PANIC ROOM • KENJI KON

XLVII. I Know You Know, And I Also Know

Chapter Forty Seven:  I Know You Know, And I Also Know

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"Welcome to Lookout Point! ... Well, to be fair, Lookout Point is up there, but you get the gist." Kenji gestured to a tall mountain in the distance. A gondola connected from the top of the mountain to a platform near the teenagers.

"So, how do we get up there?"

"The sky gondola, usually. But with the power out, you'll have to go on foot. It shouldn't be too bad. Probs just a one to five day trek?"

Yasmina walked over, stretching her arms. "Pfft, that'll take me an hour."

"Great!" Brooklynn shouted from near the gondolas. "I'll wait for you at the top."

She pressed a button, and the gondola started up.

"Oh, thank god, it's gonna be easy," Eva breathed as she headed over.

"Solar panels. Sky gondola." Kenji nodded in approval. "Last one there sucks dick!"

"Kenji, you can't say that!"

Eva paused outside a gondola car, high fiving Sammy as she strolled in. The blonde was about to follow her in when a hand planted itself on her head. She glared at Kenji, who grinned before pushing her away from the car. He stepped inside, waving at her as the doors closed.

"Asshole!"

"Sucks to suck!" He yelled back.

Eva growled, stomping away. As she waited for the next car to come around the bend, Brooklynn and Yasmina joined her.

"Brooklynn..." Yasmina greeted, grimacing.

"I guess we're gonna ride together?"

"... Yep."

Yasmina offered an awkward smile, to which Brooklynn returned.

Ugh, they're still not over the helicopter incident?

The next gondola car pulled up, and the doors automatically slid open.

"After you," Yaz offered.

"No, no, no. Really, after you," Brooklynn said.

Eva looked between the two girls and pushed them to the side. "After me."

She took a seat in the middle, forcing Brooklynn and Yaz not to sit next to each other. It was for the best, anyway.

As they rode the gondola up the mountain, the three girls sat in an uncomfortably awkward silence. Ahead of them, Sammy and Kenji's car rocked back and forth, and they laughed so hard Eva could hear them. She couldn't help but worry, what if the pulley snapped? What if something went terribly wrong?

"So..."

Eva stopped picking at her hangnail to look at Brooklynn.

"What do you like to do for fun back home?"

"I don't have a lot of time for fun," she answered. "I'm always competing or training."

"Right, right. Totally relate."

"Oh, you know what it's like to spend five hours in the gym every day?"

"I wish my job only took five hours a day."