Page 8 of With Every Breath

“I don’t do well with surprises, FYI,” I grumbled as we were met with a desk and a young woman dressed in a blue polo.

“Coming in on your day off.” She smiled at Dex before she saw me.

“I’m on a date.” He smiled back and then glanced at my feet. “What size shoe do you usually wear?”

“I’m an eight in sneakers.” I furrowed my brow as the woman behind the desk handed me a weird pair of shoes.

“You need climbing shoes to go in there.” She motioned behind her as I took the shoes from her.

“What is this place?” I looked around as I followed Dex over to a wall of lockers.

“Rock City Climbing.” He grinned as he spun the lock on one of the lockers and produced a well-worn pair of shoes. “These are climbing shoes. I work here.” He chuckled. “You want those to be fitted like your cleats, so let me know if they’re too big.” I slipped my shoes on, and then stood, kind of aimlessly looking around. “This way.” He motioned for me to follow.

We went through another set of doors that opened up to a huge space. There were walls covered in foot and handholds everywhere of all different colors and sizes. “Each climb is a different color. It tells you here how hard the climb is. Zero is the easiest, and they go up from there.” He pointed to another wall. “If you enjoy this, we’ll come back and do the rope climbing another day. That requires a class, and I wanted you to be able to actually climb today. You should start on a lower number until you get the hang of it.” He smirked.

“What number do you climb on?” I tipped my head and stared, daring him to lie to me.

“I’m currently an eight. Ten is the hardest.” He shook his head and sighed. “This is supposed to be fun, not a competition.”

“How come you’re not a ten if you work here?” I pushed.

“Because I don’t live here.” He laughed. “Get some chalk. It’ll keep you from getting blisters as bad.”

I walked over and dipped my hands into the chalk. After dusting them off, Dex led me to a level one climb. “I’ll stay here out of the fall zone in case you get into trouble. If you need to fall, go straight back.”

I stared up at the pink holds on the wall. It looked a lot higher from this point of view. I reached up, and grabbed on. Then, using my foot, I stepped up to the first foothold. Slow and steady, I made my way to the top. Once I reached the last grip, I looked back. Dex looked tiny from my view. I started making my way down, and then dropped when I was a few feet away from the bottom. “Nice job. Wanna try a level two?” He motioned to some yellow grips farther away. They looked smaller, and there were fewer of them. Some were on the wall in such a way that you’d be hanging.

“Sure.” I grinned. I have never backed down from a challenge. “Let me grab more chalk.” My hands were a little sore, but not bad.

The level two was definitely a challenge, but not impossible. I was tired when I finished, but it was a good tired. The kinda tired I feel after a good practice. “What about you?” I pointed to Dex. “Lemme see whatcha got,” I goaded him.

Dex’s head dropped as if I’d embarrassed him, and it appeared he was blushing. “Come on,” I teased. “What’s holding you back?” I knocked into his shoulders, and he wobbled slightly.

“Fine.” He dusted chalk across his palms and moved over to a set of purple grips. They were listed as a level eight. “Back up out of the fall zone.” He motioned for me to move away from the cushioned floor pads. Once I stepped back, he glanced up, placed his hands, and scaled the wall like freaking Spider-Man. It took him maybe sixty seconds to reach the top. He turned when he reached the final grip, and grinned at me. “Happy?”

I stood with my mouth hanging open as he made his way back down.

“Where? How?” My mouth and brain weren’t working together, and words wouldn’t come out.

“I started when I was twelve. I’ve been climbing since then. I’m on the climbing team at school.” He shrugged as if it were no big deal. “Your turn.”

“My turn for what? My arms are tired.” I was confused.

“Your turn to share. When did you start playing soccer?”

“When I was three. I wanna see you try a nine.” I began looking for a level nine and hoping to escape the questions that he was sure to throw my way.

“I told you, I’m an eight.” He followed behind.

“Try a nine.” I pouted.

“I’ll try a nine if you promise to talk to me.” He held out his hand as if we were shaking on a deal.

“Fine. Climb, Nirvana boy.” I pointed to some green grips that were labeled with a nine.

“Back up,” he warned. “I’ve fallen off this one before.” His shoulders rose and fell as he stared up at the wall. There were only a handful of grips, and I secretly wondered how anyone could make this climb. Hard was an understatement.

Dex bounced a few times, and then began the climb. He was about halfway up when his foot slipped the first time. He hung from the hand grips as he kicked toward the wall with his feet. I thought for sure he was done, but he was able to get his foot back in place. He stayed there as he looked around, trying to decide where to reach for next. At about the seventy-five percent mark, he was going to have to jump. “My arms aren’t long enough.” He growled. “I fall here every time.” He grunted as he sprung to the right and swiped in the direction of the grip. His fingers brushed across it, but he couldn’t get a grip and he came tumbling to the floor. “Damn it.” He punched the pillowy floor.

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