The Summer of Winters Read Online Free Page B

teenagers using the tennis court. A bunch of parents were congregating by the picnic tables, which were housed under a shelter that consisted of a flat slate roof held up by poles at each corner. The place looked even more packed than usual, as if yesterday’s rain had driven them out from underground. Just like ants.
    “Hey, did you know there’s this neat graveyard not too far from here?” I said, pushing back on the pedals to slow my bike. “Has all kinds of little roads running through it, great for bike riding.”
    “We’ll explore the graveyard some other time. I wanna go on the merry-go-round.”
    With that, Paige rose up off her banana seat and really pumped her pedals, zipping across the parking lot before skidding to a stop by the bicycle rack. She pulled a small chain from her wicker basket and secured her bike to the rack. I didn’t have a chain, so I just parked my bike next to hers and trusted that no one would want to snatch the Purple People Eater when my back was turned.
    “Come on,” she said, taking my hand and dragging me toward the merry-go-round. It was a round, rusted affair, bright red with yellow handrails spaced around the circumference at regular intervals. The thing was nearly filled to capacity, with a handful of kids standing on the ground around it getting ready to push.
    Paige jumped up on the merry-go-round, squeezing herself into the group, then pointed to the nearest handrail. “Help push.”
    The few times I had played on the merry-go-round, I never wanted to be one of the kids pushing. It scared me, and sometimes once the merry-go-round picked up momentum I wasn’t able to jump on and enjoy the ride; once the centrifugal force had knocked me flat on the ground where I cut open my chin on a rock. All the kids on the merry-go-round had laughed, even some of the nearby parents.
    However, as happened at the Central jungle-gym, I found myself doing what Paige told me. I hadn’t even been hanging out with her an hour yet, and already I was letting her talk me into things I would normally never do. Maybe this was the peer pressure I was always hearing so much about. Next thing you knew, she’d be getting me to smoke cigarettes and jump off bridges.
    When the other kids standing around the merry-go-round started to push, I grabbed hold of the yellow handrail in front of me and did my part. Started out at a trot that turned into a jog, but then the thing picked up so much speed that I really had to hoof it to keep up. I noticed the other pushers jumping up onto the merry-go-round, their whoops of joy trailing behind them. I wanted to jump, but I was too frightened to make the leap. And yet I wasn’t going to be able to keep pace with the thing much longer. Already my feet were started to skid along the ground, and I just knew I was about to eat dirt again…but then I felt a hand grip my forearm and pull .
    Paige yanked me up and I collapsed against her, actually putting my arms around her to steady myself. She laughed in my ear, which made me start laughing. The ride was dizzying, the world passing before my eyes in a kaleidoscopic blur of color. I felt vaguely nauseated, but it wasn’t a bad feeling. I had to keep a finger on my glasses so they didn’t fly off my face. The ride couldn’t have lasted more than a couple of minutes, but it seemed longer. When the merry-go-round finally slowed and came to a stop, Paige and I stared at one another for a second then without a word we both jumped off and took up positions to push.
    We rode three more times then moved on to the slide. She got me to go down on my stomach, which I’d never tried before, but it was exhilarating, almost like I was flying. Yes, that was me, Superman, transplanted from Metropolis to Gaffney. Also transplanted from a barrel-chested muscleman to a gawky pimply little kid.
    We were waiting in line for the swings when I glanced toward the sandbox, and that was when all my good feelings seemed to dry up and blow