Never Ever Read online

  The clouds began to roll in and a light mist fell. They sought shelter under the awning of a bus stop. Phinn cleared the trash off the bench and they sat down.

  “I met your brother Micah when I got to the party,” Phinn told her. “He seems like the introspective type.”

  “He’s always been shy, but he’s also really talented. I guess he takes after my mom. He loves comic books and he’s been working on a graphic novel for a while.”

  Wylie left out Micah’s therapist visits over the years, all the diagnoses he’d been given, and all the Ritalin and antidepressants he’d consumed. And she didn’t breathe a word of that night a couple years ago, when she’d snuck a bottle of whiskey into Micah’s room and gotten him drunk while their parents had their worst fight ever. And the fact that since that night, he never left the house without his flask.

  “And what about your parents now,” Phinn asked. “Are they happily married?”

  Wylie laughed. She debated making up a story about how in love they still were, but there was no way she’d get through it with a straight face.

  “They’re in the process of getting divorced, which means we’re in the process of picking which one we want to live with.”

  “So, who’s the chosen one?” Phinn asked.

  “I’d rather run away from home than live with either one of them. I wish I was old enough to live by myself.”

  Wylie made no mention of her dad’s affair. It felt wrong to tell Phinn something she’d never had the courage to tell her brothers, especially since she had only found out by accident. She’d gone to her dad’s office late one night to surprise him and saw him kissing another woman through the open crack of the door. Wylie had slipped away before they noticed her. She tried not to get lost in the memory.

  “What about you? Tell me about your life,” she asked.

  “What do you want to know?” Phinn responded.

  “I don’t know—what’s your biggest fear?”

  Wylie had been trying to come up with a more interesting question than the old standbys of “Where do you go to school?” and “What do you do for fun?” but Phinn answered as if he’d expected this exact line of questioning.

  “Getting old.”

  Wylie nodded. “Yet another thing we have in common.”

  Phinn’s excitement was infectious as the words poured out of him, and Wylie could relate to almost everything he said. Phinn confessed he would rather die young than grow old, because old people were cynical and bitter and couldn’t take care of themselves anymore.

  “I’ve never been all that interested in the confines of convention,” Phinn continued. “High school, college, job, wife, kids, grandkids, nursing home, death. I could live without all of it.”

  The buzz of Wylie’s phone interrupted their conversation. She checked her texts and found messages from Micah, as well as one from Vanessa, making sure she was okay. Never been better, she quickly texted back.

  She wanted to stay, but it was getting late and she needed to get back to the party.

  “I know that look,” Phinn said. “You’re about to break my heart by telling me you have to go.”

  “I am,” she responded, and then before she knew the words were coming out, “Do you want to come with me?”

  “I can’t, Wylie. I was supposed to be home hours ago. But,” he continued, “there’s one last thing I want to do with you before I go.”

  Wylie waited for him to lean in or pull her face toward him for a kiss, but instead, he reached into his back pocket and took out a small pouch that looked like it had been woven out of reeds. He tilted it, revealing a bundle of tiny royal blue flowers unlike any she’d ever seen before. Phinn gently took her hand and placed a flower in the center of her palm. Wylie wondered if it was some peculiar parting gift he gave to every female stranger he stumbled across.

  “Go ahead. Try it,” he told her.

  “What do you mean, ‘try it’?”

  “It’s edible.”

  “There’s no way I’m eating this.”

  “Don’t you trust me?”

  “Of course not! I just met you.”

  Phinn took another flower out of the pouch and placed it in his mouth. He chewed it slowly, then swallowed.

  “That’s too bad. I was hoping we could have an adventure together.”

  Wylie wasn’t about to let all her common sense go out the window just because a cute guy was paying attention to her. The night had been almost perfect, and now he had spoiled it.

  “I should go. It was nice to meet you.”

  Before she could walk away, Phinn suddenly grew several inches right before her eyes. It took her a while to figure out that his body hadn’t expanded, but that he was in fact floating above the bench they’d been sitting on. Phinn slowly drifted all the way to the top of the awning and did a backflip in the air. Wylie’s eyes widened.

  This could not be happening. And if it was, then Wylie was dreaming. She opened her fist and looked at the tiny blue flower, still in the palm of her hand. Phinn must have slipped something in the sweet-and-sour sauce, because she was definitely hallucinating. She closed her eyes, opened them, closed them again, opened them again—but he was still there, floating in front of her, until they heard footsteps and voices, and then he quickly floated back down to the bench.

  “Now do you trust me?” he asked.

  This time Wylie nodded.

  As soon as the voices and the footsteps were no longer audible, Wylie chewed the flower. It tasted like mint and honey. Her stomach plummeted as her entire body floated up into the air. Phinn glided back up to her and took her hands. And then suddenly, the two of them shot straight up into the sky like a rocket ship. Wylie screamed her head off. The adrenaline was more intense than any roller coaster she had ever been on. She closed her eyes tight, not wanting to see how high up in the air they were.

  “This is scary! I want to go back down!” she shouted in his ear. Phinn squeezed her hands tighter, but they kept going higher and higher.

