Freefall Read Free Page B

main intersection, where cars, buses, and taxis jostle for space. Noah stops at the corner. He doesn’t seem hurried so we wait for the light to change. I force myself to get up the nerve to say something.
    â€œI’ve got my three-hundred test coming up at the recruitment center,” I blurt out.
    â€œThat’s nothing to worry about,” he says.
    â€œThree hundred questions! I’ll probably run out of answers after the first page.” My voice rises. “I’ll be the only recruit who has ever failed a personality test. They won’t know what to do with me.”
    Noah laughs. The light turns green. He steps off the sidewalk with such grace. He seems unaware of the weights on him: the rifle knocking against his leg with every step, his guitar slung over his back, and his bulky duff el bag that makes it feel like he’s leaving home forever.
    â€œOnly three hundred questions?” he says, turning to flash me a smile.
    My house is straight up the next street, but I turn toward the bus depot with him. The station is slowly filling with other soldiers weighed down with rifles of their own, as well as heavy coats slung over their packs as if here they don’t feel the cold. We stop before we reach the others.
    â€œWhy, ‘only’?” I ask him.
    â€œI can think of a thousand questions to ask you.”
    Curiosity gets the better of me. “Like what?”
    â€œLike where was your favorite sunrise?” he asks without a moment’s hesitation.
    I scowl and am about to say how the army doesn’t care about that kind of thing, but then I grab his arm and pull his sleeve. “I actually know the answer to that.”
    â€œI knew you would.” His look encourages me to go on.
    â€œIt was at my aunt’s—up north, near the sea. We got up early to go hiking. And it was the most amazing sight. At first the light crept over the hills, and then slowly the sky changed to red and orange….” My voice trails off.
    He tosses his bag on the ground and rests his guitar beside it. The gun stays strapped to him. He’s smiling. I wonder if he’s teasing me.
    â€œWait a second, there’s no way they’d ask anything like that. It’s a multiple-choice questionnaire. What kind of a question is that anyway?”
    â€œThe only kind I like. A question that reveals more than the obvious. First, you had a great answer.” than the obvious. First, you I blush. “Just a fluke.”
    He shakes his head. “I’ve always noticed that about you. You see things that a lot of other people don’t.” He picks up his bag as if aware of some cue I’ve missed. “Most of Shira’s friends wouldn’t have had any idea.”
    I want to assure him that I am nothing like a lot of Shira’s friends, but the army transport pulls up. There is a commotion of kisses, hugs, and duffel bags being thrown into the belly of the bus.
    I stand awkwardly. I don’t belong in this crowd that’s being left behind, and yet, just like them with their own soldiers, I wish Noah didn’t have to go yet. Our conversation has just started. There are more things I want to ask him—and want him to ask me. We’ve never had time alone together.
    â€œWhen will you be back?”
    â€œOn leave?” He frowns. “Two weeks. When will I be back as a civilian? Another year.”
    As I’m standing with my arms across my chest to keep warm, Noah leans over and slides his hand around my waist. I tilt my head up, surprised by this move—and definitely not expecting what follows.
    The touch of his lips on mine sends a shiver right through me.
    â€œYou’ll do fine,” he says. “Just be yourself, Abigail Jacobs.” He hops onto the bus, then turns. “You’ve got nothing to be worried about.”
    â€œThanks.” My voice is barely above a whisper. My heart is thumping so hard I can’t catch