Urban Climber

by Hunter, S. V.

  “Be careful, Laura. Don’t let him affect your grades.”

  I giggle. “Yeah, I kinda get that he doesn’t like coming to class.”

  The professor’s aged brow furrows into deep creases. “He doesn’t, and yet even without caring, he always gets the same answers as I do.”

  My mouth drops. “Really?”

  “Yes. He’s a genius, many would say. But a bored one. He thinks he doesn’t need to study.”

  “Maybe he doesn’t?”

  A displeased look clouds his eyes. “He’s a drop-out, Laura. He drops out of things all the time. He believes he’s far superior to the system.”

  “What system?”

  “Regulations. Rules. Society. You know that sort of thing. I know you care about your grades and your future, and well, Mr. Ashton doesn’t. Nor does he really need to, I guess. Just be careful with whom you associate; that’s all I’m saying.”

  I nod at the old guy, but inside, I’m shaking my head. This conversation is so not appropriate. Like, seriously? What does it matter to him?

  “Thanks for your concern, but I’ll be fine. Tom can do whatever he wants. Either way, it won’t make any difference to me.”

  A long shadow falls across my body, and I look up to find Climber standing directly behind me. Damn, he’s tall.

  “You wanna bet?” he sniggers, bumping my cello as he pushes past me.

  “Mr. Ashton? Can I see you in my office?”

  “Nah,” he smiles. “Send me a text if it’s urgent. I don’t like meetings.”

  “Whether you like them or whether you don’t isn’t the point.”

  “See why I don’t bother coming to class, Ra? He’s always up in my face. That’s what you’ve really got to watch out for. Entering snore-ville. It’s a slippery slope to the mundane. And no one wants that. See you around, beautiful.”

  “So you do know him, then.” The professor frowns as my face turns bright red again.

  “No, I told you.” I stammer, covering my cheeks with my hands. “I really, really don’t!”

  Turning on my heels, I whip out my phone from my back pocket and start texting so fast I feel like I’m in a competition to win a new one.

  Me: OMG. Guess what?

  Mel: …

  Me: I saw him again. And damn, he’s even hotter than I remember! So much hotter ;)

  Mel: Who? Hugo?

  Me: No, silly. Climber!

  My phone instantly starts ringing, and I smoosh it against my ear. “Hi!” I gush and giggle like a twelve-year-old. “Heeey!”

  Mel laughs. “What are you going on about? I’m meant to be in a meeting, but I excused myself before all your beep-beeps got me fired. Now, who the hang is Climber, girl?”

  “Urban climber!” I squeal. “The urban climber! I saw him again, just now.”

  “But are you sure it was him? It could have been any crazy trying to scale a building. It’s not that uncommon, you know.”

  “Of course I’m sure,” I giggle. “I spoke to him.”

  She takes a big breath and sighs loudly. “Do I need to come and bail you out? I don’t think I can leave you alone anymore. This city is clearly turning you bonkers!”

  “I’m not going bonkers,” I laugh. “He turned up at my lecture! Turns out he must be taking some music classes or something, ‘cause he sat right next to me.”

  “What?” she gasps. “But what about your loving, wonderful Hugo?”

  “Maybe,” I pause, smiling to myself, “he’s not so wonderful.”

  “That’s my girl!” Mel laughs. “I’ll pick up a bottle of bubbly on the way home, and we can talk all about it, okay?”

  “Yes!” I smile. “In fact, why don’t you get two bottles, and we can make a night of it!”

  “Laura!” she laughs. “What’s happening to you? Do you feel okay?”

  “More than okay!” I smile, looking up at the white, fluffy clouds above me. “I suddenly feel like coming here wasn’t such a bad thing after all.”

  SIX

  One week later…

  This campus is one of the most attractive ones I’ve ever seen—lush green grass that looks like it’s been shipped in from Switzerland, beds of flowers in every color you could imagine, and landscaped mounds of earth that make me wonder if this place used to be some sort of swanky golf course. And in the time that I’ve been here, curiously, the grounds of the college have inspired me to form a new habit. Each day, as I wait for my next class to start, you’ll find me sprawled out on the manicured lawn, a book in one hand, my head resting in the other. I guess I should be worried about grass stains ruining my new jeans, but I’ve never been obsessive like that. Clothes are clothes. If they get a stain on them, I’ll get over it.

  Today is such a beautiful day, and I can’t help but loll around like a cat who’s got the cream. I’m lying face down on the grass, smiling to myself as the rays of the sun sink through my top. No matter how bad the UV is, I can’t ignore how good the heat feels as it sinks into my bones. I close my eyes, listening as the birds chirp their tunes in the trees above me. I could stay in this moment forever. It’s almost like I’m on some tropical vacation, ‘cause even my red-faced monkey is leaving me in peace.

