Page 122 of Catch the Sun

“Yeah. You mentioned that.”

I unclench my fingers and glance down at the stone. It’s smooth and white. Comforting in some strange way. It feels like a tether to solid ground, to a world I used to know.

Swallowing, I look over at Max.

“Are you going to that bonfire tonight?” he wonders, plucking tall weeds from the space between his parted legs.

“No.”

He nods. “Me neither.”

The notebook sits heavily in my lap and my hand sweats around the gel pen. I peer down at the unfinished words, wondering why I never gave them life. I should write the letter and mail it to Jonah. I should let him know that I’m okay.

Am I okay?

Even if I’m not, I can lie. I’ll lie to him.

“You should finish that,” Max tells me.

His voice fades out, sounding miles away. It’s replaced by a whooshing in my ears like a white-hot whip lashing at my brain. I’m freefalling. Cold wind bites at my skin as tree branches gouge and scrape, a faraway scream trickling into my mind.

The beeping noise returns and I can’t block it out.

Beep, beep, beep.

“Go ahead, Sunny,” Max urges, just a whisper. An echo.

Beep, beep, beep.

I drink in a deep breath.

And I lift the pen.

Dear Jonah,

Today I fell in love with a boy who

***

My eyes fly open.

Oxygen fills my lungs with a razor-sharp inhale as my body stiffens and arches up off a springy surface. The beeping sound picks up speed and my gaze flits around the unfamiliar space. Bright, fluorescent lights streak across my vision. I hear a muddle of voices over the beeps, a flurry of words I can’t comprehend. I can hardly make them out.

Awake.

Awake.

She’s awake.

Panic sets in. My fingers latch onto a starchy fabric and a biting sting in my hand makes me aware of something sharp.A needle?My throat feels parched, my lips dry and cracked. An attempt to call out results in a raspy whisper, my vocal cords protesting after what feels like an eternity of silence. More panic rushes through me. I’m scared, lost, alone.

I’m not alone.

Faces blur above me, faces I don’t immediately recognize.

Where am I?

I want to cry but I can’t remember how.

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