Something Like Summer Read Online Free PDF Page B

but he
could at least give him a scare by cutting directly in front of
him, maybe jostling him a little bit in the process.
    Ben grinned with wicked
determination as he neared, but at the last moment he began to
panic. There simply wasn’t enough room on the path to pass by
safely, at least not at this speed. Maybe a skilled skater could
have done it, but Ben was still too green. He was more likely to
veer off the path and injure himself. Tim was less than ten feet
away when Ben decided to abandon his reckless course of action. He
tilted his left foot to brake, before realizing that the brake was
on the other skate. In his panic he tried to turn, but his left
foot was still tilted, causing Ben to trip over his own leg. He was
airborne for the briefest of moments before slamming into Tim,
knocking the jogger off the path and into the ditch.
    Impacting with Tim had
mostly halted Ben’s flight through the air. He landed with a thud
on the grass next to the paved path, shaken but otherwise
unscathed. From the gasp of pain and long string of cursing, it was
clear that this wasn’t the case for his victim. Ben pushed himself
to his knees and looked over the ditch’s edge. Tim was sitting up,
supporting one leg in the air. He lowered it tentatively to the
ground. As soon as the foot touched grass, Tim hollered hoarsely
and lifted it back up again.
    “ Oh, god! I’m sorry. I’m
sorry!” Ben sputtered as he stood and slid down into the
ravine.
    Tim’s face struggled with a
mixture of confusion and anger. “What the hell
happened?”
    “ I don’t-- I’m just a
klutz.” Ben had reached Tim’s side and stretched out his arms as if
he intended to pick Tim up before he realized how unrealistic this
was. “Is your leg broken?”
    “ Leg’s fine,” Tim
answered, turning his attention back to the bloody limb that looked
anything but okay. “My ankle, maybe not.”
    Ben dropped to his knees to
get a better look. The ankle might have been a little swollen, but
the flesh torn away from the shin was worrying. There wasn’t any
sign of exposed bone, thank god, but it was bleeding way too
much.
    Ben couldn’t take his eye
from the injury. “We have to get you to a doctor. Can you
walk?”
    Tim lowered his leg a
second time, managing this time to only hiss in pain instead of
screaming. “You’re going to have to help me,” he said.
    “ Wait.” Ben unsnapped the
straps on his skates and starting digging through his backpack for
his shoes. The five most awkward minutes of his life followed as he
struggled to get them on and tied, Tim watching him silently the
entire time. “Right,” Ben said as the final lace was tied. “How do
we do this?”
    Tim craned his neck around
to examine the steep slope they would have to ascend before they
could get him to his feet. “You pull me up there, I
guess.”
    “ Pull you how?” Ben asked,
suddenly feeling even smaller than he usually did.
    “ Just grab me under the
arms and pull. I’ll try to help as much as I can.”
    Ben got into position
behind Tim. There was a very silly moment where he stood and
stared. Both of Tim’s arms were raised to his sides, as if he were
going to start flapping them in an effort to take flight. Ben felt
like asking if he really had permission to touch him, before he
remembered the seriousness of the situation. He hooked his arms
underneath Tim’s armpits and pulled. He only managed to heave the
victim of his idiotic actions half a foot, but on the next attempt
Tim kicked with his good leg, bringing the movement to a little
more than a foot. They proceeded in this manner until they were
both on level ground again.
    Ben was breathing hard from
the exertion, Tim most likely from the pain. After a moment of rest
they tackled the job of getting Tim upright. They managed after a
brief struggle, with Tim putting pressure on the injured leg twice
more out of habit. Soon enough he was stooped but standing, with
one arm over Ben’s shoulders. They tried a