168 Hours of Miles Fonte

Chapter 4: Sunday

A few hours went by, contained with screaming from Tyler, arm clenching from Brandon, side conversations with Andre, and side-glances from Miles. It was entertaining to watch them, but in the back of my mind I was thinking of home.

It was 7:30. Usually around now my mom and I would have already had dinner and would be watching a movie with friends. We'd all squeeze onto the ugly stained couch we have, it's comfier than Miles', but smaller. My life at home was simple: Everyone in bed by 10, and up at 7. Now I contemplated my life, 24 hours later, a lot has changed. I hadn't eaten dinner, just a few snacks, watching video games instead of my normal Gilmore Girls, and the biggest change of course was living with a guy. I can't imagine what my mom's face would be if she knew. My stomach felt queasy at the thought.

Tyler jumped up, "alright I think it about time."
I was surprised he said that in an "inside voice." Brandon agreed with Tyler and stood up. Miles looked at his watch, "yeah it's time to go." He said casually.
I was still confused, so I looked at Andre. He was grabbing his jacket off the arm of the couch.
"Time to go where?" I finally asked.
They gave each other side glances.
"Think she can handle it?" Andre inquired.
"She has potential to be fun." Tyler said looking up and down at me.
They continued discussing "it". I didn't like how they were talking about me instead of to me. I looked at Andre again, he was about to tell me when Miles interrupted.
"Nah, Andre don't bother, she won't do it." He said surely.
A little irritation rose in me. "And what makes you so sure?" I asked.
He shrugged. "I just know."
"Well tell me and I can decide." I said.
"I said no and that's final," He said flatly. Seriously? Did this guy think he was my dad or something?
I scoffed. "Screw you, I'm coming."
Brandon laughed, which made me elated because it was the first time he acknowledged my existence. Miles just rolled his eyes.
"Bring a sweatshirt." He said, clearly not happy about it. He's just mad he got his ego bruised in front of his friends.
All the guys started leaving the dorm. I grabbed my pale blue sweatshirt from my bag and turned off the light.

When I walked out the door Andre was leaning up against the wall waiting for me.
"I'm glad you're coming." He said smiling, I noticed a little gap in between his front teeth.
He put his arm around me and we headed downstairs. It was weird. I had met Andre two hours before and I already felt so comfortable with him. I've never been very good at making friends, especially this quickly. But Andre seemed so genuine, trustworthy, so laid back, we just clicked.

Miles drove. Brandon sat shotgun, I was behind Miles and Andre was in the middle of Tyler and I. Tyler was hyped. They still refused to tell me where we were going so I stopped asking. It was getting dark, the buildings light reflected off the window showing its smudges. I watched as dorms turned into homes and homes turned into cityscape.

It had been 15 minutes of Tyler's strange, loud, music. I noticed Miles' reflection in his window. He was mouthing lyrics to the song. He wasn't wearing his glasses and the lights from passing cars made his eyes seem an even brighter shade of blue. I looked over at Andre, his phone was blowing up; I was able to read one text before he hid it from me and smiled.
"In due time." Andre said.
The text I read said, "where are you guys?!' From someone named Liam.

A few minutes passed when Miles pulled to the side of a bridge. Miles turned off the car shutting down Tyler's music. Thank God. I thought. Everyone began piling out. Miles was right about bringing a sweatshirt, I immediately began to shake as we got out of the car.

"Hey you're late." A guy yelled across the street, waving. I assumed he was Liam.
"Ah shut up we're here, aren't we?" Miles yelled back.

A girl with jet black hair, grey jeans, and chains hanging around her waist was leaning against the bridge. She was skinny, and super pretty. That kind of pretty where she didn't need makeup; when I got closer I could see that she wasn't wearing any, just some false eyelashes. Brandon walked up to the girl and put his arm around her. Andre leaned over to me.