  “Do you wanna remind me how I know you? ‘Cause damn, you’re familiar.”

  Whoever it is, is totally blocking all the sunlight from my body. “Excuse me!” I grumble. “I’m kinda trying to get a tan here.”

  “Well, take off your top then; that’ll help,” the voice sniggers.

  I roll over, ready to snot whoever it is in the face. “Oh.” I pause “It’s you.”

  Climber smirks as he looks down at me. “Well? Are you gonna take it off or not?”

  I frown, propping myself up on my elbows. “Not.”

  “At least tell me how I know you. It’s driving me insane.”

  I squint up at his muscular body, appreciating the view. “You seriously don’t remember?”

  His face shatters like glass. “Did we sleep together?”

  “No, of course not! Geez. Do I look like that kinda girl?”

  He smirks. “I dunno; what’s that look like?”

  “You know exactly what it’s like,” I huff, rolling my eyes at his apparent cluelessness.

  “Are you sure we didn’t sleep together?”

  I swallow, feeling the intenseness of his eyes as they run over my body. “Of course I’m sure,” I mumble. “I would remember every second if we had.”

  He grins widely at me. “Thanks, beautiful.”

  “Wow, you’re something, aren’t you?” I raise my eyebrows. “That’s not a compliment, you know.”

  He shrugs. “It’s just that you’re so familiar to me, and the way you changed color when I sat down next to you last week, I was sure we must have slept together.”

  “Why would you think that?”

  “Because you’re my type.”

  “Oh? And what’s that?”

  “Beautiful. Brunette. Shy, but super fierce under your good girl façade.”

  “It’s not a façade,” I stammer. “I do care about my grades. Anyway, how can you possibly think I’m fierce?”

  He shrugs. “I don’t know, there’s just something about you that makes me think there’s a lot more to you than what you’re choosing to reveal.”

  I bite down on my lip so hard I half expect to taste blood. This guy has got a really ridiculous imagination. He should spend time with the monkey in my mind. I’m fairly sure they’d get on great.

  “So, Ra,” he chuckles, crouching down beside me, “how do I know you? I’m not going to shut up about this until you tell me.”

  I pull a face because I can tell he’s not joking around.

  “Were you on a reality TV program?”

  “Urgh. No!” I moan, slamming my book shut. “I hate reality TV.”

  “So what then?”

  “The truth is,” I exhale, “and I’m not proud of this … but I kinda screamed at you.”

 
; His eyes sparkle wickedly as he leans in. “You did?”

  “Yes,” I giggle. “I screamed and cursed my brains out.”

  “Was that during or after?”

  “Neither. Man, you’ve got sex on the brain.”

  “You’d know.” He smiles. “So, when did this happen? I’m sure I’d remember.”

  “Is that so?”

  “Yeah,” he laughs, “a lot of people scream at me. I seem to get under people’s skin. Dunno why.”

  “It was a couple of months ago now.”

  “Where?”

  “In the city.”

  “Holy shit. You’re the screamer!”

  “Yes.” I nod my head. “And you’re the climber.”

  “Urban climber.” He smirks. “If you’re gonna label me, at least make sure you label me correctly.”

  I roll my eyes. “Whateves. You could have killed yourself, you know. You scared me so much that day, seriously, I just about got arrested when I saw you up there.”

  “You did? How?”

  “Because I tried to go up there and rescue you.”

  “You? Rescue me?”

  I nod. “Yeah. I know it’s silly. But I thought you were going to jump, and well, I wanted to try and stop you. I didn’t want you to die like that.”

  “But you don’t even know me.”

  I shrug. “I know, call me stupid. I care about people way too much. It’s really silly.”

  “No, it’s not. It’s adorable. Where are you from anyway? You can’t be from here.”

  I smirk. “Is it really that obvious?”

  He nods. “So obvious, it’s almost as blinding as the sun.”

  “Doubt it!” I laugh.

  “So, where are you from?”

  I don’t like to talk about my past. I try to avoid it as much as I can. “I was born in a small seaside town.”

  He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear, and I almost forget to breathe. “Which one?”

  “Hardly anyone knows it,” I mumble.

  “Try me.”

  “Southerly.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yup,” I exhale. “Like the storm front, but nothing much ever happens there.”

  “You okay?”

  I nod. “Anyway, enough about me. What about you?”

  “What about me?”

  “Have you done it since?”

  “What?”

  “Climbed.”

  “Why do you think I was late for composition?” he chuckles.

  “No!” I gasp. “You’re lying.”

