All I could see was black. My senses knew something was wrong, but my scrambled brain couldn’t grasp what it was. I thought that my arms dangled and that blood was rushing to my head. Then for a moment it felt like my body was gently swaying in the air—side to side—but that couldn’t be right.
As my vision slowly returned, my eyes fluttered open. I gawked at the oddest site: Beaver Lake—upturned. Then I heard the shrill of panicked screeching coming from below my feet.
Suddenly it dawned on me. The lake was fine. It was me who was upside down.
I looked down in horror at the loading dock one-and-a-half stories below my suspended head. As shock penetrated my muddled mind, I twisted and let out a blood-curdling scream that would wake the dead.
“Calm down and stop moving,” Jake snapped. I looked toward my feet and saw his arms wrapped around my legs. I gasped again when I saw he was about to fall, if it weren’t for Gabe holding onto him. The three of us formed a human chain that dangled over the wall slowly swaying back and forth.
A dark shape flew by my head. I realized it was a cell phone. It twisted in the air before it smashed onto the pavement—shattering into a million little pieces. Staring straight down, I realized if the height of the fall didn’t kill me, the sharp, metal edge of the recycling bin directly underneath me would finish the job. Terrified, my whole body shook.
I heard more screams. I glanced up to my right to see the petrified faces of my friends. “Simplicity!” They called down to me, but they were as helpless as I was.
As gravity continued to pull, I began to slip out of my jeans. I reached for the waistband and wrenched up, trying to fight back the laws of physics. “Please help!” I cried out.
“Stop moving,” Jake’s voice cracked.
I looked at him and our eyes locked again, but his expression wasn’t filled with reassurance; it burned with focus.
“Please don’t drop me.” My lip trembled.
His face and voice softened. “I won’t let you go.”
I gulped.
From up above Gabe’s strained voice called out, “Do you have her?”
“Yes,” Jake labored. “Do you have me?”
“I got you,” Gabe answered.
“Then pull us up, damn it!”
“Pull!” Gabe yelled to the others behind him.
Jake held me in a death grip. Slowly, we started to inch upward. As I was dragged along the side of the wall, the rough concrete snagged the buttons on my shirt and a few popped off. It was only a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity as everyone scrambled to get the three of us back to solid ground.
Gabe’s friends helped pull us up and over the top of the wall. We collapsed on the ground next to each other. As we rested against the wall, in unison, we let out a sigh of relief.
I sat stunned, jammed between the two muttonheads—that I had to admit—had just saved my life.
When I turned my head to thank Jake, our noses bumped. He pulled his face back and blinked.
Hoarse, I whispered, “Thank you.”
I turned to Gabe, but he spoke first. “Are you okay?”
I nodded. “Yes. Thank you.”
The two of them each took one of my arms and slowly lifted me to my feet. The crowd that had surrounded us backed up to make room.
“I’m super sorry.” Gabe brushed the dirt off my shoulder. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
I adjusted my jeans. “I think so.” However, when I lifted my head, I realized my jaw throbbed.
“Simplicity!” Tabitha jumped up and down as she yelled over the shoulders of the football players that had surrounded us.
Before I could reach her, the school’s side door slammed open, followed by the distinct voice of Principal Kaftan shouting, “What, is going on out here?”
“Damn it,” Gabe cursed. “The coach just gave everyone a stern warning. No trouble or he’ll suspend you from the team.” He turned toward his crew. “Cover for us.”
His minions melted together like offensive linemen protecting their quarterback. Gabe took me by the hand and started to lead me away. I snagged my purse from the ground. When I looked up, I saw Jake still leaning up against the wall brushing concrete dust off his shirt.
“Come on.” Gabe hurried us around the corner toward the back of the school.
“Where are we going?” I tried to shake the fog from my mind.
“C.Y.A. Cover Your A—” Gabe stopped himself mid-swear. He pointed toward the front of my shirt. “Nobody should see you like that.”
I looked down and realized my blouse was dirty, torn up, and missing half the buttons. “Crud!” Embarrassed that my cleavage was exposed, I clutched the shirt closed and blushed. We snuck around the corner, out of sight, and stopped behind the long windowless wall outside of the gymnasium.
Gabe looked me over and a look of deep concern traversed his face. “Seriously, are you okay?” He put his hand on my upper arm.
“I’m not sure.” I rubbed my temple. “My head is pounding.”
His face softened. “I’m really sorry, Simplicity. I had no idea it was you hiding behind the garbage cover.” He shook his head, his reddened face full of remorse. “I’d never hit a girl—especially you.”
