It Should Have Been Him

Chapter 32

Then

"Tyler!" I yelled frantically. I scanned the water, not seeing him anywhere. I yelled his name again, repeatedly. After what felt like a lifetime but really only 30 seconds, I saw his head bob out of the water. My entire body relaxed in relief.

"You're such a jerk!" I yelled from the ledge. He smiled and shook his head, droplets of water splattering everywhere. He pushed his damp hair back out of his face and looked up at me, putting a hand above his eyes, shielding them from the sun.

"Come on!" he yelled to me. I gaped and shook my head.

"Are you crazy? There's no way I'm jumping." I didn't know how tall the cliff was. All I saw below me was water, it wasn't rushing water or anything, it was completely still and calm. But at the end of the day, a cliff is still a cliff, and I wasn't in the mood for risking my life.

"I can't do this!" I yelled at him, because it was true, I couldn't.

"Yeah, you can, I promise, you won't be sorry, you'll love it!"

If I jumped, I'd kill myself, I knew it. I would get stuck at the bottom of the lake, and I'd end up drowning. I wouldn't be able to get any air into my lungs, and Tyler would blame himself for killing me.

"I don't know how to swim!" I lied, hoping he wouldn't catch me in the act..

"Liar, we went swimming on your beach, get down here!" I couldn't do it, there was no way I could.

"I'm going to drown!"

"I won't let you, I promise, if you jump, and you don't come within 4 seconds, I'll save you!"

"How deep is the water?"

"It's only like 6 feet!" I could tell he was lying. I gripped my collar bone, shutting my eyes tightly. Don't do it.

"Do you trust me?" he yelled at me, holding out his hand. I rolled my eyes. I couldn't believe he was playing that card on me.

"Don't try to pull an Aladdin on me, do you think I'm that stupid?" Tyler smiled, and kept treading the water.

"Corrin, I swear on my life, if you jump, I won't let anything happen to you."

I took a deep breath. I did trust Tyler, right? If I did jump, he wouldn't let me drown. I couldn't believe I was actually about to do this. I walked back a few meters. I balled my fist, and tried not to think. I ran as fast as I could, my heart racing, and adrenaline starting to kick in. I reached the end and jumped. I closed my eyes, feeling nothing but wind rush past me as I free fell through the air. I screamed, and then almost in an instant, it was over. I hit the warm water with a splash, water shot up my nose. I kept my mouth closed, holding my breath, trying to swim back to the top. I kicked, and then I felt a hand grasp my back, and pull me to the top. As soon as my head was out of the water, I gasped for air, not believing what I had just did. I looked up Tyler who was right in front of me. Holding me close.

"Congratulations, you just jumped 40  feet," he said with a grin. I wiped water off my face with my hands.

"You're insane," I said. He kissed me, running his fingers through my tangled, soaking wet hair.

"Told you I wouldn't let you drown," he said, pulling away.

"I can't believe I listened to you." I gazed up at the massive cliff looming over us, "you know whenever I was little, and did something stupid with Katherine, my mom would always say to me, well, if Katherine jumped off a cliff, would you jump off with her? and every single time I'd shake my head. Thinking that I'd never just jump off a cliff like that," I focus my eyes back on Tyler, "but yet, here I am." Tyler laughed and removed the water off of my temple with his thumb.

"We should probably get out of here," he said, he let go of me and started swimming towards the shore.

"Why?" I asked confused. Tyler bit his lip and raised his eyebrows.

"Well, this isn't the most legal thing we'll be doing today," he said, reaching a shore that was made up of dirt and rocks. I grunted.

"You mean we're not allowed to be here?" I asked. Tyler nodded.

"Didn't you see the "no diving" sign?" he winked at me.