Page 168 of Headstrong Like Us
Shit.
Shit.
I move faster, taking out scissors. “Audrey, I’m going to cut your shirt—”
“Is that truly necessary?” Audrey whispers to me. “I love this shirt.”
Jane gives me a knowing smile. It’s Oscar’s shirt—and Audrey has had a crush on him since forever. Oliveira pretends he didn’t hear, but he definitely did.
I’ll give him shit for it later. Right now, I’m preoccupied.
I wait to rip her shirt. “It’s either that, or you’re going to have to take it off.”
Her face turns beet-red, eyes flitting to her brothers. “The first option.”
My brows rise. “That’s what I thought.” I snip part of the fabric.
“Maximoff is unwinding the rope,” Oscar narrates.
No.
Someone has to tell him this is a bad idea.
“The repel is dangerous,” Akara says, his voice carrying.There we go.“We can just remotely wipe the phones, so no one can access them in case they get in the wrong hands.”
“Please no!” Audrey overhears. The two girls on the cliff and the two on the rock terrace all shout their disapproval of wiping the phones. How they have personal shit on the cells. Memories that they didn’t back up into the cloud forsecurityreasons. And if their phones survived the drop, they want them back.
I finish cutting a portion of the shirt. “Audrey, stay still.”
“Moffy can just rappel!” Kinney shouts.
“Yeah, Moffy can do it!” Vada exclaims. “He has the rope. He’s done this a million times.”
“Please, Moffy!” Audrey calls out.
My blood is ice. Numb. I’m fucking numb, and I need to be beside him.
“Or I can do it,” Winona rebuts. “Worst case scenario, I slip and break an arm.”
“No, squirt,” Sulli retorts loudly. “You’re not breaking anything.”
“I’ve climbed harder rock than this.”
Maximoff chimes in, “You’re barely clothed, Nona. You’re not climbing in only a shirt.”
“Give me your pants—”
“No. I’m going to do it.”
I’m going to do it.
Those words sucker-punch me. But I’m not willing to half-ass any job, especially medicine. I just wish I could be fully here and fully there right now. Carefully, I wipe the bloodied abrasion on Audrey’s skin. She winces.
“You’re doing splendidly, Audrey,” Jane consoles.
“Really good,” Thatcher nods.
Audrey blushes at his encouragement.
