Part 3 (1/2)
CHAPTER 5.
When my cell phone rings the next morning, I answer it with a relatively clear conscience. I did leave my body last night, but I decided to take the high road to Madagascar instead of the low road to Rei's bedroom.
”Baby lemurs are adorable!” I greet him. ”I want one!”
”Madagascar?” he guesses, then sighs. ”You're incorrigible.”
He has no idea.
Since Seth has gas in his car, he drove to school this morning instead of taking the bus with us, so I don't see him until third period, which is our P.E. Adventure cla.s.s. P.E. is the only cla.s.s I have with Rei. Seth is also in this cla.s.s, as well as my friend, Callie Stavros. I love Callie because she's almost as short as I am and in the ten years I've known her, she's never asked why I don't invite her to my house.
Today, we are finally doing the challenge course, which means we get to climb the rock wall to a platform, jump over to the trapeze, swing over to a balance beam that's suspended about twenty feet in the air, walk across it, then jump off and our belayer lowers us down. How fun is that!
I walk to the locker rooms with Seth. By the time I've switched my jeans for a pair of shorts and get to the gym, Rei is having kittens because Callie won't let him hold my rope.
”Rei, we get graded on our ability to maneuver the course and belay. If you won't let me hold the rope for Anna, how am I supposed to learn this? It's not like I can hold your weight or Seth's.” Callie is busy strapping herself into a harness as she talks.
”Well ... but...” Rei isn't comfortable with this at all. ”You know you need both hands on the rope at all times.”
”G.o.d, Rei,” Callie laughs, ”don't worry about it!”
Seth snorts. ”That'll be the day.”
I struggle with my own harness, mostly because the leg loops are too big on me, even when I adjust the straps. Rei comes over and squats down in front of me to make sure I'm putting it on right. ”Did you double back your buckle?” he asks as he fiddles with my straps. ”Do you want me to hold the rope for you?”
No, I did not double back the buckle and yes, I do want him to hold the rope for me, because I trust him and I know he would never let me fall. But the P.E. teacher a.s.signed Callie as my partner and Rei can't hold my rope forever.
”No, she's right. How are we supposed to learn this if we let you and Seth do all the work? Plus, what's the big deal? You never worried when I did gymnastics.”
”I didn't worry as much,” he corrects me.
”Are the legs okay on this? They feel kind of big.”
”It's as tight as it will go.” Rei tugs at the harness leg loops and I am suddenly aware of his hands on my thighs.
”Okay, then, it's good!” I tell him and step back, dangling the carabiner in front of him. ”Which doohickey do I attach this to?”
He takes it and clips it on, gives the rope a tug, then gives me a stern look. ”You are not Spider-Girl.”
”Yes, Anna, you are Spider-Girl!” Callie insists. ”Now go climb that wall.”
Rei clears his throat. ”Helmet?”
”Oh, right. Thanks.”
It is much more fun to scale the wall if I ignore all the bickering going on below me. Callie good-naturedly blows off all of Rei's suggestions and Seth just laughs at both of them. My only contribution to the conversation is to yell ”Slack!” over my shoulder until I finally reach the platform that hangs twenty feet in the air.
Everyone looks smaller than me from up here. I like it.
”You sure you've got her?” I hear Rei ask Callie for the bazillionth time.
”No, I am totally going to drop her on her head,” she tells Rei and then she yells up to me, ”Let's go, itsy-bitsy Spider-Girl. Jump!”
I decide not to torment Rei with daredevil antics, so I trapeze over to the beam, walk across, and Callie lowers me safely to the ground in a most unadventurous way.
”Was that fun?” Rei asks as soon as my feet touch the ground.
”Yes!” I unclip the carabiner. ”It was awesome! I wish I could take rock climbing lessons.”
He sighs. ”I was afraid of that.”
”Ha. Don't worry. I can't afford it.”
After Callie, Rei, Seth and the rest of the cla.s.s have had a chance to maneuver the course, I hang up my harness and we're ready for lunch. ”I just need a quick shower,” Rei says. ”I'll meet you down there.”
He hasn't even worked up a sweat during cla.s.s, but since he doesn't give me any c.r.a.p about not showering, I just nod and head down to the cafeteria. By the time I get through the crowded lunch line, Rei is already sitting at the table, his hair tousled and damp.
There is a familiar buzz in the cafeteria, that collective conversation you hear no matter what day it is. I tune everyone but Rei and Seth out and concentrate instead on dissecting a tomato slice with my trusty spork. As I add another slimy seed to the pile, Rei asks Seth to text him about something later, but then there's one of those long silences that makes you look up just to see if they're both still there.
Seth is frantically searching through his backpack.
”What are you looking for?” I ask.
”My cell phone,” Seth says. ”I remember putting it in my pocket this morning, but now it's not there.”
Rei pulls his own cell phone out of his back pocket. ”I'll call you.”
”Yeah, but I might have left it on vibrate.”
”We may still be able to hear it.” Rei presses Seth's speed dial and we listen intently to Seth's backpack, but there are a hundred and fifty noisy kids in this cafeteria with us. To make matters worse, two tables over, Taylor Gleason and her friends are laughing so hard they are choking on their own spit.
Seth shakes his head in frustration. ”I don't hear it. Maybe I left it in the car.”
Rei snaps the cover onto his lunchbox and bites his apple hard between his front teeth, leaving it there while he jimmies the box back into his crowded backpack.
”Let's go,” he says through the apple.
The parking lot for juniors is two lots away from the school. The sky is a deep, cloudless blue, and the sun is so hot, I'm glad we left our hoodies in our lockers. Rei and Seth naturally walk faster than me, and I fall several steps behind.
I never really noticed it before, but Seth is a sagger. It's not so hard-core that his pants are ready to fall off, but they are low enough that I can see he's wearing red and green plaid boxers. Festive. Rei's jeans fit him much better; in fact, they make his tush look kind of ...
Oops! Rei turns his head back toward me and I look up just in time. He grins at me, hooks my T-s.h.i.+rt sleeve with two fingers, and pulls me up alongside him. ”C'mon, pokey.”