Stairways | A Surviving Summer FanFiction

Part 45 - The Jump

"Summer, this is a really bad idea." you say, chasing after her as she grabs a spare board and wetsuit from the club and continues in the direction of Stairway.

"Chill out. It'll be fun." she shouts back. After a few attempts you finally convince her to stop what she's doing and face you for a minute.

"Why are you doing this? Is this because of the phone call with your mum?" you ask.

"I just...feel like I'm losing my edge." she shrugs.

"Summer, this isn't the way to get it back," you say firmly. You're concerned about how close to three o'clock it is now, and the last thing you want is for Marlon to come down the path and find Summer with you. "C'mon, let's just go back."

"We're nearly there already." she gestures in the direction of the sea.

"Yes, but me and Marlon were going to meet at the top of the path, he's going to think I'm not coming."

Your words are lost on a girl who is vacantly fascinated by what she suddenly realises is in front of her. Colossal 10-12 foot waves arch over themselves not 200 metres away from you, some of the sea spray even reaching you with a soft breeze of salt water. You can't believe you're back here again.

"So this is Stairway, huh?" Summer says, her voice a mix of wonder and fear.

"Yeah. Now, c'mon I've got to take you back; if Marlon sees you out here, he'll kill me!" you exclaim over the noise of the harsh sea.

"Don't worry about it, Y/n. It'll be cool. Marlon won't care."

"He will if Ari's with him!" you exclaim.

"There's no way Ari's coming back here. Now c'mon show me how to surf." she says.

You shake your head, sitting on the rocks. "I said I'd do it with Marlon." you say, as Summer is eagerly pulling on her wetsuit.

"C'mon, why don't you show your brother who's the better surfer?! Go out there now and rip it up or whatever you surfers say."

"Because that's not why we're doing it, Summer," you say, "Listen, I'm going to go find Marlon, you wait here and don't go in the water." you warn, but you know Summer's way too headstrong to listen to anything you have to say. You weigh the option of staying and stopping her from doing anything stupid, or going to find Ari and Marlon who probably have a better chance of stopping her from doing something stupid. Eventually, your mind decides the latter is the better option, and you leave Summer sitting at the edge of the rock, looking down at the jump, as you make your way back up the path.

You only get a little way before you nearly bump straight into Ari and Marlon, both with wetsuits on and a surfboard under their arms. "Y/n? What's wrong?" he asks.

"Summer's here." you say through shaky breaths, the anxiety finally creeping up to you.

That piece of information is enough to send both boys racing down the cliff path, both anticipating what Summer wanted to do. You follow close behind them, and eventually you all reach Stairway, where you see Summer, standing dangerously close to the edge with her board under her arm.

"SUMMER!" Ari yells above the noise. She turns slowly, raising one eyebrow.

"Hello, boys." she says calmly.

"We can't go in now, she'll jump in after us," Ari says to Marlon, before turning to the girl at the edge of the rock, "Summer, get back here now!" Ari yells, but she doesn't move a muscle.

"You're not up to this Summer." Marlon yells, "What are you even doing here?"

"I felt like I was losing my edge." she calls back, and Ari sighs.

"You spoke to Margot, didn't you?" Ari says, sympathetically, probably knowing the reason Summer's even here in the first place is because he blew up at her and told her she was staying in Shorehaven because of her mum's work. "What did she say to you?"

Summer doesn't respond, just looks down at the jump below, watching the waves lap at the rocks nonchalantly, looking tame and calm from her angle, but you know that further out the waves are unforgivable.

"Look, this is crazy."

"Let's just go home, okay?" Marlon suggests gently, and Ari is quick to back him up.

"Yeah, yeah, we're going home."

"You don't get to tell me what to do!" she exclaims, impulsively throwing her board off the edge. You watch it spin in the wind before it eventually hits the water below, and you all can anticipate what Summer is about to do.

"Summer! Hey!" Ari yells, the urgency clear in his voice as you all dart forward to try and reach her before she jumps. But your efforts are futile, as she jumps.

Ari knows that it's going to be too much for Summer - the rip currents and tides alone are enough to sweep you out to sea.

You watch Ari hesitate to go in after her, understandably, considering what he went through in this exact spot last year, but eventually, after watching her struggle in the churning water, he jumps. And Marlon isn't far behind, but before jumping, he yells to you. "Stay here! Wait for us to get past the reef."

"Like hell I am!" you reply. "We said we'd do this together!"

"Yeah, well, things have changed." he says, throwing down his board without a second glance and jumping straight after it.

You feel the anger to Marlon build up inside you, feeling once again betrayed - you waited for him, this was his idea, his pact. And then all those negative emotions bring up the argument with Poppy the other day, and everything just makes you so mad, that you jump too.