Arcade | s.m (✔️)

Ten

When I was eleven years old, my cousin drowned in front of me.

She was from my mom's side of the family, with her long and silky chestnut hair that she refused to cut, and her optimistic look she had, always seeing the good in every situation.

We were never allowed in the water without one of our parents watching us.

Both our families decided to go on vacation together, thinking it would be a fun spring break experience. And it was.

Until the last day, that is.

My cousin, who was the same age as me at the time, wanted to swim in the ocean more than ever. And distance wasn't the problem. We had booked a small beach house for us that was practically right next to the water. It was just that the wind had been strong the whole time we were there, and barely anyone went to the huge waves.

"Maybe tomorrow it won't be as bad." My mother had told Zoe and I, not wanting to dampen our spirits.

But the wind only seemed to get worse. My cousin had said she wanted to sneak out, to just take a dip in the water once before grabbing a towel and going back inside.

"We'll be in the water for barely a minute." She told me, both of us sitting in the room that we shared for the time being. Zoe had shut the door in case either of our parents came upstairs, or if Cole had overheard us and stopped the plan before it started.

"I don't know, Zoe. The wind is way worse than what it was yesterday." I answered, and she rolled her eyes at me.

"I'm not asking you to swim with me. Just look out, in case your dad goes out for a smoke and sees us."

After staying quiet for a long period of time, I finally spoke.

"If we did, what time would we go?"

"Night."

"No way." I respond quickly, backing out of the plan. I was worried of a lot of things back then, which included me and Zoe being kidnapped in the dark, making the news the next day.

"Oh, okay. I mean, I'm pretty sure I heard that Kyle doesn't like scaredy cats, but it's fine." Zoe told me, eying the carpet.

At the time, Kyle was my sixth grade crush, and I did not want him to find out that I chickened out on this.

"How about we convince everyone to go to the beach, just to have lunch or something. Then we'll say that we're going back into the house for a second, and instead go to the other side of the beach. You can dip in the water quickly and then we'll go back."

"Um, why would we want to invite everyone else?" Zoe asks, slightly confused.

"Something could go wrong, and you know it." I answer, and she shrugs before agreeing with the plan, and getting up with me to ask our parents.

They agreed, and began packing for lunch as Zoe changed into a dress over her swimsuit, and I worried about all the possible things that could go wrong.

When we got to the beach, everyone seated, Zoe abruptly stood up, and began to speak.

"Rosie and I are going to collect seashells." She says, and I wonder why she hadn't use the original lie about going to the house.

"Seashells, really?" Cole asked, amused. Either he didn't believe us, or he thought we were being childish.

"Don't go too far." My aunt had responded as my mother scolds Cole, and we both began to walk, picking up shells on our way to the other side, just in case they were watching us.