Rock On (3 page)
No one had any.
“You’ll do the easy climb today,” Ben said. “I’ll be right there to point out places to put your hands and feet, but it will be up to you and your muscles to pull you to the next spot. You all look strong, though.” He smiled. “When you reach the top, grab hold of the rope, just above the harness, and let your feet dangle free. The rope will slowly slide you back down to the floor. Now, who’s first?”
Jonas jumped to his feet. Ben secured him in the harness, helped him put on the helmet, and led him to the wall. The harness was clipped to the rope with a loud click, and Jonas started to climb. Ben backed away as Jonas got higher and higher.
“You’re doing great!” Ben called. Jonas looked down, let go with one hand, and gave a thumbs-up. Then he continued to feel for bumps until he’d reached the top.
“Hey, what’s this for?” Jonas pointed to a large silver bell.
“Ring it to prove you made it to the top!” Jonas grabbed the string attached to the bell’s clapper and gave it a powerful yank. The bell clanged loudly. X and the others cheered. Jonas gripped the safety rope, pushed off from the wall, and did a slow free fall all the way to the floor. Ben unclipped him and helped him from the harness.
“That was way cool!” Jonas ran over to X. “Wait till you try it!”
X wished he could be as excited as Jonas. But as he stepped forward in line, all he felt was dread.
That dread deepened when he spied a group of kids standing just outside the ropes around the wall. In the midst of the group was Frank. He was staring right at X — and smiling the nastiest smile X had ever seen.
X tried to ignore Frank by watching Bizz climb the wall. She, too, made it safely to the top and rang the bell. Savannah was a little more cautious, but she didn’t give up. Her smile was triumphant when she rang the bell. Then, suddenly, it was X’s turn.
“Go, X!” Jonas cheered. Heart pounding, X stepped into the harness and put on the helmet. Ben led him to the wall and clipped him to the rope. X reached for the first handhold and placed a foot on a low bump. He pulled himself up.
This isn’t so bad,
he told himself as he reached for the next handhold.
I can do this.
He put his other foot on a bump and pulled up again.
I’m doing it!
he thought. He climbed a bit higher. “Great job!” Ben said.
X looked over his shoulder with a smile — a smile that froze on his face, then slowly slipped away when he saw how high up he was. He shut his eyes tightly, but it was too late. He knew at that moment there was no way he was going to ring the bell.
“X? Everything good?” Ben called.
X didn’t answer. He was sure that if he opened his mouth, he would throw up. Instead, he clung to the side of the wall and listened to his heart knock in his chest.
Suddenly, he felt a hand on his calf. “Okay, X, just listen to me and you’ll be fine.” Ben’s soft voice penetrated X’s panicked brain. “First, take a deep breath. Then let go with one hand and grab the rope.”
Slowly, X followed Ben’s instructions.
“Perfect. Now the other hand. Good. Now just float downward. I’m right here the whole time.”
After what seemed like an eternity, X touched the floor. His legs and hands were shaking as Ben un-clipped him and helped him out of the harness.
“Deep breaths, bud, slow deep breaths,” Ben was saying. Alison had joined them. She put her hand on X’s back to steady him. As X inhaled and exhaled he felt his heart slow and his shaking stop. Finally, he looked up.
The first thing he saw was Jonas staring at him, openmouthed with disbelief. Bizz, Savannah, Mark, and Charlie had similar expressions on their faces. X quickly looked away — and found himself locking eyes with Frank. Frank was grinning ear to ear.
And why shouldn’t he?
X thought bitterly.
He’s just discovered that his enemy has a major weakness.
“I — I think I’ll go get a drink of water,” X said. He ducked his head and made a beeline for the water fountain. As he bent over the stream of cool water, someone tapped him on the shoulder. It was Jonas.
“What happened up there?” Jonas wanted to know.
“I’ll tell you what happened.” Frank and his friends sauntered up beside them. “Your hero here chickened out, that’s what! He’s afraid of heights!” Frank made clucking noises. His friends nudged each other and laughed.
“You guys are such nostril slugs,” Jonas said. “X is not afraid of heights. He could climb that wall in a second if he wanted to.” He pulled his remaining five-dollar bill from his pocket. “In fact, I’ve got a fiver here says he could do it right now! What do you say, X?”
But X didn’t answer. The truth was, the last thing he wanted to do was go near the rock wall again. After a moment, Jonas put the money back in his pocket.
Frank clucked one last time, then walked away, his laughter ringing in X’s ears.
On the bus ride home, X stared out a window, his knees drawn up under his chin. The other kids spoke in whispers. X felt their eyes on him from time to time, but no one said anything to him. When the bus dropped them off at the Community Center, X took off for home without a word.
His mother was outside shoveling their front steps. When she saw the look on X’s face, she put the shovel aside and sat down.
“Didn’t go so well, huh?” she said.
X’s throat tightened and his eyes welled up.
Oh great,
he thought.