  He shakes his head. “Sorry, I’m not. I love it, Ra, and I climb as much as I can. The higher, the better.”

  I drop my book, covering my face with my hands. “Why do you do it? Aren’t you afraid you’ll die?”

  “Fear doesn’t prevent death. It prevents life.”

  I peep through my fingers at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Explore! Push your boundaries; try one new thing every day that scares you.”

  “But why would you want to do that when it’s so dangerous? Couldn’t you just eat raw fish or something if you want a cheap thrill?”

  He tosses his head back, his deep laughter almost silencing the birds. “Because then you really know you’re alive, Ra. And that feeling … the feeling when you realize you could have died but didn’t. The rush that roars through your body in that exact moment is worth every second of fear.”

  “But how do you manage the reality of what could happen if you slip?”

  “Half the time, it’s all in your head anyway. Fear trying to swallow you up, eat you whole, swamp your mind and your body. Do you know what I say to fear?”

  “Go on.”

  “I tell it to get fucked! And you know what? You should too!”

  “I don’t understand you.”

  He smiles, wrapping his arm around my shoulder. “Why do you need to? People love boxing people. Putting them into nice, tight packages. ‘She’s a slut.’ ‘He’s a daredevil.’ ‘She’s a rich girl.’ When in the end, it’s all pointless.”

  “So how am I meant to label you then?”

  “Ash. That’s it. I’m Ash. And what I’m into now might be different in a week or even a month. I’m continually evolving and pushing myself. And we all should.”

  “But why would you want to?”

  “Don’t you think it’s kinda annoying that, from zero to seventeen, we can try out a million different things, but once we hit twenty, we’ve got to live in one suburb and speak to one group of people for the rest of our days? It’s so limiting and boring. Don’t you think?”

  “I hadn’t ever thought of it that way.”

  “That’s the problem. People don’t think. They just follow the crowd. Do this, stand there, wear that, answer this, go there. And for what? Pleasing others. Well, stuff others. I’m into pleasing myself.”

  I giggle, and it’s so not appropriate, but seriously, what guy says that and expects a straight face? I swing my head around and stare into his eyes. “You please yourself?!”

  “Oh yes, ha-ha,” he smirks. “Looks like your mind isn’t so pure after all, Ra. See? I knew there was more to you than your daisy car and that giant cello you lug around. What’s holding you back?”

  I shrug. “I don’t know.”

  “Your parents?”

  I shake my head. “Nope, they’ve always been really supportive of me, and anything I’ve wanted to do or try, they’ve been behind me one hundred percent.”

  “Society?”

  I shake my head again. “Where I’m from, there’s hardly any people to make up a society.”

  “What is it then? What’s with the brick wall when you’re around me?”

  “There isn’t a wall, it’s just …”

  “Boyfriend?”

  “Not really … well, not anymore.”

  “So there is a guy?”

  I shrug. “He cheated on me. And I haven’t heard from him since.”

  “Well, he must be cuckoo stupid ‘cause you’re amazing, Ra. Everything about you intrigues me. Your face, your dark curious eyes, the way your skin almost glows in the sunlight.”

  “Stop,” I groan. “Seriously. Look, you’re making me blush again.”

  “See? You’re so adorable I wanna put you in my pocket and carry you around with me forever.”

  “Hey,” I giggle, “I’m not that short. And anyway, that’s a crazy idea ‘cause you don’t even know me.”

  “Exactly.” He grins. “Imagine how much more I’ll like you when I know you. So … how long were you with him?”

  My stomach flips as my red-faced monkey starts throwing pieces of my heart against the inside of my brain. “Can we change the subject? I’m kinda a private person.”

  “And I’m not?”

  I smile. “I don’t know who you are, Ash, other than the complete opposite of me.”

  “Does that scare you?”

  I shake my head. “No. I know it should, but it doesn’t.”

  He leans towards my face, brushing his thumb over my lips. “Well then,” he whispers, “hopefully, you won’t mind if I do this.”

  “Laura,” a voice suddenly yells out, “are ya coming or not?”

  I jump up from the lawn like a bee has stung my backside. “Yup, I’m coming. Sorry I forgot all about it; give me a second.”

  “Sorry, baby, I’m outta seconds!” he laughs, revving his car. “The coffee is getting cold.”

  Ash’s mouth drops. “Are you serious? He’s your ex?”

  I laugh, watching as Bodhi starts panting out the window.

  “What are you two whispering about? Looks intense!”

  “Well, it’s not!” I giggle. “So you better shut your mouth, Fire Boy.”

  “He likes you,” Ash growls, watching as the crazy kid starts smoking up his back tires.