Leap Before You Think

Chapter 1

"3!" Judah's voice echoes around the four of us. My heart beats fast.

"2!" Harper's voice cracks with hints of fear. My hands shake for the same reason.

"1!" My voice is just below a shout.

"Jump!" Jackson's voice leads our group with clarity and strength. My mind goes blank.

The fear of falling leaves my mind as we all leap off the cliff's edge, another great hight concord. Harper screams the whole way down. Then all of a sudden splash we land in the cool water of the lake. I kick up hard to get back to the surface, opening my eyes and embracing the sting of the water. When my head reaches the surface I draw my fingers through my brown hair and away from my eyes. I look all around, trying to spot my three best friends. Harper somehow lands further than me by three feet, she pushes her blond curls out of her face. Jack's dark skin glistens in the sun and Judah . . . Wait where is he?! Did I miss him? I look left and right again. Okay? This is odd. I can't see him. Did he drown or something?

I turn back to Harper and open my mouth to ask if she had seen where Judah landed, but suddenly my head is submerged underwater. Lake water fills my mouth, and I struggle to spit it out. The corners of my vision start to darken, and panic rises in my chest. I kick my legs frantically, trying to resurface. Just when I think I'm about to pace out I feel pressure on my arms, and then my head is lifted out of the water. I gasp for air, my eyes widening, and my nose and throat burning.

"Oh shoot. Lo, can you hear me? Lorie Ventus are you okay!?"

Judah's voice rings through my ears. He is a blur and at first, I only see his blond curls glued to his face just like his cousin. I shove away from him, not going very far a plan to make him pay forming in my mind.

"No . . . Judah . . . Nightly . . . I'm not . . . okay." I cough through my words still trying to catch my breath and stop the burning at the back of my throat.

"I'm sor—" He doesn't get to finish his apology because I shove him into the water just like he did to me.

"You better be!" I shout before he resurfaces.

When his head pops back up his hazel eyes are angry.

"What the heck was that for Lorie!?"

Is he honestly that stupid? "I fought fire with fire, you big dummy!" I shout back.

"It was just a basically harmless little joke, you stupid girl!" He continues to shout. I'm about to shout a really good comeback, but he speaks first. His tone calm and sincere.

"Look I'm sorry, Lo. Are you okay?"

I roll my eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine. Are you?" that's not exactly a question, "I mean, are you okay, Judah?"

"Yep. I'm great, blue eyes."

I roll my eyes at the sound of the nickname. A few seconds pass and then he grins at me and I smile back, then we start to swim to our makeshift dock.

"Are you two done yelling at each other like an old married couple?" Jackson asks when him and Harper get to us.

"Yeah. You two are all: He did this, so she did that, so he said that, then she said this, then —"

"Okay!" Judah yells. I clear my throat and he looks at me then he also clears his throat, "I mean. Okay. We get your point, Harper. Yes, we're done."

After our debate is finished Judah hands out our towels, giving me mine first. I wrap it around myself and quickly grab his to dry my hair a little before handing it back to him. And by "hand" I mean that I toss his towel back to him. When my skin is dry and my swimsuit is dry enough I stand up, slip on my black Converse high tops and socks, and walk over to my bag. I bend down and grab my jean shorts and white T-shirt off the ground, slipping them on over my swimsuit. Harper walks over to me and does the same thing slipping into her shorts and shirt. She asks me for a hair tie and I hand her one which she uses to tie up her blond curls. I grab my brush and brush the knots out of my hair, then I tie my hair off in a low ponytail, grab a clip from my bag, and use it to pull it up higher.