The Boy With The Motorcycle

0.6

June 13, 2015

"Come on!" Patrick yells over his shoulder, barely turning his head to me. He was so invested in running up the path, to what apparently magnificent place he is taking me I have no idea.

"I wanted to swim!" I call angrily after him, waiting for him to respond. My ribs begin burning from running uphill so long, especially being the unathletic person that I am. Patrick skids to a stop, and I hear rocks crumbling ahead. "Where are we?!" I howl after him, echoing the question as I desperately try to catch up to him.

"Stop!" he screeches at me, fear spreading across his face quickly as he sticks a hand out in front of me. I veer backwards, suddenly realizing Patrick just stopped me from falling off a cliff. I could've done it myself, but of course he had to prove his audacity. Just another example of Patrick being his new self, not the old one I was friends with once.

The cliff spreads in a circle, about fifteen feet off the ground, part of the lake below us. It looks like a cup that was meant to be filled. Sometimes nature leaves me bewildered at how purposefully it leaves things.

A waterfall curls over a piece of the cliff to the west of us. It's not nearly close to a cataract, but it's a fair size. "You still want to swim?" he chuckles, and flashes a grin at me.

"You know me all too well, Patrick imus." imitating a snobby accent, as I bow down to him. He isn't there to see it though. He is running towards the river leading up to the waterfall, taking his shirt off as he goes, and throwing it carelessly behind him.

"You know I hate when you call me that!" he shouts, still sprinting like an olympian. I pull off my dress over my head, which I was wearing a bathing suit underneath, and dash after him. I am not nearly as fast, but I am for someone who isn't active---at all. But, when it comes to running long distance, I am meaningless. "Come on, Tessy! You're like a tortoise!" he responds to my comment by calling me the name my parents use with me. It annoys me a lot. Patrick has just reached the water, and when I approach him, he has his arms crossed impatiently.

"Shut up, you know I can't run." I shove his chest backwards.

"You have to stop telling me to shut up before I say anything." he smiles awkwardly. "Well do you want to go first?" he gestures to the waterfall.

"You," I pause, understanding, "You want me to jump off of the cliff." he nods at me, and sticks out his hand again, a little aggressively. "Just to be clear," I look to the sky, and back to Patrick . "You. Want me," I gesture to the cliff, "To jump off of a cliff." he nods again.

"Well if you're too scared to do it, then I'll go." he completes the sentence sadly, as if I was hurting him deeply.

"No!" I stop, interjecting him with a sudden ferocity. "I can do it." I take a deep breath, and step into the stream.

"Go ahead," he looks at his hand, feigning boredom.

"I will,"

"Then do it."

"I'm gonna,"

"When will you?"

"Right now!" I take a deep breath, and run through the stream. Each step is difficult because my feet get buried in the mud. I leap over the edge, pausing for a split second that i hope Patrick will not notice, because if he does all I will hear until labor day is gloating.

I dive into the water, praying the water is deep enough to dive into, instead of outwards. I split the water in two, barely feeling the difference when I hit it. I plummet under about ten feet down, before I turn myself around and kick back to the surface. My ears pop as I am about to break through the water.

You know that feeling, when you dive really deep under water, and as you begin to rise to the surface you think you're going to drown before you make it, even though it's so stupid, and then you feel the satisfaction and take the deep breath you'd been holding in when you split the surface? I just felt that.

"Told you to trust me." he smiles, surfacing next to me. He must have been right at my heel when I dove in.

"At no point do I recall you telling me to trust you." I throw my head back and laugh. He shrugs, and dives under water, spraying water into my eyes when he kicks. I dive after him, blindly following.

This. All of this. This is what I missed about Patrick . And I am finally getting a glimpse of the old Patrick that I knew.