ICE (The Benders Series) Read Online Free PDF

her breath once more as the unidentified hero heaved her towards the hole. Whoever they were, they had no problem fighting the strength of the river current.
    Suddenly, Kenna felt her body being lifted over the ice as another person grabbed her wrist and tugged her upward through the hole. From there, she was dragged off the river and towards the fire that a few others had managed to build into a considerable flame.
    Her glazing eyes reawakened with life as her lungs jolted into a bout of intense and sputtery coughing.
    She could finally start to hear again. Britney was yelling inches from her ear as she began to pull off her friend’s sopping clothes.
    “Keep coughing!” she instructed. “Just keep coughing!”
    After her once-white sweater had been pulled off, another girl wrapped a blanket around her as Britney continued to holler. “Keep coughing. You’ll be alright. We called 9-1-1. An ambulance is on its way!”
    “No,” Kenna managed to gasp through her uncontrollable coughs. Her eyes were watering, and tears began to drop down her frozen face as she attempted to speak. “I’m fine.”
    She felt a bit of warmth returning to her arms as she found her muscles able to secure the blanket around her half-naked self.
    “The car is ready,” another said as Kenna continued to sputter in retaliation.
    “I got this.” Before she could try to stand, Jason lifted her from the ground and carried her to Britney’s vehicle that had been warming for the girl.
    Kenna had stopped coughing now, and she could feel some of the muscles in her legs begin to soften.
    “I’m fine. I’m fine,” she repeated as the jock placed her in the passenger seat of the car. He shut the door quickly to prevent any more cold air from getting in as Britney took a seat on the driver’s side.
    “They’ll be here shortly. You need to get checked out,” Britney argued with concern. “Oh my Gosh, you could have died.”
    “I’m sorry,” the new girl blurted upon the statement. Her coughing vanishing as she continued to warm.
    “Don’t be sorry. You are alive. I’m just so freaking worked up right now,” Britney said, out of breath from the ordeal. “Are you okay?”
    She nodded. “I’m fine. Please call off the ambulance. My dad will freak.”
    Britney sighed at the request, but agreed to it. She pulled out her cell phone and called another classmate whose dad was an ENT.
    “They turned around,” she said after hanging up. “We lied. Told them it was a prank. They’re not happy, but they’ll get over it.”
    Silence was about them for a few minutes as both tried to regain some of their composure. Both had tears dripping down their faces in relief and fading adrenaline. Kenna was the first to speak, though her throat ached at the passing of her words. “What happened?”  She asked an unmoving and breathless Britney.
    In some sort of trance, her friend was staring forward at the steering wheel.  She dropped her eyebrows in confusion at her friend’s question.
    Noticing that Britney remained horror-stricken, Kenna clarified, “How did I get out of the water? I thought I was done…” It was difficult for her to admit, but for a few moments, Kenna truly thought that her time in this world was over and that she’d met her cold, cruel fate.
    “Jon,” Britney finally replied though still staring at the wheel. She blinked her eyes hard and came out of her daze. “Jon,” she repeated to Kenna, who was now silent again.
    They breathed for another moment, but their exhales began to steady until they were almost inaudible.
    “What do you mean?” she questioned again. Kenna couldn’t wrap her head around the idea of the arrogant Colewell risking his life for hers. Just moments before the incident he had insensitively dismissed her advances or any conversation with her at all!
    Britney swallowed and looked over at her friend who remained pale and blue in the lips. “Are you sure you are okay? You look purple,” she pointed