Page 89 of Time To Live Again

I break my gaze, noticing we’re out of the city. What does she have up her sleeve? I’ll play along with it because I love surprises. Plus, I’m kind of at her mercy here.

“I haven’t heard from Tonya. Is her flight on time?” I ask, looking at my phone. Sully declined to come this weekend.

“Yep. Everything’s going according to plan.”

“I talked to Ellie and Sam. They arrived yesterday. I’m not sure what they’re doing today.” I glance at Olive and notice a smirk on her face, hinting at the secret she holds, perhaps more.

The GPS says we’re two miles away. I see a small plane take off in the distance. As the destination gets closer on the screen, I notice a road sign up ahead. The wordskydivingcatches my attention. Olive puts on the left signal and turns into the parking lot.

No fucking way!

A tornado of emotions swirls around me as I stare out the window. Corey and I were supposed to do this together. We’d even made reservations to go skydiving over the Grand Canyon. And then he got sick. I found the receipt in a box that was stored at Aunt Betty’s house.

I think about the letter Corey wrote me, and my sadness turns to excitement. It’s time to do this. My heart expands when I see anticipation, not fear, in her sparkling eyes and wide grin.

“What do you think? Want to jump with me?”

Without hesitation, I say, “Fuck yes,” and scramble out of the car. “Let’s go.”

We grab our things and rush to the entrance. I skid to a stop when a group of familiar people start screaming my name and waving. Tonya, Ellie, Sam, Andy, and Sully approach us.Sullycame? Everyone has skydiving gear on except Ellie. I’m not surprised because she’s deathly afraid of heights.

“Surprise,” they exclaim.

I have no chance to respond or breathe because there’s constant chatter and hugging all around. Andy shakes my hand and mentions we’ll talk later.

Once it quiets down, I ask, “What are we celebrating? It’s not my birthday.”

Olive wraps her arm around mine. “I told everyone that you were supposed to go skydiving with Corey but didn’t get the chance. This year is about change and new beginnings. Why not do something crazy with the people who care about you most?”

“Let’s do it for Corey!” Tonya shouts. Everyone agrees and follows her to the counter so Olive and I can check in. I have no chance to be alone with Olive because everything is set in motion. We’re given our gear to wear and then thrown into training with our instructors for tandem skydiving.

Only two tandem pairs can go per plane. Since Andy and Sam are ecstatic, like teenagers eager for the front row on a rollercoaster, we agree they should go first. Tonya and Sully are next, then Olive and I will follow. Ellie will take pictures at the landing area.

Finally, as everyone waits to board their planes, I get the chance to hug Olive. “Did I ever tell you how amazing you are?”

“I think so, but you can tell me again,” she jokes, gripping my jumpsuit.

“You, Olive, areamazing. Thank you. I can’t express how much this means to me. Especially because you’re afraid of heights. Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Absolutely. One more fear to face this year. You deserve nothing but the best. We all do.” She pats my ass. “You look hot in this outfit, by the way.”

I can’t respond because we’re ushered to our plane. As we take off and gain altitude, my skin prickles with spiking anxiety. Fear grips me like a vise, twisting my stomach into knots. I’m about to jump out of a fucking airplane and hope to God the parachute works. I’ve bungee-jumped and ziplined from high altitudes, and I’ve flown in hundreds of planes without a problem. Skydiving apparently tops the adrenaline junkie in me.

Olive will follow me after I jump. I feel slaphappy from the rush blasting through my body. I look back at her, and she yells something. I can’t hear it, but I read her lips, “For Corey.”

“For Corey,” I yell back, punching the air as the plane door opens.Fuck.

My instructor and I shuffle toward the edge. Wind and frigid air whip me in the face and rattle my jumpsuit.This is it. There’s no going back. With one last nudge, we fall out of the plane, and gravity’s claws dig in, yanking us down instantly.

I whoop with elation until I can’t breathe anymore. The powerful wind screams in my ears, celebrating with me. My cheeks flap in the wind as we plummet faster toward the beautiful landscape of the California coastline. Every ounce of bottled-up fear, pain, and grief flows freely from my fingertips and toes.

And Corey’s laugh surrounds me as if he were right next to me.

The parachute deploys, jolting us out of the steep dive. The harsh wind subsides to a steady whisper as we glide through the clear blue sky. My heart rate slows, and the surge of intensity ebbs away, leaving my body wrapped in peace and tranquility. This experience was fucking out of this world.

I savor every second of the descent, watching the landscape below become clearer as my friends and family await. When my feet touch the ground, a wave of accomplishment and relief floods over me.

I fucking did it!

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