And then the huge murmur broke out. It was loud and consistent, and the volume of it increased as the seconds passed.
“Yes!”
“Yes, Mikey!”
“He’ll do it?”
“Mikey!”
“Him!”
“Yes!”
Everyone seemed to be in agreement now that this Mikey person would be able to fix my upside-down, stuck predicament. I should never have climbed this in the first place. Oh, regrets! Deep ones.
“Call him,” someone yelled.
“Call Mikey!” another person echoed.
“Yes, Mikey!”
And then a chorus of “Mikey”s rang out followed by a loud and booming, “I’m here!”
Oooh, now that sound gave me confidence.That was the sound of someone who seemed like he could get me off a rope.
I tried to turn my head, to see who this Mikey was. And when I did, I couldn’t stop the shocked sound that flew from my lips.
Mikey was the biggest man I’d ever seen in my like. Granted, my life so far had consisted of the ambulance, to now. But still, I was sure that if I knew what more men looked like, I would still be quite convinced that this Mikey fellow was indeed the largest man in the universe. He was huge, he was shirtless, he was bulging and he was indeed very, very orange. Mikey made his way across the floor, stomping towards me. And even though the floor was made of sponge, I swear his feet made loud thumping sounds as they went.
“Come down,” Mikey bellowed to Noah and Maxine, and they obeyed and scurried down. I closed my eyes tightly now. Maybe if they were closed, this whole ordeal wouldn’t feel as bad. And then the ropes gave an almighty shake as Mikey began climbing. The ropes shook like they had never shaken before, and then stopped when he finally reached me. I felt what I think was one of his hands, although it was so big it was hard to imagine this as a mere mortal’s body part. I felt first my legs untangle, and then my arms, and then a strange and frightening sensation as I felt my body being lifted and tossed! I yelped in fright and heard Noah shout an “It’s okay!” from the floor. With my eyes still closed, I had no idea what was happening to me, but when the strange swinging sensation stopped at last, I opened them. And that’s when I realized I’d been slung over this mammoth orange man’s shoulder.
A big cheer rose up from the gym as Mikey walked with me like that for a while, and I didn’t know if I should give one of those waves that the Queen does. It seemed appropriate, for some reason. So, I did. This caused a huge burst of laughter to ring out from the crowd around me. Noah and Maxine were also laughing now. The mood in the room lifted and soon this big muscle-bound man stopped walking. And then, ever so gently, he lifted me off his shoulder and placed me down on a chair. It was almost elegant, the way he’d done it. Like that scene fromDirty Dancingwhen Patrick Swayze lifts Jennifer Grey into the air while they’re both having the time of their lives. This, in contrast, though, was not the time of my life.
CHAPTER 22
“Brave and fearless,” Noah said as we started walking out of the gym after my ordeal was over.
“What?” I asked.
“Your list. Brave and fearless. Sure, clumsy and bad at climbing, but fearless nonetheless.”
“You think?” I asked, trying to decide whether he was right.
“Definitely,” Maxine echoed. “I bet you’re always doing things like that in life. Trying new things, being fearless.”
“I like that,” I said with a smile.
We were just about to exit into the parking lot when Maxine poked me on the shoulder. “That’s him!” she said.
Noah and I both turned.
“Kyle. @TheKyleWhite101. The guy. The one who broke up with Frankie!”
At that, my eyes zoned in on him and, I must say, for a guy whose girlfriend, or ex-girlfriend, was missing, he looked entirely unperturbed as he drank a green smoothie and flexed his sun-kissed calf muscles in the gym mirror.
“What a douche,” Maxine murmured.
I had to concur. Only a total asshole breaks up with someone on social media and then flexes his calves like that.
