Page 36 of Places We've Never Been

I glanced over my shoulder and with a rush of relief, I saw Skyler gaining on us. “There’s someone from my group,” I said.“Skyler!”

Skyler didn’t see me at first, so I lifted my hand and waved.

He looked at me and it took him a moment to register the situation. When he did, he seemed even more confused.

“Just get over here!” I called out.

He flipped onto his stomach on the tube and used his hands to paddle on either side like a surfboard. I should’ve thought ofthat.

“Making friends?” he said when he reached us.

“The river chooses our friends, Skyler,” I said, transferring myself from Ty’s tube to Skyler’s. My knees scraped along rocks as I did. This was not a very deep river. It was perfect for tubing, not for being dragged by a tube.

“Bye, Norah,” Ty said as we finally went our separate ways. I waved and smiled, then grumbled, “Thanks a lot, water.”

“What’s that?” Skyler asked with a smirk.

“Now you have another embarrassing story to share over dinner,” I said.

His smile slipped off his face. It had been a joke, but I realized my voice sounded more irritated than I meant for it to.

He twisted back to a sitting position and, like me, analyzed the one-person tube. “Why don’t you get in the tube and I’ll hang off the side?”

“I think we can both fit,” I said as my knees scraped over some rocks again. I sucked air between my teeth.

“I won’t get cold,” he said.

“No, it’s not that.” Although itwasgetting cold. “It’s just too shallow.”

“Oh, yeah. Okay, well, get up here.”

“Easier said than done.”

“Here.” He grabbed me by the armpits and as he pulled, I tugged until eventually I was over his lap in the tube.

“Okay, okay, just steady it while I…” I twisted and sat the opposite way of him, knowing that was probably the only way we’d really fit. And we did, just barely. We faced one another, my legs hanging off the tube to his left and his legs hanging off the tube to my left. We both had our hands in our laps but after a few minutes of shifting and balancing and adjusting, we ended up draping our left arms over each other’s knees.

“You good?” he asked.

“I’m good. You?”

“Yeah.”

We sat in silence for several minutes. It was weird being this close to Skyler after all these years. He wore a tank top, maybe for warmth, because it didn’t seem like he had anything to hide. His arms were massive, but then again, I was used to his gangly thirteen-year-old arms. Also new were his scruffy sideburns and leg hair.

“What happened?” he finally asked. “Where is your tube?”

I looked away, realizing I was probably staring. “I got flipped and it got ahead of me. We can keep an eye out for it.”

“Okay.”

We hit another pocket of rapids and water splashed up and onto my back. I let out a small squeal.

Skyler seemed to find humor in this.

“It’s cold,” I said, reaching over the side and sending a splash his way.

He grabbed hold of my wrist with a laugh. “Don’t, brat.”