Twist of Fate

Chapter 3: Comprehension

  "Lareria!"

  I looked up in surprise. "Simon? What are you doing here? Are you dead, too—" I was cut off as I felt someone jump on me from behind.

  "Who's dead?" Maya asked as she squeezed the breath out of me with her arms.

  I paused. "Huh? Aren't I? Didn't Keshaun tell you about the explosion?"

  "Explosion?" Maya repeated. "What explosion? If you're here with us now, how could you be dead, silly?!"

  "Eh?" I took in my surroundings and gasped in surprise. We were at the beach, surrounded by hundreds of people, and clad in swimsuits. We had been planning to go weeks ago and had imagined just this. "When did we get here?"

  "Haha! Silly!" Maya hit my back harshly. "We've been here for hours! Have you been daydreaming or something?"

  "Um, ouch!" I hissed as I landed on my knees in the sand. "Hold back a little, won't you? That crazy strength of yours will kill me someday."

  Simon's laughter reached my ears. He was clutching his stomach as he doubled over. I scowled at him as I rubbed my back.

  "Sorry," he said wiping his eyes. "Now you know what I go through with a little sister stronger than me." He held his hand out to me smiling brightly. I felt warmth flood my cheeks as I took it.

  "Thanks," I muttered, avoiding his eyes. "So, what do you want to do next?"

  Maya grabbed my arm and pulled me away from Simon. "Let's go diving!"

  "Eh? Where?"

  "Just come!" She laughed.

  "What? Wait!" I gasped, trying to plant my feet in the ground, but the sand wouldn't allow me to. So Maya continued to drag me with that exaggerated strength of hers.

  "Relax," Simon said, smiling down at me. "It'll be fun. We're just going to the—"

  "There it is!" Maya exclaimed.

  I looked ahead of us and felt my stomach drop slightly. "W-why are we coming here?"

  Simon glanced at me curiously. "Are you afraid? We've done this so many times. What's wrong?"

  I pursed my lips as Maya continued to drag me up a slight incline. The place they were taking me to wasn't somewhere I was excited to go back to. Especially not since what happened the last time I was there. In seconds, which was way to fast in my opinion, we were at the top of the cliffs overlooking the ocean in the exact same spot I had jumped before.

  "Why here though," I asked, hesitantly peering over the edge into the dark water. It looked exactly the same as it did before.

  "This is the highest point!" Maya shouted. I grimaced as her voice echoed around us. "This is the best place to dive. You should know. You chose this place."

  "Huh?" I glanced up at her, perplexed. I didn't recall ever suggesting we dive from that exact spot. It was actually off limits, so I wouldn't have suggested it even if I wanted to. "I did?"

  "Yeah." Simon answered for her. "Now, come on. Show us your famous dive! Its been a while."

  I smiled reluctantly. "Okay. Stand back then."

  They took several steps back and I calmed myself. It'll be fine, I thought. What could possibly happen? I took one step back, then jumped as high as I could. I twisted my body in the air and flipped like I did in gymnastics practice. As I began to plummet down, I twisted again and straightened my arms to dive into the water with little or no splashes.