Chapter 37
thirty-seven
While the bungee jump had given me the confidence for the dive, it hadn’t prepared me for the rush of standing at the open door of an airplane at 16,000 feet. Even knowing Tripp was behind me didn’t calm the intense fear that gripped my entire body. Looking down wasn’t even the problem. All I could see was a blue sky and clouds. The ground didn’t even look real all the way up here. It was just a brown and grey quilt of unrecognizable landmarks.
At least I wasn’t alone. I glanced to my right and gave Ava a reassuring smile. At the last minute, she decided to jump with us. She was currently strapped to Seth, and despite her earlier protests, she didn’t seem to be hating it. Seth was definitely enjoying teasing her. Finding the ticklish spot on her side had only taken him a few seconds, and he was sporadically torturing her. It did seem to be doing the trick, though. The color that had drained away from her face when they’d stepped up to the door was slowly returning.
Liam and Kyle were jumping, too, but they were jumping solo and would be following us. Each of us had a camera strapped to our helmets. We weren’t going to miss a second of footage. This was the one challenge I was certain I wouldn’t be running to repeat. I looked over my shoulder and studied their faces. Both of them had jumped dozens of times before, so this was nothing new to them. Everyone except Ava and me were calm as could be. You’d never have guessed they were on the verge of free falling from an airplane.
“I don’t know if I can do this,” Ava said. She pushed back, nudging Seth away from the door. “I don’t have to, right?”
Ava and I had spent the last two days training with Tripp. I still don’t know what possessed her to decide to join me, but I was glad she had. I loved every second I spent with Tripp, but doing this with her made it all the more special.
“You don’t have to, no,” I said. “But if we keep stalling, we’re going to miss the jump spot.” My mind flashed back to that first day in the Take the Leap offices when I’d almost missed out on meeting Tripp and doing the challenge because I’d been too scared to get in the elevator. But now the roles were reversed.
“We can circle one more time, if we need to,” Tripp said. I bit back a groan. We’d already circled the jump spot two times. The longer we waited to complete the dive, the stronger my anxiety grew. I had more time to think about everything that could go wrong. The parachute could stick or we didn’t clear the plane and got sucked into the engine. Neither of which were likely, not impossible, but definitely improbable.
We stepped back from the door. While I didn’t hate being attached to Tripp, it did make maneuvering around the plane awkward. To be fair, we were only supposed to be strapped together for the jump, but after the first aborted attempt we hadn’t disconnected. We worked our way toward Ava. Seth was already working on calming her down.
“Ava, sweetie, what’s going on?”
“I get it now.” Her voice shook.
“You get what?” I asked.
“What it’s like to be you. I don’t like it. Every worst-case scenario is running through my mind at warp speed, and all I can think about it how this is going to kill me.”
“Like what?”
“Aside from the parachute malfunctioning? What if we get sucked into the engine or propellers? Or, we collide midair and all get knocked unconscious. I mean, you’re right, Sadie, the possibilities are endless.”
I took her hands in mine and squeezed. “Breathe, Ava.” I counted her through a few sets of square breathing. “This is scary—probably the scariest thing either of us have ever done.”
“Remind me why I suggested going with you?”
Grinning, I said, “I believe it was to make sure I was comfortable and didn’t panic at the last second.”
“Which is clearly working,” Seth said with a laugh, “you’re freaking out and Sadie is completely fine.”
“Shut up, Seth.” Ava slapped his arm. “I’m not freaking out, I’m just coming to terms with my impending death.”
“You’re not going to die,” I said, “I promise. You’re in good hands with Seth, okay?”
She nodded. I squeezed her hand one last time. We were nearing the jump point again. If we didn’t go this time, we’d have to try again tomorrow, and I wasn’t sure If I’d be able to do all of this all over again. I counted her through a few more deep breaths. She finally braced herself and announced that she was ready. We edged toward the door.
“On three, okay?” Tripp yelled over the roar of the wind and the plane. I nodded, hoping he could feel the movement. I didn’t trust my voice. Fear had settled like a rock in my throat. I stared ahead of us and braced myself as Tripp started counting.
“One!”
“Two!”
“Three!”
He leaned forward and jumped. My heart leaped into my throat, silencing the scream that tried to escape my lips. I forced my eyes to remain open, but I held my breath. I was done jumping feet first with my eyes closed. I held my arms out and my fingers brushed against Tripp’s. My head rested against his chest. The air rushed past us. It was impossible to focus my gaze on anyone spot. We were moving far too fast. He’d warned me that it would feel like forever before I felt the tug of the parachute, but everything happened quickly. The forty seconds of free falling ended before my heart stopped racing.
But it hadn’t even felt like falling. For that brief moment, it was as if I’d taken flight and was soaring through the air like a superhero. I suddenly understood the appeal of skydiving. It wasn’t even the adrenaline rush. It was the freedom of it all. Nothing else existed. It was just Tripp and me free-falling together. The rest of the world faded from my mind. It was like that first kiss we’d shared by the campfire. Warm and overwhelming in the best way.
The parachute jerked us up. I let out the breath I’d been holding as I felt Tripp wrap his fingers around my hand. We didn’t speak. We just existed as one being floating back down to earth. The slow float down took several minutes, but the ground was beneath our feet before I was ready. We collapsed to the ground together, the parachute falling around his. I quickly released the clip holding me to him and rolled to face him. I took his hand in my face and pressed my lips against his. I could kiss him for the rest of my life and still need more.