Page 55 of Bumping into You

“I’m in,” he says. Then looking back to Holly, he adds, “Be back in a minute.”

We climb up the path to the spot in the rocks that’s just right for the jump.

Trent doesn’t even wait. As soon as he’s at the edge, he jumps. “Woohoo!” he yells before splashing into the cool water below.

As soon as Trent surfaces, I tell Greg, “See you below,” before jumping in. The jump is freeing as the air rushes by me before I hit the water. I pop back up just in time to see Greg as he hits the water.

“That looks crazy,” says Margot as we swim back to the girls.

“It’s a blast,” says Trent, splashing them.

“I prefer the calm, less deadly swimming,” says Holly.

“Ah, you know you love the thrill,” says Greg. “I couldn’t keep you off the black diamond runs at the cabin last winter.”

Nodding, she splashes him with water, managing to get me in the crosswind.

“Hey, what’d I do?” I ask in mock horror.

“You encourage them both,” Gwen says and laughs.

“You going to jump?” I ask.

“Ooo that sounds fun,” says Margot, looking between us both excitedly.

Gwen bites her lip as she looks from me to the cliff.

“I mean, this can’t be any worse than a black diamond run,” Gwen says.

“Grand!” I say.

“Yeah, let’s do it,” says Trent, already swimming back over tothe path.

“You all have fun,” says Greg. “I’m going to hang back here with Holly.”

Trent leads the way as Margot, Gwen, and I all follow.

Margot catches up with Trent and doesn’t hesitate before jumping off the cliff and into the clear water below.

“She’s fearless,” says Trent. “See you all down there!” He jumps into the water below, then comes up laughing as his head breaks the surface.

Looking at Gwen, I notice she’s watching the water spraying up and over the rocks.

“It’s so dramatic,” she says. “If I didn’t see the calm pools of water with my own eyes, I’d never believe it could be hidden behind those rocks.”

“True, so many things can be easily hidden when people don’t take the opportunity to look,” I agree, then I motion to the edge. “You ready to jump?”

Her starburst eyes pierce mine. “It’s a long way down.”

“You’re not wrong. The five-foot jump is down a bit further on the trail. This one is just about a fifteen-foot drop.”

“‘Just,’ ha, right,” she says, fidgeting as she looks over the edge.

“What did you say about black diamonds? This can’t be worse than that, right?”

“Psh, well, now that I’m up here, of course it’s worse. A black diamond is easy. I have total control the whole way down the mountain. With this, it’s a free fall. I have zero control over anything.”

“What if we jump together? We can even hold hands?”

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