Several people were confused by the dynamic of their relationship. They had been the modern day Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. Sean laughed quietly to himself at the thought, trying not to disturb anyone else in the room. A memory of a prank they’d pulled in high school rang in his mind.
It had been their senior year, and everyone in the class was racking their brains to figure out what prank they should play on the school. It had to be better than the ones from the past, but it couldn’t be the same idea. And it couldn’t be anything that would get them expelled. So, no permanent defacement of property or anything like that.
Sean and Tommy had come up with the idea of breaking into the school and unlocking the huge indoor swimming pool then letting all the seniors into the building for some midnight swimming. Neither one of them knew how to pick locks, though. Well, at least not at that point in their lives. So, the only solution they could come up with was to stay in the building late one night, and remain hidden somewhere until the school had been locked up.
At the end of the school day, they had hung around for some of the extracurricular activities that were going on at the time, trying to look inconspicuous. About thirty minutes before the custodial staff was to go around and begin their locking procedures, Sean and Tommy hoisted themselves up into the ceiling by way of a bookshelf in the counseling office. The ceiling tiles were easy enough to remove, and as their intel had belied, there were floors everywhere just above them. Sean had observed some maintenance workers climbing up into the space once before and had asked how they moved around. The unsuspecting man had explained that there was basically an entire floor hidden above the ceiling, from which all the inner workings of the school could be accessed.
The boys had replaced the tiles and sat impatiently, frequently checking their watches to see when the school would be locked up for the evening.
Sean smiled again in the church pew, thinking about how nervous he had felt while waiting for the custodians to leave the building. He and Tommy had told all the other students in their class to give it an hour before showing up to the school. They wanted to make sure it was dark and everyone was clear of the facility. Kids showing up in the parking lot while someone was leaving would have thrown up a huge red flag.
While they sat there in the dark silence of the school’s underworld, Sean and Tommy didn’t say much. They had been afraid someone would catch them. There was a little bit of whispered banter between the two of them about how epic the prank was going to be, and that no one in administration would even have to be the wiser. It could be something that went down in history with their class and became the stuff of legend.
Tommy had checked his watch for the thirtieth time, finally deciding they had waited long enough. The boys climbed down from the ceiling and made their way through the cavernous high school halls, the cafeteria, gym, and to the doors where they could unlock the pool.
Sean shook his head thinking about their surprise when they realized all the doors leading into the pool were locked. Through the door window, could see the first few students starting to arrive outside of the pool windows.
“What should we do?” Sean had asked. “We don’t know how to unlock the doors. And if we go out, we’ll be locked out there with the rest of them.”
Tommy looked around for a minute and then realized the solution. “You think there’s another space above those ceiling tiles?” He pointed up to the ceiling ten feet over their heads.
Sean followed his friend’s eyes as he realized what Tommy was thinking. He was staring at the ceiling tiles that extended out over the pool, all the way to the far wall of the facility. The drop from the ceiling to the pool was easily thirty to forty feet, certainly a dangerous proposition.
“No way, man,” Sean had said. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”
Tommy had turned his head, spotting a ladder that just happened to be leaning against the wall not far from where they were standing. “Dude, the class is counting on us. This is our chance to do something amazing that no one else has ever done or will get to do again.”
Sean stared at the image on his phone. His friend had been right. It was a mantra Tommy lived by. He based his life on treating everything like it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
As a result, the boys had climbed up into the ceiling and crawled on a narrow catwalk out over the pool. Once they had gone what they figured to be about half way, Tommy reached down and removed one of the ceiling tiles. Below them, the chlorinated water rippled in the darkness of the facility, lit only by a few orange outdoor lights just beyond the wall’s windows.
Tommy had looked over at him with a grin on his face, dangling his feet over the edge.
Sean thought better of the idea, letting doubts swirl around in his head. “I don’t think we should do this, Tommy. We could get hurt.”
There would be no convincing him. Tommy patted Sean on the shoulder. “It’s gonna be fine, buddy. It’s only water.” Those were the last words he said before shoving himself through the hole in the ceiling and plummeting into the water below.
His body disappeared for a few seconds before his head popped up in the dark water fairly close to where he’d gone in. He let out a yell, pumping a fist in the air.
“You okay?” Sean shouted down.
Tommy nodded as he dogpaddled in the middle of the pool. “I’m great, man! Come on down!”
Sean hung his feet over the edge for a few seconds. A familiar pain snuck back into his stomach, and his head swirled. He had been afraid of heights since he could remember. He was pretty sure something had happened when he was a child to cause the inexplicable phobia, but nothing concrete ever presented itself. The only remotely plausible explanation was that his mother had pushed him out of a swing when he was three, landing Sean on his head but unhurt, for the most part.
Sean took in a deep breath of the musty church air, remember how nervous he had been at the thought of jumping. In the end, he never took the plunge. He couldn’t do it. Fear had overcome him, paralyzing him from taking any action.
Tommy had insisted it was okay that he didn’t jump. But Sean had felt like a failure, instead electing to crawl back through the ceiling and let his friend unlock the upper door from the inside. By that time, most of the senior class had arrived outside and were clamoring for the two friends to open the doors.
The prank had been an incredible success. Students flooded into the pool area, thrilled at the fact that they were pulling off the greatest prank in school history. One kid had brought a boom box, and the music blared off the facility’s walls. People danced on the concrete around the edge of the water, some of the couples made out up in the bleachers, while most of the group splashed around in the warm waters of the forbidden pool. They had had the time of their lives that night.
Sean smiled briefly as he remembered the evening. He looked around the darkened sanctuary. One of Jabez’s men stood by the door, keeping watch. They had been rotating out every two hours, taking turns so each man could get some sleep. His eyes drifted to the pew where he knew Adriana was sleeping.
Tommy’s voice from high school rang in his ears. “Jump, Sean. Jump.”
He had messed up enough with relationships in the past. At the moment, Sean had a good working friendship with Adriana. He didn’t want to jeopardize that. Then again, no risk no reward. That was the way Tommy had lived his life. Sean had, instead, chosen to take risks in other areas of his journey.
Every piece of his being told him to go back to where she was sleeping, wake her up, and tell her he wanted to see where things could lead. It wouldn’t be a cheesy conversation where he told her he was in love with her or anything like that. He just wanted to let her know he was interested in seeing what could happen.