Read Online Cherry Red Summer (Emely and Elyas Book 1) by Carina Bartsch - Free Book Online

language as he signaled to take out my earbuds. When he tried to tug on the cord himself, I caved.
    “Small world,” he said grinning.
    “Yes, shocking,” I said, panting. “Anywa y . . . have a nice jog.” With those words, I took off jogging down a different path.
    “Hey, wait a second!” he called, jogging close on my heels.
    “What do you want?” I snapped, feeling how seriously short of breath I was getting. Maybe I’d better stop.
    “I don’t like jogging by myself,” he said, smiling, as he continued jogging next to me, breathing as casually as if he were taking a freaking stroll. I could not even express how much that frustrated me.
    I gasped for breath. “You don’t like to jog by yourself, you don’t like to sleep by yourself—for the love of God, what does any of that have to do with me?” I grumbled, trying with great pains to keep running, while Elyas evidently found my outburst funny.
    “So small, yet so snippy,” he said with a smug smile on his face.
    God, why was I even talking to him? Ignore him! Just ignore him! Block him out and focus on your legs. Those legs were demanding mercy. But mercy would come only when I’d reached my objective. So, right, left, right, left.
    A few minutes later, the world’s most inspiring mantra couldn’t have helped me anymore. I was totally and completely out of breath. The pace Elyas was setting was just too fast. My head started spinning, and I got an odd pins-and-needles feeling in my mouth. Goddammit! I didn’t want to come off as weak in front of him—not in front of anyone, but definitely and absolutely not in front of him.
    Keep going, keep going, keep going were the only words going through my head, and with each step, it got harder.
    “Hey, are you feeling OK?” he suddenly asked me.
    “O h . . . I . . . fee l . . . grea t . . . ,” I mumbled. Keep goin g . . . keep goin g . . .
    “Your face is bright red. I think we’d better take a break,” he said.
    Arrogant jerk. I definitely won’t be giving you the satisfaction.
    “N o . . . nee d . . . ,” I panted back, hardly enough breath left in me to speak.
    “You sure?”
    “Yea h . . . no w . . . sto p . . . bugging me.” I’ll show you, I thought with conviction.
    Keep goin g . . . keep goin g . . . keep going . . .

    “Emely?”
    Someone was calling my name.
    “Emely!”
    I slowly opened my eyes and was overcome by an unbearable headache. I grabbed my forehead. Where was I?
    I squinted because the pain kept me from fully opening my eyes. Slowly the fog around me cleared, and my surroundings started coming together more and more. I saw something light blue, gigantic, infinitely wide—which, after a brief hesitation, I identified as the sky. After several more seconds of blinking, I finally made out the crowns of trees overhead.
    What had happened? Why did everything in my whole body hurt? I wrinkled my forehead trying to force myself to remember, until suddenly the memory flashed back into my head.
    Oh God, no!
    I hadn’t—
    “Are you feeling any better?” a voice asked.
    With difficulty I turned my head, looking for the voice’s owner. It confirmed my worst fears. Elyas was standing by my feet, elevating my legs, and scrutinizing me with a worried look.
    No. This could not be true. Where was the goddamned button I could press to rewind everything?
    I was mortified. I wanted the earth to swallow me up. Right here. Right now.
    I had fainted. In my pathetic attempt to continue jogging, I had actually fainted. Was there anything more embarrassing? Yes, there was. Fainting in the presence of Elyas Schwarz, and it had happened. I could only make whimpering sounds as I put my hands over my face. I thought I could somehow vanish that way, but—much to my disappointment—it didn’t work.
    Deat h . . . Yes! Death wouldn’t have been bad right at this moment.
    But since wishes never really come true, I didn’t die, either. Instead, I peeked