Read Online Girl on the Run by B. R. Myers - Free Book Online Page B

fixing one of the cupettes’ braids, and my own creatures were beginning to shuffle.
    â€œHey, Liam,” I suddenly said, interrupting the lesson. “Shouldn’t you be signing this for Duff?”
    Both twins glared back at me. “No,” Liam hissed. “He can read lips.”
    All the girls turned to Duff. A few of them wrinkled their noses and stared at him like he was a new exhibit at the zoo. The rest quickly averted their eyes and fidgeted with their ponytails and bathing suit straps.
    â€œSorry,” I murmured, but the damage was done. Duff slumped. Red-faced and feeling like an idiot, I stepped away from the group. Twenty metres from the dock was a small float. Beyond that a few groups were having canoe races. I squinted into the sun, thinking I had spotted Devin.
    â€œJesse?” Alicia asked.
    I turned around. “Yeah?”
    â€œYou said you were a lifeguard. Have you ever had to do CPR on anyone?”
    My stomach twisted. “Um…not at poolside,” I said.
    Alicia split us up into groups. Spencer and his admirer immediately found each other. The twins, of course, stayed together, and Scotty knelt by the dummy with me.
    â€œIf they’re not moving,” Alicia said, crouching down by her own dummy, “you have to determine if they’re unconscious.” She slapped the wood with her hand and called out, “Are you okay? Are you okay?”
    Dad? Dad?
    â€œâ€¦then call for help. Ask the first person you see to call 911. This is crucial.”
    Spencer smirked. “What if I’m, like, in the desert, and no one else is around?”
    Alicia answered straightforwardly. “Keep doing compressions and breaths.”
    â€œWell, for how long?” Liam asked.
    Forever.
    â€œUntil someone else comes,” she said. “Or until you’re too exhausted to continue.”
    I tuned out the rest of the conversation. My finger touched the silver disc of my necklace. Feet and lungs, Jesse.
    The dock seemed to tip to the side. I stared at the patterns in the wood, trying to fight the dizziness. A band tightened around my chest.
    They were moving around me, starting to practice. I forced myself to walk to the end of the dock, concentrating on taking deep breaths. Alicia took my place with Scotty. Spencer’s asinine remarks kept poking through the noise. I could hear the impatience grow in Alicia’s voice as she constantly redirected him.
    â€œOh man,” he said. “How long is that eel?”
    The class gathered at the edge, looking into the water.
    â€œI don’t see anything,” one of the cupettes said.
    Spencer pointed into the water. “Right there,” he said. “Look!”
    I followed, and stood behind them, then bent over the side, but the black bottom made it impossible to see anything.
    â€œThere it is again,” he cried out.
    For the next few minutes even Alicia was eyeballing the dark water. “It’s rare for them to be in this close,” she said. “How long do you think it is?”
    â€œI don’t know,” Spencer said, “maybe four feet.”
    My insides squirmed. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Duff’s signing. I looked for Liam to interpret but he wasn’t with us. In fact, he wasn’t even on the dock.
    â€œWhere’s Liam?” I asked. Duff tapped me on my shoulder, and then pointed out to the lake.
    Liam was almost to the float. He was splashing and flailing his arms. And then he disappeared. I didn’t bother waiting for Alicia. I grabbed the rescue PFD and wrapped the Velcro strap around my ankle. Holding the flotation bubble in one hand, I dove into the lake, eels long forgotten.

TEN

    I dove down, letting the buoy mark my spot on top of the water. The deeper I got, the colder and darker the water became. I swam back up, sucked in a few gulps of air, then dove again. Through a veil of bubbles, I saw him, and grabbed his arm.
    Struggling