“What do you mean?” Lucy said.
“Out of the Stairs. Let’s go for a walk.”
“We can’t. David said no one leaves the Stairs in-”
“In groups of less than fifteen. I know what he said. But I’m losing my mind in here. I feel like I’m sleeping in a beehive.”
“I know the feeling,” she said.
“So come on.”
Lucy stared at him. She shouldn’t. She should stay, keep on smelling her gang mates and twiddling her thumbs.
“It’ll be a thrill,” Will said, his smile getting wider.
“Just a short walk.”
Will held out his hand to her.
She took it. He was right, it was a thrill. They moved together, totally in sync, tiptoeing between the slumber-ing bodies, down the next flight, past the lounge, past the kitchen, and down to the bottom landing, all without saying a word. Will quietly plucked a club from the armory, a broken flagpole with a big brass eagle on the end.
Leonard had fallen asleep on guard duty. For such a quiet person, he snored like an old lady. Will very carefully lifted the chain from the door. Every movement of his hand was
controlled but quick. The door popped open with a soft click.
Will looked back to Lucy with a wiggle of his eyebrow. She knew this was stupid, so stupid. But it was fun. The air in the hall was warm and gross, but it felt so good to be out of the Stairs that she didn’t care.
“Don’t worry,” Will said, “I know my way around at night.” Lucy had never been walking at night. It felt sort of naughty.
She strolled down the hall next to Will. It was odd, the halls were so quiet. Every tiny noise was amplified. Someone must have been hearing them.
“Are you just saying that to sound cool?” Lucy said.
“Nope, I’m out at night all the time.”
“What for?”
“I don’t know. Why shouldn’t I go out, if I feel like it?” Will said.
“You’re not scared?”
“Of what?” He said it so matter-of-factly, like being afraid was a waste of time and energy.
It reminded her of they day they hiked up to Devil’s Spine. It was a narrow rock bridge. On either side was a seven-hundred-foot drop to a churning river below. Lucy was scared to death, everybody was. Chazz warned them that the extreme wind conditions meant that they would have to cross it on their hands and knees, but before he could finish his instructions, Will charged out onto the bridge. Lucy’s heart stopped-she was sure he was a goner. Chazz screamed after him to stop, but he didn’t. Will ran all the way to the other side and threw his hands up in victory. She’d never witnessed anything so daring in her life, and it turned her on.
Will rounded the next corner. Before following him, Lucy glanced back to the door of the Stairs, now a hundred feet behind her. She got a stab of anxiety and hurried up next to him.
“Will… I’m not sure we should do this,” she said. “David’s rule is sounding pretty good right now,” Lucy said. She stopped walking. Will sighed.
“David doesn’t get it. He doesn’t know what it’s like for us,” Will said.
“What do you mean, for us?”
“He’ll be out of here in months. We’ve both got years to go,” Will said.
Years. She focused on the new long hallway ahead. The air was dirty. There was barely any light. The lockers were littered with dents. Each month the lockers were more dented, the walls more scrawled with cuss words. Lately, people were taking the walls apart to use the wood and drywall. The walls.
What would be left of the place by the time she got out?
“It’s fine for him to play it safe,” Will continued. “He’s almost out. But we have to adapt to living here ’cause-well, we have no choice.”
Lucy didn’t want to think about the idea that David was going to leave.
“I know what you need,” Will said. He smiled and wagged his eyebrows up and down again. It was cute. “You need to run.” Will tugged her forward. She took big breaths and big strides. It felt good watching the school fly past her so fast.
She never got to run anymore. She either stayed in the Stairs, or she walked at a regular pace inside a tight group. That was the only thing that looked good about the food drops: Those kids got to run around.
Will wasn’t kidding, he did know his way around. Some corners he barreled right around, then at others he would make her stop and he’d peek around it first. The longer they went, the more she felt fast and slippery, like no one could catch her.
The only reason she stopped on the third-floor balcony of the foyer was because she had to. She was out of breath.
“Wait.” She panted and leaned against the railing that looked down on the graduation booth below, where she’d had her mini breakdown two months ago. Will stopped and bent over with a smile, resting his hands on his knees.
“Check it out,” he said, and climbed up onto the balcony railing.
“Will!” She gasped. “What are you doing?” It was a forty-foot fall to the foyer floor. Will stayed focused on the three-inch-wide metal path in front of him.
“Shh,” he said gently. “I’m trying to concentrate.” He took a careful step forward.
“Hold my hand,” Lucy said. She reached up to Will. He ignored her hand. She wanted to grab hold of him and yank him down to her, but what if that made him slip and fall the wrong way?
“Watch this,” Will said with a wild smile. He closed his eyes.
“Will, don’t! Cut it out.”
He took another step. Bigger this time. He lifted one knee up and stood wobbling on one foot.
He was going to die right in front of her.
“You’re scaring me,” she said.
Will dropped his foot, tumbling forward a few steps. His eyes snapped open. He jerked his body to keep his balance.
Lucy squealed. Will shot his arms out to his sides and steadied himself. He looked at her, his eyes wide with astonishment.
“Did you see that?”
“Yes, I saw it! Will, I swear to God, if you die…!” He cackled with delight.
“What is wrong with you?” she said.
“Oh, I don’t know. A lot of things.”
Will hopped farther down the banister, landing on his other foot again. Lucy gasped.
“I’m epileptic.”
Another hop. Lucy cringed.
“And I got it bad for a girl, and I mighta missed my window with her.”
Lucy looked Will in the eyes. Was he talking about her?
“I’ve always had bad luck.”
Will jumped, but his foot missed the mark. He slipped off the side, the bad side. His armpit landed hard against the top rail. He clamped down with his whole body. He hung by the hook of his armpit, and the rest of his body dangled over the foyer below.
“No!” Lucy said.
She lunged for him, grabbed his arm, and pulled. She pushed off the balcony wall with her foot. She could hear his feet scurrying for a foothold. He threw his weight over the top of the banister, and they landed on the balcony floor next to each other. She whacked him in the chest.
“Don’t do that!”
“I’m sorry,” he said with a chuckle.
“I’m serious,” Lucy said. “Don’t you ever do that again.” The smile vanished from his face.
