Read Online The Rules of You and Me by Shana Norris - Free Book Online

paths led up the side of the mountain to the top of Chimney Rock. Stairs on which people were actually climbing willingly .
    “ You have to see the view,” Jude told me.
    He started toward the entrance, but I stayed behind. After a few steps, he realized I wasn’t with him and looked back at me.
    “ What’s wrong?” he asked.
    I gulped and shook my head. “I’m not climbing that.”
    “ Why, are you afraid of heights?”
    When I didn’t say anything, his eyes widened. “Oh,” he said slowly. “You’re afraid of heights.”
    “ I’m not afraid of heights,” I said. “I’m afraid of falling from heights.”
    “ It’s safe. There are rails everywhere. The stairs across the gap are supported—”
    “ Stairs across a gap ?” I crossed my arms firmly. “No way. I’m staying here.”
    Jude frowned as he looked back up at the rock towering over us. I could see people up there, tiny people who roamed around the top of the rock as if it were no big deal that they were hundreds of feet in the air.
    “ There’s a cafe up top,” Jude said. “We could get something to eat after we climb up. And there’s even a waterfall if we take the path up the mountain.”
    But I shook my head. “No mountain. No cafe in the sky. My feet are staying here.”
    “ Is that one of the rules?”
    I glared at him. “No, but it should be.”
    “ How about if we just go a little way up the stairs?” Jude asked. “We won’t go all the way to the top, and we’ll stop when you can’t go on anymore.”
    He looked like he really wanted to go up. I felt bad about ruining the big reveal of his most favorite place.
    Don’t hold yourself back, Hannah, Mark’s voice filled my head. Do what you think you can’t do.
    I sighed. “Fine. I’ll go up one flight of stairs. But that’s it.”
    Jude’s face broke into a wide grin. “Come on.”
    Kids raced by me, giggling as they ran up the stairs while their weary parents followed behind. The first set of steps was fine and I followed Jude up a second set. He cast a look at me, then continued when I didn’t object.
    My muscles burned, but I was able to make it a little farther before a wave of dizziness washed over me. I didn’t even want to look back at how far up we were.
    “ Let’s sit down for a while,” Jude said, perching himself on a large rock along the trail. He patted the space next to him.
    I managed to situate myself on the rock, our hips pressed close. He didn’t say anything about going on and he didn’t ask if I wanted to, but I had a feeling that he had stopped only because of me.
    “ I’m not afraid of many things,” I said after a moment. “I can talk in front of crowds. I’ve never been afraid of the dark. But heights get me. They always have.” I rubbed my palms over my khaki skirt. “One time, my friends Avery and Elliott wanted to have a treehouse. So Elliott’s dad built one for us in this big tree in their backyard. And on the first night after it was finished, we were going to sleep out there. We all got our sleeping bags and pillows and Elliott climbed up first so we could throw everything up to him. Then Avery went up. And then it was my turn. I got two feet off the ground and couldn’t move any farther. Avery and Elliott were yelling at me to climb up and that it was easy. But I was stuck there, until I started crying. Elliott had to jump out of the treehouse to help me down.”
    I laughed and picked at a few blades of grass near my feet. “I never did make it into the treehouse. Avery and Elliott gave it up because of me and we slept on the ground instead.”
    “ Everyone is afraid of something,” Jude said. “Yours just happens to be heights.”
    “ What are you afraid of?” I challenged him.
    Jude scratched his chin. “Commitment,” he said.
    I rolled my eyes. “That’s such a guy response.”
    “ I don’t just mean relationships,” he said. “I mean all kinds of commitments. The kind that make you change your life, that