Page 75 of Dead Girls Can't Tell Secrets

My heart quickens. This is it. I reach out to take his hand, to calm him.

But Noah’s body stiffens. I can feel how delicate my bubble of hope is now. Bubbles are just air trapped inside soap molecules separated only by the thinnest layer of water. The slightest prick can pop the film, leaving nothing but a tiny soapy puddle. Noah smiles, but it’s uneasy, so I release his hand. He kicks a rock, which goes skipping off the mountainside. “Go on,” I say, turning to walk ahead.

“Wait up!” he calls. “Aren’t you going to try and outkick me?”

I force a grin. “I’m not much of a kicker.” That was always Noah and Jacey’s game. “But sure, I’ll give it a shot.”

I set my sights on a small stone and wind up my leg. When I make contact, it goes spinning through the air, plummeting into the shrubs that grow along the cliffside.

“Nice one,” Noah says with a laugh. That sound makes my heart do a little dance. I could listen to that laugh every second of every day for the rest of time.

When we reach the Point, I shiver. The air up here is so cold compared to below. The place looks empty. It’s quiet too. No sound of Jacey chomping licorice.

No Jacey, period.

“Guess I missed her,” I say, relief and disappointment tangling inside me. I step forward, leaning against the guardrail so I can peer deeper into the chasm below, and Noah inches closer.

Something about today’s events—about being here with him alone for the first time—emboldens me. I pull myself up onto the guardrail like I did that day with Jacey a couple years back.

The memory plays out before me. I was standing with my sneakers threaded through the bars, resting on the lower rail, shins leaning against the top one. My arms were spread wide, like Rose fromTitanic. “I could be a bird,” I said, my body barely tipping out over the canyon. “I could be a bird and fly from here.” I leaned farther, testing the rails, tempting fate. So unlike me.

Or maybe just like me. The Piper that could become something else up here, empowered and free. “My wings would take me up there.”

I pointed skyward, smiling into the blazing sun, turning to face Jacey with a laugh.

She laughed back. Her shoe carved mindless swirls into the dirt. “How about you stay a girl for today?”

“Fine,” I huffed, stepping down onto the gravel. “But they’re having all the fun.” I nodded toward the chirping creatures that swooped between the boughs of a nearby tree.

This time, I don’t stop with my feet on the bottom rail. I don’t let Jacey’s voice talk me out of it. Instead, I wrap my legs around the top bar, flipping myself up into a sitting position, legs dangling over the cliff.

“Careful.” Noah slings an arm around my stomach.

I place my fingers over his, a demure smile tugging at my lips. “What, are you scared? Get up here.” I pat the cold metal beside me.

Noah squints through his glasses, considering it. Then he grins, and I’m liquid, dripping down the bars.

He pulls himself up and scoots close to me. “Feeling better?”

“I think I am now, thanks to you.”

“Not a problem, m’lady.” He tips a hand toward me.

I shiver again, perhaps a little dramatically, and Noah doesn’t miss a beat. He shrugs off his orange jacket, draping it over my shoulders.

He leaves his arm slung loosely behind me, and I snuggle back into his chest. His breath is warm on my neck. Tingles course through my body, lighting up every inch of me. I’m more alive than I’ve ever been. My mind made up, I take a breath and turn, slinging my arms around his neck and pressing my lips to his.

Noah jerks back, eyes wide. “Whoa, whoa, Piper—”

My arms slide from his neck. Nausea kicks me in the gut hard. “I’m going to be sick,” I mumble. My breaths are short. Too short. My vision tunnels.

“No, no, you’re okay. It’s just—you were upset. You got confused, that’s all.”

“I wasn’t confused!” I snap. “I’m in love with you! Don’t you know that? I thought…”

Noah gapes at me in horror. “Piper, I’m really sorry. I was trying to tell you. I—I’m in love with someone else.”

“Someone else,” I say flatly, pulling one knee up and over the bar until I’m straddling it.

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