you scared?”
YES!
“No…a little.”
“Don’t be,” he reached for my hand. “We can jump together.”
I squeezed his hand and tried to ignore my racing heartbeat .
“I’m going to say, one, two, jump. Okay? Y ou have to jump when I say jump. I don’t want to pull you in unprepared. Can you do that?”
I knew I must’ve looked like a four year old girl in that moment. All I could do was nod.
“One…”
Please don’t let me die…Please don’t let me die…
“Two…”
Don’t say jump! Don’t say jump!
“Jump!”
I let go of the railing , hanging in the air for what seemed like an eternity, and plunged into the icy water. The ocea n shocked every bone in my body. I t f elt like all my limbs were on fire and I could barely breathe.
I felt chills up and down my spine and I wasn’t sure if I was still alive. I silently counted to ten and opened my eyes.
“Are you okay?” Matt smiled.
“Yes,” I realized I was still holding his hand and let go. “ I’m okay . ”
That was amazing…
“Wakes you the hell up doesn’t it?”
“Definitely!”
“ The ladder is coming !” Joan looked down at us from the lower deck and threw a rope d ladder.
“You first,” Matt pushed me closer to the ship. “Be careful.”
I took my time climbing up the rope while Matt held it steady at the bottom. When I ma de it aboard, Joan handed me a warm blanket and a cup of tea.
“That wasn’t too bad was it?” Matt took a blanket from Joan.
“I t was a wesome ,” my teeth began chattering. “ I’ve got to do that again one day.”
“Tomorrow?”
I smiled and sipped my tea.
We rode back to the dockyard in silence. The sun was beginning t o rise and I could see how calm the water was. I stole glances of Matt every few minutes, and I could feel his eyes doing the same.
“ Do you and your sister have plans this evening ?” he helped me down the steps .
“ We’re going parasailing around five. She has to do more reading after we get back so I’m going to relax on the beach . ”
“ She’s in college ?”
“ She techn ically graduated college , but they won’t gi ve her the degree until she finishes her research study.”
“Tell her I said good luck .”
“I will.”
“Do you want to join me at a bonfire tonight?”
C hapter 14
Matt
I walked around talking to a few locals, aski ng them where the best place to start a bonfire would be, but t hey weren’t much help . Th ey just wanted my autograph and Joan had to profusely deny their picture requests .
We’d released a statement to the press about me traveling to L.A. to have throat surgery. We even flew my security team to L.A. with a baseball-cap-wearing body double to make it as real as possible. We couldn’t afford for a few fans to tweet pictures of me in St. Barts—only words, because as Joan once said, “Words can be misconstrued and questioned , pictures can’t .”
I was looking forward to spending more time with Melody. It was d efinitely more than a crush on my end, but I wasn’ t sure if she felt the same way.
“Joan, let’s get the daily updates out of the way. Could you google me?”
I ’d gi ve n up on googling myself years ago — almost everything that popped up was a lie I helped to construct.
“ Certainly . According to TMZ, you have officially checked in for throat surgery in L.A. You are expected to check out in two days. ”
“ Great. A nything else?”
“Selena finished her cover shoot for Modern Bride and did an interview with Cosmo . Would you like to hear the quotes?”
“ Seriously? ”
“The gra duation service for Sterling Dance Academy h as been pushed up by one day.”
“Who the hell approved that?”
“The school board. The mayor apparently asked to use the building for an address to the city. Would you like me to prepare a statement for your absence?”
“No, we’ll have to leave tomorrow.”
I didn’t want to disappoint the graduates. I had never
YES!
“No…a little.”
“Don’t be,” he reached for my hand. “We can jump together.”
I squeezed his hand and tried to ignore my racing heartbeat .
“I’m going to say, one, two, jump. Okay? Y ou have to jump when I say jump. I don’t want to pull you in unprepared. Can you do that?”
I knew I must’ve looked like a four year old girl in that moment. All I could do was nod.
“One…”
Please don’t let me die…Please don’t let me die…
“Two…”
Don’t say jump! Don’t say jump!
“Jump!”
I let go of the railing , hanging in the air for what seemed like an eternity, and plunged into the icy water. The ocea n shocked every bone in my body. I t f elt like all my limbs were on fire and I could barely breathe.
I felt chills up and down my spine and I wasn’t sure if I was still alive. I silently counted to ten and opened my eyes.
“Are you okay?” Matt smiled.
“Yes,” I realized I was still holding his hand and let go. “ I’m okay . ”
That was amazing…
“Wakes you the hell up doesn’t it?”
“Definitely!”
“ The ladder is coming !” Joan looked down at us from the lower deck and threw a rope d ladder.
“You first,” Matt pushed me closer to the ship. “Be careful.”
I took my time climbing up the rope while Matt held it steady at the bottom. When I ma de it aboard, Joan handed me a warm blanket and a cup of tea.
“That wasn’t too bad was it?” Matt took a blanket from Joan.
“I t was a wesome ,” my teeth began chattering. “ I’ve got to do that again one day.”
“Tomorrow?”
I smiled and sipped my tea.
We rode back to the dockyard in silence. The sun was beginning t o rise and I could see how calm the water was. I stole glances of Matt every few minutes, and I could feel his eyes doing the same.
“ Do you and your sister have plans this evening ?” he helped me down the steps .
“ We’re going parasailing around five. She has to do more reading after we get back so I’m going to relax on the beach . ”
“ She’s in college ?”
“ She techn ically graduated college , but they won’t gi ve her the degree until she finishes her research study.”
“Tell her I said good luck .”
“I will.”
“Do you want to join me at a bonfire tonight?”
C hapter 14
Matt
I walked around talking to a few locals, aski ng them where the best place to start a bonfire would be, but t hey weren’t much help . Th ey just wanted my autograph and Joan had to profusely deny their picture requests .
We’d released a statement to the press about me traveling to L.A. to have throat surgery. We even flew my security team to L.A. with a baseball-cap-wearing body double to make it as real as possible. We couldn’t afford for a few fans to tweet pictures of me in St. Barts—only words, because as Joan once said, “Words can be misconstrued and questioned , pictures can’t .”
I was looking forward to spending more time with Melody. It was d efinitely more than a crush on my end, but I wasn’ t sure if she felt the same way.
“Joan, let’s get the daily updates out of the way. Could you google me?”
I ’d gi ve n up on googling myself years ago — almost everything that popped up was a lie I helped to construct.
“ Certainly . According to TMZ, you have officially checked in for throat surgery in L.A. You are expected to check out in two days. ”
“ Great. A nything else?”
“Selena finished her cover shoot for Modern Bride and did an interview with Cosmo . Would you like to hear the quotes?”
“ Seriously? ”
“The gra duation service for Sterling Dance Academy h as been pushed up by one day.”
“Who the hell approved that?”
“The school board. The mayor apparently asked to use the building for an address to the city. Would you like me to prepare a statement for your absence?”
“No, we’ll have to leave tomorrow.”
I didn’t want to disappoint the graduates. I had never
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