Page 22 of Close to Falling

After we tell the Daltons bye, I grab Cali’s hand and we walk to the car. She tosses her bag inside, and we both slide in from one side.

“Took long enough,” River says as he puts the car in gear.

“Shut up,” Cali and I say and then laugh.

***

Arms behind my head and soft pillows under my back, my feet are in Cali’s lap, and she is carefully giving me a French tip pedicure. Purple is the color I picked because white is boring. Cali’s hair is wet and wrapped in a towel. I smell shower clean, and my room smells like polish remover, outdoors, and girls.

“So, what’s up with you and Landon?” I ask the girl who has a wrinkle of concentration between her eyes. She stops and looks down at me. My window is up, and the curtain blows away from the pane from the breeze outside.

“What do you mean?” she asks, grabbing a Q-tip and fixing her work.

“You were all over him tonight.”

“And you kept looking at River like you’ve seen him naked.” I laugh out loud, causing my foot to move, and Cali scolds me.

“Sorry,” I mutter.

“Seriously, B. The two of you could rip a phone book in half with the chemistry you produce.”

“You changed the subject,” I point out.

“Okay. Landon and I are friends, always have been. Yeah, he’s cute, and I like being around him, but it’s nothing more.” She pats my foot, and I move it and place the other on her lap.

I look at her work. “Looks good.”

“Thanks. So, you and River?” she questions as she cleans off my old polish. She’s covering up how much she really likes Landon, but I let her.

“Things have changed between us,” I say. “I don’t know what it is, though.”

“I’ve always had a feeling about you two.”

“What do you mean?”

“When you asked me what your type was, River popped in my head. He looks at you different, B.”

“You think?” I say, looking up at the glow-in-the-dark stars on my ceiling, thanks to Cali.

“I know,” she says.

“Well, don’t tell anyone.”

“Pinky promise,” she says and leans down to wrap her pinky around mine.

Chapter Ten

The leaves start to turn, going from bright, vivid green to warm brown and rosy gold. And as the seasons begin to change, so does my age. I’m seventeen today. Happy birthday candles are lit, and a present from each of my boys sits on the kitchen table. I complain that they got me something, and after I blow out the candles and open my gifts, Landon takes off to the beach to get some last minute surfing in before fall officially begins. While surfer boy does what he does best, Frankie heads out to get supplies for the grill. He says that he doesn’t care how old we all get—birthday cookouts are a tradition.

I’m lying in the lounge chair, soaking up the last bit of nice weather before it turns into a winter wonderland. Shades on, looking laid-back cool, I slip a pill into my mouth. I pop my knuckles and swallow, waiting for my good time.

“B.” I hear and open my eyes. I had fallen asleep.

“Yeah?” I ask, sounding groggy.

“What the hell is this?”

“What?” I ask, confused.

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