Page 29 of It’s All in How You Fall
There’s a corner of the pool sitting in a sliver of shade. We park ourselves there and slide our bare feet into the water. It feels glorious.
“Okay, so what’s…” She waves a hand toward my damp and disheveled form, concern creasing her eyes. “Going on here?”
Deep breath. “Here’s the deal—Imadea deal. With Alex. He offered to help me learn other sports to help me take my mind off gymnastics and to fill my empty days. I wanted to repay him and came up with a half-baked plan to try to set him up with Sunny. Turns out he’s had a crush on her since his freshman year.”
Peregrine double blinks. “Hewhat? Sunny? Really?”
“Yes. And I justhadto help because—”
“They’d be perfect.”
“Yes. That. Exactly,” I say, watching Peregrine’s mind moving a mile a minute, telegraphed through body language I know well—scrunched brows, bit lower lip, intense focus. Her shins swirl a pattern through the water as she thinks. “It was sort of a snap deal that turned into a real thing when you guys said you could do dinner.”
She nods a little. “That was suspiciously strange but it makes sense now.”
“Yeah. Not my smoothest moment but I’m new at this. So here’s the thing: I want to get him one interaction for every sport he teaches me. Two down, a summer’s worth to go. Sort of. Anyway, it works out to one interaction a week. They can’t all be the same. And they can’t be weird. And she can’t think what you thought—that I have a thing for him. Because I don’t.”
“Too late, she already thinks that.”
Crap. “I thought I cleared that up pretty well at dinner.”
“No, you denied it too hard. Like, so hard you were turning red.”
Oh God. Was I? My body needs to get with the program. “Well, now you know I don’t have a thing for him. And I want to help connect them. I mean, you should’ve seen the way he looked at me when I figured out about his crush. Dying star. Like he was just going to disappear into the ether.”
Peregrine shakes her head. “Who would’ve thought? I mean, seriously. Why on earth would he be embarrassed about someone knowing that? It’s not like he’s got no shot in hell. Ninety percent of the population would rate him hot—tall, dark, handsome, cool car, plus he’s both a jockanda mathlete, for heaven’s sake. He’s got two of the biggest high school social classes covered without breaking a sweat.” My stomach flips as she drives it home. “Oh my God, he’s basically the boy version of Sunny.”
“Yes.See?It’s written in the stars. The earth might stop spinning if they never find each other.” That’s a little dramatic. But still. “Which is why I’m hoping you’ll help me make it happen.”
Peregrine snags my wrist with hands dry from chalk and rough from bar work. The purple ends of her ponytail split across one shoulder as she nods. “I can absolutely help. Let’s go for it.”
Oh thank goodness. “Do you think Sunny will notice?”
“Probably. She’s not an idiot. But at least if we both try to maneuver her, you won’t come off all weird like you have the past week.”
“I’d like to avoid weirdness on all fronts.”
I bite my lip. “Should we tell her?” That would be a total violation of Alex’s trust, even more so than pulling in Peregrine, but it also would make things less weird and more likely successful. Maybe.
Peregrine shakes her head. “No. If she asks, yes. But until then? I think we’re best going undercover.”
I nod. Sunny is as much of a control freak as the two of us. Gymnast trait, yada yada. But that’s exactly why it’sextra delightfulwhen somethingunexpectedly delightfulhappens to a control freak. Otherworldly magical. At least from my point of view. Peregrine’s too, apparently.
Peregrine drops my hand, her features hardening into the same look she gives the vault as she sprints toward it. Oh, I’ve missed her. This version of her. Not the drive-by one I get with each passing Sunday. “Okay, so what was your next setup?”
“I—uh.” I suddenly realize I was so focused with getting her on board that I have exactly no plan. “Honestly, I hadn’t thought about it.”
After a beat, her perfectly shaped brows push together. “What’s your next sport? Maybe we can combine the two?”
Hmm. The sweat I’ve worked up gives me an idea. “We’d talked vaguely about running—you know, cross-country is a fall sport and it doesn’t take a lot of specialized skill. And won’t be hell on my back.”
“Okay, well, we’re not going to get Sunny to a track without her knowing something is up.”
“Or even on a planned route.”
“Yeah, it would be quite suspect to invite her over to my house so we can sit on the front lawn and wait for you to jog by.”
Uh, yeah, no. Not Emma Woodhouse–esque at all. I glance into the sparkling waters of the pool and dig for a little courage. “Um… do you guys ever hang out on Saturday morning?”
