Even If the Sky Falls Read Online Free PDF Page B

it.”
    He waits for me to answer, but I’m adrift in his words, how true they feel, and his brown eyes, with flecks of gold that play off his dark skin and the kinetic lights of the carnival. His smile reaches all the way to his eyes, and they crinkle at the sides; I watch the carnival pass behind me, reflected in his irises.
    Suddenly he hops off the wall. “Drink?”
    â€œUm, yes, please.”
    But truthfully, no, I’d rather go back to listening to him speak about New Orleans or music or anything. Really, anything.
    â€œI’ll be right back; don’t run away, okay? You looked like you might bolt when I started talking about Orleans being a person.”
    Nope, just staring into your gorgeous eyes and probably looking like a dolt. “I won’t, I promise.”
    â€œCool.” He slips into the nearest bar, and I almost shout after him that I am sixteen and probably shouldn’t be drinking anything alcoholic, but he’s gone before I can and part of me kinda hopes he does bring back a beer or a drink drink.
    I think of Adam and the swigs of Dad’s whiskey and how it made him loose. How it sometimes made the shadows that followed him disappear and sometimes made them bold like the midday sun.
    â€œYou okay there, girl?” Taj settles up next to me, occupying Electric Blue’s space. I realize that I know all his friend’s names but not his. “You looked lost in thought there for a second, and not a very good one.”
    I nod. “Yeah, more like complicated and hard to get into.”
    Taj lays his buzok against his feet and holds his hands up with a smile.
    Taj is the shortest of the guys, but there’s something about him that tells me he’s the life of the party. “Say no more, I won’t pry.”
    Danny bounds over to my other side, but Domínguez seems preoccupied with a particularly flirty fairy. “I’m already soaked in sweat”—Danny points to his shirt, patches of moisture visible below his armpits—“and it ain’t even eight yet.”
    â€œI told you to bring yourself a backup,” Taj replies.
    I’m still in a bit of a daze from Electric Blue’s commentearlier. “Are you sure that wasn’t the official parade?”
    Danny shakes his head. “Nah, pre-party. People are going to get their dance on until it starts around eight. Unless the sky starts falling by then.”
    â€œYou mean the rain? Will they cancel if it starts raining?”
    Taj shakes his head, a laugh tumbling out. “Then they’ll start at eight fifteen!”
    â€œBut for real, Taj, you think that storm’s going to hit us?” Danny tips his hat to a couple of girls as they walk by; they smile but keep on walking.
    Taj looks up at the sky, and my gaze follows. The sky is darkening a hair’s breadth at a time, but the moon is already out despite the daylight. Off in the distance there are long stretches of dark clouds ready to roll in; above us a few pitiful gray puffs threaten the evening.
    â€œNah, my dad says it’s turning away from us and will probably die off before it gets any closer.”
    â€œPlenty close,” Danny says. “From what I hear we going to feel it later in the night or early morning.”
    â€œYou think people would be out here partying it up if there was a tropical storm just round the corner?”
    â€œHell yeah!” Danny laughs, and soon Taj is laughing as well. The wind joins in, tussling my hair.
    â€œWait, I thought it was just, like, rain. There’s a tropical storm coming?” I interject, realizing I probably should’ve paid more attention to Tavis after all. But I’ve found it hardto think of anything outside my own drama for several weeks now.
    Taj nods. “That’s what one weatherman said, but everyone here knows tropical storms and hurricanes don’t show up during Mid-Summer. It would be mad rude if it