I looked at his injuries; he was more worried about me than himself. “It’s okay,” I said, trying to reassure him.
He lowered his head close and brushed a stray hair away from my face. “Are you sure you’re alright?”
I swallowed. “Yes, thank you.”
“Okay.” Slowly, he exhaled and looked around. “I hope no teachers saw us.”
“What should we do now?”
“I don’t know. I hadn’t thought that far ahead.” He bit his lip and his blue eyes flashed wide. “I can’t get suspended from the team—this weekend especially. A scout that recruits for the Big Ten is supposed to be at the game.” He exhaled. “I really don’t want to screw up my chances and disappoint my dad.”
I nodded. I knew how much playing college football—and a possible scholarship—meant to Gabe and his father.
Warily, he asked, “Are you planning to tell?”
“No! I really don’t want anyone to know. In our close-knit town, they’d go right to my dad. And if he found out I jumped into the middle of a fight—and almost fell to my death—he’d wrap me up in bubble wrap, send me off to all-girls parochial school, and then, ground me till I was in college.”
“Oh, crud. I forgot all about your dad.” Gabe looked pale. “I really don’t want him to know that I socked his daughter.” He raked his hand through his dirty blond hair. “Who knows what that man would do to me?”
The thought of my father’s reaction to all of this made me anxious as well.
“There’s no way to keep this a secret looking like that.” He gave a short nod followed by a quick glance at my disheveled state. “Do you have an extra shirt in your gym locker?”
“No—it’s only the first day of class.”
“What about your friends?”
“Doubt it. None of us planned to bring that stuff in until P.E. on Thursday.”
“Right.” Gabe scanned the back parking lot. “We’ve got that stupid prep-rally thing this morning. I don’t think any teachers would notice if we weren’t there.” He looked over the area again. “What if I drove you home so you could change?”
“Absolutely not! My dad is working nights this week and I doubt he would have left yet. Plus my step-mom’s at home. There’s no way I’m going anywhere near my house.” I glanced down at my shirt. “My dad would freak seeing me like this.”
Gabe shook his head. “I can’t get you a change of clothes at my house. My mom’s got some garden club meeting this morning.”
A deep voice spoke behind me, “No one’s home where I live.”
I whipped around to see Jake walking straight at us.
“What are you doing?” Gabe gave him a back-off look. “Are you following us?”
“Yes,?
?? Jake responded without hesitation. “You punched this girl and knocked her out. I wasn’t about to let you drag her off.”
“I wasn’t dragging her off!” Gabe countered. “Simplicity and I have known each other for years.”
Jake looked to me for some kind of acknowledgment that this was the truth. I gave him a curt nod.
Seemingly satisfied, he looked back to Gabe. “I had no way of knowing that.”
“Well you do now,” Gabe snapped.
I started to feel very uneasy standing in between the two of them.
Jake kept his steely gaze focused on Gabe. “So, what are you planning to do for her?”
“I was trying to figure that out when you rudely interrupted.”
Jake, not bothered by Gabe’s snarky attitude, coolly crossed his arms. “You’d better think fast. You’re on borrowed time.”
“Whatever.”
Jake stepped closer and looked at me. “I’d take my offer.”
Gabe stepped in between us. “Thanks, but no thanks. We’re good.”
“It isn’t just her shirt.” Jake’s deep voice spoke with an air of authority. “I think that cut on her jaw needs some attention.”
I wiped at my chin and looked down at my fingertips, now smeared with blood.
Gabe looked at my hand, lifted my chin, and examined the welt. He crumpled his brow.
I grew concerned. “Do I need stitches or something?”
“I don’t think so, but you probably need to clean the wound out and get some antiseptic on it.”
“I have some at home,” Jake added.
Gabe looked me over a couple of times and then lowered his mouth close to my ear. “Is this all right with you?”
I hesitated, unsure. I’d known Gabe since we were kids. His parents were close friends with my dad, and I felt perfectly safe around him, but I had no idea about this new boy.
I looked at Gabe’s grim expression. I knew he was worried about being caught fighting. I didn’t want him to get in trouble, nor myself for that matter. I glanced at my ripped shirt. “I don’t think we have any other options.”
He turned to Jake. “Where do you live?”
“Off Route 37 near the county line”
Gabe, eyed Jake again, and then sucked his teeth, in resigned acceptance he said, “Fine.”
So the three of us turned and headed toward the back parking lot—the Jock, the Brain, and the Goth—a perfectly mismatched trio.
CHAPTER FIVE
The Ride