Unexpectedly, a shadow cast over us. More specifically, a person’s silhouette. “ATTENTION, BOTTOM-DWELLERS!” The person boomed down unto us. Bianca and I immediately had to know where it was coming from. One of the three boys was standing near the edge. His hands were at his sides, reminiscent of a cliché superhero pose. The Texas flag waved before him, and the Sun flared nicely, adding to the imagery the boy seemed to have created for himself. “Today, you will witness a feat no one had the cajones to do in the past!” Just what was he doing? He certainly knew how to gather a crowd. All eyes were upon him. However, the bystanders around us did nothing but talk amongst themselves. It was a mix of reactions, mostly confusion, with worry and excitement sprinkled in between. Of course, the phones came out to record. 

“Anthony,” Bianca said to someone standing next to us. I didn't even know he was there. “What the heck is your delinquent brother up to now?” She was addressing a tall and well-groomed hall monitor. 

Anthony halfheartedly shrugged, " I wouldn’t be down here if I knew. Would I?” 

So, I started squinting. I swear the Sun was not getting to me, and my prescription for my glasses was still pretty good. No, it was not that; I started squinting, looking at Anthony. There was something familiar about him. I just could not place it. The more I looked at him, the more my mind began unraveling the mystery. It made sense now. Anthony was the brother of whoever was on the roof. I get that it was not the discovery of my generation, but it was astounding. Aside from height, the two boys shared the same hair color and even had similarities in facial structure. Still, Anthony’s face was more mature than his brother’s. No doubt that was due to their demeanors.

“That’s your brother!” It was a discovery only I was excited for, unfortunately. “Talk about opposites!” 

“I know,” neutrally, “I get it a lot,” he played it off.

With my embarrassing outburst out of the way, the three of us looked back to the roof and listened to whatever was happening up there. “I, Max Ramirez,” Anthony’s brother announced, “will climb to the top of this ramp and come back down in – drum roll please – a shopping cart!” Max directed everyone’s attention to his two friends setting up a shopping cart at the top of the ramp. The cart was held in place by what looked like elastic ropes, the same quality seen used in bungee jumping. “But don’t think this will be the end of me. Because I guarantee it won’t! After my four-story voyage, I will safely roll down the ramp that’s right beside you!” Well, that explains this ramp on the sidewalk. Wait, is doing that even possible? Does he think he will land smoothly enough to roll down another ramp four stories below him? Even if he somehow made it, what will stop the cart from continuing to roll? Max’s understanding of fundamental physics was impractical.

“I don’t get it,” Anthony cupped his hands to shout at his brother. “Why’s Max doing this?” by him being this calm, I could tell that this had happened before. 

“Because Max is an attention-seeking daredevil who has been doing crazy stunts since the sixth grade,” Bianca sarcastically replied. “That’s why!” She just was the life of the party.  

“Max! Get down from there!” Anthony yelled with as much enthusiasm as a sloth. 

“Or what,” Max shouted back, “awarded hall monitor of the month? Are you going to write me up for a high-speed shopping cart?” This family dynamic was weird. I was already over this and just wanted to go home.  

Anthony hesitated, “Well, not that. But I will write you up!” Did he not think this through? 

Bianca stepped before Anthony, “Max,” taking over for him, “You don’t realize how stupid your stunt is! The cart’s motion is continuous unless acted upon by another force! In this case, the force is sudden and four stories below you! The cart would, lawfully, give you a hard impact once touching the surface of the ramp-” 

“Shut up, Know-all!” Max exclaimed, thinking that it was a good burn.

Bianca stepped back, “Sorry,” timidly, “It’s a habit...” murmuring.

“I guess scientific reasoning won’t stop your brother,” I told Anthony, not knowing when to keep my mouth shut. 

And he said to me, “Come upstairs with me. Confronting Max down here won’t do anything.” Why… 

I followed Anthony into the school and up the stairs past the roof access door. I was practically out of breath when we made it onto the rooftop. “Why... are there... so many stairs... in this damn school?” I gasped while catching my breath. 

“You need to work on your cardio,” Anthony suggested. I knew he was judging me, but the lack of enthusiasm made it less upsetting. He was just such a calm guy. “He’s still here. Maybe we still have some time-” 

“Now!” Max shouted. Already inside the shopping cart, the elastic ropes snapped, and he rolled down the ramp, joyously screaming on the way down. Max began to pick up momentum, but Anthony and I made it right in time to catch the cart. Stopping it in place before it moved any further down the incline, I was relieved that this event was all over. Suddenly, Max slightly launched upward. But he caught himself as Anthony and I strenuously struggled to keep the cart in place. It could have gone so wrong so fast. And it still almost did. “This is quite sad to witness, honestly speaking,” Max said, purposely leaning his weight onto the cart. “You two are struggling to support the weight of a fourteen-year-old boy in a shopping cart.” Why did it matter how old he was? Trying to keep anyone in place when they were inside something with wheels was hard enough, especially on an incline. I was pretty sure that I just did not like Max. He seemed like all the people I actually detested in school. He was rude, loud, attention-seeking, and, worst of all, dumb. He seemed really dumb. Like, who did things like this? Struggling and still mostly out of breath, our eyes met when I moved my head up. “Hold up. That hair... Those glasses... I know who you are! You’re Kieren the Game Blogger! You’re my favorite esports gamer!” 

Oh… Someone get me out of here… Honestly, I was thrown back a little by Max mentioning my old gaming moniker. But I quickly thought of a way to use that to my advantage. “Don’t you think a loyal fan of mine would get out of the shopping cart...?” Gritting my teeth, still struggling to keep the cart in place. 

Sometime later, I entered the hallway. Anthony followed me, carrying Max over his shoulder like a lightweight sack of potatoes. Max did not even fight back but enjoyed the ride.

“So, this is what it’s like being six feet tall...” Max joked to himself. 

Anthony stood before me, “Thank you, Mr. Freeman.” So proper! Were kids my age even made like that anymore? By the way he said it, I would have thought him to be an NPC character from a fantasy-medieval MMORPG. Was he going to send me on a fetch quest after this? Did I have to assemble an item on a workbench? Maybe I would have to slide between some cracks because a developer was disguising a loading screen…. “Due to your bravery, you will be greatly rewarded.” He was not making himself sound any better. But he handed me a free hall pass, which was cool. It was cool… until I looked at the sticker attached to it. It featured a personified cartoon grape exclaiming ‘You’re Grape!’ in a speech bubble.

“Wow,” I seriously had to put my acting skills to the test. “Just what I wanted. You have truly brightened up my day,” I said sarcastically. Still, I made sure to take the pass anyway. It was free, after all. 

“There’s plenty more where that came from,” Anthony said, not catching my sarcasm. “If you excuse me.” He walked down the hall, carrying Max, who waved goodbye to me nicely.  

I waved back before allowing my back to hit the wall when they could no longer see me. I slid down against it. My arms were still pumping, and I was still trying to catch my breath from the running. Who would have thought I would have actually gone onto the roof? Too bad I didn’t stay long enough to enjoy the view. It would have been nice. Reluctantly, I took out my phone to look at the time. 

Crap, I was late…

To Be Continued...