Bone Diggers - Chapter Six

Loading... Chapter Six

Off the cuff, Owen found himself dialing Andreah's number on Friday night. He had some idea of where to take her, just needed to make sure she was up for it.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's Owen." He stared at a fan that slowly turned above his bed as he laid back. He had been home a while before deciding it was time to finally get that date.

"Wow. Hi there." She sounded genuinely surprised, which made Owen lean up onto one elbow in uncertainty.

"What is it?"

"The only person who ever actually calls me is my landlord, and my mom. How old are you? I'm really not looking for another old dude again. Always so controlling." He could hear the grin in her voice. Her tendency to mess with him never let up, it seemed.

"Are there perks to dating old dudes otherwise?"

"Well," she trailed for a moment, clearing her throat. "There are some."

Owen paused for a good moment, assessing what had just happened with a purse of his lips. Not something he wanted to talk about just before officiating their date. "So, are you busy tonight?"

"Mmm, nope. Just opened up my order of Chinese, though."

"Well, good. You'll have some extra energy to burn."

"Oh?" Her voice was ringing with a smile again, and Owen knew exactly what went through her mind at that moment.

He could feel the redness traveling up his neck. "There's this alternative fitness center in Brooklyn. Would you want to meet me there?"

"Isn't that like a gymnastics center?"

"In a sense, yeah." He fidgeted with the comforter on his bed, and wondered if it was a good idea at all. She counted as the athletic type, right? It shouldn't be that bad.

She let out a small hum, and he could hear her fork pushing around on the plate he imagined in front of her. It was interesting trying to place her somewhere personal. Apart from the chaos of New York and settled in an apartment somewhere, probably with a rescue cat. He could imagine her with a cat.

"Sure. What time?"

He pulled his phone back to check the time quickly. "How about eight? The place is open till midnight, so we'd have plenty of time."

"Sounds good. I'll see you then."

"See you soon," Owen said before they hung up.

The gym wasn't really that far from where he lived. Walkable even, if he wanted to cross the Brooklyn Bridge. But being late to a first date, or whatever this was, wouldn't be a good idea, so he got ready and opted for a cab.

Owen waited outside the gym, nervously checking his phone once or twice before Andreah walked up. "Hey." She smiled briefly upon seeing him, and tucked her hands into her coat pockets. Andreah's eyes drifted over to the generic name of the place as she raised an eyebrow. "So, why did you pick here?"

"Well, you said you didn't want anywhere boring, so I thought I'd show you one of my favorite places."

Andreah shot him a cautious expression before pulling the door open and heading inside. What she expected was various kids standing in line for the pommel horse and uneven bars, but what she saw was an energetic free for all. People, mostly their age, were flipping off faux rooftops, and free running over small dividing walls that were painted to look 8-bit. There were some of the things she had expected, like an open floor for gymnastics and a foam pit, but both were used as an excuse to get more jumps in.

"Is this—?"

"Parkour?" Owen grinned. "Yeah."

She turned back to look at Owen with clear surprise.

"You can do that?" Andreah asked, gesturing, but without really looking, towards a guy who cat-leaped onto a wall before climbing up. Owen nodded.

"Hmph," she said. "Impressive for a fact checker."

The tease flickered his otherwise bright expression like a candle. "Let's see if you can do anything besides ride a bike," he said, and moved away towards the others.

"Wait." Andreah had to do a quick double step in order to keep up. "Aren't you going to show me how first?"

Owen looked over his shoulder, back towards her. "Only if you say please."

For a fraction of a second, he reviewed what he'd just said and winced. Too cocky? Too pushy? Would she read it as a joke? He had to hope it came off as intended, because stopping midstride to correct it would ruin the casual tone he was trying to set.

He jogged up to a wide wall divider that was waist high and supported himself with his hands as he swung one leg completely over and back, before the other. When it looked like he was going to repeat the move his hand placement changed and he spun around to sit facing Andreah. Collectively, it all only took a few seconds before he contently waited with his hands under his chin.

"Alright, show off." Andreah's hand was up by her mouth, but it didn't muffle her words. "Please show me."

Owen stood up and gestured with a nod for Andreah to step up there with him. She pulled herself up on the ledge that was big enough for the both of them to stand comfortably. "The most basic thing I can think of is a precision jump. Basically, it's as simple as jumping from one object to another." Owen walked over to the edge and jumped over to a divider a few feet away. "Like so."

Andreah pursed her lips as he hopped off. That didn't look so hard. She jumped and, with a wobble, made it over.

"Close," Owen said, "Your arms were in front of you as you jumped, and swung back. You aren't a rowboat. Momentum dictates forward motion."

Her sour expression suggested she either didn't picture what he was talking about or didn't like the correction. Either way, Owen shook it off with a chuckle. When he demonstrated again, he emphasized his arm movements. Tucked back, then swinging forward. "Try again."

