Read Online Free-Falling by Nicola Moriarty - Free Book Online

be. Please, I don’t know how I’m going to cope on my own, after . . .’
    â€˜I know, Ev. Don’t you think I know you’re right? But I’m just not ready to let go.’

    â€˜How are we going with those forms there? All done then?’
    The voice brought her tumbling out of the shockingly clear memory. She looked up to see a tall, young man standing in front of her, rocking backwards and forwards on his toes, eyes glinting.
    As it turned out, Bazza was a refreshing change from Chad and all the other kids she’d seen wandering around the warehouse that was home to ‘SkyChallenge’ ( what an original name that was ). While he was just as young as his colleagues, he had a closely shaved head, unlike the unruly dreadlocks that most of them were sporting, considerably less facial piercings (although she did take note of a small stud in his left eyebrow), and was instantly warm and welcoming to her. He was polite without using that fake, sickeningly sweet voice that most young people put on when they were trying to show ‘respect for their elders’.
    â€˜Okeydoke, looks like everything’s in order here. I think it’s time we got your training under way, Mrs McGavin. Just follow me and prepare to be blown away by the most unbelievable, incredible, terrifying experience of your entire life!’
    Well! Not a hint of sarcasm, no surprised or doubtful expression on his face when he saw her. He sounded like he genuinely believed this would be the most unbelievable experience of her life. In fact, he got more and more excited as he described it all to her. She decided he was nice enough for her to refrain fromasking him if he’d like to try giving birth to a surprisingly large set of twin boys (one naturally and the second by caesarean) before deciding that skydiving was the most terrifying experience ever.
    Bazza had a real passion for skydiving without any of the macho bravado of his workmates. His excitement quickly started to rub off on Evelyn and she found herself looking forward to taking the plunge. They spent a fairly pleasant afternoon outside in the fresh air, running preparation drills and learning all about his part-time study, his ex-girlfriend, Mandy, and his new crush on some girl from his apartment building named Isabel whom he barely even knew, and his secret ambition of moving into a career in psychology. ‘You see, I want skydiving to be more of a hobby for me instead of a job, before I lose interest from doing it twenty-four-seven,’ he’d explained.
    â€˜Tell me something,’ said Evelyn as she sat down on the grass for a break and tilted her face up towards the warm October sunshine. ‘I know I’d have to be out of touch with you young people to some extent at my age, but I’m just curious about what the term boogie has to do with skydiving.’
    â€˜Wait, let me guess,’ said Bazza with a grin. ‘Chad used it, didn’t he?’ He shook his head and murmured affectionately to himself, ‘Chad, you mighty big tosser. He can’t help himself,’ he continued. ‘Tries to impress anyone he can with “skydiver slang”.’ Bazza held up his fingers to indicate inverted commas on the last two words. ‘The problem is he generally ends up using most of the terms in the wrong context. Like “SkyGod”; he’ll claim to most people – mainly chicks he’s trying to tune – that he’s known as a SkyGod amongst his mates because he thinks that it means he’s an ace skydiver. What he doesn’t realise is that it’s actually slang for a skydiver whose ego has grown too big for his own thick head and who isn’t as skilful as he thinks he is.’
    â€˜Ahh, so boogie means . . .?’
    â€˜It actually refers to a group of skydivers who make a jump together for kicks.’
    â€˜All right, there’s only one thing I didn’t follow.