Page 73 of The Summers of Us

Tanner, Mia, and Haven come back into view. They cut the engine in the no-wake zone and bob back to us. Haven jumps into the water.

“Anyone want a ride?” Mia asks.

“I don’t really…” I bite my cheek. “Swim.”

“This isn’t swimming. It’s jet-skiing.”

“Your life jacket begs to differ.”

She makes a face like she can’t argue, but she keeps prying. “I swear you’ll be okay.”

I sit up a little taller, pseudo confidence in my voice. “Pinky promise?”

“Yes,” Mia says. “If you want, Adriana can take you.”

Adriana nods from a watermelon float in the water. “Pinky promise.”

A million thoughts race through my mind, now that the possibility is upon me.What if something goes wrong? Am I prepared to meet water again? Is the risk worth the potential fun?

“You can do it, Quinn!” Haven calls out after she settles onto the float with Adriana and Mason, nearly knocking them off in the process.

Mason does something similar, whooping and beginning a chant of my name.

A past version of me would have called this peer pressure—which it is—but my friends have always wanted the best for me, so maybe peer pressure isn’t always a bad thing.

I look at Everett, silently seeking his approval. He gives me a droopy smile and shrugs like he wants me to have all the fun in the world but is too afraid to say so. If the idea makes Everett smile, then I don’t care that my name is Quinn Kessler. I deserve some fun.

I’m not sure what fully compels me to do something so risky, so outside my comfort zone, but a voice deep within me reaches out and says, “you deserve a rollercoaster.”

I pull a green life jacket off a nail in the shelter. It smells of mildew and barely zips over my chest, but it’s too late to back down.

The lake roars with applause. I shake my head bashfully. It feels like I’m on stage at Holy Mackerel.

I step down on the footrest and throw my leg across the seat, holding tight to Adriana.

Adriana cranks up the engine while I wave my goodbyes to everyone on the dock. I stick my tongue out at Everett, smiling more than my mouth can contain. Once we’re past the no wake zone, she accelerates slowly, then speeds up once I’m more accustomed to the rush.

The water is a sleek glass sheet, the jet ski the blade that slides it clean down the middle. There are no ripples in the water, so we glide across the smooth surface.

I forget to be rational, confident enough to say things I’d normally never even think. “Go faster!”

She obeys, leaving my words hundreds of feet behind us. The lake stretches ahead. The wind rushes straight into my open-mouthed grin. My eyes sting from the bright sun and the water droplets that shoot into my eyes when we bounce over the wake of a speedboat. We’re a single unit that lifts off the seat for a second of reckless abandon. Sothismust be what a rollercoaster feels like.

When we land, I feel it all at once.

Freedom hugs me tightly.

Tighter than the anchors that have held me down all these years. They’re gone now; I can feel it. They flew clean off my shoulders right around 40 miles per hour.

“Can I do a trick?” Adriana shouts.

“Yes!” Adrenaline screams back.

The rev of the engine responds for her. The wind slaps my face. It’s hard to keep my eyes open, but I do anyway and watch Adriana jerk the steering wheel completely around.

I lift from the seat.

Sky and water blur before my eyes.

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