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It broke my heart, because I missed him terribly. Even still, I knew that what he was doing was important.
He had come home to Steel Ridge a few times over the last couple of years, but he was mostly away. Fortunately, I found ways to keep myself busy and distracted with school, my list, and my friends.
And considering I was now no longer needing to spend my time trying to convince them to step out and have a little extra fun, it wasn’t so difficult to distract myself.
“Sawyer!” Faye called out.
“I’m coming,” I returned.
Faye, Janelle, and Cristina had all taken their turns jumping into the water from the rock cliff, and now it was my turn. The drop was substantial, but I wasn’t the least bit worried. I’d been here before. In fact, the girls and I had come here a handful of times last summer. But jumping into the water did require some effort and a slight running start in order to propel our bodies out and away from the rock face of the cliff.
Recognizing that they’d moved far enough away from where I would land, I moved forward at a quickened pace and jumped. A few seconds later, I plunged into the cool water.
When I rose above the surface and brushed my hair back from my face, I said, “This is a hell of a way to celebrate the end of school. I love it here.”
“I still can’t believe we’re officially done,” Cristina chimed in.
Janelle swam a little closer to where we were and added, “I’m so glad to be finished, but I’m going to miss some things at Steel Ridge High School.”
“Like what?” I asked, a bit of disbelief laced through my tone.
I couldn’t begin to imagine what she’d miss. I mean, I had good times with my friends, and I certainly had a lot of memories from my time in school that I wouldn’t soon forget. At the top of that list would probably be standing on the stage in the auditorium to perform in the school play when Jesse was there.
But I couldn’t say that I was upset about being done.
I was thrilled. I could finally move on with my life and have a whole new set of experiences.
“I don’t know,” Janelle replied. “I liked a lot of my teachers, and we’ve obviously had so much fun together over the years. It’s just very bittersweet.”
“Well, I’m with you on the good times we’ve had, but I can’t say I’m anything but thrilled that I’ll never have to walk into a class with Mr. Mills again,” Faye huffed.
We all let out a laugh before I said, “I know that you all are going away to different colleges in the fall, but I don’t think we’re going to lose touch with each other. Whenever we’re all home, if it’s on holiday breaks or over the summer, we have to make plans to see each other regularly. Friendships like ours don’t just stop because we’re growing up.”
“Agreed,” Cristina declared.
“So, I think it’s time to jump in again,” Faye announced.
I laughed again and asked, “When did you become the adventurous one?”
Faye didn’t respond. She merely rolled her eyes at me and swam in the opposite direction. Janelle, Cristina, and I followed.
We climbed out on the side and hiked up to the high point on the east side of the quarry to the same rock face that we’d jumped from before, the same spot that everyone who came here jumped from. There was a group of people a bit farther down the water from where we were, so the four of us pretty much had the spot to ourselves.
Without an ounce of hesitation, Faye took off and leapt off the edge. I smiled, feeling so proud of her and how much she’d pushed herself to try new things now. She was truly enjoying herself.
Faye barely resurfaced when Cristina went charging forward and sprang off the rocky ledge.
Janelle waited a bit longer than Cristina had. She gave herself a few seconds to work up the courage to jump, and though I didn’t know it at the time, I’d later find myself wishing I had given her the extra time and gone ahead of her.
Because in the instant that Janelle finally took her turn, everything changed.
She got a running start—as we all did when we took our turn—and just as she was about to leap off, the ground gave out beneath her. As a huge chunk of the rocky cliff dropped off the side, Janelle’s body went down with it.
“Janelle!” I screamed, moving to the edge a little farther down from where the ground fell out.
What I saw was something I knew I’d never forget as long as I lived.
Nearly every spot on Janelle’s body hit the cliff on the way down. The force with which she hit the rocks and the fact that she continued to fall on the rough and jagged surfaces was unbearable to watch. In that moment, I knew I was watching one of my best friends die a horrific death. There wasn’t a chance she was going to survive.
