Nerve [Wattys2016]

Twenty-Two

I swing back and forth from the drop. I hear gasps.. Maybe they were screams. Gasps might be a bit too quiet to be heard over city traffic. I begin to count the seconds. One.... I glance down to see not only people, but cars as well have stopped too. Two... Only eight more seconds to go. Three... The edges of the square, metal bar are digging into my fingers. Four.. My hands are beginning to cramp up. Why the hell are they cramping up, it's been four seconds? Five.. I try to shift my weight around on my hands to take off some of the pain. Six... I look down again. That's a huge mistake. Seven... That plummet is a lot farther down than I had expected. Eight.. Two more seconds left. Nine... I hope the workers are watching this. Ten.... I take a sharp breath and try to pull myself up.

I use all the muscles in my arms to pulls myself upwards, then bring one foot up to the beam. My foot slips, slinging my body downwards once again. "Come on!" I grunt as the metal beams dig into my palms. I swing my leg up once again, only to slide back down. I grit my teeth in pain as I swing to get a better start. My foot makes it up to the beam, so I move one hand up to a higher bar. I shout in pain as I yank it off, now dangling with one arm. I look to my hand, which is almost fully covered in blood. There must've been a nail or some piece of metal sticking out.

Clenching my jaw, I try move my hands up to another bar. I'm successful in making it back to the cart. I look down to see the people applauding. I throw my fist in the air in accomplishment. "Suck it!" I begin. "Guess that death sentence didn't work so well, did it Nerve?!" I shout into the air. If Vee knew they were trying to get rid of me before the finale, she wouldn't have let me do this.... I suppose it's a good that I didn't say anything.

I take a deep breath as I stand in the secure cart. Standing hundreds of feet up, not harnessed in, standing in a cart above the city has never felt so calming.

After I regain a bit of strength, I climb back down- flinching every time I have to squeeze a new bar. The descent seems so much faster than it was climbing up. I get to base of the crane, then jump on to the ground. I look around for Vee who appears in front of me, almost knocking me to the ground. Her arms squeeze tightly around my body, making it difficult for me to breath. I chuckle at this, and closing my fists I wrap my arms around her in response.

"I thought you were going to die." She mumbles.

I smirk to myself, "And why would you say that?"

"You couldn't make it back up... and- Oh my gosh I saw you dangling with one arm." Vee says with shock evident in her voice.

I pull away from her and smile reassuringly, "I'm fine."

She shoves me, "You're an idiot."

I laugh nodding, "I suppose I am."

"You really are. You could've gotten yourself killed!" Vee shouts at me.

"But I didn't." I respond, then look over her shoulder to the mass of people running towards us, along with -what look to be- paparazzi.

"What do they want?" I ask Vee, nodding towards the horde of people.

She puts a hand on her help, "Well, maybe just maybe they're wondering as to why you just hung from a crane two hundred feet above New York traffic, and almost killed yourself."

I smile slightly at her, "Awe lighten up... I made it didn't I?"

Vee shoves my phone into my chest with a huff. Is she actually mad at me? I look on the screen.

Dare Complete.

Those words have never looked so good. I look up to see the crowd has now circled us.