Zoey 101: You Must Of Had A Broken Heart ☑

Chapter 21

“Ready?” he asked, looking up. I stopped and took in his line of sight, eyeing the large structure.

“Am I ready for what?” I asked tentatively.

“We’re going to rappel down the face of this rock,” he answered, smiling back at me. “It’s really not that big, don’t worry.”

“We’re going to do what?!”

“You’ll love it, I promise.” My reaction did little to deter his huge smile. “I was here yesterday scoping it out. There’s a path around to the left that brings us to the top.”

He took in my frozen stature and added, “You trust me, right?”

I looked at him and shook my head. “Not anymore.”

He laughed. “Come on.” He hiked along the path that traced the massive structure. To my dismay, my legs followed.

When we climbed to the top, the distance looking down appeared twice as far as it did when I viewed it from the bottom. My stomach rolled, but instead of becoming overtaken by panic, I was unexpectedly struck with a surge of adrenaline.

“Here’s to falling to my death,” I thought to myself. I joined Chase in the center of the flattened area where he was laying out the equipment.

“Ready yet?” he asked, grinning at me.

I took in a lung full of air and released it slowly through my lips. “Sure.”

Before I could change my mind, Chase had me slip my legs through the holes of the harness and fastened it securely. He proceeded to explain the rope system and where I should place my hands and how to release it to let myself down. I listened carefully, knowing if I didn’t pay attention, I would never be listening to anything again – even with Chase’s promise that he’d spot me the entire time and I had nothing to fear. Easy for him to say.

Once the rope was anchored to a sturdy tree and the figure eight was clipped to me, Chase returned to the base where he held the dropped rope to assure that I didn’t fall – or to get the best view when I plummeted to my death. I backed up to the edge of the rock. The first step was the hardest, especially leaning back into a position that defied gravity. The adrenaline pushed me over the edge, and I was planted on the side of the rock, staring straight up through the treetops toward the sky. I remained still, trying to fight the urge to lean upright.

Chase hollered instructions from below to correct my angle and the positioning of my feet. I tentatively fed the rope with my right hand as my feet slowly crept down. After I got used to the release and footing, my stuttered steps progressed into small hops, until my feet found the safety of the ground. It didn’t take as long as I imagined, but I still felt exhilarated to be standing on my own – upright.

“What did you think?” Chase asked with a grin.

“I liked it,” I surrendered, grinning back.

“I knew you would.” I rolled my eyes as he unclipped the rope from my harness.

We rappelled a couple more times, and I felt more comfortable with each attempt. Chase chose to go face-first his last time, which was difficult to watch. The speed with which he ran down the rock caught my breath.

“Show off,” I mumbled as he landed with ease on the bed of fallen leaves.

“Don’t worry, you’ll be looking for the next rush too after you get used to it.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever want to do that.”

“I think I found the perfect place for you to try to drive my car. The road that almost never has cars on it,” Chase declared on our way back down to the car. “We can go out after you work on the paper on Tuesday.”