Wonderfall (or, The Girl with the Rabbit Tattoo)

Chapter 13 | Phos (cont.)

I couldn't take my eyes off the girl standing in front of me in her underwear. I had seen girls wearing less in their swimsuits, but that wasn't underwear, and something about that fact seemed to scramble my brain. "Sorry," I said, shaking my head and trying not to look below her chin, which I quickly realized was going to be totally impossible.

"You said you wanted to do something fun."

I looked again over the side of the cliff and immediately realized what she had in mind. "What? Jump? You want me to jump off this cliff?"

"Not in your clothes," she said, waggling her head and whipping off her pants. She didn't show a hint of shame or worry about it, and I also couldn't help but notice that the girl had nothing to be ashamed about. Every inch of her was fit, which made sense for a girl who probably walked thirty miles every day, rain or shine. But while her pale skin showed all the muscle and bone under it, just then I also noticed the black tattoo of a jackrabbit on her forearm, the only blemish on her otherwise creamy skin.

Realizing I was staring and deciding I'd just have to sock the question of the black rabbit tattoo away for later, I looked again over the cliff. Every time I did, the water seemed further away.

"Afraid?"

I looked back at the girl, her hands on her hips, the glint in her eye daring me to follow her.

"No," I said, hoping my tone was enough to overcome my momentary pause. Whipping my shirt over my head as I kicked off my shoes, Mia grinned wider. Then turning, she took three giant steps and hurled herself off the cliff with a shout I was sure they would hear miles away in Wonder.

Stepping out of my pants and refusing to think or even look, I ran and jumped. The momentary feeling of weightlessness was almost as shocking as hitting the water, considerably cooler than I thought it would be and getting colder the deeper I plunged. I kicked my legs looking up at the disappearing form of the half-naked girl above me and then pushing myself up through the water, I came through the surface only a few feet from her. Shaking the water from my face and hair and wiping it from my eyes, I looked at Mia, her wet hair slicked back, an uncomplicated smile on her face.

"I didn't think you'd do it, Bo."

"Neither did I," I said with a little laugh that quickly had Mia laughing too. "This must be the quarry where they dug the stone for the buildings in Wonder. It looks deep," I said, treading water and looking again at the wall of limestone that went down into the darkness below us.

"It is. I've jumped in with big rocks, trying to see if I can make it to the bottom. I never get there. If there's a bottom, it's a long way down."

I nodded and then leaned back in the water, letting myself float, the water cooling my back and the sun warming my chest. I glanced to my side, squinting to see Mia doing the same, her eyes closed against the sun. I closed my eyes too and even though I couldn't be sure, I imagined she was floating just an inch away, just enough water between us to keep our skin cool.

I felt a splash on my face and sat up to see her grinning again. She nodded at the wall. "Come on, Bo," she said, swimming backstroke toward the wall with a surprising amount of grace.

I swam to catch up. "Where are we going now?"

"That was the fun part. Now we have to climb out of here."

My smile flickered as I looked at the wall and realized exactly the mess we were in. Mia turned onto her stomach and swam toward a crack in the wall twenty yards down from where we jumped. Near the crack, the wall shrunk to ten feet and had enough jagged ledges on its face that I figured we'd have no trouble getting out. Seconds later, I watched Mia grab hold of the wall and scale it with the ease of an acrobat.