“Isn’t this exciting?” she whisper-shouts.
I nod. “About as exciting as the prospect of pap smear.”
“What about you, June?” Raven asks. “Are you having regrets too?”
The woman shakes her head. “Nope. I’m already trying to figure out how to scale the wall.”
“Won’t it be difficult in that skirt?”
“Skirts are good for straddling wallsandmen.” She winks at me, but her humor is quickly replaced with a look of determination. “We can’t see shit from here. The only option is to go forward.”
Raven tilts back her head. “You mean upward. It’s not too high though.”
“I know this whole thing started because of me, but I feel like I should be the voice of reason,” I say. “Shouldn’t we be concerned with cameras and lights with motion sensors? Not to mention security and possibly dogs?”
“This is a fraternity, not fucking Alcatraz,” Ravens says with an eye-roll. “Besides, I know a girl who blows a guy who knows a guy that was able to hack the cameras and make sure our entrance goes unnoticed. The game is afoot, Watson.”
I think about Ben and how much he means to me. At one point my foster brother was willing to give up his scholarship to keep me safe. I can do no less. Something in my gut churns at his continued silence. This goes beyond paranoia and self-consciousness.
Ben is in danger.
“Listen,” Raven says, pulling me from my musings, “Ifa security team spots us, we’ll just say that we were dared to come here by some boys. They’ll probably take pity on us. Right, June?”
“Probably.” She shrugs. “A little flirtation goes a long way.”
“That’s the spirit. Let's do this shit!” Raven turns around and threads her fingers. “I’m the tallest, so you guys have to go first. Get your ass up there, June. Delilah, you’re next.”
With the grace of a ballet dancer, June steps on Raven’s clasped hands and leaps up to catch the lowest branch of thenearest oak. The hem of her trench coat flutters behind her like a pair of wings. She pulls herself smoothly onto the wall and grins down at us.
My heart kicks into overdrive watching her standing up there. Too late for second guesses or common sense now. Raven turns to look at me.
“It’s time to engage those happy chemicals or the panic ones. Either works.”
“I don’t think that’s going to help…”
She laces her fingers to provide a foothold and then practically hurls my ass over the wall the second my shoe makes contact with her palms. I wildly scramble to grab onto the branch, with June assisting by yanking on my arm. Once I’m standing on the wall, I look down at Raven with a shit-eating grin.
She returns it. “Onward and upward!”
Like a squirrel with glue on its paws, Raven launches herself at the branch, her height giving her an advantage. June and I steady her once she reaches the platform and she giggles.
“That was awesome. I’ve never felt so alive.” She does a quick sweep on the area and waves at us. “Follow me. Up ahead there’s a tree we can scale down.”
“‘Scale down’ and hacking security cameras…” I mutter. “It’s like you’re an undercover agent.”
Raven glances at me over her shoulder. “Maybe I am.”
“I think you guys should shut up,” June whispers.
My roommate flips her off. Within seconds, she’s shimming along a branch and then drops down onto the grass with a muffled curse. Before I can ask her if she’s okay, June takes off after her, landing like a ninja beside Raven.
Raven plants her hands on her hips. “Come on, Delilah. Don’t be a pussy.”
“I’m not,” I grit out. “I’m just trying not to break my neck.”
I take a deep breath and inch forward along the thick branch. My palms turn slick when I wobble precariously, but I manage to lower myself to a safe height. The only thing left to do is jump.
“Fuck it.”
