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A second passes.
Two.
She’s not surfacing.
I burst into action before my mind gives my body permission to move.
The elevator drops me on the ground floor.
I sprint out of the empty school.
Instead of mounting the bridge, I scramble to the slippery bank. My sneakers dig into mud. I almost lose my footing on the desperate lunge down the incline. Thrusting my arms out for balance, I remain upright and continue on.
Just as I’m about to dive in, Shanel bobs to the surface.
Her hair flings behind her as she tosses her head. A spray of water arches in the air, suspending like shimmering stars against the velvet night.
She opens her mouth wide and screams loudly.
I stop at the edge of the bank.
Water laps at the heels of my shoes, but I don’t move.
She’s coughing and sputtering, but at least she’s alive. Her curly hair hangs like a limp curtain to her shoulders. Slender hands tread the water, keeping her upright.
The desperation pounding through my body knocks me back a step.
I was… worried.
About her.
What is with this girl?
At that moment, Shanel turns and sees me standing at the bank.
Trim eyebrows shoot up. “Hawk?”
She’s in the middle of the lake, but I hear her voice like she’s standing right next to me, whispering in my ear. Clear as day.
My heart beats faster.
Our gazes lock.
Staring into her brown eyes breaks something down inside me.
Just slams it to the ground.
Demolished.
Destroyed.
I can’t think.
Can’t breathe.
Can’t move.
The moment feels surreal, like I’m having an out-of-body experience. Like I’m in the grips of something more powerful than I am, something I can’t beat to a pulp or throw money at.
