Chapter 9
nine
I don’t care that I barely know this guy. This is way too good an opportunity to pass up. And, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to show off a little.
Being around Calder with his judgy looks and obvious disapproval of everything that is me, makes me intent on proving something.
On standing up for every person in the world who smiles and dances for no reason.
I need to prove that this way of living is better than his.
That there is joy to be had in normal moments and people like him are missing it.
I shove my bag back against the doors under the awning. Calder gives me a puzzled look, but I figure at this point, a picture is worth a thousand words. I launch myself out into the rain, jumping with both feet into the massive puddle lake.
"Alecia, what the hell?" Calder lunges for me, grabbing my arm as I throw out my hands for balance. I didn't exactly calculate for the instability of my flip-flops, but that oversight is completely overshadowed as the cool water sends a shiver up my spine. It’s impossible not to grin like a maniac.
I rotate my hand to grip Calder's wrist and tug. It’s what I would do if this were Sam. He looks at me like I just tried to pull him head-first into a lava pit.
"Come on." I laugh, my hair slicking to my forehead. I don’t know why I’m so intent on forcing him to loosen up, but once the idea catches me, I can’t let it go.
He just looks like he needs to belly laugh or get a massage or— I halt that train of thought on the tracks.
"When's the last time you jumped in a puddle? "
"A long time ago. For good reason."
"What good reason? It's amazing." I slosh out to stand next to him, dirty water running in rivulets down my calves. Our hands are still wrapped around each other’s wrists. "You wanna do it together?" He grimaces. "Come on. You're already wet."
"Whose fault is that?"
I scoff. My pulse rushing as his thumb shifts over my wrist. His hand is warm, his grip tight. I like the feeling a little too much. "I'm going again."
"You're going to fall on your ass."
I hold up our entwined hands. "You'll keep me steady." The rain pounds around us, blurring his edges, making everything soft. I crouch, give a few good pumps with my arms, swinging Calder’s along with mine, then jump into the puddle a second time.
I throw back my head and laugh. It's the most ridiculous thing. Not the puddle jumping, but the fact that as we get older, we become so concerned with getting dirty or having to do laundry or clean ourselves up or be uncomfortable for a few minutes that we miss out on the simplest pleasures.
"You're insane," Calder calls out.
I drop his hand and throw my arms out, lifting my face to the sky. I spin in a slow circle with my eyes closed. "When I was a kid, I used to stand like this and pretend that I was the one who controlled the weather."
Calder’s quiet and I peek a little. He’s watching me, water running over his lashes. "Are you doing it right now?"
"What?"
"Controlling the storm?"
"No.”
“Pretending?"
My grin stretches wide, raindrops falling into my mouth as I slap my arms to my sides. "But what if I was controlling it?"
"Wow."
I open my eyes to see Calder shaking out his hair like a wet dog.
"You're really missing out." I motion to the water that's at least half way up my calves.
Now even more muddy since I've churned it up. Calder blinks rapidly a couple of times, draws a breath and holds it, then shakes his head and takes a step back. For a moment I think he’s going to ditch and go back into Smash Point, but then he hesitates.
The wheels are turning in his head, and I can almost see the moment he decides.
I squeal in surprise. "You're going to do it?"
"Don’t make this a thing.” He kicks off a shoe.
I’m so excited I can’t figure out what to do with my hands. “No. I love this. Just be careful because you're not wearing any sandals.”
“It'll probably be more stable that way.”
“But there are rocks under here." I shift my feet and a few crude pebbles bite into the foam of my flip-flop.
Calder drops his shoes and socks next to my bag and turns barefoot, his hands on his hips.
I back up, giving him space. "Don't think about it. Just jump."
"That's not how I live my life."
"This is a very low-risk proposition."
It takes him a minute to work up to it, his toes flexing on the wet concrete. But when Calder leaps, he leaps. I half expect him to curl into a cannonball.
I shriek and turn away as the splash hits me, soaking me up to my waist. And when I turn to see Calder's expression, I can't stop laughing.
He looks like a little kid who just touched slime for the first time.
Both disgusted and a lot intrigued. I snort trying to catch my breath and clap a hand over my mouth.
"Are you laughing at me?"
"No. I—” I can't stop. The scene keeps playing in my mind on repeat.
The door to Smash Point swings open, and one of the staff members runs out, covering his head with his bag. He doesn’t even notice us.
It’s enough of a distraction, I’m finally able to string words into a normal sentence. "Was it fun?"
He considers this. Then nods his head once and says, "I think so."
The streetlight bathes us both in a dreary glow through the gray. With the deep shadows it’s casting, Calder looks a little like an actor in a Halloween corn maze. I can only imagine what my face looks like now that I’m doing what Sam always calls my “kid on a roller-coaster” smile.
“What?”
I laugh. “I totally win.”
“Win what.”
I grab his hand and pull him out onto the non-flooded asphalt. "At life!”
“Because that’s a competition?”
I adjust my shirt as best I can, but it just suctions back to my skin. “I know you don’t like me. Or I’m annoying to you or something, and I get that I sometimes come across as naive—”
“When did I say I don’t like you?”
I gesture to his face. “You didn’t have to say it. But it’s fine, I get it. I’d probably be annoyed by me, too, but I think you could use a little more of me in your life.”
Calder’s lips part. A drop of rain slips over his Cupid’s bow and into his mouth.
I shiver and swallow hard. “I mean my personality. Since you’re helping me—and we both know I’m getting the better deal here with the lessons and tips with Garrett—I just thought I could help you.
” This was good. I didn’t want things to be awkward the next couple of weeks.
Plus, if we were friends, there was less likelihood of him spilling all of this to the G-man himself.
“By making me jump in contaminated water?”
I reach out and boop his nose. “By making you have more fun.” I spin and retrieve my bag from the pavement.
“Sam’s right. You’re a bad influence.”
I grin, swiping the hair from my face. “Watch out. With that attitude, you just might end up being my best friend.”