Hamilton Academy: He's Always Watching

Part Three ~ Chapter Nine

"Either they didn't think the trip through, or something had gone wrong."

-Matt

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I watched as my brother tumbled from the rock wall, rushing over to see if I could catch him before he hit the ground. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't very helpful in this situation, making everything incredibly slippery and hard to see. The rain was blurring our vision, so I couldn't latch onto Ethan.

"Ethan!" I stuck out my arm to help him stand up. "Are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah." He muttered, brushing off dirt and sticks. "I'm okay. Probably just a few scratches, I only landed on some dirt. It's not bad."

I grasped Ethan's shoulders, spinning him a little as I looked him over. He looked alright, not that bad of a fall. It still made me worried, though. Hamilton Academy would never put as at risk at all. Especially after everything that had already happened this year, and the sole reason of us being on this trip was to forget about all of that. How were we supposed to forget about the bad if they were sending us someplace that could get us hurt? Either they didn't think the trip through, or something had gone wrong.

Considering Mr. Higgins was the head of the school, I honestly would think that he had planned this whole thing to a T. He was not one to make mistakes. That was what made me even more perturbed.

"Are you sure you're okay, man? That looked a little painful." Kyle and Johnny were right next to Ethan, looking him over as he assured them again that he was fine.

"Maybe you'll get out of this trip with a cool 'battle scar!'" Johnny tried to make fun and joke about the situation, as an attempt to lighten the mood. My brother gave a small grin that looked more like a grimace, and he slowly shook his head.

"I don't think that thing is the safest."

"Well I, for one, agree with my brother." I stated. "What is the quickest way around this?" I reached for the map from Kyle, who quickly backed away before I could get it.

"No. We are not going to walk all the way around this. I have already made the required calculations, and it is entirely impossible to make it there before tomorrow afternoon if we even start to go around this." He kicked a few stones around and stuffed his hands deep in his pockets. "I hate to say it, but we really have to climb this."

"Are you crazy?" I slapped my hand down on my leg in frustration. "I am not letting anyone climb that thing. Especially in this weather. We can either walk around this or go back to the cabin."

"Matt..." Amy sighed, trading a look with Julia. I knew them too well though, so I knew what was coming next. They were going to talk me out of it. "Kyle is actually right. It's unfortunate, I know, but we really can't waste time like walking around this. Maybe our main goal isn't getting to the top first, but we really can't walk around the woods late at night. That's what would happen if we went around or turned back. Neither option is very smart."

After grumbling a lot of bad words and kicking around everything on the ground, I finally caved.

"But I am going first to test it out." I walked over to the wall, preparing myself to climb, when a thought came to me. "Wait! No! I am staying down here to spot you all in case something happens." Pausing a second, I started fretting yet again. "No, no. I can't let one of you go first! I want to make sure it's safe before-."

"Calm down, Matt." Julia placed a hand on my arm, cutting me off before I could continue my thought.

"I'll go up first," Andrew volunteered. "That way you can stay down here to spot. It'll work out."

I nodded my head to okay this plan, and sent a thankful smile at Andrew for volunteering himself.

As Andrew slowly climbed the slippery wall, we all waited in anticipation to see if he would make it safely. Each movement he made looked carefully calculated, as he tested all the places he put weight on. When he had successfully made it to the top, I let out a deep breath before letting the others climb one by one.

I hoisted myself up onto the wall, making each movement as if I was defusing a bomb. I didn't want to fall at this point, nobody was left at the bottom to spot me.

"Matt!" Andrew called. I turned my head to face him, trying to keep one eye trained on my movements. "This whole thing is incredibly unstable! I don't think it was meant to be this way, but looking at it from here...wow. I'm surprised all of us made it."

"Well," I made my last step, reaching the others. "It seems like you're right. The school can't have meant for it to be like this." We eyed the rock wall in bewilderment. "Nobody at Hamilton Academy would want us on such a dangerous-oh. Oh no."

"You guys?" Our heads all swiveled to face Kyle, who was inspecting the wall very closely. "Something isn't right. If you look further down, this wall looks perfectly safe for climbing. The only area that doesn't look safe is the spot we were sent to to climb. It looks a little...Just take the markings on these rocks for example. Clearly the weathering and erosion signs are-."

"Kyle." Amy said grimly. "What are you trying to say?"

"This area...I'm sorry guys. This part of the wall though, it was tampered with."

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Helloooo guys. My apologizes for this short chapter AGAIN. =/ Okay I've been apologizing a lot. Uhmm to make up for it, I'll write you a VERYYY long chapter for the next upload. Hmm... I'll add some drama, romance (ish), adventure, and humor. Or at least I'll try.

So what do you think of the wall being tampered with? See what they're getting at? *wink wink* School's starting soon. Not looking forward to it -___- I'm starting high school and not sure if I will have as much free time to upload anymore. But I will TRY. As much as possible, promise.

Uhhm, that's about it.

See yah guys next Wednesday.

(:

Peace

xx

Ella

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