Page 9 of Monsters

Chapter 3

THEN

“Don’t do it, Lucas,” I pleaded, feeling my heart lodge in my throat. “Please don’t.”

He looked down at me from the tree branch he balanced on. “Why not? I chose dare.” He shot me a winning smile, his eyes gleaming with the challenge. I’d issued the dare in full belief he’d instantly turn it down, and I would win. Now I was scared shitless and worried there would be a few broken bones as a result.

“Come down and choose truth then. Just don’t do it.”

“Not a chance, Gem.” Lucas turned back to the higher branch that was two yards away from the one he was currently perched on.

“Are you ready?” he teased.

“No!”

My palms were sweating for him. If he failed to make the distance, he would fall two stories to the ground.

“Watch me fly, Gem,” Lucas announced while bending at the knees.

“Lucas, don’t do—” My words were cut short while I watched, mouth agape, as my friend and neighbor soared through the air like a spider monkey, arms stretched long and ready.

With a cry of delight, Lucas had made the distance, his body swinging like a pendulum until he came to a stop and dangled from the tree.

While he cheered in celebration, there was a part of this scenario we hadn’t thought through. In order to get down, he had to walk his hands along the branch until he reached the thick trunk. The problem was the thickness of the branch he was currently swinging from. His hands couldn’t wrap around its girth enough to hold his weight.

Lucas’s fingers were slipping, and his worried eyes darting down to mine. “I think we have a problem, Gem.”

“Shit! What do I do?”

“Catch me.”

“Catc—” I cut myself off and shrieked in horror, “What?” as my feet did an anxious dance.

“I’m slipping. Catch me!”

Lucas’s shouts mixed with my screams. His body began its descent, finally hitting the forest floor in a heap of limbs. Running to his side, I rolled him onto his back. He was half moaning, the other half laughing.

“Are you hurt?” I searched his body for injuries. Lifting his right arm to check for breaks, he groaned louder.

“Oww,” he said through his pained chuckle.

Dropping his arm onto his chest, I folded my own in frustration. “Why are you laughing?”

His green eyes met mine, and my heart pounded for all the right reasons. “Your face,” he said through a smile.

“What’s wrong with my face?”

“Nothing’s wrong.” His eyes softened. “I’m sorry I scared you.”

I flopped down, stretching my legs. “You did scare me. You’re too heavy for me to piggyback you home.”

Lucas clasped my hand. “Help me up,” he instructed, already starting to move. Rising to my feet, I heaved until he was standing tall next to me.

“Ow!” he groaned, hanging his pained foot slightly off the ground. Hooking his arm around my shoulders, I helped him gain his balance, and together we hobbled to the clearing a few yards away. I clumsily lowered us both to the ground until we were seated next to each other.

We were on the cliff edge of the woods that overlooked the valley, and further beyond into the neighborhoods. It was our own private lookout, one that took over an hour to get to by bike and foot, and one that only Lucas and I knew about. Over the endless rows of houses, including our own, the sun was setting with its usual vibrancy. Pink and orange shades slashed across the sky like an artist attacking his canvas.

This was where we shared our happiest stories and one where we revealed our greatest pains.

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