  “You’re panicking because you feel out of control,” Phinn told her. “But you’re safe with me. I won’t let go. The more you fly, the more you’ll be in control.”

  Wylie nodded, but kept her eyes shut.

  “Open your eyes. I promise you won’t regret it.”

  Wylie’s eyes popped open and she let out a small scream, then succumbed to laughter. They were flying high above the Williamsburg Bridge, so high that no one would ever be able to see them.

  “Can I show you the rest of the city like this?” Phinn asked.

  Wylie was scared to move, but she managed to whisper her consent. Phinn held her hand the whole time as they whizzed past the Empire State Building and over Central Park. They swooped above the Upper East Side, and Wylie was able to point out their brownstone to him and the fire escape that was her salvation. Seeing the city, the place she had grown up in, from a bird’s-eye view was so incredible that Wylie didn’t even have time to wonder whether Phinn was a magical elf or an alien or a robot. She felt safe here.

  There was only one thing that made her anxiety bubble. Micah and Joshua weren’t with her, and it felt wrong to experience this without them.

  CHAPTER THREE

  the after-party

  “wylie!” Micah screamed.

  “Where did she say to meet her?” Joshua asked, his patience clearly wearing thin.

  “Her text said right here in front of the building. She said it was an emergency.”

  “Well, she’s not here. She made us leave the party for no reason.”

  Wylie observed the rest of their exchange, hovering just a few feet above them. She bit her bottom lip, trying hard not to laugh as her brothers bitched and moaned about their irresponsible older sister, who was always running off and disappearing.

  “I’m right here, jerks,” she fin
ally called down. “Look up.”

  Joshua and Micah tilted their heads up to the sky and locked eyes with Wylie, floating on her stomach. Phinn did a somersault in the air next to her.

  “What the hell?” Joshua said.

  “Remember how you wanted to take the scenic route tonight?” Wylie asked Joshua. He slowly nodded. “Well, it doesn’t get much more scenic than this. You guys feel like taking flight?”

  “This is crazy,” Micah said, lowering himself to the curb. He took a sip from his flask.

  “I don’t know what kind of joke you’re trying to play on us, but it’s not funny. Now get down,” Joshua demanded. Wylie knew his tone well. She’d been hearing it a lot recently. Combine one cup of disapproval with a half-cup of indignation and a healthy pinch of pissed-off, and stir.

  Phinn grabbed Wylie’s hand and slowly brought her back to solid ground. It took her a while to regain her balance, like when she took her ice skates off after gliding in circles at the rink in Central Park. Wylie tried to focus on steadying her legs, but she couldn’t ignore the judgment on her brothers’ faces. It didn’t matter that she’d just defied the laws of gravity in front of them; she’d deserted them at the party.

  “I suck,” Phinn said to Joshua and Micah. “I dragged your sister out of the party. And then I scared the crap out of you. The whole ‘flying in midair’ thing usually kills. Anyway, we thought you might want to join us.”

  His mouth maneuvered into a sweet smile, but Wylie’s brothers were immune to his charms. Joshua rolled his eyes and shook his head.

  “Who are you?” he asked.

  Phinn extended his arm for a handshake. “I probably should have opened with that. My name’s Phinn.”

  “Do you have a last name?” Joshua asked.

  “I do, but if I tell you, you’ll have all the ammo you need to make fun of me. And I feel like we’ve already gotten off on the wrong foot.”

  “Just tell me what it is.”

  “Joshua,” Wylie interrupted. “Back off.”

  “It’s cool,” Phinn said. “If you have to know, it’s . . . Moonlight.”

  “Moonlight?” Joshua laughed. “Your last name is Moonlight?”

  Phinn nodded. “My parents were hippies. I’m as embarrassed about it as you are.”

  Wylie noticed that Phinn never stuttered or stumbled over his words, which was no small triumph when confronted by Joshua. In the brief time they’d spent together, he’d never said “um” or “like” between sentences, the way she did.

  “Where are you from?” Joshua asked.

  “A small town, a few hours from here,” Phinn answered.

  “What are you doing in New York?”

  “I needed a change of scenery.”

  “How did you get our sister to fly?”

  “I gave her a parvaz.”

  “What’s a parvaz?”

  Phinn took the bag of tiny blue flowers out of his pocket and showed it to Joshua and Micah. He told them the plant was natural and homegrown, just like marijuana.

  “I’ve been taking it for a while now, and I haven’t noticed any negative side effects, except for some fatigue, drowsiness, and a little joint soreness the morning after. Don’t take my word for it, though,” Phinn said. “Try one. I promise you won’t regret it.”

  Phinn held out the bag, but Joshua didn’t budge.

  “I think I’ll pass. It was nice to meet you, but my brother and sister and I have to go now.”

  “We’re not leaving.”

  It took Wylie a second to realize who had said it. Micah hardly spoke, and when he did, it was never to disagree—especially with Joshua.

  “I want to try one,” Micah continued, “A parvaz. And so does Joshua. He’s just being too much of a pussy to say it himself.”

