Emily Eiden - YA Space Trees

Transcript

Note: Transcripts are generated using speech recognition software and may contain errors.
Emily Aydin. I stand there for a second, stunned because I can't believe he's leaving after all my phone calls after driving around, trying to find him after the Bets body in the woods like nothing has changed. But he's already swinging the truck door open, has his boot up in the cab. She's dead, I blurt out. He stops and turns to look at me. He doesn't have an expression on his face, though. It seems like there's something working behind his eyes. Me, I'm just standing there having said what I said, my mouth still open a bit. The hatch through which the words had escaped. This is the stupidest thing I've blurted out yet. I cover my face with my hands because I can't look a Jonah anymore. And I can't stand him looking back at me. Then suddenly, Jenner's arms are around me. I'm so startled that I nearly jumped right out of them. In fact, I gasped from surprise, but the arms only tighten. Jonah is holding me. I feel the nubby fleets of his jacket sleeve against one cheek, and his actual arm is under that flannel in that sleeve around me. I don't know what I've done to deserve this, to prompt it. My heart is a rabbits. My heart is on his sled, racing away through the woods. I tell myself to remember this moment, every detail of it, and one of these details is that Jonah is petting my back, and another is that he's murmuring. It's OK, it's OK. I wish I could look out and see the world from this viewpoint from within Jonas's arms, but I can't see anything because my hands are still covering my face. That's when I realized my hands are covering my face, which must make Jonah think that I'm crying. He thinks I'm crying about Sabet. He thinks he's comforting me. That's why he embraced me. And though I know it's terrible, probably my worst crime yet, there's nothing for me to do but shaken Jonas arms and press my hands tighter to my face to make it pink. Like I've actually been crying, I send a quick apology up to the bet up. Yes, up. Then I allow myself to appreciate Jonas sleeve, his arms beneath his voice in my ear. When he pulls back, I lower my hands from my face and draw a shaky breath. He looks at me with serious eyes. Then he does an amazing thing and tucks away a loose strand of my hair. I feel his fingertips run the length of my forehead and then brush for an instant, the secret spot behind my ear.