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I ran by the store to pick up a box of croissants and then headed to work. No sooner had I entered the garage, though, than Dickie said the last words I had wanted to hear.

  “There’s something wrong with the car,” he said.

  I stared at him warily with a sinking feeling. “How wrong, exactly?”

  “Nothing major, nothing that we can’t fix. But I took it out for a run this morning before dawn, out on that lonely stretch of highway just south of the manufacturing plants. The exhaust is leaking, and it’s causing the muffler to rattle.”

  “How bad is it?”

  Darren tossed his head back and frowned thoughtfully. “It’s not like the car is ruined, but I think you might want to replace the exhaust sooner rather than later. It’s a pretty common problem with race cars, and with cars that have been repurposed into race cars especially, the parts degrade faster than your average car because of the strain that they’re under.”

  “Well, that’s the risk I took when we fixed it up. The one good thing about it is that with the money I won last weekend, the car basically paid for itself.”

  “Yeah, and I don’t think the repairs will be massively expensive. If you want to just go ahead and replace the whole exhaust system, which is what I would recommend, a new muffler shouldn’t cost more’n four or five hundred dollars. And that’s on the high end.”

  “Oh hell, that ain’t nothing. I could run down and get the new muffler this morning and have it fixed up by the time we close. That’s assuming they even have the parts.”

  Dickie grabbed a croissant out of the box and bit the end absently. “I’ll mind the store. Just be back before noon.”

  I turned and strode back through the parking lot, my limbs feeling strangely light. It was one of those perfect spring mornings where the air is still slightly chilly and the fields are shrouded in a slight mist. When I reached the store, I found Penny standing in the parking lot taking pictures of the sky with her phone.

  “This is a really special morning for me,” she said by way of greeting, “because it’s the anniversary of the day I went camping by myself for the first time out in Piney Woods. I had completely forgotten it was Piney Woods Day until I got up this morning and checked my phone. I’d have taken the day off, but I already took yesterday off.”

  “What did you do yesterday?” I asked.

  “I went bungee-jumping with Nic and my dad down at the Blue Hole. Except we didn’t actually get to go bungee-jumping because Dad got sick, but it was nice just to drive around for a few hours and not have to deal with sweaty boys wanting me to order parts. Nic put on a Twenty One Pilots playlist, and we had a car singalong at full volume. A couple guys honked and made faces at us. I think they were trying to ask us out. Anyway.” She turned and smiled at me. “Happy Piney Woods Day! Did you need anything or did you just drive over here to chat?”

  She turned and began walking through the parking lot in the direction of the store, and I followed her. “I actually need to look into getting a new exhaust system because the old one on my race car is busted.”

  Penny grimaced as she pulled open the front door. “Sorry! I hope I didn’t ruin it when we were running from the law.”

  “Heck, I probably ruined it trying to win that forty thousand dollars from Adam.”

  “Well, at least the car paid for itself. Hey, would you mind taking a selfie with me to commemorate Piney Woods Day?”

  “Wouldn’t mind at all.” We paused by the door with our backs to the sun-streaked glass. She pulled me close to me and snapped a couple pictures, then broke away so she could post them on Instagram.

  “Do you have special holidays for every day of the year?” I asked as I followed her to the counter.

  “Not every day. There are only two or three holidays or anniversaries a week. Nic and I have our friendaversary coming up in August because that was the day she came into the store to apply for a job and didn’t know there was a large nacho cheese stain down the front of her shirt. She’s very lucky that I was the one doing the interview. We spent most of it laughing, and she got the job and a friend.”

  “You must have an excellent memory.”

  “I do,” she said, not in a proud way but as a matter of fact. “I mean, I have a good memory for the things that I care about. I was never very good with dates or things I was supposed to know for school, but if you say something nice to me, I will remember and treasure it forever. And if you say something mean to me I will cry into my pillow night after night until we’re both dead.”

