epiphany - lydia martin [book 1]

chapter twenty-seven. fears

I stood in gym class, watching as Allison and Scott raced each other up the rock-climbing wall. I knew it was gonna be my turn and I was practically terrified. And I knew I looked like it too. I was deathly afraid of heights. I didn't care how tall the wall was, if I was more than six feet off the ground, I couldn't do it. I literally could feel my hands sweating as I thought about how queasy I would feel being so high up in the air.

"You okay?" I heard Stiles ask me, the boy standing with his hands on his hips.

I shook my head as I breathed heavily, "Of course I'm not! You know how scared of heights I am." I whisper-yelled, hoping that Coach Finstock wouldn't hear. I knew he would just make a joke out of it to the entire class which would make me insanely embarrassed.

I saw Lydia walk up to me, concern but also slight amusement in her eyes, "Are you okay? You look you're about to pass out."

I threw my hands up in the air, "I'm fine!" The girl gave me a pointed look before I sighed. "Okay, no I'm not. I'm terrified. I can't do heights, Lydia, I can't. That wall is like twenty feet tall and I can't. You should've seen the time I went on one of the kiddie rollercoasters at the amusement park, I almost hurled in Scott's lap while riding in a dinosaur." Lydia chuckled as I rambled, grabbing my hands to calm me down.

"It's okay." She told me as Stiles rolled his eyes. "If you want, I'll go up there with you."

I shook my head rapidly, "I'm not going up there."

Lydia frowned, "Devin -"

"Lydia -"

I got interrupted when I heard Scott yelp. Lydia and I turned to the rock wall where Scott was hanging horizontally, a few inches from the ground. He then hit the safety mat abruptly before holding the back of his head. "McCall, I don't know why, but your pain gives me a special kind of joy." Coach Finstock laughed as he bent down to look at Scott. "All right, next two. Stilinski, Erica, let's go. The wall."

The entire class was laughing as my brother held his hand to his chest, breathing heavily. My eyes widened, "See! If Scott fell up there, what makes you think I'm not gonna?"

"Well actually, Allison sort of kicked him off." Stiles informed as he walked off to suit up in his harness.

"I don't care." I said as I waved my hand, earning a chuckle from Lydia.

"I never would've thought Devin McCall would be afraid of something as simple as a rock climbing wall." My girlfriend said, twirling her ponytail as she watched Stiles and Erica start to climb the wall.

My lips formed into a thin line, "Yeah, well, there's a lot you still don't know about me." The redhead rolled her eyes in response as Allison and Scott stood by our side. "Good job." I said sarcastically to my brother, holding out my fist. He rolled his eyes before he gently pushed my hand down.

We watched as Stiles had already came back down the wall, raising his hands in a celebratory manner. I chuckled as he unhooked himself from his harness. We looked back up at the wall again when he heard Erica whimper, causing my eyes to widen.

She was shaking in the middle of the wall as she stood on the plastic rocks. Coach Finstock stood under the messy-haired blonde, "Erica. Dizzy? Is it vertigo?"

"Vertigo's a dysfunction of the vestibular system of the inner ear. She's just freaking out." Lydia explained.

"Erica." Coach called.

"I'm fine." The girl croaked out as she whimpered.

"Coach, maybe it's not safe. You know she's epileptic." Allison reminded him.