Savana Hollis felt suffocated by the sun. Her back was flat against the ratty blue carpeted raft. It never occurred to her to bring sunglasses, and as a result, her eyes shut tightly. The raft bobbed gently on the water.

Wiping the sweat from her forehead, Savana accepted a nasty sunburn while trying to relax her body. Her skin did not tan well. With burnt skin and curly copper hair, she saw herself as a clown.

Savana felt exhausted, despite being the last to reach the raft. When it comes to her, she's usually the first. Her older cousin, Ezra Hollis, and she enjoy racing. Ezra teased her about being slow, but she ignored him. She was too tired to respond.

Suddenly, the raft jolted. Savana opened her eyes, and she was blinded by the sun. Immediately, she covered her eyes. All she could see were yellow spots.

"Goddammit, Landon!" She shouted. "Stop shaking the fucking raft!"

Smirking, Landon stopped jumping on the raft. "Sorry," he said. "I was just trying to make sure it was seaworthy!"

Landon Collins was Ezra's high school friend. Savana couldn't figure out why Ezra liked someone so annoying. He wanted to be the center of attention at all times. She considered him a spoiled rich kid who could get away with murder because of his parents. His spiked blonde hair and lime green swim shorts made his tanned skin look even tanner. Despite her annoyance with him, she couldn't help but be drawn to his confidence or, more like, cockiness.

"Jeesh," Landon sat next to Ezra on the raft. "What's her problem?"

It worried Ezra. He knew this week would be difficult for his family. The last thing he wanted was for Landon to make it worse. "Don't piss her off today, Landon."

"Why? She got her period or something?" Landon chuckled.

Cully glared at Landon. "Oh, just shut up already. Nobody wants you here."

"Hey now! I'm hanging with Ezra." He smirked. "And we were here first, by the way." Landon looked back at Ezra and then at Cully again. "You know, you girls come running every time you find out we're here. Why is that?" A mischievous glint appeared in his eyes.

Cully brushed her dark hair behind her ear, and she looked away with a red face. Next to her sat Faye, who was blushing and looking down at her pale, twitching hands. Cully Flynn and Faye Neison were Savana's best friends. They have been inseparable since Unity's Summer Festival two years ago. A sequence of events that occurred that weekend caused their friendship to bloom.

Cully felt her face flush again as she looked at Ezra. He sensed her gaze and smiled back at her. She felt a flutter in her chest. She thought Ezra looked especially cute today. He swept his wet brown shaggy hair back. His bare muscular arms glistened with sweat. The blues in his eyes seemed brighter than usual. She felt like she could never look away from Ezra's eyes.

Landon leaned back with his arms behind him and palms facedown on the raft. He asked Ezra, "So what's up with Savana?"

Ezra sighed. "Tomorrow is her mom's birthday."

"Oh," Landon said. He remembered Ezra mentioning Bellamere before. It was still a touchy subject.

"Yeah, asshole." Cully gritted her teeth.

Landon got back up and went over to Savana, who was still lying on her back with her left arm covering her eyes. "Hey," he gently touched her side with his foot.

"What?" Savana snapped. Her body tensed.

"I'm sorry," Landon replied. He nervously shifted his weight and waited for her to respond.

Tears formed in her eyes. She turned away from everyone and looked to the other side of the lake where the river flowed. It was the most beautiful part of the lake.

She remembered when she and her mom, Bellamere, waded into the shallow river mouth. There were wildflowers on the bank that they would pick and bring home to put in a vase. The water was clear enough to see sunfish swimming by. Their colorful scales shined as they glided through the water. She was scared that one of the fish would bite her toes.

The tears fell onto the raft. Savana realized she would never do that with her mom again. She covered her mouth and trembled.

"Hey, hey," Landon whispered as he knelt beside her. He squeezed her hand, and they sat silently. The raft continued bobbing up and down in the water.

Faye was about to go to Savana, but Ezra stopped her. "Let them have a moment," he whispered. Faye nodded in understanding. She was always empathetic toward others. She wanted to comfort Savana. It hurt her to see her best friend like that. But she trusted Ezra.

They sat quietly and watched Savana and Landon. It was strange to see them interact with each other without shouting or being sarcastic.

Faye noticed an ominous feeling in her stomach whenever Landon was around. She brushed it off as he had been through a lot and didn't know how to deal with his emotions. On the other hand, Ezra was very open-minded and could relate to anyone. She liked him for that.

Cully didn't trust Landon. She knew he was another douchebag. He always talked about people behind their backs, but Ezra was never like that. He had a genuine concern for everyone. She liked him for that.

"I know how you're feeling," Landon said quietly.

Savana looked up at him, tears streaming down her face. "How?"

"Because I've been there too," Landon replied. He reached out and wiped a tear away from Savana's cheek. "My dad died last spring. In a car accident."

"What?" Savana asked. That was when her mom died in the same way. Savana looked at Landon in shock. She couldn't believe he had suffered the same thing. She felt a tiny spark of a connection to him.

Cully and Faye heard and looked at Ezra, shocked. He nodded his head. He knew they had something in common. They grieved a parent who died unexpectedly.