  Joshua knew better than to shoot down their brother’s rare moment of defiance. He held out his palm. Phinn placed a parvaz in his hand, then passed another one to Micah and one to Wylie. The Dalton siblings looked at each other in agreement as they all popped the flowers into their mouths at the same time.

  Joshua floated slowly at first, then shot up into the air like he was attached to a jet pack. He let out a scream and then, just like his sister had done earlier, evaporated into a fit of giggles. Wylie was the next to take flight. She whizzed by Joshua, then floated in front of him with her phone, poised to take the world’s greatest snapshot. Before she could choose the appropriate filter and upload the picture, Phinn quickly shot up into the sky next to her and took the phone out of her hand.

  “No pictures.” His tone was kind but stern, and Wylie felt silly for taking her phone out in the first place. Why couldn’t she just enjoy herself without having the compulsion to share everything she did on the Internet? Joshua flew above her and did a series of backflips in the air. Wylie yelped with joy. She had been the cause of so much unnecessary pain; it was nice to be able to provide her brother with some happiness.

  “Nothing’s happening!” Micah yelled up to them from the street.

  “Give it another minute,” Wylie shouted back.

  Wylie looked down to where Micah was standing. Aside from her brother, the street was empty. She could still see the last of the party stragglers on the rooftop, but no one seemed to notice them. Wylie stretched her legs in the air. She wanted to fly over the city again and the longer they idled, the sooner the drug would wear off.

  “It’s not working!” Micah screamed so loud, it sounded like his lungs might explode.

  “Can you give him another flower?” Wylie asked Phinn, concerned.

  “I don’t have any more. Don’t worry. I’ll help him.”

  Wylie watched as Phinn quietly landed on both feet right next to Micah and offered him his hand.

  “You just need a little boost. Take my hand,” Phinn said.

  Micah firmly stuck his hands in his pockets.

  “No. It’s weird.”

  “Get over it!” Wylie yelled from above.

  Phinn grabbed Micah’s arm and before he could squirm out of his grip, they were flying circles around Wylie and Joshua.

  “I’m going to let you go now,” Phinn told him.

  “Please don’t!” Micah cried.

  “You can trust him,” Wylie assured her brother.

  “I’m going to let go and you are going to be fine,” Phinn told him.

  Phinn spoke the words with such conviction that Micah slowly relaxed his grasp. When he let go, he was still in the air. He could fly by himself now. He didn’t need anyone holding his hand or protecting him. Wylie watched as he soared above them. For once, he looked free from all the fear and anxiety that weighed him down.

  “Thank you,” Wylie mouthed to Phinn.

  They flew for what felt like hours. Phinn led the way as they circled over all five boroughs. The air was still warm, and the city noises felt like they were on mute. From hundreds of feet in the air, they couldn’t hear the horns or fire trucks or the sounds of drunken people crying or singing or fighting. All they had to do to get a clear look at the stars was float on their backs and look up at the night sky, with no tall buildings obstructing their view. Every so often, Phinn would hang back so Wylie could catch up to him. They would fly side by side like they’d done it all their lives.

  None of them talked much, mostly because they feared if they acknowledged what was happening, they’d wake up from a dream. They only spoke to point out landmarks and check on each other. When the Daltons were kids on vacation in Montauk, Wylie would take Micah and Joshua on long bike rides. She rode faster than they did and worried they might get hurt or kidnapped if they trailed too far behind. She trained them to periodically yell out her name, so she’d know they were still safely riding behind her. During the silent stretches, she’d look behind her shoulder, just to be sure they were still there. She did the same thing today as
they glided past bridges and high rises and subway lines.

  “I will never forget this,” Wylie whispered to Phinn, tugging gently at his collar. He’d given Wylie and her brothers the perfect last night together, and in the short time they’d known each other, he had helped her see the world through a brighter filter.

  As they careened above Jamaica Bay, hand in hand, Phinn checked his watch and broke the news that they were dangerously close to the time when the parvaz would wear off and all four of them would plummet through the sky. He said he liked to think of the drug’s effects as being like a gas tank, and it was better to pull over and fill up before it hit empty. Wylie and her brothers quickly did backflips above the boats to savor their last few seconds of cheating gravity.

  Phinn directed them to their destination, and the Dalton siblings held hands and reluctantly followed him back to ground level. It took them some time to regain their equilibriums once they landed. The effects of the tiny blue flower had nearly worn off, but the euphoria stayed with them. All they wanted to do was scream and shout and giggle till they cried. Phinn grinned as he watched his new friends revel in the gift he’d bestowed on them.

  “I propose we have a nightcap on my boat to celebrate an epic evening,” he announced.

  “Let’s do it,” Wylie said, not wanting to give her brothers the chance to turn him down.

  Phinn led them to his sailboat, which was much larger than Wylie had anticipated. It looked a little old and dank, but she was impressed that he knew how to operate a boat.

  “Who taught you to sail?” she asked him.

  “I taught myself.”

  They followed him down the steps, into the cabin, which was clean and spacious, but looked like it hadn’t been redecorated since the sixties. The wallpaper was pea green and adorned with oversized daisies. Brown shag carpet covered the floor, and aqua-blue vinyl lined the seats of a small booth. It smelled like mothballs and mildew.