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Mandy doubled over, still laughing, and reached for her drink. As she took a sip and kept drinking, one of the other girls spoke up, “Want a drink? There’s some coolers they lowered down from the hole.” She pointed to a corner. “Dylan brought a pony-keg, but it’s on top. Half the guys are up there.”
I saw mostly girls were in the cave. The guys were jumping from the top and climbing back up. As I watched another one make his way up the side of the wall, I asked, “No girls can climb up?”
Mandy was still laughing, curled up in a ball now. Her friend saw my frown and laughed nervously. She said, “A lot of girls are scared, plus you have to pull yourself up using the rope. That’d be really embarrassing if they couldn’t get up, you know.” She shrugged. “We mostly just come through the base like you did and hang out.”
My frown deepened. “That’s bullshit. Someone could bring a ladder so the girls could have fun too.”
“This is fun.” She shrugged. “Enough for me.”
It wasn’t. I muttered, “Not to me.”
“What?” Her eyes widened. “Are you going to try it?”
I nodded. Damn straight I was going to try. This was what I did. If there was a wall, safe, lock, or any barrier put in front of me. I would tear it down. Standing up, I noticed people had grown quiet as I approached the wall. Someone whispered behind me, “No girl’s made it all the way up there, have they?”
Another whispered back, “No and shut up. I want to watch this.”
Ignoring them, I gritted my teeth and started up. My feet covered the first steps easily. I held onto the rope as Tray had, pulling myself up as the spaces between the rocks grew wider and wider. I was almost there. I could feel the breeze from up top and could hear the boys laughing up there. They didn’t know I was coming up. They pulled Tray up, but they’d been watching for him. They were so loud, they wouldn’t be able to hear me if I called out. Then I glanced down. Every single person below me was watching. Mandy was pale. Her hands were pressed to her open mouth. Amber and Jennica moved out from a corner. Both were waiting for me to fall and they crossed their arms over their shoulders. Smug smirks appeared on their faces.
I grew harder in my resolve. I’d go it alone. With that thought, I gripped harder on the rope and wrapped it around my arms and shoulders so if I slipped, my fall would be slowed enough I could stop myself. The rope burn would hurt, but I was going to tackle this one way or another. Wrapping the rope around my leg, I looped it so my foot fit into a small pocket and then I began to climb. When I broke into buildings, it was rarely a full-out climb like this, but I had done it on a few occasions.
I kept going. All of my muscles were stretched tight and they began pulsating as I held my weight, then climbed up one handful at a time. As I neared the top, the guys still didn’t know I was there. My head had almost cleared the surface. I heard someone shout from below, “Help her!”
I glanced down, surprised. It was Mandy’s friend. She stood to her feet and walked to the edge of her bank. Giving me a thumbs-up sign, she cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled again, “HELP HER!”
“Yeah!” More girls clambered to their feet and stood with her. They all started hollering. “Help her! You helped the others.”
Mandy’s hands fell from her mouth, but it still hung open. She was gazing around the group. Amber and Jennica shared a dark look, their mouths in flat lines. I grinned at them. That made this even more satisfying, and with that last burst of adrenalin, I used it for momentum and clambered up. My head broke the surface.
All the guys were sitting in a group around the keg. Their backs were to me. I rolled my eyes, but grasped the rope at the top and pulled myself the rest of the way. When I was at the top, the bottom broke out in cheering and clapping. The guys heard that and turned. A few jumped when they saw me. “Holy shit.”
Tray moved around the group. His eyebrows shot up, and he began shaking his head. He came over to me. “Why am I surprised? I shouldn’t be.” He helped me up and patted me on the back. “Want a drink?”
I shook my head. Ignoring the stunned looks from the guys, I turned and headed towards the opening of the waterfall. “I’m jumping. I came up here to have fun and that’s what I’m going to do.”
He nodded, moving back. His eyes were full of approval as they roamed over me. I climbed up in my clothes, but took them off now so I was standing in my bathing suit. It wasn’t meant to be a show, but with all eyes on me, it was one. Even now, as I stood there, a few girls had went over to the wall. They were assessing if they could do it too. Then I lifted my arms up and jumped. As I soared down into the water, a sense of liberation went through me. I was alive. I did what I wanted. It was a freeing moment. Then I pulled myself up from the pool of water and went right back. My body was aching from the swim last night and the climb, but I was going again. Then again. Then again. I would go until I was done having fun.
I started back up when Mandy’s friend came over. “You’re going again?”
“Yeah. You could too, you know.”
Regret flashed over her face and she shook her head. “I can’t. I can’t pull myself up at the top.” She lifted her arms. “These aren’t strong enough.”
I shook my head. “Start up after me. I’ll haul you up the rest of the way if I have to. They do it for the guys. They can do it for us too.” Fierce determination came over me, then I heard a mocking tone.
“When did you become all about women’s lib?” Amber folded her arms again over her chest. Mandy’s friend melted away, so did a lot of the girls, and Jennica took their place, coming to stand beside her friend.
Mandy frowned. She started forward, but stopped. Fear flashed in her eyes. Jennica and Amber saw her too. We all waited to see if she would speak up. She didn’t. Her head went down and she sat back with her group.
That pissed me off. When I saw the smug looks in Amber and Jennica double, I gave them a polite ‘fuck off’ smile and asked, “Care to give it a try? Women’s lib or not, it’s a rush to jump from the top.”
The smug smirks disappeared. They shared another look, but this was one of matching hesitation. Then I smirked this time. “Yeah. That’s what I thought.” With that last parting shot, I started to climb again. When I got to the top, Tray was there. He reached down from the rope, but I shook my head. I had a point to prove. “No, I have to do this alone again.”
He saw Jennica and Amber and nodded. “Okay.”
He was there when I finished and drew me against his chest. Hugging me to him, he dropped a kiss to my lips. We were in plain view of everyone, on top and down below. I didn’t want to think about who would be pissed or who would be surprised. I answered his kiss, deepening it, and knew in some way this was giving Jennica and Amber the middle finger. When I pulled back from him, Tray caught me. His hand cupped the back of my neck and his forehead rested on mine.
The climb and diving back down had my blood pumping. The adrenalin was addicting, but it didn’t compare to this. His thumb rubbed back and forth over my neck in a soothing motion, giving me goose bumps. Whatever unspoken agreement we had before, the joking banter we shared earlier in the afternoon, was done.
