“Welcome to J & M skydiving. Do you have an appointment?” The young man at the front desk greets us with a friendly smile.
“Hi! Yes. My friend and I have an appointment at 2:30 with Mike and Jonny,” I reply, leaning against the counter.
He checks the computer in front of him and nods. “For Sarah and Roger?”
“Yeah,” I reply.
Reaching over, he grabs two clipboards and sets them on the countertop. “Please fill out and sign this waiver. I’ll let Mike and Jonny know you’re here.”
Taking the clipboards and grabbing two pens, I spin and hand one of them to Roger. His face is drawn tight.
“Oh, stop it, you big baby. It’ll be great,” I playfully chide.
He rolls his eyes and moves to sit in one of the seats in the sitting area.
Once the waivers are filled out, signed, and given back to the receptionist, we wait for our instructors to come and collect us.
I feel like the Energizer Bunny. Excitement blooms in my chest and radiates to every nerve in my body.
Mike and Jonny arrive, and we follow them to where the equipment is stored. They go over everything we need to know before we head toward the airplane.
“I’m going to fucking throw up,” Roger mutters, and I roll my eyes.
Mike chuckles as he helps me climb into the plane. “Don’t worry, man. It happens all the time.”
Settling into my seat, I grip the straps of the harness Jonny helped me in as the plane engines roar to life. Within seconds, the ground beneath races by. My breath catches the moment the tires lift off the ground and we are airborne. My stomach twists, my heart drums in my chest.
I feelalive.
“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck,” Roger chants. His eyes are closed tightly, and his face is pale.
I laugh the higher we go. When my eyes meet Jonny’s, he shoots me a wink.
Jonny is very attractive. He is tall, which is nice considering I stand at 5’10. He has sandy blonde hair and deep brown eyes. He has a slightly crooked tooth that I am absolutely obsessed with. It makes him less perfect, and I love it.
“Alright, are we ready?” Jonny says once my harness is attached to his.
Excitedly, I nod. A slight twinge of fear twists my stomach when I peer over the plane’s edge.
“Hell yeah!” I shout over the wind with a wide tooth-filled grin.
I glance over at Roger whose face is tinted green. His grip on the straps around his shoulders is stiff and his knuckles are white.
His panic-filled eyes meet mine and I smile softly. “You got this, Roger!”
“You’re fucking crazy!” He shouts back and I laugh whole-heartedly.
“One… Two… Three!” Jonny yells and we launch ourselves into the air.
My stomach flies into my throat and slam my eyes shut. The air whooshes passed my ears as we plummet through the air.
“Open your eyes!” Jonny’s voice is clouded by the wind, but I do what he says.
The land below is divided into an array of different sections. The intertwining roads are nearly invisible at this height.
“This is amazing!” I laugh.
I shift my gaze to the side when I see Roger and Mike diving next to us. Roger’s ridiculous shrieking causes Jonny to chuckle in my ear, sending heat down to my core.