Flying with You

Chapter 4

The next day, I woke up with a start. I took a bath and wore some comfortable clothes. After double-checking my things, I went out to eat breakfast. To my surprise, Kyle was already at the resort's restaurant.

"Good morning!" He greeted me as soon as he saw me. I joined him at the table to eat. After we talked for an hour about our jobs, our friends, and basically everything under the sun, our driver arrived. When I saw the habal-habal again, that's when I realized that I would be sitting too close to Kyle. I wasn't sure if I was ready for that encounter but I didn't have much of a choice. I reluctantly sat behind him and I held the seat tightly.

"Wrap your arms around me," Kyle said with his back facing me. I wasn't sure what was going on in his mind and if I heard him correctly, but the thought of me being too close to him was already uncomfortable for me.

"I'm sorry?"

"If you want to make it to the area alive, you need to do as I say," he insisted and did as he pleased. He placed my hands around his waist and I unintentionally felt how toned his abs were. Damn it. I'm starting to sound like a maniac here.

To save me and the little sanity that was left from me, I tried to put as much distance from him as I could, but to no avail. Eventually, he pulled me closer to him, and at that moment, I felt my heart beating wildly inside my chest. I started to panic, thinking of what should I do if he felt how fast my heart was beating.

"Much better," he said and I was relieved that he didn't say anything about my irregular heartbeat.

We rode the habal-habal all the way to the Seven Falls. The ride wasn't safe for my heart but I tried to calm myself down. When we reached the entrance of the place, I was surprised to see a lot of tourists there. I didn't know that a lot of people were actually brave enough to try the zipline out.

Kyle and I then paid for the entrance fee and the zipline. We walked slowly towards the eco-park to have a closer look at one of the falls. The guide said that the first falls were called Hikong Alo, meaning passage. Like what the locals have told me yesterday, he said that if we wanted to have a better view of the falls, we should take the zipline. My heart started beating fast upon hearing the word zipline. At that time, I wished Nyx was there to keep me in check. My heart was pounding so hard in my chest again and I wasn't sure if I made the right decision anymore.

"Hey, are you okay?" Kyle asked when he noticed that I suddenly became quiet.

"Y-yeah. This is nothing."

"Are you sure? You look like you're about to faint," Kyle said, his voice filled with concern. He then held my arms to support me as we sat down on the bench near the zipline. The sudden contact wasn't welcome but I didn't have much of a choice. My fear of heights was more important than my unexplainable reactions around Kyle.

"Wait. Don't tell me you are scared of heights?" he asked, and when I didn't give an answer, he continued, "Arci, I'm here. I know we really don't know each other that well but I won't let something bad happen to you. I will never let you fall."

"I don't know . . . I think I'm really going to be sick. Can I just go around the area or something?" I told him. He then held my hands tightly, which caused my heart to beat faster than before.

"We're in this together. I'll never let go of your hand all throughout the ride. Okay?"

"Can't I just pass?" I pleaded but to no avail. In the end, we lined up to ride the goddamn zipline. When it was our turn, we were secured in the cloth that was connected to the harnesses. Kyle then held my hand just like he had promised. He also gave me an assuring smile but I couldn't even force myself to smile. I looked at what was ahead of me and that's when I realized that there was no turning back anymore. It was now or never.

"Oh my God!" I screamed the moment they released us from the starting point.

"What the hell! Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!" I kept on screaming. Kyle held my hand tighter to calm me down.

"Relax, Arci. Just enjoy the view."

"They're trying to kill me! Oh my God!" I screamed and he just laughed at my reaction.

The moment that we were done with the first zipline, I hit Kyle's arms continuously. That ride was too stressful for me. I don't even know why I let Kyle talk to me into this. All of my poise and sanity was gone but Kyle, on the other hand, just kept on laughing.

"The ride wasn't so bad, right?" Kyle asked the moment I calmed down. I looked at him with my "Are you kidding me?" face, which he just laughed at.

"Come on, let's go ride the next one."

"Hold up! There is another one?!" I asked in disbelief. When I asked the locals yesterday regarding the Seven Falls, they did mention the zipline. But they didn't tell me that I had to ride twice! Oh my God. What did I get myself into?

"Yup. There's no way for you to go back to the entrance except for riding the second zipline. And I told you, just enjoy the view. You're missing half of your life by screaming all throughout the ride, you know."

"Easy for you to say. You're not scared of heights, you moron!" Kyle laughed at my reaction and I felt my cheeks warming up because of that. I silently cursed myself for my poor choice of words. Instead of making fun of me even more, Kyle held my hand and led the way to my next punishment.

When we were fastened on the zipline, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Kyle held my hand again, which caused me to open my eyes. As he gave me a smile and a nod, I looked at the sight ahead of me. I tried to enjoy every second that passed, and when I did, we were already at the end of the ride.

"So, how do you feel right now?" he asked me while we were waiting for our pictures during the ride.

"Does it really have to be that short?" I asked him back. Instead of teasing me about it, he just gave me a meaningful smile as if saying I told you so. Damn it. I should have just kept my mouth shut!

We decided to take a closer look at the second falls called Hikong Bente, meaning immeasurable. To reach the falls, we had to descend more than seven hundred steps from the first falls. I had to stop a few times since I was running out of breath already. Fortunately, Kyle was kind enough to wait for me and to give me some of his water.

When we reached Hikong Bente, we were both in awe of the beauty that lay in front of us. I didn't even realize my mouth was left open wide for a few seconds. Kyle took that as an opportunity to tease me.

"Close your mouth or the flies will think that it's a tunnel," he kidded after taking a picture of me.

"Ya! Delete that picture now!" I told him but to no avail. I tried to reach for his phone but since he was taller than me, I knew that I was at a disadvantage.

"Give me that!" I yelled once again and that's when the most cliché thing happened to me. I slipped and he caught me just before I fall. With our bodies pressed against each other, I suddenly felt my cheeks burning up. I immediately averted my gaze from him and he took that as a chance to put his phone inside his pocket.

Instead of arguing with him, I just sat still and tried to focus on the view that was surrounding us. Kyle did the same and for a few minutes, we stayed silent and became one with nature.