A Second Chance At Life

I Never Noticed Before

"Just jump, you big baby," she said from the edge of the cliff. "It's not like you'll die."

I looked at her in awe. Are you insane? I thought inwardly. I glanced down the edge at the blue expanse of water. "Are you sure it's deep enough to jump into from up here?" I asked nervously.

"Oh, I've only been coming here since birth," she said, hanging her feet off the edge. "I've never seen anyone die yet."

"Is there another way down?" I tried to say calmly. Apparently I sounded like a squeaky chew toy.
She stood. "Lacey, it's not so far. We can jump together if you want," she said, no longer teasing. She placed her hand on my arm. "Or I could go first."

"Or," I said, shivering, "I could get in another way." I casually stepped away from her hand to put my jeans and bra in the truck. I started down a small dirt path down the edge of the lake.

"Sure," she called, "Watch out for snakes!"

I froze. She was only teasing me so I jumped. Right? I scanned the ground. Maybe going down barefoot wasn't the greatest idea, but going with heels would have been worse. I started making my way gingerly down the path.

I made it down the incline without incident, and turned to gloat in Ella's face. She too had stripped off her jeans. God, she has legs for miles. Must be nice, I thought to myself.

Ella smiled and wigged her fingers at me. Suddenly, she launched forward, twisting into the air. My breathing halted, and she hit the water.

I took a nervous step towards the lake, and water brushed my toes. Shouldn't she be coming up? I panicked, searching the ripples for a sign of her blonde waves.

Suddenly I felt something wet clamp around my ankle, and let out what was probably the girliest shriek my mouth had ever produced.

Ella popped out of the water at my feet, grinning. "Jesus," she said, "if that didn't sound like my truck I don't know what does."

I splashed water at her with my foot, suppressing a smile. "You could have caused a premature heart attack, you know," I scalded.