For a couple hours we sopped around, bored, watching Torrance make his attempts to stand up. The first few times he stumbled and doubled over in pain, while Jem and Kaya rushed up to catch him, but eventually he learned to take a few slow steps out of the shade of the tree.
Suddenly, Kaya seemed to have had an idea. She whispered it to Torrance. He smiled at her sadly and told her, "As much as I'd like to join you, I don't think it would be good for me. But you're welcome to take those guys." He nodded in our direction. She stood up and turned to us.
"You want to go cliff diving?" She asked.
"Yes!" Freya squealed, at the same time Jem said, "Sure!" After a pause, I nodded. She smiled, barely, but she did. She took off her jacket, stole the hair tie from her ponytail and used it to knot up her shirt in the back. I caught Jem staring, and slapped his shoulder playfully. Her gaze flicked to us.
"Well, are you going to get ready?" She questioned.
I pulled off my little gray jacket, leaving on my shirt. Freya stripped to her tank top and shorts, and Jem took off his shirt. I glanced at Torrance, who just made a motion with his hands as to say, "Shoo, now. Go away." I turned and say the three had already took off, running and screaming excitedly into the distance. Surprised at how fast they moved, I struggled to keep up with them.
~~
After five minutes of running (which I did not appreciate, running was NOT my thing), I finally matched their pace. They stood frozen, looking at something on the ground. I turned to look too, and felt my breath catch in my throat. It was another cliff. Fifty feet down, dark waves danced against the rocky shore. I wondered if Kaya and Torrance were outlaws because they had mental insanity problems.
"My favorite place to jump," Kaya breathed. For just a second I caught a smile from her -not one of those fake ones she loves using, but a real, genuine smile. And it was truly beautiful.
Jem looked just as I felt. Unlike Freya, who was still looking over the cliff, and was looked as if she'd saw the world's biggest chocolate bar.
"I'm in!" She screeched. Then, before I could stop her, she ran up and dove off the ledge.
Something swelled in my throat and it was all I could do to go screaming after her. I almost did, except I looked down at the last moment. I saw Freya nearing the water.
Suddenly, I remembered what Ella once said to me, while her brown curls bounced over her shoulder. "If you want to save someone -well, if you can save them- if it means doing something scary, just remember that fear is an illusion. I mean, I'd rather die saving this little guy than of old age," she had said while ruffling Jem's hair. I really admired her- though it was a shame puberty had stolen her joyous spirit and replaced it with piercings and attitude.
I took a deep breath, and imagined exhaling everything I was scared of. Hitting a rock. Dying on impact. Death itself. All of it, gone, flushed down to the depths of the water below.
Then, I jumped after Freya.