We round the corner, and there it is, the Hollywood sign sitting before us, the huge letters facing out over the city of LA. When the skies are clear, like tonight, you can see the skyscrapers of downtown LA off in the distance. We’ve made it up here in just under an hour, and because the sun is now beginning to set, we’re basked in a warm, orange glow. But I’ve seen it a bunch of times before, so it’s not as cool as I once thought it was.
Everyone catches up to us, rushing around the bend, but Eden is the only one I keep my gaze trained on. Her expression lights up, her eyes widening, and she presses her hands to the chain link fence as she peers through it. She’s silent for a long while, taking in the view. I bet they don’t have shit like this in Portland, that’s for sure.
“Worth the hike?” Dean asks her, and all she does is nod, still staring.
“It’s so beautiful,” she murmurs.
Meghan says something, but I don’t hear her. I’ve stopped listeningbecause now I’m looking at the sign too. We’ve all jumped the fence a couple times before to touch those letters, and even though it’s illegal, we’ve never been caught. We usually get the hell out of there pretty fast, and if Eden has hiked all the way up here, then she deserves the full experience. Plus, I want to put her through her paces and figure out if she’s the type for an adrenaline rush or not. She doesn’t look like she would be, but I’m not going to assume anything, because so far, she’s done nothing but surprise me.
I reach up and grab the top of the fence, looking back at everyone. “What are you guys waiting for?” I ask them with a smirk, and, being the leader of the pack and all, I haul myself up and swing my body over the fence. I land on the other side pretty smoothly, like a damn acrobat. I’m impressed with myself. “C’mon.”
I set my eyes on Eden, looking back at her through the chain links. I can see the fear in her gaze as she glances around, first at the tower of security cameras, and then at the trespassing signs, and then finally at me. I smile at her, challenging her to do it. Idareher.
“We have, like, ten minutes before they send out the helicopter,” Tiffani states, and she’s the first of the group to actually begin climbing over. “Eden, touch the sign and then we’ll get out of here.”
Eden frowns and then shakes her head at us. “Really, it’s okay. I don’t need to touch the—”
“Just touch the fucking sign,” I cut in, growing frustrated. I really wanted her to surprise me. She’s doing exactly what I expected her to do, and that’s no fun at all. It’s more interesting when she proves my assumptions wrong.
“We won’t get caught,” Rachael reassures her, and as she climbs over with Dean and Meghan, she adds, “We do this all the time.” Which is a fucking lie. We’ve only jumped this fence, like, twice.
“Don’t worry,” Jake says, and my chest tightens when he grasps Eden’s hand and places it on the fence, encouraging her. Whatishe up to? Because that’s weird. “If we get caught, we’ll all go down together. But we gotta be quick.”
Eden finally gives in, and she grabs at the fence and pulls herself up and over. I give her a nod of approval, but she doesn’t even notice, so I turn around and begin edging my way toward the giant letters as everyone follows. Itissteep, so we do have to be careful, watching our footing the entire time. “I love this place,” Dean says once we reach the letters. He touches the “O” and then sighs. “I wonder how many people around the world would kill for the opportunity to do this. We’re lucky.”
My gaze sharpens as I fire him a look. Dean does this a lot. Everything is always so deep with him. “Dude, stop getting all sentimental, it’s just letters on a mountain,” I tell him. It’s really not a big deal, and I don’t know why it has become one. “This city is stupid as hell and so is this sign.”
“You’re so negative,” Tiffani says, shaking her head. She walks over, stepping directly in front of me and hooking her fingers around the belt loops of my jeans. Probably so I can’t get away. She looks up at me from beneath her thick, fake eyelashes. “What’s with the shitty mood?”
I refuse to look at her, and instead I stare off into the distance. “I’m not in a shitty mood.”
“You are,” she says. “You always are. It’s seriously annoying. Can you smile sometimes? So, you know, you don’t look like a permanent asshole? We’re supposed to be happy.”
My gaze drops down to meet hers and I clench my jaw, ready to tell her to fuck off and leave me alone, to stop trying to tell me what to do, when I vaguely hear, “How about that date then?” from somewhere to my left.
My eyes flicker over and I see it: Jake and Eden standing way too close together with both their hands side by side on the “H” of the sign. Did I hear that right? Did he seriously just ask her for a date? Goddamn, he only just met the fucking girl!
“What the hell, man?” I yell over to him, and I push my way past Tiffani, marching straight over there. He’s up to something, I justknowit. Eden isn’t even his type.
“What?” Jake says, turning around to face me. Clearly, my interruption has pissed him off because he stares at me as though he’s fed up, with his lips pressed together and his eyes rolling.
“What the hell did you just say to her?” I demand, my voice ragged. I close the distance between us, our chests only inches apart, and because I’m slightly taller, I glare down at him. Who the hell does he think he is, asking my damnstepsisteron a date?
“Bro, get outta my face,” Jake mutters, stepping back. He turns away and throws up his hands as though he isn’t looking for a fight, making me look like the bad guy for squaring up.
And that’s when I realize: Is he doing this to piss me off? To get a reaction? Is he seriously still hung up over losing out on Tiffani?
“No,” I argue. I follow Jake, stepping back in front of him again, refusing to back down. He doesn’t get to use Eden to piss me off. That’s just being a jerk. I jab his chest with my index finger and my eyes never leave his. “You two are not happening. I’ll kick your ass if you even think about it,” I threaten, and I hope he knows I’m being serious. Iwillfloor the guy.
“Tyler, baby, chill,” Tiffani pleads in that fake, sweet voice of hers. She pushes her body in between Jake and me, pressing both her hands to my chest and attempting to shove me away, to remove me from the situation. I still haven’t broken eye contact with Jake. “Don’t be an asshole. Stop trying to start a fight.”
Dean tries to help too, and since Tiffani has a hold on me, he steps in front of Jake to block him. “C’mon, guys. Quit it.”
I’m just about to search for Eden to check her expression, to see if she’s thankful that I intervened or if she’s pissed at me again, when I hear the faint sound of a helicopter. All of us are completely silent, and I know everyone else has heard it too. Within a matter of seconds, the blades cutting through the air become louder and louder. I tilt my head back and look up, right as the LAPD helicopter emerges from the other side of Mount Lee.
19
Five Years Earlier
