Descendants Academy: Young Adult Urban Fantasy by Belle Malory (most important books of all time txt) 📗

“Come on, damsel,” Xander said, sweet-talking me into it. “I promise when you’re up there, it’s impossible to think of all the bad shit that’s happened. Wasn’t that the point?”

I groaned, knowing I was caving.

God, why did he have to be so charming? He knew exactly what to say to change my mind. I glanced up at the bubbles again, wondering if I could pull this off without killing myself. Probably best to not get caught up in my head and just go for it.

“Okay, okay. Let’s go before I change my mind.”

As we made our way to the gated trampoline area, I started hyperventilating. My heart beat at a rapid pace. Everything would be fine, I told myself. This would be fun.

“No shoes,” said an attendant in a neon vest.

We quickly ditched ours, tossing them in the giant pile outside of the gate. After that, Xander and I were practically shoved through the entrance, and before we knew what hit us, we were standing on the trampoline as bubbles flew up around us.

“Watch out,” Xander said, shoving me to the right. A guy landed beside us, rebounding off the trampoline into another bubble. When the floor dipped, I lost my balance. A giant bubble came up from beneath me, sucking me into its middle. Oh crap.

“You’ll be fine,” Xander said, moving out of the way.

I wasn’t ready. There was no time to prepare myself, which was probably for the best, but it didn’t stop me from freaking out. The bubble closed around me, lifting me off the trampoline. My legs trembled, and I leaned against the wall, trying to keep my equilibrium. Down below, I watched Xander hop into his own bubble, afraid of nothing. He was excited.

The bubble’s wall was wet and thicker than I anticipated, but it acted like quicksand. When I stayed still, my arms and legs steadily sunk through. The trick was to not stay still. Sliding back and forth on my knees kept me from falling out. At one point, I looked around, noticing my bubble had floated pretty far up into the air, and I grinned, taking in the views. Look at me go. I was Glenda the Good Witch, soaring over Oz—all I needed was a fluffy pink dress and a magic wand.

As I was looking around, Xander’s bubble caught up to mine. “Hey, how did you do that?”

“Like this.” He jumped, and without the extra weight, his bubble lifted higher.

I bent myself into a squatting position, mimicking him, and jumped. My bubble rose, and quickly caught up to his again.

“Nice!” he said, giving me a thumb’s up.

I tried doing it again, but when my feet hit the bottom of the bubble, they broke through. Oh no. This was the part that terrified me.

Limbs flailing, I reached out and grabbed onto an empty bubble rising up. The surface was so slippery, I rolled onto its side, falling again. I reached out for the next available bubble and stayed as still as I could. With my arms and legs spread, I held fast, steadily rising back up into the air. I did it. I stopped myself from falling.

“Hey, good catch!” Xander called out from above me. Somehow, he had escaped his own bubble and was riding the top of a new one.

“How do we get back inside?” I was afraid to move for fear of the bubble tilting.

“You have to push through,” he said. “But be careful. Sometimes they pop.”

I made the mistake of punching the bubble with my hands instead of using my whole body to sink through. Just as Xander said, the bubble popped. I spiraled straight for the trampoline.

Dear God!—There were no other bubbles around to save me. I closed my eyes, hitting the net at full force. It sprang me back into the air, and I rebounded a few more times before landing still.

Xander hopped his way off several bubbles, then dropped beside me, reaching to help me up. “Are you okay?”

I felt my mouth spread into a wide grin. “That. Was. Amazing.”

He laughed, sounding relieved. “Told you.”

“Let’s go again.”

Xander stood, holding out his hand to help me up. Another rider, a mage with neon pink hair, shouted, “Look out below!” She dropped beside us, dipping the floor.

We both toppled over, and I landed on Xander’s chest. Our foreheads banged together, but instead of groaning, we both laughed. Something about the atmosphere here made everything funnier.

“Sorry,” I said, lifting up.

“Don’t be.” He stopped me from rolling away from him, and for several long seconds, we stared into each other’s eyes. His face was only inches away from mine, his lips getting closer by the second. “Sheridan,” he breathed, and it sounded like a question.

I held my own unsteady breath. “Yes?”

Another mage toppled to the trampoline, sending us bouncing. I flew off of Xander’s chest, catching another bubble in the process.

Xander brushed himself off and jumped into his own. “Last one to the top is a loser,” he called out, as if two seconds ago we weren’t about to make out right there on the trampoline floor. Awkward.

Or would it have been amazing?

I don’t know. I fell back against the wall of my bubble, sighing. I couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed.

29

“Red,” Xander said, once we both made it to the top. We had both lost our bubbles, both riding the tops of new ones.

“What?” I said, confused.

“My favorite color is red.”

I smiled, remembering the way he refused to answer that question back on the beach. “Any particular reason?”

He tilted his head to the side, thinking. “It invokes the most emotion. Anger, love, passion—they’re all shades of red. What’s yours?”

“Silver,” I said, thinking of the stars. “I like anything shiny.”

Up here, all of Twilight Island looked like one glittering giant mass of people and lights, surrounded by darkness and palm trees. We could see the ocean out in the distance, the big moon glowing overhead.

“Hey, are you hungry?” Xander said, looking over