Falling

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     Of course she was afraid of falling.

     It was quite obvious now, but at first it had not been. Chase Turnleaf had watched her in Yellowstone National Park, on her first day at EAS. She had nervously backed away from the hill. Chase just thought she was going to run away, for she was doubting the existence of magic.

     The memory played in his mind: he had been watching her face pale and her hands begin to shake slightly. He stared at her, wondering what on the freaking earth he should do, until she glanced around at him, and he snapped his head where he was supposed to be looking.

     At the dragon down the hill. Not some girl.

And now, that girl with a huge phobia was climbing a huge beanstalk.

     For a brief moment, Chase realized that this girl was incredibly brave to climb a beanstalk, especially if she were afraid of heights. He was also positive that she did it for her friend, Lena.

     Someday, he would make her want to be brave for him, too. Someday.

     Chase glanced back down at the girl.

     Rory's fists gripped the stem of the beanstalk so tightly her knuckles were white. Her arms were shaking, and her pale face was glistening with sweat.

     She still hadn't noticed Chase staring at her from above.

     Was he supposed to talk to her? How? Did he, like, just randomly start babbling? Or did he have to hug her first? WHAT?

     JUST SAY SOMETHING!

  He summed up all the confidence he could muster, and said, "You're not going to fall, Rory."

     Rory Landon seemed to have stopped breathing, but resumed when she heard Chase's voice. Her grip on the beanstalk tightened and she squeezed her eyes shut.

     Man, this is going to be harder than I thought.

     He felt himself want to sigh, but doing so would probably make Rory feel even more uncomfortable than she was now. Instead, he adjusted his position on the beanstalk, with one leg on the first leaf and another resting at the stem of the leaf. Near her.

     She looked more terrified up close. "Look at me," Chase said.

     That was what he did when he was with the people his dad rescued. There was a point to talking to them: to remind them that they were not alone. That they would be safe.

     To his relief, Rory slowly lifted her head at him. He held on to the beanstalk with one hand, allowing him to lean closer to her.

     "You're not going to fall, but we have to keep moving. Lena's got someplace to be."

     Rory scowled slightly but nodded her head.

     Stubborn as always. "Come on, then," he told her, moving back up the beanstalk.

     Whoa. Was I just being nice back there? To her?

     He had to glance back down to figure out why exactly he was being so nice to her. That was when he noticed she was still in the same place she was before, except she was staring hard at her arm.

Rory was trying, definitely; he could tell. She just needed more help...from him.

He climbed back down and settled on Rory's leaf. It was a mistake.

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