The Gathering (Darkness Rising 1)

"Because you're a guy. Girls don't climb walls. Not real girls, anyway. Just tomboys whose closets are filled with tank tops and jeans and sneakers. Who still consider braids and ponytails high fashion. Who wouldn't know how to apply makeup on a dare."

"Knock it off, Hayley," Daniel said.

I was wearing makeup. Just not a lot. I had my hair down, too, and although I was wearing jeans, they were my fancy ones, paired with a new fitted tee and ankle boots. It might have been the T-shirt slogan that she objected to--BRUNETTE IS THE NEW BLONDE--but I didn't buy it to set her off.

"Am I the only one around here who thinks Maya has a hidden Y chromosome?" Hayley said.

"If she does, she's hiding it pretty good," Corey said, giving me a lascivious once-over.

Hayley scowled at me and opened her mouth to say something else. Daniel started to cut her off, but Corey beat him to it.

"Lessons later," he said. "First, we need to see if this girl is as good a climber as she thinks she is. Challenge time. A race to the top. Maya versus anyone who dares take her on."

"That'll be a short list," I said.

Corey grinned. "Not when they hear the prize." He turned to the others. "Anyone who beats our Sweet Sixteen gets to kiss her. The lineup forms behind me."

Brendan got behind him. Daniel grinned at me and joined. The other guys filed in.

"Oh my God," I said. "What are you guys? Twelve?"

"No," Brendan said. "Just really, really immature."

"In other words, typical guys," said a voice.

Sam stepped out from behind Hayley and Brooke and cut in line behind Daniel.

"I'll skip the kiss," she said. "But as the designated bad girl, I can't resist the urge to show up the good girl."

"So what do I get when I beat everyone?" I said.

"When?" Corey shook his head. "Do you need a wide-load sign for transporting that ego? Fine. Beat all of us and I'll kiss you."

"Speaking of egos ..."

"Beat us and we'll install more holds over there." Daniel pointed to a tougher and higher section of the rock face ten feet down, then looked at me. "How's that?"

I smiled. "Game on."

Nicole and Brooke took the path up to the top, so they could referee. Hayley stayed at the bottom.

Between the natural crevices and bumps, and the newly installed ones, there were more than enough for two people to climb side by side.

Corey went first. I beat him easily. Brendan was a little tougher, but I still made it to the top before he was much past the halfway mark. Neither had any real climbing experience--they just counted on their general athletic prowess to pull them through.

Next up was the only real threat. Daniel. He'd been climbing with me for years. I was the natural--I was faster and more agile--but he had double my upper body strength and that counts for a lot.

Daniel did a test run first. Brendan and Corey complained about that, but he was right--I'd gone up twice now, which gave me an advantage. If I was going to win, I wanted to do it fairly.

Daniel belayed back down as I got into position. His feet hit the ground with a thump, then he looked over at me.

"Ready?"

"Always."

Nicole did the countdown from the top. I started fast, reaching the halfway mark head and shoulders above him. But that's when things got tricky, the holds and grips a little farther apart, and he had the advantage. By the three-quarter mark, he'd caught up.

"Better kick it up a notch," he said, as he drew alongside me. "I know you really want those extra holds."