Everybody in the whole cell block

Was dancin' to the Jailhouse Rock

***

CHAPTER 35:

AT THE TOP

I hated thriller movies. Life was already a giant thriller, and spending my precious time to get even more stressed, let alone paying for it, seemed foolish. What I could tolerate least was the pitiful nature of the characters in those movies. Constantly looking behind, jumping at the slightest sound, crying, whining...

Of course, one should never speak too highly of anything in life. For instance, I had found my doom by speaking too highly on this very subject. I had to die, wake up in limbo, make an enemy, and ensure her eternal hatred to learn my lesson. Yes, yes, yes, yes... A big yes to all! And now, I was that cowardly character I despised in movies.

There wasn't a moment when my eyes didn't scan around to see if I was being followed. My ears were always alert like Trouble. Rustles had become my obsession. My eye twitched, my limbs trembled, I startled at odd moments. My weekend was wasted with all these side effects of having a dangerous enemy. Thankfully, my friends were always there for me. When I needed to work in the greenhouse, Diego had said he'd accompany me, two hours later Ursa joined him, and after they left, Lark and Helene came to my side.

Instead of heading out for a fun evening by the lake, they stayed with me in my garden. Ursa and Diego showed up with food, and we cleared the table, setting out the dishes they brought from the cafeteria. As we picked at our food, trying to come up with a plan to escape this mess, the atmosphere was anything but cheerful. When Ursa, who firmly believed we should never disturb the Principal, suggested that I confront her, it only confirmed my growing sense of hopelessness.

We didn't make much progress before returning to the Dorm together. Thankfully, the rooms were off-limits to anyone but the souls themselves, giving me a reprieve until morning. But I couldn't stay hidden behind four walls forever. I needed a solution. What? How? When? I wrestled with this unsolvable puzzle all night. The next day was no better than the last. Ursa was at my door before I could even get dressed, just in case. After getting ready, we went down for breakfast together, picked our meals together, and sat side by side.

The following day was nearly a carbon copy of the previous one. In the meantime, I encountered Pam three times. In the cafeteria, in the corridor, and again in the cafeteria... Diego jumped up before I did, probably expecting her to charge at me with pink sparks flying. Instead, she flipped her hair, leveled us with those arrogant looks, and continued on her way. If it weren't for the devilish smile on her lips, I might have thought she had forgotten about the incident. No, she definitely hadn't forgotten. Like a cunning snake, she was just waiting for the right moment to strike.

I wished she would just grab a knife and attack me. That would have been a much less painful end. Living with this uncertainty was like having cancer. Death was there, slowly, piece by piece, taking me over, but I couldn't predict when it would claim my life. Naturally, I spent another night without sleep. I hadn't completed the flowers Angel Ria wanted, hadn't revisited the topics from the previous week, hadn't prepared for the upcoming lessons. When I woke up and saw my mailbox flashing, I prayed for mercy from the Dorm. It wasn't granted.

Rock Climbing

That's what was written in my class schedule. It had to be a joke, of course. I loved almost every kind of sport. But climbing... No, thank you, I'll pass. I've always hated heights. Especially these days when my life was already on edge, the last thing I needed was to fall from several meters high.

"Please!" I said. "Let it be anything else, I beg you."

I closed my eyes and silently repeated my wish. No luck. Lately, nothing seemed to go my way. Sighing, I put on the shorts, T-shirt, and sneakers the closet had picked out for me and tied my hair into a ponytail. This morning, Diego was my companion. As we headed down for breakfast, I hoped that at least one of my friends would be in the same class, but no such luck. When class time finally arrived, I trudged to the gym alone, while they went to their own classes.

"Be careful," Lark said at the last moment.

I didn't ask what she had seen, what her cards had told her that made her feel the need to warn me. The climbing course was at the very end of the gym. A wall several meters high was dotted with hundreds of colorful bolts. They couldn't possibly expect us to stand on those, could they? I examined the ropes hanging from the ceiling. Shouldn't there at least be a net underneath?

"Hey, Oliver."

A scream escaped my lips. I jumped and stepped back. My nerves must have been more frayed than I thought. It was just Mars. His eyebrows were raised as he looked at me. Any joke he was about to make seemed to get stuck in his throat as he saw my face.

"Are you... okay?" he asked.

Damn it, of course, I wasn't okay. I took a deep breath and snapped, "People shouldn't sneak up on others! Hasn't anyone taught you that?"

The question marks in his eyes multiplied. I averted my gaze. My arms wrapped around myself as if trying to protect me from invisible enemies.

"You're not afraid of heights, are you, Oliver?"

"No," I lied. I couldn't handle this cocky guy's teasing. But in just a couple of seconds, I forgot all the snarky things he could say. The moment Pam walked through the door, she was like a magnet, drawing all my attention. She wore shorts like mine, but her tank top was much sexier than my T-shirt. She was here for climbing, no doubt. We were in the same class.

No no no!

I recoiled uncontrollably. Mars followed my gaze and turned towards Pam. When he looked back at me, his eyebrows were furrowed. Had he noticed that I was trying to hide behind him? Like an ostrich burying its head in the sand, I bowed my head further. My bangs fell forward, shielding my face. Yet, I saw Mars closing the distance between us.

