Page 71 of Surviving Lies

“So what’s your story, Macie? Why no boyfriend for you?” I asked. We had some time to kill, so I figured getting some dirt on her would take my mind off of my own.

“Ugh, I don’t know. I always seem to make such shitty decisions about guys.” She picked at a dandelion growing between the cracks of the sidewalk at our feet. As she aimlessly peeled away the tiny petals, she went on. “I always get caught up in those amazing feelings you get at the beginning of a relationship. You know the ones, when you get the butterflies in your belly and you can’t stop thinking about him.”

Yeah, I knew those feelings well. Was having them for two guys at the moment, and one of them has been in my life for over a year already.

“I know exactly what you’re talking about,” I told her.

She mewled a soft sound of agreement as she stared off in the distance. “Well, I get too caught up in that. I guess I’m too much of a romantic?” She threw the dandelion, now petal free and a bent, limp green stem, onto the small patch of dead grass that was supposed to be our front lawn. Taking the hair tie from her wrist, she wound her long hair into a low bun and wrapped the tie around it.

Not sure if she was done talking, I was about to keep the conversation going. But she cleared her throat, so I glanced her way.

“I stay in things a lot longer than I should. I don’t read the signs. Does that make sense?” she asked, looking back at me. Her eyes were expectant, as if I could help answer the world’s problems.

“I don’t think you’re much different from most of the population, Macie. People want to see the good in others; they want to hope that it will work out. Turn a blind eye.” God knew I was guilty of doing almost exactly that with Ty most of last year.

Macie made that deep scoffing noise in her throat again. “Nah, not you, Becca. All I’ve seen you do since I’ve known you is stand up for yourself. I wish I could be more like you.”

And now it was my turn to scoff. “Ha! If you only knew the half of it! Come on, I’m done sitting here wasting our time. Let’s try to get me up on that balcony.”

We both stood up and stared at the looming structure about nine feet above the ground. Macie was taller, so it made sense for her to lift me, and I would try to scale the railing and make it over.

She stood with her hands on her hips, resisting. But eventually she relented, knowing we had no other choice. “Fine,” she said, begrudgingly.

Stepping forward, she put her hands on her thigh. Pushing against her leg, she launched me into the air a bit and I grabbed for the lower railing of the balcony. Luckily, I got a hold of it with both hands.

“Christ, Becca, this is crazy!” Macie screamed up at me.

As I swung my legs to get some momentum, one of them finally caught on the railing as well. I dug my foot between the rails and tried to pull myself up. But that was when I realized my mistake.

“Shit,” I mumbled.

“What’s wrong?” Macie yelled up to me.

I didn’t want to worry her, but I knew I was now stuck. Basically upside down on the underside of our balcony. This wasn’t going to end well if we didn’t get help.

“Macie, take my phone out of my bag now. Call someone, anyone. Call Gage. Call Ty. For fuck’s sake, call Xander if you have to, but I need a big guy here fast to get me down! My foot is stuck.” My arms were already starting to shake from trying to keep my body in this position. If my arms gave out, I would be hanging upside down by my foot, and that would be bad. Really, really bad.

“Oh shit, Becca,” Macie cried as she fumbled with my phone. “What’s your password?” She got the phone open and decided Ty would be the best first call, even though Gage lived so much closer. “Ty, oh thank God, you have to come over. It’s Becca – she needs you!”

I didn’t think Macie even needed to finish her sentence, as I could hear Ty screaming through the line that he was coming. My hands were getting sweaty, and my biceps were hurting. I was not going to be able to hold on until Ty got here. He lived over a mile away. With one final burst of energy, I reached up and wrapped my arm around the railing, my elbow now hooked around the metal. Feeling more secure, my breaths slowed.

Then I heard the best sound my ears could hear: the ‘Stang.

“Macie, I hear Gage’s car. Go stop him!”

Macie ran to the street, but Gage had already stopped, obviously seeing what had been going on.

“What the fuck are you doing up there, Becca?” Gage yelled as he ran up the walkway to my apartment.

“Well, you know, thought the view might be better from up here,” I mused.

“We locked ourselves out,” Macie offered.

Gage was busy looking for something. What, I didn’t know. “Christ, was there no one you could call with a key? What about the front office?”

Macie’s head snapped up and her wide, rounded eyes mirrored mine. We were so stupid. In our crazed stupor, we really hadn’t thought this through. And then I heard the screech of another car pulling up.

Ty.

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