The Fear of Falling

Chapter Sixteen

The last beam of sunlight reflected off of the living room window. I mindlessly shuffled through our limited TV channels.

Gavin strolled out of his room, water jug in hand. A thick black hoodie hung off of his broad shoulders and concealed the tattoos underneath. I followed him with my eyes then, spoke up. "Where ya going, champ?"

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

He laughed and his smile lit up the room. "The gym. Because of the plague, I fell behind schedule."

Pretentious.

"Nice." I tried to hide my disappointment. After spending a week alone with him, I craved his company and our little Truth or Dare game didn't completely scratch the itch.

"Yeah," he responded while starting out the door. Then, he stopped and turned back to face me. "Want to come with?"

Do I?

"All of my gym shirts are in the wash," I admitted. Laundry day had been the least of my worries when dying.

Gavin shrugged and offered, "You can borrow one of mine."

I perked up. "Really?"

"Just don't drool all over it."

Annnd he's back to being a tool.

****

The gym buzzed with the kind of energy that I tended to avoid. I followed Gavin through the treadmill section and towards the weight room where only beef heads stroked themselves.

I sighed internally but still weaved through the crowd.

When we reached the barbells, Gavin faced me. "Alright," he motioned across the room. "You're over there."

Come again? "Why?"

"Look around, Megs."

"To everything the light touches?"

His face fell, unamused. "No, we're surrounded by snitches."

I raised an eyebrow and surveyed the room. At least three of my classmates glanced in our direction, and one belonged to my film class. Right.

I nodded and took my leave.

When I claimed my barbell, I stared at it. I knew how to start but thought it'd be reasonable to act lost. I swiveled on my heel and waited until I caught Gavin's eye.

He sighed and then joined me. "Yes?"

"I don't know how to set it up."

"Okay," he glanced around the room, "I'll help but we have to be quick."

"Whatever you say," I grinned before dropping my voice, "baby."

His eyes widened. "Don't."

It took him all of five minutes to abandon me again. I contemplated leaving him alone, but then, I saw his bent over figure in the mirror.

An evil grin covered my face.

Then, I did three sets of deadlifts; making sure to catch his attention with my poor form.

Finally, he stormed over. "What are you doing? You're going to hurt yourself, and then I'll have to take care of you again."

Again?

Instead of snapping back, I screwed on a sweet, innocent smile. "Can you help me?"

Gavin growled before adjusting the weight and giving me a quick tutorial. I tried to focus on what he said, but when his hands tightened around the bar, my mind wandered. Even though the rings were missing, I could still imagine his fingers wrapped around my throat.