-Worlds Apart- Ruination Read Online Free PDF Page A

embankment.
    Water splashes across his waistline and awakens me from my dream state. This was a challenge I realize pushing to my feet. I peddle my bare feet through the warm grass sprinting towards the water. Should I go in with my dress on? It will weigh me down and take hours to dry. The thought of being without it embarrasses me. I’ll jump straight into the water, he won’t see me, I decide as I lift my blue dress over my head. My brown hair sweeps side-to-side, dancing across my shoulder blades. By the time I hit the water he’s already halfway back. I instantly freeze as the arctic water strikes my thighs. I hadn’t expected it to be this cold. He notices my weakness and attacks. Fountains of water splash towards me, soaking every inch of my bare skin.
    “Stop it!” I squeal.
    The wintry water feels like a whip striking my body but he doesn’t end his assault. I pivot on my foot, turning toward the warm hillside. He scoops the water, spraying it at me. My legs splash water along my ribs as I try to retreat. I’m closing-in on the muddy embankment when Garrett wraps his arms around my stomach, dragging me back into the frigid water. My legs kick in all directions as he carries me backwards.
    “Put me down!”
    I’m about to find my voice again and scream louder but I feel the heat from his body radiating to mine. His skin is so soft but his body feels strong. How can someone be so soft and strong at the same time I wonder? My legs stop kicking. I feel his solid chest pressed against my back and streams of electricity course between us. Where does this come from? Is he making it or am I? Electric sparks prick my skin, it isn’t unpleasant, it actually feels good. I want to feel more of this electricity, more warmth, more of him. He dunks me under the icy water, letting me refocus my thoughts as I’m submerged.
    I stand up brushing my hair from my face. “I made it to the water before you got back, so technically I won.”
    “I wanted to see you freeze when you hit the water.” He smiles. “I know what a baby you are when you’re cold.”
    He smoothes his hair back from his face. I can’t stand him right now, I can’t stand how good he looks, how he bet me at my expense, and mostly I can’t stand him for taking the sparks away. I launch at him, dragging him underwater. Our bodies twist and turn rolling under water. I get pinned beneath him and just like that, the fiery sensations return. I reach my hands linking them around him as he lifts to his feet. I let him wrap his arms around my waist, pulling me to my feet.
    I stand thigh deep as the water breaks around my legs. I strain to catch my breath. He strokes my back with his sure hand. My body involuntarily tenses. It shouldn’t, it feels unnatural to be tensed. Instead I wish I would relax into his touch and melt into his hands. Sensing my awkwardness, he stops. He closes his strong hand around mine, walking with me back to the hill.
    Garrett recovers my dress from the wilting bushes it landed in, flashing a smile as he throws it back to me. I spread it across my lap as our bodies splay close to each other. We don’t touch as the sun dries our shivering skin. When the sun reaches the top of the trees to our west I know our day has ended. We head for our separate subs before curfew hits. I crawl into bed that night and fall asleep thinking about him. Thinking about the years we’ve spent together and the countless hours and minutes that have led us to where we are today.
     

Chapter 6
     
     
    Seconds tick at a steady rhythm, sixty seconds to a minute yet each minute seems faster than the last. The weeks whittle away, shaving what little time we have before the leap. Garrett and I meet at our hideaway daily. Each day there’s more excitement and nerves wound into our meetings. Wound tight like the sewing thread the relief workers unravel before they begin patching our torn uniforms. Excitement that maybe I’ll feel the sparks again, nerves that