  “Wow. Remind me never to say something mean to you.”

  “Hopefully I won’t have to remind you. One time in middle school I overheard a girl say my nose was too tiny, and I’ve been self-conscious about my nose ever since. I do have a very small nose—it’s about the size of a button—but I can’t help it. I couldn’t make it longer unless I told a lie, and I’m not very good at lying.”

  One of the great things about Penny was that I never had to say much; I could just wander into the store and listen while she rambled about whatever was on her mind. Today, she was being even more talkative than usual because I hadn’t spoken more than a few words since I pulled into the parking lot.

  By this point, I had almost forgotten about my ostensible purpose in coming. “How are you the most fascinating person?” I wondered aloud.

  Penny beamed benevolently from behind the counter. “That’s very kind of you to say. I think sometimes Nic hides in the back because she thinks I’m insufferable, so I just talk to the plants and lizards. They never make fun of me, although they probably would if they could speak.”

  “What are you doing this weekend?”

  “Going skydiving,” she said without a moment’s hesitation. I searched her face to see if she was joking, but her expression remained stoic and smirking.

  “Do you go skydiving often?”

  “Just when I’m in the mood. If I don’t feel like sitting in my room crying over fictional characters and drinking tea with my stuffed animals, risking death in a rickety airplane is always a second option. I never got the chance to bungee-jump yesterday, so this weekend I’ll have to get all my wiggles out.”

  Listening to her talk, I had the growing suspicion that she was making up the whole story about going skydiving to scare me away. But there was only one way to know for sure. “Well, shoot, I’m down for it if you are. You wanna meet in front of the store on Saturday?”

  If Penny was surprised or perturbed, it didn’t show on her face. “Yeah, sounds great. We’ll be leaving from here around noon. Have you ever been skydiving before?”

  “No, but I’m willing to learn. It can’t be any more dangerous than racing down the strip. Speaking of which, I’d better find this muffler before my boss starts texting me wanting to know where I’m at.”

  “K. See you Saturday,” said Penny, and she went back to her typing.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Penny

  After Darren left, I had a minor panic attack. I had no intention of actually going skydiving on Saturday, but he had backed me into a corner. Now I had to go.

  “What was all that about me hiding in the back room?” asked Nic, coming out of the back room. “And why are you hyperventilating?” I was standing at the counter breathing deep into a white paper bag.

  “I told DARREN that I was going skydiving,” I said slowly. “And NOW he wants to go with me.”

  “Penny, when have you ever been skydiving?”

  “Never! It was a joke, and it went too far, and now, I’m going skydiving. Do I look like the sort of girl who has ever been skydiving? The closest I’ve ever come to being in an airplane was when we went to Florida, and an airplane flew over our house.”

  “Wow, calm down.” Grabbing me by the wrists, she lowered me into the swivel chair. “You can always text Darren and tell him you’ve changed your mind and decided not to go.”

  “No way. I’ve already promised I would go with him, and I can’t back out. Now I just have t
o research how you skydive without dying, so I don’t look like a total idiot when we get up there.”

  “Well, I’m sure there are videos you can watch. I know you’re worried because you’ve never been thrown out of a plane before, but if you want to get close to Darren, I think this is a great way to do it.”

  “No, because I’ll end up wearing my parachute backward and he’ll realize he wants to go out with some other girl who actually knows how to fall out of a plane and is smart and brave and adventurous. I can only pretend to be brave and adventurous for so long before he figures out the awful truth.”

  “Well, you outran a squadron of police cars last weekend, so I’d say you bought yourself some time. And think of it this way: If this goes well, you could end up doing more than skydiving together on Saturday.”

  Judging by the look on her face, I think she expected me to know what she was hinting at, but I had no idea what she was hinting at. “What are you talking about?” I asked.

  “Penny, don’t make me spell it out for you. Darren clearly likes you, and this is sort of a romantic, boyfriend-and-girlfriend thing that people do together. If it goes well and you don’t plummet to your death, it could lead to more…boyfriend and girlfriend things that night. I’m just saying.”