"Brandon's girlfriend, Kali." He explained. I nodded.
The Liam guy tossed Tyler a bag.
"Here, you first." Liam said.
Tyler smirked. He unzipped the bag and pulled out a red, worn, harness, then started putting it over his head. Liam nodded toward me. "New recruit?" He asked Miles.
"Something like that." Miles said.
Liam took a step back, and I began to feel uneasy at how obvious he was checking me out.
"Hmm, she's gonna need a small harness, I didn't bring an extra." Liam said.
He wasn't "checking me out", he was trying to figure out what size harness I am. A wave of embarrassment rushed over me. Though I instinctively zipped up my sweatshirt.
"I'm sorry. What are we doing?" I asked.
Liam laughed. "Bungee jumping babe."
Ugh. Babe. I hate that he called me that. Then I actually thought about what he said.
"Bungee jumping!" It finally hit me.
They all laughed.
"Who's the idiot who didn't tell her?" Kali asked.
"That would be Miles." Brandon said.
Miles rolled his eyes and said, "She can go with me, if it's a problem."
Liam nodded his head as if it was no big deal. But I felt my blood pressure spike.

Tyler was hooked up to the harness, standing at the edge, "are y'all ready?!" He asked impatiently.
Liam hopped up on the bridge, checked all the ropes attached to him, patted him on the shoulder and hopped back down.
"Ready when you are!" Liam yelled.
Tyler did not hesitate to jump off the side screaming all the way down. "Woooooo!!!"

"I don't have to go with you." I said to Miles.
"Oh, you wanna go alone?" Miles asked. "You could. You'd slip out but that might save me some trouble."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah, I wouldn't have to sleep on the couch tonight." He shrugged.
I glared at him. He just laughed it off.
Kali called Miles over. I watched him as he leaned over the edge with the rest of the group and cheered along.

I hung back, observing from afar. The group stood in the center of the bridge with lights sparkling sporadically behind. The scene was picture worthy; so much so, that I pulled my phone out and took a few photos. All their silhouettes were unfocused and chaotic; but I liked them. I especially liked one where Miles was grabbing onto Andre's shoulder, laughing. He looked unusually happy. Which was new to me but it suited him well.

Tyler slowed down and the guys pulled him back up. He ripped off the helmet. His bleached hair was wild and his eyes were wide.
"That was awesome!" He shouted.
"Okay there are two harnesses ready this time, who's going?" Liam asked.
Brandon and Kali stepped forward volunteering for one harness; they started clipping things in. Miles bumped my shoulder.
"Come on." He said grinning. "It's our turn."
"You're really getting a kick out of torturing me aren't you?" I asked, my voice high, nervous.
"Hey, I said you shouldn't come and you said...." he waited.
"Screw you." I murmured.
"Precisely. Now it's payback time." He laughed.
Miles dragged me closer to the bridge and we began putting the other harness on. It was incredibly uncomfortable, especially with Miles behind me being so close, and Liam getting up and personal to check everything.
I focused on the bridge and how busy it wasn't. Since we had gotten there, not a single car had driven by. This was a deserted bridge. I wondered how they discovered it?
"Ready when you are!" Liam yelled.

Kali and Brandon dropped. I just stared over the bridge, I didn't know how many feet down it was but I knew that there was water at the bottom. My heart was racing and I suddenly stopped moving. I missed shaking from the cold.
Miles leaned in and whispered to me. "Are you okay?"
I stayed still until I could make myself shake my head. Keeping my hands tight on my chest where the harness crossed.
"Look, you don't actually have to do this. I'm just impressed we got the harness on you." His breath was hot in my ear.
I continued to stare down. His words were...nice. I wanted him to keep going. Miles continued.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you what we were doing. But you don't need to prove anything to us, alright? You only do this if you want to do this."
I stayed silent.
"Tell me to stop right now and we will get you off of here." He promised.
He put his arms around me. My stomach fluttered and I thought hard. When will I ever get the chance to do this again? Never. And college is a time to try new things, right? I swallowed.
"I want to do this." I said, which came off less high pitched than anticipated.
He squeezed my hands tight and shouted, "We're ready!!"

Then we dropped. My heart with us.

I could feel the wind hitting my face and, for a few seconds, I managed to open my eyes. I saw lights in the distance, beautiful, starlike lights from the city buildings. Then my eyes watered up and the lights became completely blurred. So I shut my eyes and focused on Miles, on his cheering, and on his arms around me: tight, constant, not letting go. I prayed he'd never let go.
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