Partner Games
Page 33

Moments later, Swift reappeared over the edge. He threw his hands up in the sign for ‘heavy metal’ and gave a primal scream at the top of his lungs. “That was awesome!”
I breathed harder into my paper bag.
“Step aside and a real man will show you how it’s done,” Plate teased, moving forward for his turn.
I choked a little, then gave the paper bag another wheeze. After Plate, there was one more team standing between me and certain doom.
Then Plate jumped, yodeling all the way down. Everyone laughed. Georgie just patted my shoulder. “It’s gonna be fine,” she assured me, though she sounded distracted. Likely she was still thinking about Plate. They weren’t speaking, and both of them were incredibly uneasy around each other, ever since Georgie’s outburst hours ago about him not being her type. Plate had forgiven me when I’d apologized, but Georgie hadn’t said a thing to him, and he was as determined to ignore her as she was to ignore him.
When Plate came back up, his big face was bright red and flushed, and he was laughing as if someone had told him a crazy joke. “Man, I just about shit my pants doing that!”
Swift laughed and gave him a high-five.
“Your clue,” one of the men working at the bungee station said in an amused voice. He held the disk out and Swift grabbed it while Plate quickly unharnessed. The Doctor Moms stepped forward and then the guys looked at each other, nodded, and started running back down the dam, toward the parking lot.
“Hey—“ Georgie called.
Plate and Swift both paused and turned around.
“Talk later?” Georgie called, her face solemn.
Plate lifted his chin in a nod and then they turned and raced back towards the cars.
“Move up,” the man running the bungee center said, and I whimpered as the line surged forward a few steps.
“I don’t know if I can do this,” I whispered to Georgie as the first of the Doctor Moms got on the platform and spread her arms out, gazing down at the open air below her.
“You have to,” Georgie hissed back at me. “If you don’t, we are screwed. It won’t last very long, I promise.”
“Long enough,” I muttered, shivering and rubbing my arms. “What if we go to the back of the line and see if anyone else takes a penalty?” I asked her. “If they do, then we can, too. I just—“
She shot me a quelling look and I shut up.
“We are going,” she said in a low voice. “And we’re going to keep our place in line because we need to catch up to the boys.”
“Why does it matter? They’re not talking to you right now.”
“I’m going to fix that,” she said determinedly, her arms crossing over her chest.
We were silent again for long moments as Doctor Mom number one finished her jump and her partner jumped next.
Oh God. We were up. My whimpers increased and I hugged my torso tightly. This was so not cool.
“Move up,” the man called, and Georgie gave me a little nudge. The Doctor Moms received their clue and then were on their way.
Shit.
On stiff legs, I moved forward, then turned to my twin. “Why don’t you go first?”
“Not on your life. I don’t trust you to go at all.”
I gave her a hurt look.
“Don’t start that with me,” she said, unperturbed. She grabbed my shoulders and turned me forward as one of the men began to strap me in. “It’ll be over before you know it. Then we’ll head to the finish line for this leg, okay? After that, you can snuggle with Swift until your heart’s content.”
“Shut up,” I muttered.
The attendants gave a tug on my harness, then motioned with a thumbs up. I was ready to go. “Step forward,” he told me, and gestured at the platform ahead. It was like a wider diving board, except there was no pool on the other side. Just a dam and the ground far, far below. Legs shaking, I moved. I could do this. Just a few steps and then let nature take care of the rest, right?
I moved onto the edge of the platform. There was a nice railing there, and I clung to it, breath heaving.
“Go, Clemmy! You can do this!”
“I’m going to barf.”
“That’s fine,” my twin called back. “Just do it at the bottom or stay upwind.”
“I hate you!” I took another step.
“You love me. And you can do this! You’ve got this!”
I moved out another foot, then another, and stopped.
“Let go of the railing,” the instructor said helpfully. “Move to the edge of the platform.”
I did, and then everything in me froze. The ground was so far below it was like something in miniature. My stomach threatened to heave as the wind buffeted me, whipping my braids and stray pieces of hair. I stared down at the long, long, long fall below.
“Jump,” the instructor encouraged.
I didn’t move.
“You can do it,” Georgie called. “Come on, Clemmy!”
I didn’t budge. I just stared at the impossible span of air below me, blood roaring in my ears.
“Hey,” someone from the Green Machine called in the distance. “How long does she get to stand there before it’s a forfeit?”
“Fuck you,” I bellowed, my fists clenched. My voice echoed on the side of the dam. My hands shook like leaves. Actually, all of me was shaking.
“She has five minutes to jump,” the instructor said. “After that, we must move to the next person in line.”
“It’s cool,” Georgie said. “She can do it.”
“I can’t do it,” I replied, turning to look back at my twin, miserable.
“Yes, you can! Here,” she said, stepping onto the platform.
“You cannot be up there,” the instructor said, frowning.
“I’m just going to give her a little encouragement,” Georgie said. She gave me a happy smile and a thumbs up—
And then the bitch pushed me.
 
~~ * * * ~~
 
My arms were still crossed over my chest a half hour later when the car pulled to a halt.
“Oh, stop being a baby,” Georgie said cheerfully. “I just gave you a little help.”
“You pushed me,” I said in a flat, unhappy voice. “I am still totally pissed at you.”
“You won’t be pissed when we cross the finish line. You’ll thank me.”
I snorted. Fat chance of that happening.
My heart was still pounding in my chest from the jump. I thought I’d black out with terror, but somewhere in there, I’d appreciated the fall…
Actually, no I hadn’t. I’d hated every moment of it. But it was over now, and we were headed to the Maggia Valley looking for a place called Casa Martinelli Hotel Garni, which was the stop for this particular leg of the race.
“Oh, I think that’s it,” Georgie said, peering in the distance. “It’s cute.”
Ahead of us was a quaint white building, surrounded by trees and rocky hills. The roof reminded me of something old fashioned, a bit like Gargamel’s hut from the Smurfs cartoon. Greenery hung from a rail balcony, and as we pulled up, I could see the One Percenter team hanging out on the balcony, gazing out at the parking lot.