Kiss Cam

Ch. 33 - Her Face Photoshopped On My Body

In the moments of me sinking to the bottom of the ocean, I see the light. I really are my life flash before my eyes. I see Wren dropping me on my head when I came home from the hospital- yeah, so smart of my parents to let a one year old carry a baby. I see the day I lost my first tooth. I see the day I got my first cooking supply. I see Asher kissing me on the kiss cam. I see countless hours of Americas Next Top model.

Really, I should cut down on how many hours of television I watch.

Memory after memory, I relive my sad, Riley Green life. Until I see nothing but black.

That's when I know I'm dead.

I guess it's cool that I'm still conscious with thoughts while I'm dead. I wonder what else I can do when I'm dead. Oo! I hope I can go to my funeral!

Suddenly, my thoughts are swept away, and I feel water in my lungs. A burning pain stabs my chest as I cough aggressively, now coming to my senses.

I'm on the beach with sand sticking to my back. It hurts. My whole body hurts, my arms, my legs, my back, my neck.

Opening my eyes slowly, I see a crowd of people hovering over me. The first person I see is the hot dog guy, who only makes me cough up more water.

"Hey, Riley, can you try to sit up for me?"

I look around at the other faces, trying to figure out who is speaking to me. Considering I'm on winter break and have no urge to see any of my teachers, I never thought I'd be more pleased to see Mr. Castaway.

He places a hand on my back to help me sit up in the sand as my coughing dies down. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I just fell off a pier," I say, steadying my breathing and accepting the bottle of water from this lady. "Thank you."

"No problem, dear." The lady smiles kindly. She looks so familiar. "But you shouldn't be thanking me, that boy over there saved your life. He dived right in to pull you out. Looked like something out of a movie!"

My gaze follows to where she points. Down the beach, a boy sits near the water, his butt in the sand so close that the waves crash all around him. Although drenched by the water, I can recognize those wavy locks from anywhere.

My heart pounds in my chest in an odd, goofy way. It's silly, since it is only Dexter in that sand.

That boy over there saved your life.

Hm, Dexter Reed saved my life.. Wait until Georgia hears this one. She'll never believe it, especially not after his explosion in class.

He didn't show up again. This is actually the first time I've seen him since that day. We all assumed he got suspended or something for swearing in class. Winter break came along and before I knew it, Dexter Reed was far from my mind.

"Maybe that's why he's so mysterious during class," Mr. Castaway speaks randomly. "He lives a secret life as a superhero!"

I smile and comb my tangly, wet hair through my fingers. "That would explain most things, sir."

"I'm worried about him," my teacher admits. "After his scene in class, he didn't show up to any of his other classes for the rest of the week. He missed his finals, so the school called his house." He lets out a heavy sigh. "His parents hadn't seen him all week."

"All week? He's been missing this whole break?" I ask in disbelief.

"Well, no. My wife and I went to go find him once I got the feeling his parents didn't care he was missing. Weird of me? Maybe. But I really care about all of my students."