It was only a week to go until the big day and the boys were excited. They had been planning this for weeks, months actually, and posters were up all over uni.
The main student building was 20 storeys high in the centre of the city & they had organised a sponsored abseiling event. Max and his best mate Cam were both planning on descending to raise money for charity. They were both straight but had timed it to coincide with the citys pride event to make the most of the sponsorship opportunity.
"You guys should dress in rainbow colours yourselves, that would look amazing!" Lewis, their mate and the main organiser, said.
Lewis was organising the event but not actually taking part himself. Max was scared of heights, hence the challenge for him, Lewis on the other hand was fine with heights but didn't like the idea of all the attention that the event would bring. Cam was simply up for anything that his best mate Max was doing.
"Yeah that sounds a great idea," Max agreed, he could see Cam nodding as well. "I don't really have lots of colourful clothes though, "Would you be able to sort me some out?"
"Me too please!" Cam chipped in & tugged at his white t-shirt to prove the point to Lewis.
"Haha you guys are hopeless, yeah I'll sort some clothes out for you, I think I can work out your sizes." Lewis replied.
Max, living up to his name, was tall and muscular. He worked out religiously & had a great body to show for it. Striking blue eyes, pale blond hair & a movie star smile made him probably one of the most attractive guys on campus. He was a lovely guy too - smart, funny and engaging, everyone loved Max.
Cam was physically quite different, much slimmer, on the short side and with dark chestnut hair. He was handsome though with tanned olive skin, a contrast to Max who was much paler and never really sunbathed. Given the difference in stature, their mates jokingly referred to them as 'little and large.'
"Ah thanks Lewis, you're the best!" Max flashed his smile.
"I'll look this evening, if I order today they should be here in time, I might have some of my own stuff you can borrow too just in case, my wardrobe is a bit more colourful than yours."
They had raised over £2,000 so far and had timed their abseiling to coincide with the end of the pride procession and the start of the after party, so were hoping for lots more sponsorship on the day. They knew they were good looking guys and that this would have a certain appeal for the pride-goers.
Lewis got busy online that night, he thought a rainbow outfit was a great idea and decided to go big with this. After a few google searches he'd found some bright sequinned hot pants, he bought a blue pair in a small size for Cam and a red pair in medium for Max. He found similarly bright t-shirts and accessorised them with wristbands and neon socks.
"You guys are gonna look a-may-zing!!" he typed on their WhatsApp chat.
"Mate, what have you bought us...?" replied Max.
"You are gonna shine like a rainbow Max! Seriously don't worry, the crowd will love it" Lewis replied
"Oh god..." typed Max, less convinced.
As it happened, Max was too nervous about the abseil itself to worry about his clothes. Every day that week as they walked past or went in to the gym or to the bar they commented on how high it was. By Friday Max was a bundle of nerves.
"I don't think I can do this..." he confided to Cam on Friday evening.
"You'll be fine mate, we'll be fine" Cam reassured him, putting a strong arm around his shoulder and pulling him in for a half hug, "I'll be right with you the whole way down."
"There's no way he can back out," Cam thought, literally the whole uni would be watching them either from inside or outside the building. He gave Max another reassuring hug and a pat on the back.
Lewis meanwhile was nervous that his shopping still hadn't arrived. He was getting a bit worried that he'd left it too late to order... it wasn't a big deal though he thought, I'm sure I can work something out if it doesn't arrive in time...
He whatsapped the boys with final details- they were hopeless at being organised so he always took charge.
Lewis: "Right chaps, you need to be on the roof at 4pm ready to start your abseil at 4:15. I'll have your change of clothes ready so all you need to do is be there!"
Cam: "Thanks Lewis, you're the best."
Cam: "Max is a bit nervous so we're going to hit the gym beforehand to work out some of the nerves."
Cam: "It's on the top floor of the building anyway, so we can just run up to the roof terrace from there to meet you"
Lewis: Thumbs up emoji
Cam: "Do we need to try on our outfits beforehand?"
Lewis: "They haven't arrived yet, I got an email to say they,ll be here tomorrow morning."
Lewis: "It'll be fine, they're stretchy fabric so sure will fit you both."
Lewis: "I'll be there earlier with the abseiling guys to set up so I can meet you anytime from 3."
Cam: "Cheers mate. Will prob see you at 4, think it's best not to hang around up there too long beforehand, may stress Max out more." Thumbs up emoji.
Max: "Bloody hell, why did I agree to this!"
Lewis: Winking face emoji
The morning came...
Max was too nervous to enjoy any of the parade or partying in the day so he just tried to kill time by watching movies or listening to music. Cam had come to hang out with him partly to keep him company and partly to make sure he showed up.
"Max, it's 2 o'clock now, shall we head over to the gym for a workout?" Cam asked.
"Yeah go on, I need to get out of this room now, I'm going crazy." Max replied, "Do I need to pack any clothes for this bloody abseil?"
"Lewis has it sorted," Cam reassured him, "I've packed my joggers and a fresh t-shirt, we can shower after our workout and head straight up to the terrace to change into the clothes Lewis has for us. Why don't you do the same?"
"Good shout." Max said as he stuffed his Nike joggers and a clean t-shirt into his rucksack.
The boys headed out the few streets across the city, weaving their way through brightly dressed people drinking, eating and partying. They could hear music pumping out from various bars in the distance, different songs competing for volume.
Lewis meanwhile breathed a sigh of relief as his doorbell went and the delivery driver gave him a package of new clothes. "Thank god they've arrived," he thought.
He quickly set the clothes on his bed, each item still in cellophane packaging... "Max's top, shorts, socks... Cam's shorts, socks, top... ah - here are the wristbands. Amazing!" he said to himself. He didn't have time to take them out and check sizes and in his rush, he left his backup bag of clothes on the side.
Thirty minutes later and he was at the ground floor of the uni building, looking up. He had the big rainbow banner and the change of clothes for Max and Cam all packed in his bag. "That is pretty high," he thought looking up at the blue sky above.
His eyes traced down the tall, glass building. The top two floors was the gym, floor below was the nightclub, followed by the student union bar and a big canteen on the floor below that. There was a couple of floors of lecture halls and administrative offices before the big ground floor reception.
The whole building was packed, he'd never seen it so busy. As he walked in he smiled at the posters of Max and Cam up in the lobby with a link to their justgiving page. He checked his phone and whistled to himself when he saw the figure on his just giving app - over £2,300 now in sponsorship, amazing and he was sure they'd get a lot more later.
He got the elevator to the 8th floor and decided to walk the last two floors so he could look out for his mates. He peered through the gym door and spotted Max on the treadmill, he was going for it, focused on his workout and running fast, he had his air pods in, sweat glistened on his shoulders and his vest top was dark with perspiration.
Across the room was Cam, resting in between sets on a bench press, and much less enthusiastic about his exercise, he quickly spotted Lewis and gave him a smile and a thumbs up. Lewis returned the signal and made his way up to the roof terrace.
He saw a couple of bags on the ground so he knew the abseiling guy was there already so he shouted out for them, "Hey, Paul? You here?"
"Hi Lewis!" Paul shouted in reply and came round from the side of the building to greet him. "I think we're good to go buddy - its a beautiful day for it and I'm all set up. Just waiting for Max and Cam."
"That's great mate, they'll probably be 10 minutes or so. I just saw them finishing up in the gym..."