Rewrite the Stars (bxb)

Chapter 8 Campfire con.

"Yes, you are— fuck!" Jax falls to the ground, and Peter climbs where Jax was and evil laughs.

I hang onto the ropes and watch Jax as he sits up. When he starts yelling at Peter, I breathe a sigh of relief. The ground underneath us is that hard squishy stuff that's on most playgrounds, so it shouldn't do much damage, but it still hurts to fall on it.

I'm paying so much attention to their bickering that I don't notice Dev coming up behind me until he puts a hand on my shoulder. I jump and almost fall off, but he holds my waist and makes sure I don't fall.

He laughs. "Did I scare you that much? Come with me. I wanna show you something."

He climbs down, and I follow, jumping down the last bit and practically fall on him, making him stumble. "Pay back," I say.

He rolls his eyes and grabs my hand, pulling me away from the spider web and to these two swings that look like a mix between a rope swing and a zip line.

Dev grabs one and drags it to this platform. He gestures with his head for me to get on.

I climb up and sit down on the circle seat.

"On the count of three, I want you to jump."

"Jump?"

"Yes. One. Two. Three!"

I jump up, and the swing snaps on the way down, sending me speeding down the metal line. I hold on for dear life but also lean back and let the wind go through my hair.

The swing reaches the end of the line and starts going backwards towards Dev, but it also slows down so that I come to a stop only halfway.

Dev runs over to me. "Wasn't that fun?"

I nod.

"This is my favourite part of this place. I could do this for hours." He gets on the other one and jumps off the platform.

I get off mine, bring it back to the platform, and jump off again. Dev and I have a blast on the swings, and I can still hear Peter and Jax making noises in the background.

At one point, I learn how to get back on the platform while still sitting on the swing, so I keep going over and over again, wanting to get that same split second feeling of freedom.

I don't know why, but ever since I was little, I've been addicted to that feeling of the wind shielding me from the world. My favourite place on earth is at this little park in Australia that sits on a cliff on the coast. There's this one section that overlooks the ocean, and the wind roars there constantly. It's so loud that I can't hear anything but the buzzing of the wind, and it's like this embrace and makes me feel like I could do anything. I'm free from everything.

I live for that feeling, and I get it wherever and however I can.

Like now. It only lasts a couple seconds, but I crave it, and I don't ever want to let it go.

"Let me try," Jax says, running over and wrapping his arms around my shoulders.

I laugh but get off and let him get on.

He gets on and then holds out his hand.

I raise an eyebrow.

"Get on my lap with me."

I shake my head. "I'm gonna fall, or it's gonna break."

"It's not gonna break, and I'll make sure you don't fall. Just trust me."

"Fine." I somehow sit on his lap, facing him and holding onto the rope.

He uses one hand to hold himself up and one hand around my waist to make sure I don't fall.