Page 28 of Hey Girl
Glee.
A delightfully terrified scream claws its way up my throat with a vengeance; angry at being kept inside so long, but ecstatic at being set free. Chris crows right along with me as we barrel closer to the water below. And I’m not afraid. I’m…free.
At the same time that I start to feel the bungee begin to rapidly tighten, my head gets a cool sensation briefly before we’re snapped upwards. A few droplets of water pelt my face, make me realize my hair actually dipped in the water, and it makes rocketing back up in the air all the more thrilling.
I am a badass with wet hair from the water I just bungee jumped towards. I am a golden goddess.
I’m weightless and propelling freely through the air, and if I weren’t strapped and clinging to Chris like a spider monkey, I’d be flailing like a ragdoll.
How the fuck did I get here? Never in my life did I think I’d be wrapped around a rockstar and screaming, for any reason. I don’t have time to consider situations like drug induced shenanigans at a concert or anything sexual, because boing, back down we go. I’m falling again, leaving my stomach floating somewhere up near the bridge rafters. Another blood-curdling shriek shoots from my throat as we plummet back down to the water.
And so it goes…
Boooinnnng!
“AGGGHHHHHHHHHH!”
Boooinng!
“Eeeeeeeeeek!
Boing!
“Gaaahhh!”
We bounce like a slinky a few more times while I scream, and Chris laughs until some dude driving a cute little motorized raft zips over to untether us and give a ride back to the bank. My
head feels like it’s been taken off, shaken, and put back on, but all I can do is laugh breathily through it while my equilibrium returns, piece by piece.
Chris’s arm is slung around me as he basks in his own little adrenaline glow, while I try to figure out once again how thehell my life took this rock-n-roll turn. It’s so confusing that a famous drummer has his arm around me as we speak, but I can’t be bothered to freak out because I’ve got endorphins bouncing around in my bloodstream giving me a thrill that I like.
I barely register arriving at a small dock and stepping out of the raft. My body is rigid, clenched tight as I hold both hands over my heart as if to stop it from leaping out of my chest to go frolicking away.
Chris’s voice sounds like it’s coming from a parallel universe when he asks, “Are you okay? You’re awfully quiet - I mean, you’re always quiet, but… did I screw up? Are you paralyzed by -,”
“THAT WAS SO MUCH FUCKING FUN!”
Was that me? Did that come out of me?
It must have, as I still feel the afterburn of the words screeching up my throat. Chris is standing stock still and bug-eyed, speechless for the first time since I met him.
I said fucking with no stammer. Hell, I said fucking fun with no stammer. It’s like the adrenaline overpowered it or something.
“I wanna go again,” I announce at a slightly quieter octave. Oh my God, I’m a junkie.
“You do?” Chris exclaims from next to me, delight filling his face and making me want to kiss him.
I don’t know what the fuck is happening or how I got here but I’ll ponder the bizarre turn my life has taken later. Right now, I want to sling shot my stomach into orbit again.
8
CHRIS
Rebecca’s face has taken on some kind of flush, but in a… good way? Her cheeks are glowing with a smile so wide it looks like it hurts and without her glasses on, I can see her green eyes sparkling like a morning meadow. She bounces in place, her wet ponytail swaying and splattering me with sprinklers of river water. Her hands are clasped together like a child, and it doesn’t matter if ten seconds from now, she puts her glasses back on, turns pale and bolts for the car with her arms wrapped around herself; in this moment, she’s joyful and not scared of a damn thing, and I mentally catalog it.
In fact, I feel something happening inside myself that I haven’t felt before. Some kind of humbling satisfaction. Seeing her smile is giving me a thrill I could never get at Six Flags.
I did that. I made her feel this good. And I didn’t even need to unzip my fly.