Even If the Sky Falls Read Online Free PDF

these are the boys: Domínguez on the accordion, Taj on the buzok, and Danny on the fiddle. Otherwise known as my backup.”
    I nod, ready to wave and disappear into the crowd. I’ve never been good with group conversations, feeling most comfortable hanging out in a corner with my closest friends, Kara or Em. Suddenly, Danny, who is tall and stocky with a tailored vest and hat, pushes Electric Blue to the side and shakes my hand. “Pleasure.”
    Each of the boys follows suit, and before I know it I feel at ease.
    â€œSo you got someplace to be, Sunshine?” Electric Blue asks me.
    My phone buzzes in my pocket, I pull it out halfway. Crap. Another message from Tavis, then my parents, Em—who called her?—and a couple from Adam. Shit.
    When I look up the boys are all waiting for me.
    What’s it going to be, Julie? You’ve come this far.
    I scroll through the messages one last time, then I shut the phone off and shove it deep into my bag.
    â€œNot really.”
    Electric Blue smiles, and I think maybe I should call him Sunshine. He bows and asks for my hand, which I give. He loops it around his arm and says, “Well, you do now.”

What’s in a Name?
    I T IS CROWDED AS HELL ON O AK S TREET AS I NAVIGATE THE throngs, gripping Electric Blue’s hand. I should probably feel self-conscious about holding hands with a boy I just met, but the alternative would be getting lost in the sea of nymphs and jesters and the vibration of the city, a beat that practically lifts me off my feet. Plus his hand feels welcome in mine, and I hope he never lets go.
    He smiles back at me as we find a semi-quiet corner where we can finally rest. We lean against the wall of the building and survey the mass of dancers before us, trying not to look at each other too much.
    He smells a bit like vanilla mixed with sweat, and how did the word “delicious” just pop into my mind?
    I pray he thinks the now-permanent flush across my cheeks is due to the heat and not our proximity to each other.
    â€œYou okay?” He leans into me, and I feel his breath on my cheek.
    â€œYeah.” I rub my forearms. “Just a bit overwhelmed.”
    About this, about life, about everything. I just ran away from volunteer work to basically frolic with a bunch of strangers. Who am I anymore?
    â€œSunshine?” He draws me back from my panic. “Your first Mardi Gras?”
    â€œCan’t you tell?”
    â€œYeah, but I was trying to be nice.” Then there’s that smile again. “I’d tell you that you get used to it, but that’d be a lie. There’s no getting used to Mardi Gras, you just embrace it, you know? Let it take over—then it’s smooth sailing.”
    I try to push away my thoughts of home and Adam and focus on Electric Blue Boy, “How do you let it take over?”
    â€œYou know . . . you just feel.” He spreads his arms out wide as if that explains everything.
    I laugh. “Right. Feel it.”
    The sun peeks out before the sky dulls again; a cloud rolls through, bringing with it another quick and delicious breeze. Soon twilight will set in, making every bit of glitter and sequins reflect brighter, like fireflies in the night. Not even the threat of storm clouds will dull them. The air hascooled down and though the music is just as loud as before, there is a calmness to it that settles in with the dimming of the sun.
    â€œAll right, all right. I’m not explaining it well enough, but it’s hard to. It’s like . . . you know when people tell you ‘describe yourself in three words’ or ‘how would other people describe you’ and shit?” His gestures are all over the place as he talks. “It’s like that. You can’t encompass a person in three words. And New Orleans—she’s alive, she’s a person. Hard to settle on how to describe her, but once you’re in it, once you’re here, you get