Page 7 of To Hate Adam Connor
“So, how do we do this?” I asked as I dusted off my jeans. The steps were actually wide enough to hold both of us, but climbing up them at the same time would be impossible—considering we were both intoxicated, quite possibly deadly too.
When I met Olive’s sparkling green eyes, she shrugged and motioned for me to go first, so I did. “When I’m at the top you can come up too. You’re taller than me, so you stay on the lower step, okay?” When she didn’t answer and just kept jumping around, I frowned and whispered, “What’s wrong with you?”
“I need to pee, but I’m holding it. Come on, let’s do this already.”
“I’m going to remind you that you said that if it becomes necessary, and try not to pee on me while you’re at it.”
I grabbed the ladder on both sides and took my first step up as Olive placed her hands on my ass and started to push me up.
“I’m not a pussy.”
“What are you even talking about, Olive?”
“Come on, go faster already!”
“Jesus, fine,” I exclaimed, looking down at her. “Calm your tits, woman.”
When my head reached the top of the wall, I stopped and looked down at Olive, who was already climbing up. “Move your ass to the left a little,” she ordered in a huff before grabbing my ankle as leverage.
“Are you sure you’re oka—”
“I’m sure. Go up one more step. I can’t see a thing.”
“Now who is the bossy one, I wonder,” I murmured, climbing up one more step so I could peek over the wall. While the lights were on in the house, from what I could see, nobody was out in the backyard. Still, I wanted to play it safe and not look like a legit peeping Tom by actually hanging over the wall to try and see inside the house better.
“What are we looking at?” Olive asked when she finally made it up.
“I’m looking at an empty backyard and what looks to be an equally empty house. What are you looking at?”
“I think I’m looking at the same thing. Bummer, don’t tell Jason, but I just wanted to see him once, you know. Of course we drool together every time we watch his movies.” She shook her head and lifted it a bit higher while I tried to stay steady on my feet. “It’s been months since he moved in, but we never run into each other. On top of everything else, Jason isn’t exactly being cooperative about this. I already asked him to introduce me to—”
I gave her a sharp look. “You asked him to introduce us, right? Not just you.”
“Us, right. Of course I said us. Sharing is caring. Oh! Lucy, look!”
She rested her chin on the wall so I did the same thing to get a look at what she was seeing. “What? Where is he? I don’t see him.”
“Not him,” she whispered urgently.
“Who the hell did you see? Tell me!”
“I think…wait, there! Look at the window behind that big plant on the right.”
I craned my neck higher, exposing my entire face. “Oh, is that his son?”
“Must be. Oh, he looks so cute, Lucy.” She awwed next to me, her voice going all wonky.
“Oh God, please don’t start crying again, not while we are teetering on the edge over here.”
“I told you I’m not a pussy. I’m not gonna cry.”
In the quiet of the night, we watched the little boy press his hands against the window and look outside with the saddest expression on his little face. After a few seconds passed, he abruptly turned around and looked up as if he was talking to someone. As much as we tried to, we couldn’t see who was standing behind him.
“Don’t lean on me too much,” I said urgently as Olive’s shoulder pressed against mine in an attempt to see who the kid was looking at.
“I think it’s him,” she squeaked, ignoring my warning.
While I was doing my best not to fall off the ladder, our mystery person stepped forward and lowered himself on one knee.