  “What are you saying?”

  Nic winced in frustration and breathed a quick prayer to her late grandmother. “Sometimes when a guy is really passionately interested in a girl—”

  “Oh, you think he’ll try to sleep with me?” I said in alarm.

  She threw her hands up in relief. “I’m just saying that after you land, you’ll both be coming down off a high, and you’ll have that adrenaline running through you, and one thing could lead to another.”

  “But this is all just speculation. You don’t know that for sure.”

  “I’m not saying I’m a prophet, but I think it’s probably what he’ll want. And you might be surprised to find that you also want it.”

  I scrunched up my nose in disgust. “Why would anyone want that? Especially after you had just gotten off a hot, sweaty airplane?”

  “Don’t pretend you don’t want it!” said Nic with a wicked smile. “Don’t glare at me with those big, innocent eyes of yours like you don’t know what I’m talking about. I know you have sexual feelings for boys.”

  “I do,” I said sadly. “I do have sexual feelings. But I don’t think we necessarily have to act on them.”

  “But haven’t you ever wanted someone—like Darren, for example—to hold you and kiss you and nail you until you had to crawl out of bed?”

  “Mmmm, not necessarily. When I think about being with a guy, like Darren, I imagine there being a lot of snuggles. I think I would want him to cuddle me and place his hand under my chin and maybe kiss me on the mouth. Maybe. I don’t know about the kissing. I’ve never actually been kissed. It could be gross.”

  “It’s not gross,” said Nic. “If you’re going to sleep with a boy, you ought to at least get used to the idea.”

  “I’m not saying it wouldn’t be nice. But when I think about sleeping with a boy, I don’t think so much about the part where he’s…drilling me, or whatever.” I could feel the heat flooding into my face at the mere suggestion. “I think about the parts where he’s tender and romantic and tells me he loves me and that I’m the best person he’s ever met.”

  “So, it’s more about the intimacy, and the romance, and the snuggles for you.”

  “Exactly. I want him to romance me. I’m sure intercourse is great and all, but I think I would be disappointed if that’s all it was, if it was just some sweaty boy ramming himself against me. He could do that at home by himself.”

  “I suppose. Though for the record, some of us actually like that kind of sex.”

  “I know, and I love you, but I will never understand you.”

  “Well, I guess we’ll find out which one Darren prefers. You’ve still got a few days before you have to be ready, so I think we ought to take Friday off and go out.”

  “Seriously, again? We’ve already taken one day off this week.”

  “I know, but this is an emergency!” cried Nic, grabbing me by the wrists and shaking my arms. “We’ve gotta get your hair fixed and your nails done, maybe buy you some new clothes that you wouldn’t mind being naked in, and if you decide you want to get laid on Saturday after you finish plunging to your doom, then you’ll be ready.”

  “You almost make it sound like something that’s exciting and not terrifying,” I replied, resting my hand on my tummy.

  “It’ll be both,” said Nic. “This is going to be way scarier than going skydiving, but I have a feeling you’re going to enjoy it more.”

  “If you say so,” I said, and then I went back to scrubbing down the counter.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Darren

  When I awoke on Saturday morning, I experienced a brief moment of panic. Despite the air of assurance I had presented in the store, I had never actually been sky-diving. And as much as I enjoyed being with Penny, was it really worth risking my life? As I got dressed and made breakfast, I listened for the buzz of the phone, half-hoping she would text and say she had changed her mind. Or maybe she had forgotten, and when I arrived at the store, I would find it empty.

  But I wasn’t so fortunate. When I pulled into the parking lot at noon, I found her standing in the doorway chewing on a slice of orange and scanning the overcast horizon with an impish look.

  “Hey, you made it!” she said in an excited tone as I emerged from my car. “I was beginning to think you were going to bail on me.”

