Total pages in book: 143
Estimated words: 130275 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 651(@200wpm)___ 521(@250wpm)___ 434(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130275 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 651(@200wpm)___ 521(@250wpm)___ 434(@300wpm)
ME:
I’d like to believe that too.
Those three dots appeared again, then: Your sister will never leave you. And she would be so proud of you.
My chest tightened, and I stared back down at the busy square, the smell of the food trucks drifting up to the hotel’s window I was sitting at. Rune was right. Poppy would be proud of me. She always was. Any little achievement I made in school, she acted like I’d just changed the world. In sixth grade, when I won the science fair, Poppy celebrated like I’d won the Nobel Peace Prize.
ME:
I know
I didn’t have any other words to say.
RUNE:
You can do this, Sav. I believe in you too.
I smiled as Rune sent that final message. Since Poppy died, Rune had grown even closer to my family. He had become the big brother to me and Ida that he was always destined to be. It would always be unfair that he had lost his soulmate. She was so young … they hadn’t even been given a real chance to make it.
I felt the rumblings of despair stir within me. It only lessened when a knock sounded on the door. I opened it to find Jade and Lili on the other side. “Come on,” Lili said, taking my hand. Jade grabbed my coat off the coat stand in my room. “You’re coming skating with us.”
“Oh, I can’t skate …” I tried to say, but as they tugged me down the hall and down the three flights of stairs to the chilly square, I understood they weren’t giving me a choice. It felt familiar, three girls running through the city to have fun. I’d spoken to Mama, Daddy and Ida this morning too. I missed them more than breathing. But I was okay. I was pushing through.
Jade led us to the skate-rental cabin. As Jade and Lili handed in their shoes in exchange for their skates, I said, “I have never been skating before.” They looked at me like I’d grown an extra head. My face flamed under their disbelieving scrutiny.
“We’ll help you,” Lili said and gestured to my boots. “Hand them in and get some skates.”
I did as she said, feeling nerves accost me. I sat on the bench and laced the skates on my feet. I tried to stand, and almost fell to the ground. “Woah!” Jade said and linked my arm. “Let’s take this slow.”
Lili linked my other arm and we headed for the ice. The cold breeze from the ice kissed my face, causing chills to race down my body. It smelled fresh, and clean … it smelled like Cael.
I roved my gaze over the rink, wondering where he was. I hadn’t seen him yet today. Hadn’t seen Dylan or Travis either. Maybe they were all together. Lately, he’d been a little better at mixing with the rest of us. And he didn’t seem so shut down. I hoped that remained that way. I … the way I was feeling toward Cael was … all-encompassing. He gave me butterflies, and my heart thundered in my chest when he was near, when he held my hand or clutched my finger with his. But it was hard to be around someone who was so consumed by anger, hard to truly let them in.
But since the night in the jetty, he seemed a little softer. I believed that was because he’d spoken of his brother’s death, said aloud what had happened.
He had freed the words that had been so hard for him to say, that had festered inside of him until they had turned blood into fire.
I hoped more than anything that speaking to me had set him on the right path.
“One step forward,” Lili said, taking me from my thoughts, and I placed my blade on the ice. I immediately slipped and released my hold on Jade and Lili to grip the boards on the side of the rink. I expelled a nervous laugh. Lili and Jade stood before me. “You go. I think I need to stay here for a while,” I said. Lili opened her mouth to protest, but I nodded. “Honestly. I just need to get my bearings.”
“You sure?” Jade asked.
“I’m sure,” I said and watched them skate off. They were a little wobbly at first, but within minutes they were circling the rink, waving to me as they passed. I inhaled the frigid air, that fresh scent wrapping around me again. A hand landed on my shoulder, and then Dylan and Travis were pushing onto the ice in front of me.
Dylan held out his hand. “Let’s go, Sav.” Travis slipped and grabbed on to Dylan, bringing them both crashing to the ground. The sound of their loud laughter, so free and easy, made me smile. After what Dylan had told me about his best friend, after the horror that Travis had revealed to us last night … their unburdened laughter sounded like the bells of heaven.