Get the Girl
(i)
The stepladder was defective and Morris had a tendency to lean four to seven degrees beyond the safety threshold for maintaining centre of gravity. Watching him tape up banners in the empty hall, Cameron calculated a 55 percent chance that he would have an accident.
It was a good phrase: Accidere. To befall.
He did. Fall.
(ii)
There was a soft crook at the back of Morris' neck where she slipped her hand after she caught him two feet above the ground.
She could feel his heart racing with adrenaline. 'You should be more careful,' she told him sternly. Then she kissed his open mouth, tasting sugary confectionary and cigarettes on warm breath. His hair was stiffer than John's, bristly beneath the pads of her fingers.
'W-wow,' said Morris, his eyes wide.
(iii)
John tried to drag her behind the gym during lunch, but given their relative body mass at rest, what happened was that she allowed herself to be led there uncomplainingly by the elbow. She was Cameron Baum, and her brother was pushier than she was.
'You freaked Morris out! Seriously. You've got to stop watching those midnight runs of Indiana Jones.'
'I don't sleep.'
'You don't rescue maidens in distress either. Keep that in mind, will ya?'
She pointed out softly: 'I rescued you.'
8 May 2008