Chapter 13: Tongue-tied trauma
"Oh you're up next!" Bowie said in surprise as Damien was about to reach the bottom. After another tedious round of sending baskets up and down, Raj's basket was ready.
"Good luck Raj! Don't be like Chase and you'll be fine!" Bowie cooed, patting Raj's shoulder affectionately.
"Thanks Bowie, I'll see you at the bottom," Raj said swiftly, throwing Caleb a dirty look from the corner of his eyes. Caleb adjusted his feet awkwardly. Bowie and Raj leaned in for a farewell kiss as Raj hopped over the ledge.
Now that Bowie and Raj were engaged in a tight passionate kiss, Raj had completely forgotten he was supposed to hop in.
Priya looked up.
"GUYS! I LOVE A ROMANTIC GAY BALCONY SCENE AS MUCH AS THE NEXT PERSON BUT WE HAVE TO MOVE!" she cried, flailing her arms so that they could get the message.
At once, Bowie and Raj let go.
"Oh…. RIGHT!" Raj chuckled, slapping himself on his forehead. "GO SNOW OWLS!" he roared as he hopped into his basket. Coincidentally, at the same time, Chase managed to successfully wrap his leg around the rope of the other basket. He gave it a little nudge which caused the basket to tilt at an angle and out fell a single brick to the ground. Nichelle was standing far back.
Chase clapped his hands as he began to descend smoothly.
"LET'S GO BABY!" he cheered. From the ground Millie, Julia, Axel, Zee and Wayne whooped while from above Ripper gave a mighty roar of excitement. It would be his turn next and he would win it for them.
"Awww no!" Bowie sighed, staring down at Chase's moving basket once more. "They finally fixed it…" Bowie had been hoping for Chase to stay stuck for the remainder of the game while the Orangutans finished.
Bowie glanced over at Caleb who to his great surprise was sitting on the tower floor with his hands over his head, looking extremely distressed. Bowie strolled over casually and sat next to him.
"Uhhhh, hey!" he cleared his throat. "So… I know we've had our differences and you most definitely hate my guts but why don't we put all of that behind us? What's done is done and there's nothing we can do about it so there's no point in – "
Caleb looked up but did not respond. Bowie stared at him curiously. Caleb was not angry this time. Instead, he looked rather disheartened. His hands were shaking and his lip quivered, almost as if he wanted to tell Bowie something but no words were coming out…
Bowie confessional: *puts curious hand on chin* What is going on with Caleb?...
Bowie cleared his throat once more to give it another shot.
"Caleb, what's going on? You don't look too good. Talk to me!" Bowie urged as they began taking out bricks together. Raj was almost at the bottom.
Caleb shook his head.
"It's not that simple…" he muttered as a basket with a single brick moved downwards towards the ground.
"Why? What is it?" Bowie persisted. Once again, Caleb shook his head and said nothing. Bowie bit his lip and stared hardly at Caleb for a brief moment but then shrugged it off. If Caleb did not want to talk, he would not push it.
Bowie and Caleb continued to dump two bricks into the ascending basket each time without exchanging a word. It was rather awkward. Finally, Bowie hopped in.
"I'm gonna get going now," Bowie said. "See you later!" Bowie gave Caleb one last encouraging smile before taking off.
AUTHOR'S NOTES
There are now only two players left in their towers - Caleb for the Orangutans and Ripper for the Panthers. Who will win? Find out tomorrow!