  “Me? Never,” I said with a shake of my head. “Anyway, I would never be able to look you in the face again if I backed out. Especially after your performance last weekend, I feel like I need to prove to you that I, too, can look death in the face.”

  “I believe that you’re brave,” said Penny. “If there was a mouse in the store, I would trust you to catch it before I would trust Nic. And if I was a singer in a girl band, I would want you to be my bodyguard.”

  “Thanks! No one’s ever told me that before. For the record, if you were in a girl band, I would want to be your bass player.”

  “But then it wouldn’t be a girl band,” Penny pointed out. “It would just be a band.”

  She flashed me a mischievous grin as though defying me to think of a comeback. Instead, I stood there thinking how cute she looked in the gray half-light. She was very plainly dressed in a thin gray shirt and a pair of faded denim blue jeans that were torn at the knees, her hair combed and parted down the middle, and her freckles an even darker shade of red than usual.

  We had known each other for about two weeks, and by this point, I ought to have seen her naked; the fact that I hadn’t yet filled me with an unquenchable curiosity. Her shirt rose just over her belly, revealing her midriff and the abs she had worked so hard for.

  I supposed if I ever managed to see her naked, I would find that she was more or less pear-shaped, with legs that were unusually small, wide hips, and a head that seemed just slightly too large for the rest of her body. She was so different from the type of girl I normally fell for—my last three girlfriends had all been large-boobed brunettes—but I had a miserable feeling I would go on wanting her forever unless and until we slept together.

  Penny grinned shyly. She seemed to have sensed that I was looking her up and down and was trying to decide whether she liked it or not. “I know I should’ve dressed better,” she said as she followed me to my car. “But I figured we would be hot and sweaty, and we would be jumping out of a plane, and I didn’t want to ruin my one pair of nice clothes.”

  “Girl, you look amazing,” I said before I had even thought about it. “I mean, look at me—I’m not exactly dressed for a wedding, either.” I was wearing a gray flannel shirt over a white undershirt and a pair of dark denim jeans.

  “I think you look very nice, actually,” Penny replied. “You look like you ought to be sitting in a coffee shop
listening to Mumford & Sons and drinking organic chai while a woman takes pictures of you and your gorgeous fiancée.”

  “Too bad I don’t have one of those,” I sighed.

  “Really?” said Penny in a tone of surprise. “So I shouldn’t expect any girlfriends to show up while we’re out there?”

  “If they do, I didn’t invite them.” I opened the door and climbed in. Penny was beaming as I unlocked the passenger’s side door, and she climbed in next to me.

  “So how does this work, exactly?” she asked as we drove down a lonely and deserted stretch of highway under a gray and cloudy sky.

  “In that case, you must be braver than I thought. Basically since this is your first time, you’ll be doing a tandem dive. That’s what it’s called when you’re linked with another person, in this case probably with me. After they push us out of the plane, we’ll freefall for a bit and then I’ll open our parachute. It’s really not that dangerous. I don’t know how easily you scare, but there’s really nothing to be scared of. We’re just falling through the air for about a minute, and assuming our parachutes work, we should land without any trouble.”

  “I can’t believe people actually pay money to do this over and over again,” said Penny. “I plan on doing this exactly once and then bragging about it into my old age.”

  “I mean, you may change your mind once you get up there. Especially if you love driving fast cars and almost going to prison, you might find that you enjoy the sensation of plummeting out of an airplane. For those of us who are adrenaline junkies, it’s an exhilarating feeling, and you can easily become addicted to it. My brother Zac has done it five or six times. One time he parachuted out of an airplane into the jungle in the dead of night and was almost immediately ambushed by a small army of terrorists.”

  “I feel like I should be going skydiving with him,” replied Penny. “That’s unbelievable.”

  “He says it was pretty terrifying. As far as I know, there won’t be any terrorist insurgents waiting to ambush us once we land, so we should be good.”