Page 32 of I'm Gonna Get You Back
“Is it okay?” He gestures to the camera.
I lift it, capturing him in frame. I hold my breath as I test it out, zooming in. Trying not to get caught up in the way the camera loves the light and shadows of his face, the warmth of his brown eyes. His close-up features send my pulse into a frenzy.
The lens is locking up a little, but nothing I can’t fix. “Yeah, it’s okay.”
When I lower the camera, his gaze sweeps over it in my hand before meeting my eyes again. “Why would you want to go back to all this?”
I realize he means the drama of the Legacy Program. The video.
He has a point. Ididn’twant to. After I lost my spot, I had planned on leaving all of this in my past and letting the documentary I spent my entire senior year working on gather dust for the next few years. Maybe forever.
Now after seeing everyone, seeing Reid… I’m as intrigued by this program as I ever was. I can’t stop thinking about the stress on their faces. All the weird choices they’re making. About someone creating an account to expose truths. There’s something to that. Something catching hold of me that I can’t ignore.
What if this is my chance to show it?
Allof it.
Reid is still waiting for my response.
“Because after the way everything went down, it just feels like…” I trail off, searching for the right words. Our eyes catch and linger long enough that I find them. “The story isn’t over.”
CHAPTER NINEREIDNOW
@haikuforyou
Life crumbles and shakes
Weighing us down with wreckage
Still I think of you
I HEAD OUTSIDE‚ CATCHINGup to Kenji, who barely realized we got diverted. Clara’s not too far behind us, and my entire body is buzzing with that fact.
We pass the crowd gathered and talking around the pool and weave our way out into the woods behind his house, the laughter and lights fading with every step.
Soon it’s just the glorious quiet of the mountain and I can breathe again.
Kenji leads us down a familiar path to an open field that was always perfect for stargazing. Mitchell and Delaney are out here already perched on blankets and staring at the sky, speaking in low, reverent tones. My heart rate picks up wondering what they’re talking about.What she’s telling him. Why didn’t I realize Delaney would be out here, too?
At the sound of our footsteps, their conversation grows quiet. Delaney pops up when she sees us and pulls Clara into an aggressive hug.
Her voice is too perky as she talks quickly. “Clara! Oh my god, hi! Where have you been hiding? I’m so sorry I forgot to text you back! With midterms and rehearsals I’m, like, barely on my phone these days.”
I grimace. Delaney’s shifted into her pom-squad thing. The kind of act she puts on for everyone else but never Clara. Especially not at a party like this when they used to be inseparable.
Clara frowns at her, nodding slowly. “Um, yeah—it’s okay.”
Mitchell scoots over to make space for me between him and Delaney, but instead I lay my blanket down as far as possible from them, a sickening guilt worming through my gut.
Even though Mitchell gives me a confused look, none of this seems to register with Kenji, who plunks down between them instead.
“Finally, we’re all back together!” Kenji collapses into Mitchell. “God, I feel like a herding dog.”
“You look like one, too,” Mitchell jokes, and ruffles Kenji’s shaggy hair.
“Hey.” Kenji elbows him, and they both laugh.
I slowly crouch to the ground, leaning all my weight on one hand so I can swoop my bad knee around without issue and find a position that’s comfortable. The sudden scent of Clara’s flowery shampoo hits me and I realize too late that I settled myself right next to her. I feel the moment our gazes collide, and I’m grateful for the armor of the night sky.
