Free Under Zenith by Shannen Crane Camp Page B

falling from the island wouldn’t have been such a bad thing.

    Chapter 9
     
     
    I could feel the damp grass slowly soaking the bottom of my dress as I sat with my bare feet dangling over the edge of the island. I knew I’d have a very unattractive wet spot right on my bum the second I stood up, but I wasn’t planning on standing any time soon so it didn’t really matter. At the moment I was too preoccupied with tilting my head up toward the non-existent sun in the foggy sky, my eyes closed and a small smile on my lips.
    Maybe I’d get one of those overcast tans you get at the beach, that way I wouldn’t look like such a ghost with my pale skin.
    “What do you mean, ‘no’?” Hayden asked me, working himself up into a rage as he paced back and forth on the grass.
    He had some serious anger management issues.
    “This task is ridiculous, Hayden,” I responded, almost laughing as I said it. “What in the world does climbing a floating cliff have to do with motor skills? It doesn’t make any sense and I refuse to participate in the madness any longer.”
    “So , what? You’re just going to sit here and rot away?”
    “This place is beautiful,” I answered simply.
    “Get up,” he said quietly, his voice actually quite threatening.
    “No,” I replied primly. “I like it here and I don’t have the energy to climb another cliff. If that makes you mad then you can leave. You haven’t been the most pleasant company to have around anyway.”
    It was true that Hayden was ‘sort of’ trying to help me, but he’d been so rude since the first second we’d met that I really wouldn’t have minded getting rid of him at that point. My afterlife would have been a much more pleasant place without him in it and I couldn’t deny that after my last terrifying climb, I could use some alone time to just relax.
    Hayden didn’t say anything, but instead hooked me under each arm and pulled me to my feet, almost accidentally knocking me over the edge of the cliff in the process.
    “Go,” he commanded, pointing to the adjacent island like I was a dog he was scolding.
    “You’re not the boss of me,” I said like a five year old, sticking my chin out defiantly.
    I wasn’t a weak girl. I didn’t have to take crap from this guy no matter who he was. Daddy would have had a fit if he’d heard half of the things Hayden had said to me.
    “Isla, so help me, if you don’t jump to that other island , I’m going to push you over the ledge,” he said, bringing his face close to mine and letting his eyes bore into my soul.
    “Oh no! Hayden’s going to push me over the edge,” I mocked, bringing my hands up over my mouth and making my eyes wide.
    I wasn’t quite sure where I’d gotten all that courage, especially when I didn’t doubt for a second that he’d follow through on his threat. Maybe it was because the idea of falling to my second death was actually more desirable than having to climb up another cliff side that would probably have the same result.
    “If you’re not going to complete the tasks then you’re of no use to me. And if you’re of no use to me there’s no reason for me to keep you around, wasting my time,” he whispered, his face still close to mine.
    “Is that speech how you woo all the ladies?” I asked, quickly giving him a kiss on the cheek, then laughing at how hard he was working to maintain the bad boy image on my behalf.
    Without warning, I felt his hands on my side in a motion that knocked the wind out of me, and then I felt nothing but my stomach dropping as I went over the edge. I didn’t make a sound in that second of free fall before Hayden’s hand closed around my wrist, catching me just before I fell out of his reach. I swung like a pendulum into the side of the island, hitting it painfully.
    “What is wrong with you?” I asked breathlessly, still dangling by the one limp arm Hayden held.
    “I warned you already, but you didn’t believe me. Now are you going to complete the