Gravity Read Online Free PDF Page A

belly, her head tipping back to bare her white neck.
    I freeze by the door, bug-eyed.
    “Wanna try?”
    I back against the wall. My body doesn’t move that way. “I couldn’t—”
    Lindsay eyes my baggy skirt. “How about just the walk?” She struts, one leg in front of the other, swinging a hip to the side. “And a one and two and turn.” She swivels on the ball of her foot, hair fanning out. “Now you try.”
    “I can’t.” I clutch my blushing cheeks.
    “Well, have you ever tried this?” Lindsay grabs an empty plastic tumbler off the coffee table. “Watch,” she instructs. She holds the glass in both hands and slowly draws her tongue up the plastic, flicking it over the rim. “That’s called the butterfly flick. I read about it in my mom’s Cosmo: ‘ Five Tips To A Better Blow Job’.”
    I stare, my mouth open. My hands twist behind my back.
    “It’s better on a beer bottle, of course.” Lindsay holds out the glass.
    I shake my head, eyes wide. Lindsay shrugs. She closes her eyes, leans her head back, and starts at the base of the glass again. She gives a fake groan, then collapses back in the chair, giggling. Her T-shirt has slipped off her freckled shoulder. I stare at the curve of the top of her breasts.
    I tug nervously at my fingers, cracking my knuckles. “My parents don’t really read magazines,” I tell her. “My dad, he’s into Talmud, that’s Jewish law. He’s in this club called the Daf Yomi , which means he reads a whole page of Talmud every day.” Shut up, Ellie. “They’ll be finished after the year two thousand. There’ll be this huge party in New York for it.” I’m talking too fast and Lindsay is staring at me, a bemused expression on her face.
    She swivels her tongue around the rim and then holds out the glass. “Wanna try? It’s a good skill to have.”
    I shudder. “No, that’s okay.”
    “I think I’d like to be a stripper when I grow up, so it’s important to know how to do these things,” she explains.
    “You mean take your clothes off in public?” I bunch my skirt in my hands.
    “Yeah, and get paid for it too. How easy . I’ll either do that or be a lawyer like my mom.”
    “Those are pretty different jobs.”
    “Yeah, I think I’d rather be a stripper.” Lindsay sits, tucking her feet underneath her. She holds up the glass. “Guys love this.”
    I swallow. “Have you done it?”
    Lindsay winks and giggles. “Not yet. I like to keep in shape though, just in case.” She leans closer to me. “I dare you. I double dog dare you.” Her eyes flash.
    “I should get going,” I say. “My grandmother is probably waiting for me to eat lunch. We’ll be having this soup, borscht. It’s made from beets.”
    Lindsay sighs, starts to stand up and flops back in the easy chair. She swivels side to side, pushing off the coffee table with her feet. “Fine. Go home.”
    “Okay, so maybe I’ll see you later.”
    “Whatever.”
    She picks up the Harlequin and absently scratches her chin.
    I stare at her exposed shoulder, the green T-shirt setting off the curved muscle. My stomach contracts into a tight ball.
    “I’ll do it.” I grab a thick goblet from the wine rack on the hutch by the bedroom doors and draw my tongue up the stem, flick it over the rim. A layer of dust coats my tongue. I bang the wineglass back on the hutch. “See you later.”
    I catch a glimpse of Lindsay’s surprised face as I run down the porch steps.
    I run along the path back to our cottage and head straight to the dock. I strip off my khaki skirt and peach T-shirt and jump into the water wearing my new bathing suit. Water shoots up my nose, but I swim all the way to the raft, arms flailing, gasping as I grab the ladder. Bubbie waves wildly and claps from the porch. “Good for you, I knew you could do it,” she hollers. I wave back weakly.
    I practice diving off the raft over and over, hurtling myself into the water until I can stand and swing my arms over my head, propelling