Free Shooting Stars by Allison Rushby Page B

position. All it takes is a little trust and—” I laugh. And I must have laughed kind of loud, because everyone stops bracing, stands up, and looks at me. I shrug.
    “No,” I say, waving a hand. “I don’t think so.” 73
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    They keep looking, so I shrug again. “I don’t do trust.
    Not like this. On a plate and everything. Trust is earned.” There’s a pause. A long pause. A long pause in which Hope opens and shuts her mouth several times. Everyone keeps looking, though I’m not really sure why. Don’t they know it’s slightly odd to go jumping all over people you barely know and “trusting” them? As far as I’m concerned, I’d trust any of the people standing before me as far as I could throw them, and considering my size, that’s no distance at all. Sure, Katrina is nice and Ned is nice and Seth seems doc-ile enough, but that doesn’t mean I trust them, does it?
    “So, you’re here on a trust issue . . .” Seth seems way more interested in me now.
    “What?” I blurt out. “I’m not here on a trust issue, I just don’t like people telling me to trust someone whose name I only found out three seconds ago and who’s staring like there’s something wrong with me!”
    “Is there a problem?” Brad appears out of nowhere to stand beside Hope.
    “Yes,” Hope and Seth say.
    “No,” I say.
    Katrina and Ned remain silent.
    “Jo seems to be having a small problem with trusting the other group members . . . ,” Hope starts ner vous ly.
    “I don’t have a problem trusting others,” I say. “I just have a problem with being told to trust people . . . like it happens instantly.” I click my fi ngers. “Like I said, trust is earned.” 74
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    “That’s very true.” Brad nods. “But I think you’ll probably be okay if you try this, Jo. Just stop and think for a second—
    what’s the worst that could happen?”
    “She might fall two feet onto the padded mats.” Seth practically guffaws and Brad shoots him an “Are you Jo?” look.
    “I might fall two feet onto the padded mats and crack my teeth and need painful and expensive dental work because I trusted people I don’t really know that much about,” I say to Seth, before turning to Brad. “Anyway, that’s not the point.
    It’s not that I think something bad is going to happen, it’s that I object to meaningless trust games. I don’t think anyone’s going to drop me, but I don’t think I’ll trust them any more if they don’t drop me, either.”
    I look around to see the other groups have stopped what they’re doing and are watching me now. Ugh . . . how did we get here? From doing silly circus exercises to this? I don’t want to be arguing. It’s stupid, I knew it would be stupid, and I should just put up with it being stupid. You’re here to work, Jo, I remind myself. You’ve put up with way worse in your time. So what’s the problem?
    “Look,” I say, shaking my head, “don’t worry about it. I’ll do it.”
    “You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Brad says, doing his best “I understand you, Jo,” face.
    Double ugh. There’s nothing to understand. “I said I’d do it,” I tell him from between gritted teeth. “Now can we just get on with it, already?”
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    Ned takes a step forward and offers me his hand. “Come on, Jo. Walk all over me. You know you want to.” He’s trying to make light of the situation, which is sweet, but I’m still in a huff.
    “Well?” I turn around to everyone else, but I take Ned’s hand, which is warm and strong, just like it was that night he picked me up off those concrete steps. Before I know it, he’s braced in the position Hope demonstrated before, and I’ve jumped on his left leg.
    “Good work, Jo,”