Hold Me Close (Edited Version)

Chapter 8

"This is what you meant by 'hang out'?" I asked sceptically.

We were in a mostly empty park that had mainly older couples and some birds that an old lady was feeding some birdseed. A couple kids were throwing a ball back and forth off to the side, but for the most part, the park was barren. I frowned as I looked around. "It's pretty, but... not something I'd expect you to like," I said.

Ryan shrugged, a smug look on his face. "I guess you don't know much about me then. We'll have to get to know each other better." He grinned, proud to have such an excuse. "But first, let's see who can get to the top of the play structure first!"

I frowned, eyeing the play set Ryan was referring to. Our levels of excitement for the silly game were completely contradictory of each other. "That's kid stuff," I said. "Besides, who'd want to climb up there anyway? It's probably covered in dirt and bugs."

Ryan grinned mischievously. "Is someone afraid of bugs?" he asked.

I scoffed at him. "No. I just don't see the point," I said.

"Oh, so you're not scared of beatles or spiders? Nothing creepy crawly scares you?" He crawled his fingers up my arms and across my shoulders, trying to creep me out.

I shivered, but not from the idea of bugs. "Absolutely not," I said, pushing his hands away. "I'm not afraid of bugs,"

With the sliest grin I'd ever seen, Ryan leaned towards me. "Then prove it," he said. I sighed, knowing I wouldn't get out of this, and started walking towards the playset. "You have to be fast! Run and climb on top of it before I get to the count of sixty!" Ryan called after me.

I rolled my eyes, but took off towards the base of the structure as fast as I could. I hurried up the the ladder and to the second floor of the play set. There was still one floor left and I had to climb all the way to the top. I looked for the fastest way and finally decided to just pull myself up the rope climb. I made it to the top and let out a sigh of relief that it was over, leaning over the side of the railing to see Ryan.

"You have to go all the way up!" he called from the ground.

I frowned and glanced above me. There was a roof-like thing over my head to cover the set in rain. My eyebrows drew together and I glared down at Ryan. "Seriously?" I said.

"Are you afraid of bugs?" he questioned with a smile.

I groaned, but he started counting numbers again, so I turned and grabbed the side of the roofy thing to hoist myself up. Unfortunately, I had no hand holds to use. I ended up stepping on the side rails and grabbing the flag pole at the top to pull myself up, kicking my legs until I was on the roof enough to grab the flag pole on the top and complete my climb at fifty-four seconds. I was panting from the effort and rested against the pole with my eyes closed. Suddenly, Ryan's head poked out under the roof and I gasped in surprise, grapple against the pole to keep from slipping off the roof. "How did you get up here so fast?" I asked.

He chuckled. "I've climbed this thing a million times. It's easy for me," he said.

I puffed. "And you were going to race me...?" I muttered, finding that challenge slightly unfair.

He laughed and held up his hands in surrender. "Sorry," he said. 

We both made our way to the ground again and I let out a sigh, more exhausted than I had expected to be. Then again, I really wasn't one for heights so the discomfort probably played into my exhaustion.

When my feet were safely on solid ground, I bumped his shoulder and mumbled, "Cheater."

He bumped me back. "Slow poke," he countered.