Missing Streams

Heights - 10

Jumping to rest my foot on a small rock, I balanced myself against the wall with my thigh. It was made difficult in that all the rocks were the same colour, but it wasn't that much of a challenge for me. I had been climbing walls and fences since I was old enough to wonder what was on the other side.

I was sweating by the time I reached the top, turning myself around to sit with my legs hanging off the side. Wexler just looked pissed off, and while James was smiling at me, none of the others seemed to give a frog's fat ass.

Sitting atop the wall like that brought me back to bittersweet times.

***

I stared at the beautiful starry sky, breathing in the fresh air. The moon beckoned to me, asking me to join it in the sky. Urging me to take a single step forward and find myself in a whole new world.

"Sc-Scar..." Sam stuttered, her voice quiet from beyond the howling winds, "Please don't do this!"

"Why shouldn't I?" I chuckled to myself, looking down at my beat up sneakers. The shoelaces smacked against my legs in the brutal winds that threatened to knock me over. But even as I dared them to do so, I stayed standing where I was.

"Because we need you." Her voice was louder as she drew closer, but I still strained to hear her, "Me and Max, we can't get by without you. I won't even try to convince you to do it for yourself, just do it for us."

Laughing, I contemplated that thought. Stepping down to go back home and curl up on an old mattress to sleep the night away. Wake up to cook pancakes and drive to school, acting like nothing had ever happened.

Acting like I wasn't two inches away from toppling over the edge of a building. As if cold pavement wasn't waiting to break my neck and carry me away.

"Please." Sam muttered, reaching up to grab my hand.

"I guess so." Staring blankly ahead of me, I let her pull me down off the wall. She wrapped me in a hug, but I couldn't feel it.

***

Laying on the floor to stare at the cieling, James was sitting next to me. Wexler told us just to hang out while he did paperwork, probably to file my threat under record. But I didn't care, since James was looking at me with childlike curiosity.

"Have you actually climbed a ferris wheel?" He gushed.

"You betcha." I chuckled, "It was shut down so it's not like it was moving. Still took a lot of work, especially since the wind gets stronger the further up you go."

"What else have you done?"

I shrugged, which didn't really work since I was laying on my back, "Mostly just climbing buildings and crap. Got in plenty of trouble while I was at it, trespassing and whatnot."

James smiled, "Damn, that must've been cool."

"Believe me, it was." I grinned, "No matter how many times I ended up in a police car."

***

Classes let out at five so we could wander aimlessly for an hour before supper. Breakfast was at eight am, lunch one pm, and supper six pm. Classes were eight hours, starting at nine and ending at five, and we got an hour for lunch. Longer than school was back home, but I wasn't going to complain in case they started night classes.

We apparently had free reign over the place. At least I assumed as much, since they didn't tell us we didn't. Simon complained just as I expected he would. That didn't mean I was doing anything to deserve it - he just assumed I would be.

"I'm sure they won't let you go outside "

"I didn't want to, but I am now. Thanks for the idea."

Both Simon and James opened their mouths to speak, but I shut them up, "I'm going by myself, by the way."

Neither of them spoke up.