three weeks to achieve it.”
Oh God. “Yep.”
Alex glanced at me and frowned. “You don’t sound convinced.”
I spread my arms up, winced when they screamed their protest, and let them fall. “Look at me, man. Do I look anything like the guys in Matt’s calendar?”
Alex laughed and rolled his eyes. “Oh right! He was highly insulted he was rejected for November.” I didn’t laugh, and he nudged me. “You’re not seriously holding yourself to that standard? Eighty percent of the LVFD would fail. Even your dad has that paunch.”
I acknowledged that point. “True, but Max wouldn’t. Neither would Gage.” Both of them were built like ads for some sports drink.
“Reece, I have a question.”
I raised my eyebrows.
“You’re doing this to get your dad’s attention, right? Do you really need to kill yourself in the process?”
I coughed and stood up. “Um, well, I guess I’m trying to do this right, you know? Prove to him I can be something he can be proud of. If I can’t even breathe right, what chance do I have?”
Alex opened his mouth to argue and then changed his mind. He nodded gravely. “Guess I won’t see you for a while. You have a mission now. A promise to keep.”
I tried to untangle my thoughts. Alex was my best friend.
But I didn’t tell him that my promise was no longer what was driving me.
Chapter 10
Amanda
I jolted awake, heart pounding. Crap, it was two o’clock in the morning. After the day I had, I should have slept like the dead.
It was a foster home thing…you never really slept soundly. You worried about every little sound, wondered if someone was going to sneak in and steal your stuff.
Or worse.
Mr. Beckett never said a word about the kiss. Maybe he didn’t see it. I’d turned around, braced for the disappointed expression, the tone that said “Pack your bags, young lady.” Instead, he’d wagged his finger. “The trucks just rolled out, and I know it’s exciting, but you have work to do, don’t you?”
I’d gone along with him, pretending my lips weren’t branded by that kiss.
“No, it’s fine. We had a great session today. Tank conservation,” I’d babbled, but Mr. Beckett hadn’t noticed.
“Did you hear the alarm? It’s a big one.”
I’d almost cried in relief. Mr. Beckett had been so jazzed about the trucks rolling, he really hadn’t seen the kiss.
It was so cool. We’d climbed into his car, a little gold Nissan littered with folded-up potato chip bags, empty coffee cups, and old lesson plans, and rode over to Juniper Court. Junior cadets weren’t allowed at working fire scenes. All the practice we did never involved flames. But there was no rule against driving by.
“Oh my God, it’s fully involved,” Mr. Beckett had said as we crawled by. We couldn’t see much from the main road, but even from there, we’d been able to see the flames towering above the roofline. “Look at that, Mandy! I think they’re using the deck gun.”
I’d stared at the high-powered stream of water aimed at the roof, and Mr. Beckett accelerated with a sigh.
“Pretty cool, huh, Mandy?”
I’d nodded and smiled. “Yeah. Pretty cool.”
I curled my hands into fists and punched my pillow. Stupid, stupid, stupid! I almost messed up everything. I left the bed Mrs. Beckett decorated with pillows in my favorite shade of blue and crept into the hall. Downstairs in the kitchen, I found Larry silhouetted in the slash of light from the open refrigerator.
“Hey, were you outside? I thought I heard the door shut.”
He whipped around with a gasp. “Jesus, Amanda.” He turned back to browse for leftovers and grabbed the meatloaf. The Becketts were cool about us eating their food, which was handy, since I was convinced Larry had a tapeworm or something. He grabbed some bread and a bottle of ketchup and made a sandwich. “I didn’t go anywhere. I was in bed.”
“Did you have a bad dream or something?”
He shook his head, and brown hair fell over his
Oh God. “Yep.”
Alex glanced at me and frowned. “You don’t sound convinced.”
I spread my arms up, winced when they screamed their protest, and let them fall. “Look at me, man. Do I look anything like the guys in Matt’s calendar?”
Alex laughed and rolled his eyes. “Oh right! He was highly insulted he was rejected for November.” I didn’t laugh, and he nudged me. “You’re not seriously holding yourself to that standard? Eighty percent of the LVFD would fail. Even your dad has that paunch.”
I acknowledged that point. “True, but Max wouldn’t. Neither would Gage.” Both of them were built like ads for some sports drink.
“Reece, I have a question.”
I raised my eyebrows.
“You’re doing this to get your dad’s attention, right? Do you really need to kill yourself in the process?”
I coughed and stood up. “Um, well, I guess I’m trying to do this right, you know? Prove to him I can be something he can be proud of. If I can’t even breathe right, what chance do I have?”
Alex opened his mouth to argue and then changed his mind. He nodded gravely. “Guess I won’t see you for a while. You have a mission now. A promise to keep.”
I tried to untangle my thoughts. Alex was my best friend.
But I didn’t tell him that my promise was no longer what was driving me.
Chapter 10
Amanda
I jolted awake, heart pounding. Crap, it was two o’clock in the morning. After the day I had, I should have slept like the dead.
It was a foster home thing…you never really slept soundly. You worried about every little sound, wondered if someone was going to sneak in and steal your stuff.
Or worse.
Mr. Beckett never said a word about the kiss. Maybe he didn’t see it. I’d turned around, braced for the disappointed expression, the tone that said “Pack your bags, young lady.” Instead, he’d wagged his finger. “The trucks just rolled out, and I know it’s exciting, but you have work to do, don’t you?”
I’d gone along with him, pretending my lips weren’t branded by that kiss.
“No, it’s fine. We had a great session today. Tank conservation,” I’d babbled, but Mr. Beckett hadn’t noticed.
“Did you hear the alarm? It’s a big one.”
I’d almost cried in relief. Mr. Beckett had been so jazzed about the trucks rolling, he really hadn’t seen the kiss.
It was so cool. We’d climbed into his car, a little gold Nissan littered with folded-up potato chip bags, empty coffee cups, and old lesson plans, and rode over to Juniper Court. Junior cadets weren’t allowed at working fire scenes. All the practice we did never involved flames. But there was no rule against driving by.
“Oh my God, it’s fully involved,” Mr. Beckett had said as we crawled by. We couldn’t see much from the main road, but even from there, we’d been able to see the flames towering above the roofline. “Look at that, Mandy! I think they’re using the deck gun.”
I’d stared at the high-powered stream of water aimed at the roof, and Mr. Beckett accelerated with a sigh.
“Pretty cool, huh, Mandy?”
I’d nodded and smiled. “Yeah. Pretty cool.”
I curled my hands into fists and punched my pillow. Stupid, stupid, stupid! I almost messed up everything. I left the bed Mrs. Beckett decorated with pillows in my favorite shade of blue and crept into the hall. Downstairs in the kitchen, I found Larry silhouetted in the slash of light from the open refrigerator.
“Hey, were you outside? I thought I heard the door shut.”
He whipped around with a gasp. “Jesus, Amanda.” He turned back to browse for leftovers and grabbed the meatloaf. The Becketts were cool about us eating their food, which was handy, since I was convinced Larry had a tapeworm or something. He grabbed some bread and a bottle of ketchup and made a sandwich. “I didn’t go anywhere. I was in bed.”
“Did you have a bad dream or something?”
He shook his head, and brown hair fell over his
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