On the Fringe (2 page)

Finally Claire decided to give the swing a try, and slowly started climbing the trunk. She stood at the edge of a thick branch, gripping the rope with what appeared to be courageous fear, and balanced there, ready to jump. When the setting sun broke in through the trees, lighting up her face, I realized Claire looked kind-of cute, even with her funky red glasses. I tried looking away, uninterested, but
couldn’t
. I was also pretty sure I was either having some kind of panic attack, or for some strange reason, I liked Claire James.

That sounded more ridiculous than I’d hoped.

We all cheered and whistled from below when Claire finally jumped off the ledge and flew through the air, straight for Addie. They both started screaming at the impending collision, as if they had no ability to dodge each other whatsoever. I was afraid to watch. It looked like it was going to be ugly, especially sinceit involved two fifteen-year-old girls smacking into each other. But then again,
it involved two fifteen-year-old girls smacking into each other.
Who wouldn’t watch?

Sure enough, they hit hard and toppled to the ground. When their screaming turned to laughing, I assumed they were okay. Matthew and I looked at each other, wondering how we’d let our afternoon be hijacked by our sisters. But there was nothing we could do about it now. Plus, as weird as it sounded, I didn’t want them to leave…well, at least not Claire.

After that, we abandoned the rope swing and took off through the trees along a shallow creek bed. Matthew and Addie quickly fell into their familiar pattern of one-upmanship, leaving Claire and I awkwardly stuck with each other, mostly in silence. I kept hoping Claire would think of something to say first. Then I realized it was the first time I’d ever been speechless on account of a girl. So, I decided to quit acting like I was twelve, and kick it up a notch.

As soon as Matthew and Addie disappeared around the next bend, I hung back to help Claire through the stream, because not only did I consider myself somewhat of a gentleman, but was also excellent at spotting a good opportunity when I saw one. Unfortunately, my nerves wouldn’t cooperate with my newfound interest, and each time my fingers came close to hers, I seemed to lose all confidence.

Around the next bend, something shiny in the stream caught my eye. I crouched down and plunged my hand in the freezing water until I caught it.

“What are you doing?” Claire asked, peering over my shoulder. Her face was suddenly next to mine, and I almost jerked back in surprise.

“Hold on a sec,” I said, trying to buy myself more time by leaving my hand buried in the stream, pretending to keep searching. She leaned against me, her hair dangling in front of me and tickling my neck. Finally, I took a deep breath and pulled my hand up, water dripping down my arm. “Look—I found something.”

She pulled at my clenched fist. “What is it?”

I squeezed my hand tight, making her peel my wet fingers apart, and then finally gave in.

“You found that in the
stream?
” she asked, pulling my hand closer to get a better look. “Wow, that’s really pretty.”

Picking up the thin, silver ring I’d found, she twirled it around in her fingers, running her thumb along the beveled edge before sliding it onto her finger. We stood there silently admiring it until Matthew and Addie suddenly reemerged from wherever they’d gone. I looked up in surprise, disappointed to see them so soon.

“This way’s a dead end,” Matthew called. “And you guys are waaaay too slow.”

“Yeah, and it’s getting dark,” said Addie. “Let’s get out of here before we’re attacked by a wild animal or serial killer. I have a science test tomorrow.”

Claire shoved the ring back in my hand and turned around, taking the lead back up the stream. I didn’t know what to do with it.
I
didn’t need a ring, but
what if…?

I stood there weighing my options, letting Matthew and Addie pass me. Finally, I shoved the ring in my pocket and caught up to Matthew just as Addie flicked a branch into his face, tagging him in the nose. That’s how things usually went between them.

“That’s for leaving me stranded on the rope swing,” she said.

He rubbed his nose. “What? I wasn’t the only one, you know.”

“Yeah, well, it was probably
your
idea,” she said, catching up to Claire.

Matthew looked my way and rolled his eyes. I shrugged my shoulders and turned away. It wasn’t my fault my sister took payback so seriously.

Addie suddenly stopped and turned around, her eyes bright and animated, her grudge forgotten, just like that. “Hey! We should give this place a cool name…something mysterious. Something like–”

“Mystery Rope Swing Grotto,” Claire said with a big smile, like she’d given it ten hours of thought. Maybe creative writing wasn’t her thing.

