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I quickly silence it. It’s not the first time this thought has occurred to me, and I’m a pro at swatting it away.
“Look, Isaiah! Isn’t it gorgeous?” Lou spreads out her arms towards the falling water, stealing a glance at Jose to make sure he’s immortalizing the moment on her phone.
Jose, bless him, is pretending to record her, his face all serious.
“Very,” I reply dryly. “Now let’s get out of here.”
The precipice is so narrow, my foot only fits sideways. We are a second away from an accident, and I don’t want to stand around waiting to see if it will happen and when. All the enjoyment of the beauty around me is gone. My ears are buzzing with the cacophony of Lou and her friends’ shrieks and my own ugly thoughts. I push my hands in my pockets, and try to catch the eye of one of my guards.Let’s get out of here.
He nods, and starts walking towards me purposefully.
But Lou is taking off her shoes already.
“Look, Isaiah, look! I’m going for it.”
“Don’t, Lou,” I say tiredly.The guards will be here soon. It will all be over soon.“The water is freezing cold and it’s too high.”
“I don’t care, I’m doing it!”
I’m wasting my breath: there’s no talking her out of it, I know it. Maybe I should let her make a fool of herself and get it over with. Isn’t that what Skye said? Get it over with. That will show him.
We’re really high above the water, though, and the drop looks deadly. I’m pretty sure she’ll chicken out. I am scared of falling down this cliff; there is no way she isn’t terrified as well. I am so not enjoying this at all.
A brief image flashes before my eyes: Skye and Miki splashing down in the lagoon with me, water pouring over our heads from the waterfall. Feeling the cold water rush over my skin, and us three composing music inspired by the birds’ symphony. Enjoying all the beauty with the people I actually care about. Having fun.
Why are you here with these people and not your friends?
What have you done to your life?
“No, Lou, wait!” Another shrieky voice. This one sounds slightly off. Wait, no, not slightly off. Slightly drunk.Dammit.“Here boy, here.”
Oh no.You’re not getting your hands on Pooh.I step forward, fear suddenly making my heart race, but I’m not close enough. Their backs are to me, all pale bare arms and curls with golden highlights. Eden’s long, ginger braid is swinging down her back, its color a stark contrast to all the pastel bags she’s carrying.
“Are you filming this?” the girls shriek.
What am I doing with these people? What am I doing standing there while they treat my guard as their servant and Eden as a human coat stand? Why am I with them in the first place?
My head is beginning to hurt. I honestly don’t know the answers to these questions. This entire thing feels so wrong. So fake in the beauty of this quiet, secluded, exquisite place. I feel like I’ve betrayed its music, exposed it to the enemy. A part of me hates myself as I am right now.
Suddenly, shrieks explode all over the place.
“Give me Pooh, I’ve got the coolest idea! Ohmygod this is so lit!”
“Look look look!”
“She’s going to do it!”
What is who going to do now? Bringing them all here was a mistake of epic proportions. I wish Jude was here.
I wish someone I liked was here.
The ohmygods and looklooklooks go on for a bit, and then there’s a teeny tiny bit of silence, followed by loud, echoing yapping.
“Claire! What did you do? Ohmygod, that’s hilarious. Look at him go! SO CUTE.”
I reach them in time to see. One of them has picked up a stick and, before I can react, she’s thrown it to the water below.
Pooh, silly dog that he is, jumps in after it.
