Page 124 of On The Edge
“You’ve given this some thought,” I say softly, but with clear innuendo in my tone.
They know what they are doing; they’ve talked it through and planned it out.
“We have,” Adam matches my soft tone,, his eyes darkening as his eyes graze over me slowly.
“But first,” Markus says, standing up as the structure moves us up again. We rise towards the sky again, and officially out of view of people walking or driving. Unless we’re obnoxiously pressed up against the glass, they’re in the clear. “We want you to see everything you’ve been so excited to see, while we stand right here and observe everything we’ve ever wanted.”
Adam smiles, nodding at me, and twirling his fingers in the air as if to say, ‘Okay, baby, turn around’.
“You two are just going to sit there and watch me?” I ask. What kind of game is this?
“We sure are.” Markus nods, moving back toward the bench before sitting down and leaning back, his head rolling to the side with a lazy grin.
“That’s it? That’s all you planned?”
“Do you hear that, Markus? It sounds like our girl’s a little disappointed.” Adam straddles the bench on the opposite side of Markus so he can look at me, and crosses his arms.
“Hmm,” Markus hums, like he’s unaffected–borderline ignoring me–but I can tell they’re teasing.
Aren’t they?
“Go on, Songbird. Go look out the window. Enjoy.”
Enjoy?
Looking at them both skeptically, it’s clear they’ve got something up their sleeves. They’re too… hands-off. They’re too calm. Intentionally not looking at me, but both have shit-eating grins on their faces.
Turning slowly towards the window, I step into the sun to see the view of the London skyline. The one I’ve always looked at wistfully in movies and hoped I’d get to see one day.
Drinking in the picturesque view, I feel like I can’t blink otherwise I’ll miss something.
It’s silent in the pod… until it’s not.
“Do you remember that time in high school when you found Melody’s panties in your bathroom?” Markus' voice cuts through the room like a blade and steals all the air out of my lungs. I gasp softly, hoping it’s quiet enough to have gone under their radar. But Adam groans loudly.
“Oh yeah, right after that big rainstorm near my house? You all ran home to grab clothes, but she stayed back with me.” I can hear the nostalgic smile in his voice, and my back straightens a little more. “I stood outside the bathroom door trying not to get hard at the fact that Melody was naked inmyshower.”
I remember the day he’s talking about. We were all hanging out at Adam’s for once, out in his backyard, laying on the old, beat-up trampoline that his parents probably should’ve taken to the dump. We were all just shooting shit, talking and hanging out with a bag of gas station candy between us. It was a beautiful day, a little overcast, but nothing to worry about.
Then the skies opened up.
From zero to sixty in two seconds, and they all scrambled and ran inside. But I stayed.
I remember tipping my head up to the sky, and letting the rain pour down on me, soaking every bit of my clothes, my hair, my skin. I just wanted to enjoy the storm, the beautiful moment.
“I’ll never fucking forgive myself for leaving. I should’ve worn your clothes. Maybe if I hadn’t left, those panties would be mine,” Markus says, his voice laced with jealousy.
“No, man. They’re mine. I still have them.”
My head turns quickly to look at him in shock, but when I do, Adam’s eyes are locked onto me and shaking his head.
“No, no, baby, turn back around.” He twirls his finger again to tell me to face away.
“But–,” I say, but am quickly cut off.
“Just listen,” Markus says in a low, dark way. “Listen to us, Songbird.” At those words, my mouth closes shut, and I hesitantly turn around, pressing my hands against the thick glass.
Just waiting.