“What about the
‘Secret Walk
?” Addie said, ignoring Claire’s suggestion, though I couldn’t blame her. “That’s perfect, don’t you think?”

“LAME,” Matthew said, kicking water up on her. I agreed, and would’ve probably even turned it into a perfect opportunity for a water fight, but my mind was somewhere else.

Claire placed a supportive arm around Addie and continued with her up the stream, adding quietly, “I think it’s a good name.”

It was almost dark when we hopped on our bikes and headed back down the trail, yet Matthew still found the need to challenge everyone to a race, as if racing two girls was even remotely challenging. Claire immediately took off close behind Addie, but held back when I called her name. She hesitated, probably convinced I was tricking her into last place, which I had been known to do on occasion.

Finally she stopped pedaling and turned to face me. “What?” she asked, not even looking at me. She seemed really annoyed.

I caught up to her, but suddenly felt like an awkward fifth-grader handing out a valentine. Embarrassed, I looked down at my feet and wondered who this wimp was that seemed to be taking over my body. “Here,” I mumbled, pulling the ring out of my pocket and shoving it into Claire’s palm.

She didn’t say a word, but I could tell she was surprised by my gesture. Our fingers touched again, and my heart thumped like a subwoofer let loose inside my chest. “You can have it,” I added, as a strange, unwanted noise escaped from my throat—something like a half-sigh, half-chuckle. I felt mortified about it the rest of the night.

But Claire didn’t seem to notice. “Wow, thanks, Daniel.”

She slid the ring on her finger. We both stared at it in awkward silence until at last Claire looked up at me and smiled. I brushed a strand of hair away from my eyes and smiled back, trying to extend the moment a second longer, while at the same time wishing it would end already. When I finally couldn’t take it anymore, I jumped on my bike and took off down the hill in a mad dash for third place.

“Hey!” I heard her yelling behind me, trying to catch up.

Claire

Three weeks before the night everything fell apart, I fell for Daniel. Literally. All because of the rain…or lack of it.

See, if it had rained the day before, all those annoying pollen particles would have been washed away instead of multiplying en masse until they found their way up my nose; I would not have had an allergy attack the next morning, would’ve worn my contacts, and never ridden off the edge of a cliff.

But it didn’t rain.

So, the next day I put on my helmet and glasses, and went biking with Addie because it was finally sunny and dry enough
.
It had also been too long since my last ride, and I was dying to get out.

But just as we were leaving, Addie’s paranoid Mom dashed our ambitions by inferring that we were two helpless girls out in the middle of nowhere, refusing to let us go biking alone, thanks to the local newscast about a recent bobcat attack.

Please.
We were fifteen, not five.

Still, Addie’s mother would not give in, so we begged Daniel to come with us. Since Matthew was working all day and Daniel happened to be home just watching TV, we figured it was worth a shot. We definitely didn’t get our hopes up, which was why we were so shocked when he agreed to come.

A couple miles and a half-hour later, Addie and Daniel were stopped at the edge of a steep incline when I came up from behind them and wildly plunged down what looked like a little hill instead of a cliff, in an attempt to impress them. I would’ve been much better off flaunting the sweet spin I could put on a football, or even demonstrating some of my legitimate baking skills. The next thing I knew, I was crumpled up at the bottom of the ravine, my body contorted in pain, and my bike resting vindictively on top of me, as if saying
‘what were you thinking?’

“Claire!” Daniel and Addie yelled from above.

My head hurt only slightly. Thankfully there was no blood spurting out, nor was anything that belonged inside me now on the outside.

Good. I wouldn’t have to throw up.

“Are you okay?” Daniel raced down the hill and effortlessly lifted the bike off of me. He stood over me, his shadow blocking the sun from my eyes. Addie stumbled down a little more carefully, but was soon right in my face, fiercely hugging me as her smooth curtain of fruity-smelling hair slid into my face.

I tried to stand, but my ankle gave way as pain shot through my foot, forcing me to sink back into the dirt. Tears hovered inside the edges of my eyes, making my blurry vision even more blurry. But I held it all in because there was no way I was going to start crying in front of Daniel and risk him making fun of me later.

