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Chapter 2

The sun glinted blindingly off the surface of the lake and by the time we turned a final corner and reached the spot where the cliff divers were, I was sweaty, tired, and ready for a swim in the chilly water.

"God, that was a longer walk than I remember!" exclaimed Brooke as she set down her bag on the dusty ground.

"Yeah, or maybe it's because I just woke up and it's probably like a hundred degrees out here and ... yeah." Hazel laughed and sat on the rock, stretching out her long, tan legs as she pulled her loose crop top over her head to reveal a sea green bikini top.

We took off our shorts and shirts and walked over to the cliff in our swimsuits. I held my hair away from my face as a light wind rippled through the forest.

There were already a few people jumping off the cliff, but I didn't recognize any of them. A tall guy had his arm around a dark-haired girl and there was another girl standing on the other side of the jumping place as she watched a second boy run towards the edge and leap into the air, shaggy hair pushed away from his face in the wind.

The three cheered and laughed. My friends and I walked towards the edge and waited for the other three teenagers in the group before us to go before getting in a line.

"Okay, on three," Hazel said, "And Claire, you are actually gonna jump in this time!"

We laughed. There's always that one person in your group you go to the lake or pool with who never jumps in when everyone else does, and in our group Claire was it.

"Yeah Claire! Life goals!" I grinned at her from between Hazel and Brook. "'Kay, ready?"

We counted, "One, two, three!" And ran towards the water.

I felt that familiar jolt of excitement, fear, and anticipation as my feet left the ground and we defied gravity for a second or two before starting to plummet back down to the core of the earth. The water's deep, solemn blue color stared me in the face maybe twenty, thirty feet below. I gulped in air and controlled my fear of the height as I came closer and closer to the water, and then...

Bam! My ears popped and I squeezed my eyes shut while bubbles tickled my sides and I slowed. I sunk several more feet and changed direction, opening my eyes and spotting the glaring sun through the water; kicking towards it.

There was a glint of a fish tail off to my right, and I glanced in that direction while holding in the little breath I had. Set into the rocks, barely visible from where I was already traveling quickly towards the air again, I swear I saw a hole in the rocks.

I burst through the surface to find my friends already laughing and swimming towards shore while pushing their hair out of their faces. I dipped under the water again and pushed forward through the dark liquid.

"Oh my god, oh my god I did it!" Claire was almost hyperventilating with excitement as we pulled ourselves onto the rough shore.

I laughed, "Yeah, nice job!" And gave her one of my memorable painful high-fives. I was known for my high fives.

We hiked back up the step incline, gripping the wooden ladder where it took us between rocky platforms and sometimes just holding on to the orange-red rocks.

The group that had been there before seemed to have left, so we had the diving cliff all to ourselves. After another half an hour or so of jumping into the refreshing water and climbing back up the hill to do it all again, we finally laid our towels onto a grass patch in the sun and stretched out on the ground.

I basked in the heat of the sun, spreading my hands out on the warm towel, and brushed my hair back so it was out in all directions away from my head. I rested my hands by my sides, feeling the sun bring sweat to the surface of my tan skin.

There was a quiet rustling in the bushes by my head. I opened my eyes against the blinding light and looked up to see what was making the noise.

"Hey, you guys? I think we have company," I said, sitting up and pointing at the tiny gray puppy crawling from the bushes. "Oh my God, look at this!"

My three friends turned to face me. I knelt down, reaching my hand out to the small animal.

"What is that? I'm allergic to fur, don't let it get near me," Brooke said, pulling her legs up to her chest.

The creature limped out of the bush, silver-white fur glinting in the sun. It looked like a small dog and held its back foot off the ground as it hobbled towards me.

It cautiously sniffed my hand, and then stepped back a bit, turning its eyes up to face mine.

It's eyes were... Probably the most beautiful things I've ever seen; one was a bright, bright blue color with little shards of shining white throughout and the other was a light green. As they stared up into my dark brown eyes I felt something run through me- like a connection or a feeling of déjà vu.

"Oh my God, look at those eyes!" I whispered. Hazel and Claire crawled over to sit next to me, examining the puppy.

"Wow, is that even natural?" Hazel asked, furrowing her brow. "What even happened to it to have such... Amazing eyes? It's probably been experimented on or something- wait, is it hurt?"

The dog, which was only about a foot tall, whimpered quietly and crouched close to the ground.

"What should we do? Take it to the counselors?" Claire asked.

The puppy growled.

"Uh, somehow I don't think he wants to see a counselor. But what should we do then?" I looked to Hazel and Claire for help.

Hazel bit her lip. "I know we'll probably get killed for it, but should we keep him in our cabin?"

"Uh, guys? Fur allergies here, remember?" Brooke called from the end of the line of towels.

"Okay, Brooke, I really don't think we have a choice. We promise we'll keep it away from you, okay?" Claire begged.

"Yeah, okay, or else I'll start sneezing everywhere and get a cold. Sorry, I know it's really annoying," she said, softening up a bit. "But is it safe? You do realize it could have rabies, or fleas, or... Any other kind of infectious disease."

I just looked at the thing, which was now licking its hurt leg that had a short gash down the side of the ankle.

"Guys, you do realize it's hurt foot could get infected. Then it could die. Look at that thing! Look at those innocent little eyes. How could we not save it?" I looked sadly at my friends.

Brooke rolled her eyes and groaned. "Ugh fine! I think you should take it. And I really wish I could pet it and stuff... Maybe after I take my allergy pills. But c'mon, Hazel? Claire?"

"Okay, I'm all for it," Claire agreed.

"If it gets found out, it was all you," Hazel said to me.

"Yes!" I turned back to the dog, which was laying down watching us talk. "Come here, little guy, we're going to the cabin."