I'm Scared of Heights | ONC 2023 ✔️

4) How Could You Fall

Natalie

Dashing in behind Winn with my bags slung over my shoulders, I speak nonsense. "Do you want a slushie?"

Winn faces me, shifting from foot to foot. "Yeah, sure? Pineapple, please." His voice is muffled, unlike the umpire-like call he usually instills. His eyes dance left as his Adam's apple bobs in a harsh motion. "If you'll excuse me, I need to use the bathroom." He rushes the words, a gurgling noise circling the phrase.

In no time flat, he's busting through a blue paint-chipped door.

I drift to the slushie shop's line with my hands tucked in my pockets. The black and white patterned floor is enough to give someone a headache, and the retro, family-friendly vibe attracts obnoxious kids. I side-eye an abhorrent couple, flip out my phone, and message Dad, attempting to ignore the borderline intrusive questions I want to hurl at Winn.

Dad's response is immediate, glaring at me on my Fitbit and phone. Are you okay?? Have you been abducted????

I'm fine. I'm with a friend. I doubt aliens would be able to stand me. I reply

I've got to hear this!! My phone buzzes in shared annoyance. Oh... and I've got some news. I'll tell you in a bit.

In the pit of my stomach, a bubble of discomfort seeps in. News. A word with positive and negative connotations. I've had enough disruptive announcements to conclude that I want to smite the word out of existence almost as much as my current wasteland. If this concept didn't exist, I wouldn't know of Scramble's hiring procedure or my mother's arrival last week. Both horrendous.

I text back. Right.

Before I reach the register, I produce my pocket-sized wallet chocked with crinkled tens, fives, and ones. "Two pineapple slushies. One small and the other medium," I direct to the cashier, counting out the change.

"Coming up." The blue-capped individual jerks two styrofoam cups off a towering stack. Crushed ice fills the two cups, sputtering like the muscle of my brain.

Why does it make sense to put future employees through your dating program, Scramble?

Why does it make sense for the LE to come back now?

Logically, it doesn't. Both procedures are useless.

Utilizing Scramble's services is like watching an infographic posted on free cable TV.

It's a waste to develop a romantic relationship, correct? What would that even feel like? Is there some invisible pull that drags earthlings together? Why do people crush? How could you fall for a stranger? Why would anyone willingly roll themselves through that? It's like biting into a caramel-covered onion. On the surface, it's an innocent, sweet apple. But inside, the vegetable can make one shed tears. Once you take a bite, you can't relinquish the taste.

Throwing a nod at a Fizzy's employee, I grasp the slushies and deposit the drinks along with my bags in a booth closest to the exit. I turn, positioning my back against my duffle. The restrooms are straight to my right, and a secondary entrance is planted directly ahead for boneheads who park on the wrong side.

"Paul!" A person with choppy green hair screams, barreling out of the restrooms. Way to be annoying, bonehead.

"Inside voices!" someone screeches back. I see, you must be equally oblivious to others' existences.

"Some idiot upchucked in the bathroom!" From the corner of my eye, I watch green hair act out a person vomiting, accompanying the actions with uncannily real noises. Go ahead and make people with weak stomachs vomit. "Oh, and Will looked like a fricking ghost. He's got the clean-up." Green hair spits out a deranged laugh. You look like a feral rat.