"Yeah, they said he died instantly. They said it like it would make us feel better." Landon scoffed. He let go of her hand.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know." Savana wiped away the tears. She felt silly now for being upset about her mom when he suffered. She took a deep breath and tried to focus on the present. She looked at him and saw the pain in his eyes.

"It's okay, I don't like talking about it. Even if I had someone to talk to about it." Landon looked up at the sky.

"What about your mom?" Savana asked. She and her dad, Gavin, talked about it sometimes when one of them was having a bad day. It was hard to imagine living through something like that alone.

Landon spat out his mom's name. "Miranda disappeared a few months after he died. She took all the money he left us and ran off with some guy she met online."

"Oh my god." Savana was shocked that a mother could do that to her child.

"Oh, it's okay," Landon said sarcastically, waving his hand. "She prepaid the bills to give me until July to get my shit together because she's selling the house. She loves me enough to give me a bit of time." Landon's hands folded into fists.

Savana looked down at his white knuckles and felt even more guilty about thinking her life was hell. She felt the urge to hug him suddenly. Landon hugged her back as she wrapped her arms around him, relieved to have someone to lean on. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, calming himself down. Everyone watched in silence.

After a moment, Savana felt awkward. She never liked Landon much. He annoyed her, and it seemed like he enjoyed it too much. But she felt a connection now. She removed her arms around his neck and shook her head in disbelief.

"Why don't we try to get our minds off things and swim?" Landon stood up and held his hand out to help Savana up. She thought about taking his hand for a second but jumped up herself. She felt her chest flutter.

Landon glanced back at the rest of the group. Cully and Faye were too busy asking Ezra questions about his first year of college to notice them. He stepped closer to Savana. "I want to play a game." He spoke in a fierce whisper.

Savana snorted, "Is this a horror movie now? I've seen them all." She watched her friends chat away with Ezra. Savana didn't know what would happen if they learned they liked the same guy.

"No, I mean I want to try something with you. Call it a bet if you want. A dare." Landon explained with a mischievous grin.

Savana was intrigued by what he meant. She was always up for taking on a challenge. Sometimes it was a problematic trait to have. Landon discovered her competitive side and took advantage of it.

"We're going to dive under the raft to the bottom of the lake. Whoever brings up the most shit wins." Landon grinned.

Savana rolled her eyes. "That's it? Ezra and I used to do that all the time when we were kids. We would get as much as we could and throw it at the other kids on the raft so we could have it all to ourselves. They thought it was cow manure. It was pretty fucking funny. But it's dumb now." Savana chuckled as she looked at Ezra, remembering the past.

Landon was amused. "When you were a kid? You're still a kid! By the way, I don't think I've heard you swear so much before today."

With a straight face, Savana glanced back at Landon, "I'm sixteen, not a child. And do you have a fucking problem with my swearing?"

Landon opened his mouth to reply but closed it again. He turned away, shaking his head. Savana threw her hands up angrily and paced. "Can't a girl swear? I learned swearing is the most effective way to express my feelings sometimes, is that okay? Fucking sue me. Damn." Savana continued to rant as she threw her arms around in the air.

Ezra overheard Savana and looked at Landon. "What did you do?"

Landon smiled and shrugged, "I don't know but I kind of like it." He winked at her.

Savana rolled her eyes and sighed. "You're so annoying." She said before turning and walking away. Landon chuckled and shook his head, watching her go.

Ezra returned his attention to Cully and Faye's questions. Savana wondered if they were interrogating him for information on whether or not he had a college girlfriend.

Savana waved at Landon. "So are we doing this stupid fucking thing or what?"

Landon smiled and nodded at her. Savana smiled back and jumped off the raft. The splash made the rest of the group look back at Landon.

"You didn't chase her off, did you?" Ezra asked—this time with concern.

Landon shook his head and smiled. "No, I didn't chase her off. She just wanted to take a dip." He replied before jumping in after Savana.

You could see Lake Maiden Park behind the trees lining the beach from the raft. On the opposite side of the lake was a small boat landing next to a fishing deck. Across the street was a cemetery. Kids dare each other to spend time there at night.

There was an old story about a woman murdered years ago. She was buried there, and at midnight, her ghost appeared standing on her grave. If she caught you at her grave, she would instruct you to find her murderer, or you would be next to die. Kids often talked about the woman's ghost, but no one saw her. Some of the older kids claimed they heard her ghost crying at night. Others said they saw a strange figure in the shadows near the cemetery.

When Savana was six, she asked her mom about a strange girl she saw in a picture in their house. The girl smiled and stood beside Bellamere in front of a different house.

Bellamere said it was her younger sister, Samara. Savana asked why her aunt had never come to visit. Her mom then gently explained that Samara had died before Savana was born. Someone hurt her. Savana asked if Samara was the ghost in the cemetery. Bellamere smiled and shook her head. She said it was only an old ghost story. Savana was still confused but dropped the subject.

As Savana grew older, she tried to coax more information about her murdered aunt from her parents. Gavin would get mad every time it was brought up. He was never mad at Savana but at the fact that the murderer was never caught. Savana's parents were careful to protect her from the case details. They never spoke of it and would quickly change the topic if she asked too many questions. Her curiosity grew.