With a tight expression on her face, Andreah angled herself to jump back to their starting point. This time it looked like she was telling herself where her arms should be. The wind up for the jump took much longer, but she was landing with less wobble now. She tried a few more times back and forth as Owen entertained himself by flipping off a nearby bar and keeping an eye on Andreah. Soon her jumps were solid and steady.

She landed and looked to Owen. "Ta da," she said in sing song.

"Top of the class."

Andreah stepped off to be level with him. "Now what?"

"Do you want to play in the foam pit?"

"Are you even an adult?"

That tease brought a smile to Owen's face as he walked off toward the pit. "Sometimes."

They climbed to the highest mock roof in the gym and looked over the sea of foam. While Andreah wouldn't ever admit it, her wide eyes made it clear that the height was getting to her. Owen moved so his toes were at the edge. He jumped off with seeming carelessness and smoothly turned over in the air so that when he landed he was cradled by the foam.

"Yeah..." Andreah said, as she looked down at him. "I'm not doing that."

Owen tilted his head back so he could look at her from the flat of his back. "Oh, come on." He rolled out of the foam pit to make room for her. Her hands fidgeted liked she was trying to think of where they should be now as well. She was still looking straight down despite the fact that Owen was now standing along the side. "Andreah, just jump."

She swallowed hard and jumped straight off. The foam cushioned her fall as she landed chest high in the pit. It took her a second to register that she was fine and another to enjoy the rush. Only then did she try to move and realize the foam had nearly swallowed her whole and didn't seem to want to let go. Andreah reached forward to pull herself towards the edge, but all her strength only gave way to an inch. She tried a new tactic of trying to kick forward, but that was even less effective.

Owen stared wide-eyed for a second himself, but his expression dissolved into a laugh. Andreah shot him a dirty look that made him choke out another chuckle as he tried to control his amusement.

"I swear to god when I get out of here I'm going to hit you." She adapted a more swimming-like motion. Better, but still wasn't close enough to grab the edge.

He crouched down as if it was all too much for him, but instead of cracking up further, he reached his hand out to help her. Andreah blinked, looking to Owen silently for a few beats of her heart before grabbing it. Owen pulled her towards him until she was back on her feet.

"I'm still going to get you back for that," Andreah nearly whispered since they were suddenly so close. The twinkle in her eyes made the comment promising.

"Won't that be fun."

Andreah let go first. Quickly becoming very aware of her hand after it slid out of Owen's. She reached up to her hair as if to check if it had turned into a static-filled mess after fighting an almost losing battle against the foam.

"Don't worry." Owen smiled. "You're still very cute. For a hardass." She drew in a breath and glanced down at his lips in a fashion that made Owen's heart stutter for a second.

Andreah stepped around him, and he turned to watch where she was wandering off. She didn't go far, since it was too easy to get caught up watching everyone as they ran around with almost inhumanly fluid movements.

She exhaled sharply as a guy ran towards a wall, and instead of climbing up, he flipped backwards. "Can you do that?" she asked, and glanced back at Owen.

He nodded, watching someone that looked like one of his friends do a similar flip that used the corner fully instead of just one wall. "Yeah, it's one of the first things I learned."

"Why?"

He tilted his head at the question. The tone was hard to place. It wasn't the easiest trick, but it didn't sound like she was being insincere. "I thought it was cool."

This time when Andreah looked back, there was a clear smile there. "Could you teach me?"

"Can you do a backflip?" Owen made a face that caused lines to crinkle around his eyes.

"No."

Owen took a few steps closer, leaning in as he passed her. "Maybe later."

There was more there. Andreah could tell he was holding some sort of joke back. He might not have been comfortable enough to say it, but she could almost feel the mischief radiating off of him.

As if to prove his word, Owen moved towards the wall, waving a hello to someone as he waited for others to clear. He ran towards the wall, one step started up the wall and the next reached higher than his head giving him the power to gracefully jump off. Before doing another standing backflip for good measure.

"Stop being a tease, show-off."

"I live to impress."

Andreah laughed, and placed a hand on her hip. "Liar." She didn't peg Owen for the type that lived off other's admiration. If anything she figured she could write him off this very second, and he'd merely raise a brow before heading to hang with whoever he greeted moments before. It seemed like an inextinguishable confidence.

"You know what they say..."

"Takes one to know one?"

Owen hummed an agreement. He glanced around, looking for something, and caused Andreah do the same as she was at a loss for what he was looking for. "Are you hungry?" he asked suddenly.

"I could eat."

"Awesome. I really want a smoothie from next door."

"You are pretty ridiculous," Andreah said, tucking her hands back in her pockets, and prepared for the cold wind again.

Owen paused for a second, before rolling his eyes. "Liar."

"Maybe."