"What's going on?" he asked suspiciously.

"Nothing," I said, but as my eyes shifted back to Pam striding confidently across the gym, I stepped back again.

Mars closed the gap between us once more. "Is there something going on with Pam?" he asked, lowering his voice.

Could he really not know? There was no doubt that everyone was talking about the cafeteria scandal. But Mars was not everyone. Caught up in his concerts and music, it was entirely plausible that he hadn't heard any trivial gossip about me. I turned my head slightly more and averted my gaze. My reaction was enough for him to realize something was amiss.

"What did you do, Oliver?" he said. It wasn't a question, more like a condolence. He too had warned me to be careful, and yet I had still confronted a serial killer.

"Olive, sweetheart!"

The sound of my name sent a chill through me. The reason was the person who spoke it. Pam had approached us. Her gaze lingered on Mars's face for a moment before turning to me.

"Isn't it incredible luck that we're in the same class?"

It was. Maybe even more than luck... Could Pam have the power to manipulate the classes? Of course, she could. Anything was possible with this devil. When I didn't respond, delight spread across her full lips. Her violet eyes sparkled with victory.

"Just be careful, though. You know, it's your first climb, you're a novice, and it's a tough class, anything could happen."

I swallowed the threat like a poisonous pill. My stomach was burning with fire. Fear was undoubtedly the most dominant emotion I felt at the moment. Yet part of me was still raging with anger, wanting to give this girl a piece of my mind, fueling the fire within me. Luckily, before I could do anything foolish enough to seal my fate, our instructor started the session on the course.

"Children, line up!"

At the woman's commanding voice, chaos erupted like a beehive. Within a minute, the souls were lined up side by side in perfect order. Following Mars, I found a spot in the line. Our instructor was definitely an angel, but she looked unlike any angel I had seen so far. If we were alive, I would have thought she was a commando. She had broad shoulders, muscular arms, and even more muscular legs. Her blonde hair was braided and tied at the top of her head, with the sides and back shaved.

"Today, we'll start with a run," she said. "Anyone who completes six laps, put on your climbing shoes. Those who can't fasten their harnesses, wait for me. Regular students, I want to see you in the air within ten minutes. No one goes back to their room until you reach the summit. March!"

I expected everyone to shout Yes, ma'am! in unison. Instead, they started running. Mars moved ahead, and the girl beside me followed, leaving me no choice but to join the flow. Running wasn't a problem; I even proved my stamina was better than many others by the third lap. Still, I slowed down to avoid overtaking Pam and risking making her angrier. Naturally, the princess was among the first to reach the shoes.

Even though I took my time, I was only a few people behind her. I found my size and slipped the shoes on. Then, watching two girls fasten their harnesses, I threaded the straps through my legs and secured it around my waist. After that... I was lost. Looking around for a clue, I felt a hand on my waist.

"This isn't fully locked," Mars said, his eyes on the harness, his face tense. Before I could protest, he unclipped and reattached it correctly. There was no doubt he knew what he was doing.

"Of course, you're an expert at this too," I grumbled.

His gaze shifted to my face. "Focus, Oliver. Climbing is no joke."

The seriousness in his voice made me even more uneasy. If even Mars wasn't mocking my situation, I was really in trouble. My eyes scanned the wall with fear.

"You've never climbed before, have you?" he asked. I shook my head. "And you're afraid of heights?"

My eyes dropped to the ground. It was too late to stick to my lie. He would see the truth soon enough. I expected him to say something annoying, but...

"There's nothing to be scared of," Mars said. "Do you see the ring at the top? Your rope will be connected to an automatic belay system. You can't fall to the ground even if you tried. You'll just dangle a bit. Stay close to me. Follow where I step, and you'll climb easily."

I couldn't respond. Mars was the last person I expected to help me like this. I must have been more pathetic than I realized.

"Come on," he said. "Let's get you hooked up."

If he hadn't guided me by the back, I probably wouldn't have moved. Both from the surprise of his words and the fact that Pam had decided to climb right next to us at that moment...

"See you at the top, sweetheart," Pam said, looking at me.

No one could deliver a threat more elegantly. When she approached the wall, I made eye contact with her soulmate, who followed her two steps behind. Then he bowed his head and tied the rope hanging from the ceiling around his waist. Pam led the way, and he climbed after her. Her ballet training was evident in every move she made. The way she lifted her arm, stretched her leg, her perfectly straight back... Watching her, I might have thought this was easy. That is, if there weren't dozens of other souls slipping and falling all around.

"Let's go," Mars said. He clipped the safety rope to the ring on my harness, tugged to check it, then took off his tracksuit top and tied himself in. "Ready?"

I was not ready. I could never be ready. Still, I nodded and stepped onto the first foothold after Mars. We began climbing together. Unfortunately, our journey wouldn't last long.

***

The climb has begun. How it will end is waiting for you in the next chapter :))

Before that, let's talk about Mars. He seems a bit different from his usual self. Could it be that he's also scared of what might happen to Olive? Maybe there's a completely different guy underneath the facade he shows? Share your thoughts about him here. Emojis are welcome too ❤️

Until next time, take care!