. Maybe next time I’ll get you one of your own.”

  I huffed. “Are you seriously trying to bait me into a second date by promising me a sweet, sweet snow cone?”

  Chance shrugged innocently and pretended he didn’t know what I was talking about. He was quick to finish his icy treat, but I was a lot slower. The ice sent a rush of cold to my head and gave me brain freeze, which only amplified my headache. When he wasn’t looking, I squeezed the rest on the grass behind the bench.

  “Done,” I announced, tossing the paper cone into the trash bin and wiping my hand dry on my jeans. “So what now?”

  “Well, I guess I’ll have to come up with something because apparently we’re on a first date.”

  OMG!!! I did imply that, didn’t I? My heart jumped inside my chest and panic rushed my senses. Trying to keep my voice smooth, I threw him a twisted smile and smartly rebutted, �
�You know, I’ve never been smacked in the head by a soccer ball before, but I can only think of two instances where that may happen. Either the guy hates me that much, or the guy really wants to attract my attention.”

  He sucked on the inside of his cheek for a moment, refusing to allow a smile to break. “You’re missing the third instance.”

  “Oh yeah? What’s that?”

  “Total accident.”

  I huffed and shook my head. “Is that the one you’re gonna go with?”

  A huge smile spread across his face as he reached out for my hand and pulled me off the bench and into motion. “First date it is.”

  However, my smile faded when I realized he was leading me to the empty two-seater paddleboat on the edge of the pond. I wasn’t technically afraid of the water, but it had only been two weeks since I drowned. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little nervous.

  Chance could feel my hesitation when my body turned to stone and he was no longer able to pull me so easily. “What’s wrong? Do you not like the water?”

  “It’s not really that.”

  “Snakes?” he asked.

  “No, not really the – wait! Snakes?”

  “Frogs? It’s the frogs, isn’t it?”

  “No. It’s just,” I stood there fidgeting in place, “I drowned once.”

  “Holy crap! When?”

  “Two weeks ago,” I confessed quietly.

  “Fu-dge me,” he blundered.

  “Did you just say fudge me?”

  “Well, yeah. I’ve got a little sister at home, so it’s sort of become habit to change the curse words to something less offensive.” Laughing, he added, “Bad thing is, she always expects me to have chocolate when I say that. I have to keep a stash for her just so she doesn’t realize I’m cursing.”

  I smiled and reached my hand out playfully. “So where’s mine?”

  “Great. You too? What is it with girls and chocolate?”

  “Think of it as a swear jar. Instead of putting money in the jar every time you curse, you get to put chocolate into my mouth.”

  “You do realize that’s going to encourage me to swear, right?”