Page 42 of The Pawn

In a moment he's knelt and laid me on the mats, staring down at me with concern in his blue eyes.

"You okay?"

I open my mouth to answer, but before I can I become aware of the crowd gathering around us. Cole. Holly. Georgia and Piper. They're all staring at me, murmuring to each other. Something is going on.

Then the instructor shoves his way forward. "I need to check her for injuries." He gets down next to me, pushing Lukas aside, and feels up and down my arms and legs. "Any pain here? Here?"

I answer no again and again. I can't help noticing that Lukas is staying close by, hovering practically right over me. "Something happened to the equipment," he says, a worried, frantic expression on his face. "I had her, and then she was just—falling. I can't explain it."

I can. One glance over Lukas's shoulder and I spy Georgia standing behind him, smirking, one hand on her hip, the other holding a short length of webbing. A glance down at my harness reveals that the carabiner has come undone from the harness and is somewhere halfway across the room, attached to the rope Lukas was using to lower me down—until the weakened spot came undone.

Somehow she got hold of the harness while I wasn't looking, probably when I was fretting about Lukas being my partner, and she cut it just enough that it would snap in half while holding my weight.

Needless to say, I won't be climbing the quarry outdoors. Based on the thunderous look on Mrs. Reynolds' face, I don't think any of us will be.

"She's okay," the instructor announces, helping me to my feet. "I'm not sure what happened, but we should be able to get back to it after a thorough safety check—"

"No needs." Mrs. Reynolds' voice is ice cold. "There will be no more climbing today, and we'll be reevaluating our continuing relationship with this facility."

The instructor approaches her to have a conversation, leaving me alone with my classmate, my hip smarting where Lukas caught me, a low ache starting in my back. The temptation to call Georgia out right here, right now is overwhelming—she could've killed me. But based on the smirk on Cole's face, I know what will happen if I do: he'll expose me in front of the whole school.

"I don't know what the big deal is," Sasha complains, watching Mrs. Reynolds give the instructor a dressing down. "I mean, no offense Brenna, but you weren't hurt. And rock climbing accidents are rare. It won't happen again."

"Yeah," I echo, glancing over towards Cole. Lukas has approached him, and they're talking in low voices, their expression inscrutable. "I'm surethiswon't happen again."

But something else will, and I might not survive next time.

There's just one question I have that I don't think I'll ever get an answer to: why did Lukas catch me, when he could've let me fall?

* * *

"Are you okay? That fall looked pretty bad." Holly approaches me as we all file out of the indoor climbing area, heading towards the locker rooms. "Whoever inspected the equipment did a terrible job. I think Mrs. Reynolds is going to chew them out until we get our deposits back."

"I'm okay. Just a bruised ego more than anything. I can't believe I didn't make it to the top." Eyeing the back of Lukas's head, I add, "And I didn't fall that far, really."

"I'm just glad it happened on the indoor course and not outside on the quarry." We reach the hallway that splits into the two locker rooms, and I try not to show the anticipation I'm feeling, the way my pulse is speeding up and my fingers are shaking in anticipation. Holly adds, "You're lucky a dreamboat like Lukas caught you."

"Yeah, I guess." I take a moment to pause and retie my shoe, and Holly hangs back with me. "I didn't really notice any dreamboat qualities," I blatantly lie. "I was just glad not to break my neck."

"He seemed really concerned about you." She stares towards the boys' locker room, eyes as keen as her observational skills. "Lukas is usually so aloof. I've never seen him like that."

"He barely said two words to me."

"I think he felt guilty," Holly says. "He was talking to Cole about it being someone's fault. He blames himself since he was your belayer."

If he blames himself, it's because he helped Georgia sabotage my climb. I'm not enough of a fool to think his offer to help me against Cole was sincere—boys like him don't turn on their own kind.

"He's cute," Holly adds. "Want me to see if he's interested in you? He and Cole are really close."

"I don't know."

"We could always set you up. Now, or during the Blind Ball at the end of the semester. It's a bit of a well-known secret that us Rosalinds can set each other up with anyone we want."

That doesn't surprise me. I can tell Holly is excited about the idea of me and Lukas together, and I don't know how to tell her it's never gonna happen. So I try to just be vague. "Maybe. Let me spend more than a hot minute with him though, okay?"

"Of course! Anything you want, Brenna. I know today was rough, but just know I'll always be there for—"

She doesn't get to finish her sentence before there's an ear-splitting shout of alarm from the boys' locker room, followed by frantic yelling.

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