My Biggest Fear

By Waniya Ehtesham

My Biggest Fear

I looked down from the height I was standing at. The constant chatter of the people surrounding me became muffled for me. Letting out a shaky breath, I muttered quietly to myself, “It’s okay, Gwen, you can totally do this.”

“How are we doing?” A feminine voice spoke close to my clear, making my heart stop for almost a second due to surprise. I let out a shriek, placing a heart on my hand to feel it beating abnormally rapidly against my chest. I turned my head to my side, where the familiar voice came from, to see a grinning face which undoubtedly belonged to Catalina.

Catalina was my best friend from- I can’t even remember how many years it has been. We’ve basically been inseparable since childhood. If I’m not wrong, it was the first grade when she had straight up smacked a girl in her face for bullying me for my poorly styled short hair, we had been friends ever since. Whether it was her getting her heart broken for the first time or me getting into a fist fight with one of the seniors, we have always supported each other.

Glaring at her for the jump scare, I smacked her hand gently, “What the hell, Lina?” I spoke. She just laughed at my reaction and threw an arm over my shoulder, leaning into my side so that her dirty blonde hair mixed into my brown hair, most probably tangling together.

“So, are you ready?” She asked me. Apparently, she had brought me to Arizona to try bungee jumping here. She had insisted me to finally face my fear of heights. I tried to get out of it, of course, but Catalina just wouldn’t stop threatening me about what she would do to me if I didn’t go to Arizona with her. She is quite scary when it comes to her getting denied for things that she wants to do.

“I’m not so sure I want to do this.” I said to her. She sighed, “Sweetie, you know, you must overcome your fear. And this is the best chance you’ll ever get to do it.” She said, making me look at her weirdly.

She rolled her eyes, pulling away from me so that we were face to face. Putting her hands on both my shoulders, she looked at me straight in the eye, “Look around you, Gwen. We are in Arizona and right now, you’re standing at the Navajo Bridge. This is beautiful, all right? And if you let it all go to waste by not jumping off this cliff, then forget me- even God won’t forgive you.” She spoke seriously, but her serious expression faded away when she opened her mouth again, “Plus, I already paid for it. So, you cannot back out now.”

“Screw you, Lina.”

“Love you too, Gwen.”

*****

“God, please, let me live.” I whimpered to myself as the man who worked there got me ready for the bungee jump. I didn’t realize that my fists were so tightly closed that my knuckles turned white.

“What if I want to back out now?” I asked the man beside me. He had a slightly amused smile on his face as he replied to me, “You can’t, sweetheart.” he replied, and I furrowed my brows at his reaction.

“But I’m so scared, I don’t think I can do this.” I said, mostly to myself.

“I missed the part where that’s my problem.” He replied in a monotone.

“Why are you so rude?” I turned towards him again, but this time I clearly took him in. He was quite... handsome. His blue eyes burned into my soul as he stared back with the same glare that I had on my face. His chiseled jaw clenched as if he was angry at the world.

“None of your concern.”

“Well, you’re being rude to me. So, yes, it is my concern.”

“I’ve seen a lot of people like you, so it’s a bit annoying for me.”

“You’re annoying.”

“Oh yeah?”

“James, please, cut the bickering.” The guy on the other side spoke up, cutting the quarrel off. James, the obnoxious guy whose name I just discovered, huffed annoyedly, making me mirror his expression. Childishly, I stuck out my tongue at him. He glared at me but looked away in the other direction. Maybe it was my imagination but I swear I saw his lips twitch in a small smile.

“Ready?” James asked as a formality. I shook my head, “No, I’m not.”

“You’re thinking too much about it.” He said suddenly, making me close my eyes and gulp a large lump of saliva. “It’s not that terrifying as it seems. You can do it.” he encouraged me again.

“I have an intense fear of heights.” I confessed as if I was sure I would die of a heart attack after this. He sighed, putting a hand on my shoulder, and turning me towards him a bit. “What’s your name?”

“Gwen.”

“Gwen, it’s your mind playing tricks on you. You’re strong enough to do this.” He spoke and I let out a small laugh in terror and humor. “Do you give motivation to everyone who comes here?” I asked him. A humorless chuckle left his mouth as his grip tightened on my shoulder, pushing me lightly to bring me closer to the edge of the cliff. My body faced his so I didn’t really focus on what was behind me.

He took my right hand in his, bringing it closer to his mouth. My breath hitched as he placed his lips on the back of hand, kissing it. “No. I guess you’re special.” he muttered. I felt myself getting warm as my face flushed red. He gave me one of his charming smiles, coming closer to me.

“You can do it, Gwen.” He almost whispered, slightly pushing me closer to the edge. His ocean blue stared in mine, I could drown in them, for sure. I felt my hand slowly slip from his as I fell back. A sharp gasp shot out from me as I completely fell from the edge.

An involuntary scream escaped me when I finally processed what had happened. I was literally in the air right now. But I didn’t close my eyes, I wanted to see my surroundings. My stomach dropped at this new feeling of falling from a height.

The feeling only lasted for a few seconds because it finally came to a halt. My whole body stretched and my mind became fuzzy as I finally hit the stop. I grabbed the rope that was holding me as I hung there in the middle of air and around the most beautiful scenery I could see hanging upside down. I let out a loud laugh as I realized what just happened.

I did it.

Man, I feel like Gwen Stacy when she died. Except it’s a rope in my case and it was Spiderman’s web in hers.

In a matter of a few minutes, I was lowered down. My feet touched the ground and I let out a heavy sigh in relief. As soon as I was freed from all the stuff that helped with the jump, Catalina’s shriek was heard.

Before I could comprehend the situation, she came running to me and practically jumped onto me, engulfing me in a bear hug. “You did it!” she exclaimed again as she pulled away. She had the biggest grin stretching on her face, making me mirror her expression, “I did it!” I also shrieked.

“By the way, an extremely hot guy gave me this note for you.” She said, pulling out a note from her back pocket. I gave her a confused reaction, taking the note from her hand. “Who?” I inquired.

“I don’t know, he worked here. Told me to give this to my ‘cute brunette friend’- as he put it.” She said, laughing to herself. It must be him. James, I think his name was?

Opening the note, a smile took over my features.

Call me on this number, brunette.

************

~James

Today is really a good day for me.

By Waniya Ehtesham