Now I’m going to cry. I’m not just a coward, I’m a baby, too!
He swallowed hard to make the lump in his throat go away.
Mrs. McSweeney patted the steps beside her. “Tell me what happened.”
X shook his head.
“Please,” his mother said. “You’ll feel better if you get it out.”
So X sat down and told her. The words came out in a rush. And to his surprise, he did feel better afterward.
His mother gave him a quick squeeze around the shoulders. “X, remember how I told you there are different kinds of bravery?”
X nodded.
“Well, today you showed one kind. You tried to climb that rock wall even though deep down you didn’t want to.”
“Yeah,” X said dismally, “but I only got halfway up. Then I flipped out, and now Frank thinks I’m a coward.” He picked up some snow and threw it at a nearby tree. It exploded with a puff of white, leaving a smudge of snow behind on the bark. “And so do my friends.”
His mother was quiet for a moment. Then she asked, “Why do you care what Frank thinks of you? From what you’ve told me about him, he seems like a bully.”
X stared at her. She smiled.
“It takes another kind of bravery to ignore the mean things a bully says about you.” She threw a snowball at the same tree, adding a second white mark beside X’s. “Now let me ask you something else. Do you really think the fact that you only made it halfway up a fake rock-climbing wall will change what your best friends think about you?”
X threw another snowball and shook his head. “Of course not,” his mother agreed. “But if you have any doubts about it, why don’t you call Jonas and explain what happened? I’ll bet he and the others will think it was pretty awesome that you even tried the climb today.” She grabbed her shovel and stood up.
“Telling people about your fears can be hard,” she added. “But —”
X held up a hand. “Let me guess. That’s another kind of bravery, right?”
“Right,” she said with a grin. “Okay, enough lecturing for now. How about you scare up another shovel and help me out here?”
X got to his feet. He felt like a great weight had been removed from his shoulders. He started for the garage, then turned back.
“Thanks, Mom,” he said. “Anytime.”
X cornered Jonas at school first thing the next morning and explained, as best he could, what had happened the day before. Jonas broke into a huge smile.
“Hooray, you’re not perfect!” he said. “Being around perfect people is as boring as riding a mountain bike in a parking lot.”
“So you and the others don’t think I’m a coward?”
“Yeah, right,” Jonas replied, rolling his eyes. “Get real, already, will you?” And that was the end of it.
That afternoon, X and his friends met up at the slope. “Isn’t that Ben?” Jonas asked. Sure enough, there was the rock-climbing instructor, craning his neck as if looking for someone.
“Dudes!” he said as he spotted them. He knocked fists with each of them, then pulled X aside. “How you doin’, Letterman?”
“Okay, I guess.” X eyed the snowboard Ben was holding. “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you here before.”
Ben shifted uncomfortably. “That’s because I don’t know how to board. But Alison invited me to come by, and I couldn’t say no, you know? I’ve been standing here for fifteen minutes, trying to figure out a way to get down the hill before she gets here!”
X tried not to laugh. “Why don’t you just tell her the truth when you see her?”
“The truth, huh? Lemme snack on that idea for a sec.” Ben tapped his finger against his chin a few times, then smiled. “I got a better plan. How about you teach me how to board, and I’ll help you get over your fear of the wall?”
X was caught off guard. “But — but learning to board takes time and practice. You can’t learn it all at once.”
Ben shrugged. “You can’t get over a fear of heights all at once, either. But if you’ll take me through boarding one step at a time, I’ll do the same for you at the wall. I’ve done it with other people — helped them climb a little higher each day until they can do it all by themselves.”
“Does that really work?”
“Give me two weeks and we’ll find out.”
X thought for a moment. “All right, but on one condition. Tell Alison the truth first.”
Ben groaned. “Okay,” he said. He glanced at something over X’s shoulder, then back to X. “But I’ve got a condition, too. Stop letting everything Frank says gnaw at your brain.”
“Deal.”
“Starting now,” Ben said.
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Chicken Boy,” Frank drawled from behind X.
X shot Ben an I’ll-get-you-for-this look.
“Know what I heard?” Frank said. “I heard that chickens don’t fly because they’re afraid of heights.” His friends snickered. Frank smiled like he’d just said the funniest thing in the world.
X narrowed his eyes. “You talk awful big for a guy who was standing
outside
the rope circle at the wall. How’s about we meet
inside
the ring in, say, two weeks” — he winked at Ben — “and see who makes it to the top of the wall.” He grinned. “I dare you.”
Frank turned red. Then he shoved past X and disappeared down the hill. His friends looked at one another.
“Come to think of it,” the girl said to the boy, “I’ve never seen Frank climb up anything higher than this hill. You?” The boy shook his head. “Huh. Oh, well. C’mon, let’s shred.” They
swished
down the slope after Frank.
“Nicely done,” Ben said as he watched them go. X knocked fists with him, Jonas, and the rest of his friends. “Rock on,” he replied.