them, too. No one wanted to believe that I used the word “sex” in the title to denote “gender,” no matter how many times Ruth explained it or the fact that they actual y heard me read the paper.
I couldn’t wait for the school day to end, even though the afternoon presented its own chal enges. Merciful y alone, I walked to the stil -empty back lot where we’d parked. There stood Michael. He pul ed a bunch of perfect red tulips from behind his back and handed them to me.
“Thank you. They’re so pretty. Where did you get them?” I asked. They hardly sold flowers in the cafeteria.
“I can fly, can’t I?”
I was horrified, and my face must have shown it.
He pul ed me into his chest. “I’m sorry, El ie. I was joking. I drove to the florist shop right down the road.”
“Thank goodness.” I stayed buried in his chest.
“I figured you needed them today.”
I looked up into his face. “Oh, no, you heard about English.”
Michael winced. “I think everyone heard.”
I groaned and buried my head in my hands. “It real y was nothing like everyone is saying,” I said, suddenly more embarrassed. At his mischievous smile, I groaned again. “I’l never live this down.”
“I have a plan that might take your mind off of it,” he said, and opened the car door for me.
As I climbed in, I asked warily, “What’s this plan?”
“I think it’s time we practiced your flying.”
Chapter Sixteen
Michael didn’t mean that we should take off right there and then. Instead, he took me home, came inside to say hel o to my mom, who’d just arrived from work, and stayed to make smal talk with her before heading home to do his schoolwork. He did al the things you’d expect from a new boyfriend—except for the plan to meet me at my bedroom window at midnight.
Dinner dragged on and on that night. My parents mentioned Michael a few times, but I was relieved that they seemed appeased by his visits that morning and afternoon. Mostly, I felt antsy; I just wanted to get up to my room and get ready for him. It was amazing that I was so wil ing to indulge in our strange abilities. I hated being the odd one out. I hated these “gifts” as Michael cal ed them. Until I met him. Whatever these powers were, not having to face them alone was the gift. And tonight we were going to fly together, while wide awake. No more hiding in dreams.
By the time my clock signaled twelve, I had been sitting at my window seat in the dark for nearly a half an hour. I had chosen sweats that could pass for pajamas should I run into my parents before I left, and I had stuffed my bed with pil ows to make it look like I was in there asleep. Staring out the window, I wil ed Michael to appear.
But when he final y arrived, nothing could quite prepare me for the sight of his face floating outside my window. With his blond hair looming white against the black night and his wide grin resembling a jack-o’-lantern’s smile, I stifled a scream. Breathing deeply to slow my racing heart, I unlatched the window and prayed that the creaky old windowpanes wouldn’t wake up my parents.
“Ready?” Michael asked.
I nodded, even though I was terrified. He stuck his hand through the opening and motioned for me to take hold. My hand was shaking, but I grasped on to him.
Taking a leap of faith like no other, I let Michael wrap his arm around my waist and lift me through the window and into the air. We hovered two stories over the ground, and I clung to his arm like a life preserver. Even though I’d flown before, I’d always believed it to be dream—with no fears, no repercussions. Michael was right; once I understood that it wasn’t a dream, everything changed. This experience was entirely different, almost hyper- real.
“Are you al right?” he whispered to me.
Stil clinging to his arm, I whispered back, “I think so.”
“Okay, let’s go.” He pul ed me tighter and we took off.
I wondered where we were headed, but I couldn’t look. Instead, I buried my face in his shoulder. Sensing and hearing the wind as our speed increased, I could barely make out his words. “El ie, you should real y open your eyes. It’s an amazing view.”
I shook my head. Michael wound his other arm around me.
Other than the wind, we flew in silence. My body began to remember how to fly, and I could feel my shoulders expand and my legs streamline. But then my mind took hold—fear permeated my thoughts—and Michael had to carry me along.
We slowed, and I could feel Michael lower us toward the ground. I peeked out through my formerly hermetical y sealed eyes and gasped. We were stil a good forty feet off the ground. How high had we been flying? I vowed to keep my eyes shut until I could actual y feel the earth beneath my feet.
With a thud, we hit land. Michael removed his arm, and dizzily I fel to the soft grass-covered ground. Rushing to my side, he helped me up with a joke. “You’d think you’ve never flown before.”
I laughed. “I haven’t. Not awake, anyway.”
“You were awake, you just didn’t know it.”
“I think that’s the problem tonight. I know I’m not sleeping.”
I stood up and looked around, my eyes able to see the finest details of the landscape. We were in a flat open field ringed by fir trees. The place seemed safe and secluded, the perfect spot for a first flying date. The very
