The Lake

Rope Swings

We were round the back of the island, heading towards the big old Scots pine tree, when we heard shouts.

We came round the corner to see a group of mostly boys and a few girls, trying to throw a rope over a branch.

"They're building a rope swing," I said with a laugh, "But they appear to be failing."

The old Scots pine lent out over the water, and would make the perfect rope swing out into the lake. If they could get the rope up, of course.

I watched as Noah tried to throw the rope up, but it got caught in some smaller branches and came tumbling back down. There were sighs of disappointment from the watching girls.

I shouldered my way to the front, where Asher spotted me.

"Hey, Noah, give the rope to Kenzie. I'm sure she'll be able to do it."

Noah threw me a dirty glare, "No she won't."

"Do I have to remind you," Asher continued, "That Kenzie is freaking amazing? She beat you on a bicycle."

"Why does everyone keep bringing that up!!" Noah grumbled, but reluctantly handed over the rope.

I judged the distance to the branch, if Noah couldn't do it.... there was no way I could throw it that far. But that didn't mean I was giving up.

I tied the end of the rope quickly around my waist and ran over to the tree.

"She's going to climb it!" someone yelled, probably Asher. I smirked.

The massive tree's trunk was far too wide to get my arms around, and the first branches were several metres above my head, but there was a series of nooks and little cracks that I wedged my hands and feet into. Thirty seconds later, and I was edging out across the branch they'd been trying to throw it over.

I calmly tied it around and let the end trail down to the water. The tree was overhanging, and me and my brother had jumped off it last summer, the water below was deep. I was totally a show off for jumping - but you gotta be a show off at least once, right? Besides, it was the quickest way down.

"OH MY GODS! SHE'S GOING TO JUMP IT!" That was Asher again.

"KENZIE! NO!!" That was Noah, surprisingly. But he was too late, because I was already leaping.

The wind whistled in my ears, and there were mixed shrieks of fear and excitement from the bank. I tucked in my arms and pinched my nose, the drop was a good few metres and water up the nose was painful, then I hit the water.

I resurfaced to whoops and cheers, amongst a storm of bubbles. If you didn't know I'd done it before, I looked like a total daredevil. I grinned at the thought.

"Kenzie! What an earth were you thinking!" Noah reached down a hand to help pull me out of the water. The drop-off was so impressive that I could only just touch the floor even now.

"It's not that far," I said, smirking at him.

He pointed to my knee. "You're bleeding."

"Oh yeah," I noticed, "I normally don't go tree-climbing in a bikini."

"Do you need to get a plaster?"

I looked at him, incredulous. "Do you need to go to the doctors? Are you sure you're feeling ok? Noah Armstrong caring for my welfare? What have you done with the real Noah?"

He shook his head, rolling his eyes. "Honestly Kenzie..."

Asher came leaping up to us, his blue eyes sparkling. "That was some seriously cool trick, Kenzie! How did you climb that tree? Can you show me?"

Laughing softly, I led him, Noah, Stella, Aliya and Sarah over to the tree and demonstrated the little nooks to use.

***

I was pretty much on cloud nine. Everyone was jumping off the tree, swinging on the rope swing and swimming in the waters. People were still coming up and congratulating me for my climbing and bravery, and I was surrounded by my friends. Even bickering with Noah felt like the most hilarious thing in the world.

"Noah," I said, pointing to a small cliff above the water to our left, "Bet you couldn't jump off that."

"I'll do it if you do it," he shot back, challenge flaring in his golden eyes.

"Sending the innocent female as the test subject?" I asked, widening my eyes.

"One: have you ever heard the term 'ladies first'? and two: Do you know that it's you, Mackenzie Davids, that you just called innocent?"

"Fine, fine," I said, "I'll go do it then."

"Wait," he said, "Kenzie, don't do it if you don't want to, don't just do it because I said..."

I smiled at him. "Do you seriously think I would tell you to jump off something that wasn't safe?"

He considered for a moment. "Yes?"

"No." I said, "You're so much of a pussy that I knew you would make me go first anyway."

***

The jump off the cliff was so far it almost stung to hit the water, but the adrenaline of the leap was so amazing it had us all doing it over and over again. Anyone who hasn't tried leaping off cliff, rocks or trees into deep water: you should. It's amazing.

*author cannot take responsibility for any injuries gained whilst partaking in such activities*

It was Stella who first suggested we tried doing flips off the tree. It was terrifying to begin with, and they all sent me as guinea pig, of course, but after that it was super fun. Especially amusing was having done it, and watching Noah and Asher tremble at the thought of having to take their shots.

***

Eventually, the sun began to sink across the sky, and we all swam back over to the tents. I didn't know where Noah and Asher went, but some of the other students had started campfires, so me and my friends headed over to grab food.

We joined some of our extended friend group around one of the fires, adding our food to the grill above it. Everyone was making s'mores and we joined in, laughing and joking, faces lit up by the flickering flames. I though it was possibly the best day of my life.

a/n: awe isn't that cute. happy little mackenzie.

seriously, do try jumping into deep water. It's super fun. But make sure it's deep enough... otherwise it's dangerous. Obviously.

Thanks for reading, pls vote/comment ect!

<3 Cassie