“I can’t walk,” I confessed, wishing to collapse into a little ball and quietly roll away.

“Seriously?” asked Addie.

“Uh-huh. I think I sprained my ankle, or something.”

Daniel looked at me funny, probably unsure whether or not I was going to start crying, probably wondering what to do if I did.

“It’s official,” I said, trying to lighten things up a little. “I’m
super
awesome at riding my bike.”

He laughed, sending the tension hissing into oblivion like a balloon pricked by a pin, and then softly punched me in the shoulder. “Nice crash, Claire.”

“Yeah,” Addie joined in. “Maybe later you can give us some pointers.”

I could already feel the dizziness coming on, and thought I might blackout. Gripping the edge of a rock and closing my eyes, I tucked my stringy hair behind my ear, hoping the feeling would pass. Soon. When it didn’t, I subtly reached for the ring Daniel had given me a few weeks ago and mindlessly twisted it around my finger.

“Here’s an idea.” Daniel’s voice broke in through the silence. He seemed so serious, like some calculating plan was simmering inside. “I’ll carry you down to the trailhead, and then Addie—you ride ahead for help.”

My heart answered first.
Yes! Absolutely.

Wait a second…what was going on, here? “No, it’s okay,” I protested, embarrassed by the strange emotions bubbling up inside me. “I can just wait here with Addie while you go get help.”

No, no…
what was I saying? Back up. Back up.

Daniel looked away for a minute while I tried to untangle the confusion inside my head. Did I really want to be alone with him? With
Daniel?

“I guess,” he said, lightly touching my ankle while I tried not to scream in pain. “But I still think you’ll be better off if I just carry you down. It’ll be a lot faster.”

Addie came to my rescue without even trying to. “Come on
,
Claire. Daniel’s right. What’s the big deal?”

I wanted to hug her, but played it cool. “Fine,” I said, still pretending to be put out. With an exaggerated sigh I pulled myself up on my good foot and let Addie help me climb on Daniel’s back.

During the first few minutes of piggybacking down the hill, the only two sounds seemed to be my speeding heartbeat, and Daniel’s labored breathing. I couldn’t stand the spaces of awkward quiet hanging in the air between us, and especially wasn’t used to Daniel being so serious.

“Thanks for doing this,” I said, leaning in close to his face. “You probably didn’t know I had such sweet biking skills.”

He let out a quick laugh. “No problem.”

It was quiet again, despite all the times we’d talked and laughed together like it was no big deal. I couldn’t believe how nervous I was.

I felt myself slipping, and clasped further around Daniel’s neck, my head inching even closer to his. He had a different, more mysterious scent than Matthew, who smelled more musky and familiar. Daniel smelled like—well, he just smelled
good
.

Around the next turn, he stopped and twisted out of my embrace, helping me onto on a moldy old log that cracked when we sat down. “Sorry,” he said. “I just need to catch my breath.”

“It’s okay.”

“We’ll be down the hill in about ten more minutes. I’ll hurry.”

“Daniel,
seriously
. It only hurts when I stand on it. Take your time. I’m good.”

We sat excruciatingly close to each other, our bare arms sometimes touching when one of us moved. I unwittingly drew his attention to my hand while twisting the ring around my finger again, its thin edge engraving a subtle line in my skin.

“So, you still wear that thing?” he asked, touching my hand.

“Yes,” I said tentatively. Did he think that was a good thing or a bad thing?

I gazed up into his dark eyes as he scrutinized me, and I blushed when he placed my hand in his and slowly slid the ring off my finger, leaving my entire hand tingling when he let go. Holding it in front of him, he twisted it back and forth in the sunlight, like he was enamored with it.

“What? Are you going to take it back now?” I sabotaged the moment, suddenly afraid of my own feelings. “Just like that?”

When he turned to answer me, it felt like he knew more about my sudden somersaulting feelings than I did. A soft glow surrounded us when the sunlight slipped in through the trees, and I was convinced right then that Daniel had never been more appealing in my entire life. But I
had
to turn away from him, afraid to look in his eyes anymore…afraid for what it meant.