~Melanie~

The summit is a large, flat rock face that protrudes halfway out of the mountain and cozies right up against a small waterfall with a lazy river below the cliff. From this height, when you look off the cliff, you can see for miles above the treetops.

As the oldest of the kids, Sean, Charlie, and Marisa found this when they were teenagers hiking randomly one day to get away from babysitting us youngsters. Since then, we all love coming here to let loose.

Ethan slips his sneakers off as he strips out of his shirt, then releases a war cry and jumps over the edge into the water. Kevin quickly joins him, screaming like a warrior as he jumps.

"Come on, James. I'll show you where the lower trail is where the jump is only five feet," Bianca says.

"You sure?" I ask her. I mean, he is my boyfriend.

She nods, "Yeah, I don't want to jump at this height, either."

They head back down toward the lower trail as Marisa walks closer to me. "Hey," she says.

"Hey," I say as I begin taking my sneakers off.

"Are you okay? You've been acting off all morning."

"Have I?" I ask, feeling my face blush and silently cursing myself.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"There's nothing to talk about." I quickly brush her off as I continue to undress until I'm only in my bikini. I walk toward the cliff's ledge near the rushing waterfall to my left.

I look down below as Ethan and Kevin splash each other, then to the right as I see Bianca and James navigating their way through the lower trail. I take a deep breath.

I can't believe I kissed Ethan last night.

I let my breath go.

I take another deep breath as my toes lean off the edge.

I look at Ethan as he looks up at Marisa and me.

"Come on, Mel," Kevin shouts.

Ethan doesn't say anything as our eyes connect. I jump.

As I fall, I notice I'm too far left and too close to the rocks below the waterfall. Once my body reaches the cold water, my left arm smacks the rocks. Searing pain shoots up my arm, and my vision begins to cloud.

The next thing I know, I feel a brick weighing heavily against my chest, and I'm leaning against something extremely cold, wet, and mushy. The brick feeling leaves, and something soft and warm pushes against my lips.

I gasp and open my eyes as someone lifts me into a sitting position, and I cough up water. My throat constricts as I look to see who's holding me. Blue eyes and blonde hair are all I see before I lift my arms to rub my eyes.

I yelp as my left arm throbs and pulses to the beat of my heart.

"Mel, are you okay?" Ethan asks as he holds me.

"Ethan?" I whimper.

"It's okay. You'll be okay," he says.

"It's probably broken," I hear Kevin whisper to Ethan.

"Oh, Melanie!" Bianca says as she crouches down next to us.

"Are you okay?" Marisa asks, treading water next to Kevin.

"I think so," I say as I try to sit up. "What happened?"

"When you jumped in, you didn't come back up," Bianca says. "Ethan was closest to you and dived down, pulled you up to shore."

I look over at James, who's not looking at me, but at the ground with his hands in fists at his side. I furrow my eyebrows.

"Ethan's your hero," Kevin jokes. "But I think your arm is definitely broken."

Marisa smacks Kevin upside his head.

"What was that for?" he asks her.

I look at Ethan, who's still sitting in the mud at the edge of the lower trail of the watering hole with me. A warm sensation rushes through me, and I can't help but pull him into a hug with my right arm and smile. Ethan hugs me back as we stay like that for a few moments.

"Thank you, Ethan," I whisper.

"Of course, Mel. I'll always be here to save you," he whispers back.

~~~