"HE'S GONNA JUMP!"

   Camila, Dorian and I raced to the source of the shout, finding a swarm of teenagers surrounding a tree near the river. This tree was the type that had its countless branches spread out in all directions.

   It wouldn't have been an issue on a normal day that the tree stood at the edges of Clearwater River's bank. Neither would it have been a problem that most of its branches were directly over the waters.

   But the giggling, unstable mess of a human on one dangerously looping branch being yours truly?

   Problem.

   I shoved through the crowd at inhuman speed, not faltering until I stood before the tree. All attempts to soothe my frantic heart proved useless. Nothing was going to calm me down as long as Rav was still up there, clinging to an unreliable branch that hung directly above the water.

   It seemed, however, that I was the only one on the panicking end. The figure on the tree had the biggest smile, hyping the excited group with his deep cheers and arm waves.

   This pothead was going to die.

"Don't encourage him!" I yelled to no one in particular as the gathering crowd wasted no time in responding to another one of Rav's slurred 'Wooos' with louder hoots of their own.

"Rav!" I stamped my foot, looking up his moving frame. "Don't you dare jump!"

   Great, now I sounded like my hysterical mother.

   Dorian and Camila had finally caught up and joined me at the tree that loomed over the murky waters of Clearwater River.

   A sharp breath was inhaled by the three of us in unison when Rav lost his footing for a second. Fortunately, it wasn't enough to send him spiralling into the water.

"Don't worry guys," Rav stared down at us with a smirk. "It's quite simple. All I have to do is apply momentum and a little bit of Pythagoras theorem. I have this all figured out."

   How could a person be equally smart and a dumbass at the same time?

"Rav, if you're able to jump from a sixty degree angle, you shouldn't mess this up." Dorian called out to him.

"He only needs to lean a little further to get to that angle, actually," Amber told Dorian before craning her neck up at the tree once more. "Come on, Aarav!"

   Wait, what?!

"Are you guys serious?" I shrieked. "We have to figure out a way to get him down!"

   As much as I wanted to hound them for their display and encouragement of stupidity, I couldn't do so without feeling responsible for bringing them here in the first place. My fear of facing Talise on my own made all that was happening right now my fault.

   Besides, it was obvious that what Dorian and Camila were saying was influenced by what they'd both drank. Clearly, it was sitting too well with them.

"Come on, Beth." Camila whined, bumping my hip with hers. "Worst case scenario, he's going to hit the water. Just let it happen."

"Plus, Rav is an excellent swimmer," Dorian added with an uncharacteristic grin. "What's the worst that could happen?"

   I sighed. Why was I trying to reason with lost causes when their semi-sober feet were the ones on hard ground? Maybe talking to Aarav directly would get to the little sense of judgement I could only hope was still in his head.

"JUST JUMP ALREADY!" A husky voice from the back of the audience yelled.

   I turned over to the fast-growing group of people with my death glare in full force. It would've been so easy to find and tell that asshole what he should do to himself if—

   Splash.

   A collective gasp filled the air as the tree branch suddenly snapped, plunging into the flowing rivers beneath and taking Rav with it.

—that hadn't happened.

"He's dead!" A feminine voice screeched out the thoughts of everyone.

   All beings and activities froze. No eye steered away from the river. The music that appeared to shake the ground with its sound before ceased, bright lights that had accompanied it nowhere to be found. All was replaced with silence.

   That didn't stop time though. The seconds Rav remained engulfed by Clearwater River had no indication of slowing down. There was no trace of him. Contagious shock seemed to have a stronger effect on everyone's inability to move.

   The passing of a few more seconds, however, was eventually sufficient for the slap reality gave to have an effect on me.

   My shaky hands wandered downwards to untie my shoelaces. Rav hadn't been underwater that long but I'll be damned if I stood by to watch my situationship-wise friend drown to death for—

"YEAH!!!"

   The startled crowd stayed so for a mere moment before merging their cheers with the roars of an overly-excited, definitely still high Rav who splashed across the river with fist pumped hands. The elated—more like relieved— people surrounded Rav as he walked up to the riverbank.

"Beth," Dorian's lips were thin as told me, "Please keep looking for your friend. I'm going to get Rav. We'll join you soon."

"I'll help," Cami said, following his strides toward the cluster of people surrounding Rav.

   The urge to smile resonated within me. At least something good had come out of all of this. Horror was always a resourceful mechanism for sobering one up and I was glad to see it worked perfectly on Dorian and Amber. I looked towards Rav one more time to see him way ahead of Dorian, running toward us.

"Did you guys see that?!" Rav didn't bother stifling his words into a whisper. "I still can't believe I did that! That was awesomeee!"

"Are you kidding me?" Camila sized him up, inching away from his dripped frame with folded arms and a scrunched up expression.

"Do you have any idea how worried we all were?" I snapped. "You can't drink just from a stranger's cup and act like a crazy person. You can't—"

   The kiss that interrupted my rant came my way at breakneck speed. The wetness of Rav's lips and his other soaked body parts on me wasted no time in ruining my dry clothes.

   What the hell?

   The terror that raged within me lessened when I realized it was my cheek he'd gone for, not my lips. Disgust, however, wasn't leaving any time soon.

   Dorian's expression was the first thing I caught a glimpse of when Rav pulled away faster that I could blink.

"Don't you guys feel it?" He laughed. "The rush! The drive! The..."

   I took Rav's rambling, skipping trance as an opportunity to inch further away from him and tend to my violated cheek with a grimace. As annoyed as I was, it would be useless to confront him in this state.

   Besides, I didn't know what I'd do if another one of his ambush kisses captured my lips next time.

"Beth?" I turned to the call of my name and met a thankfully sober-faced Talise.

"Tali..."

"Why did I just watch one of your friends pull the dumbest stunt I've ever seen?" She interrupted my imminent response with a raised hand. "On second thought, I don't care. The only thing I'm interested in finding out is what the hell you and your friends are doing here. Or is this one of the things your new 'friends' have been teaching you? Crashing parties you weren't invited to?"

"I know I'm the last person you would want to see right now.."

"It's cute you're thinking you'd actually make the list." She shot me down again with a disdainful smirk.

   Damn. I masked my wince with a frown. It was easy to forget how bitchy Tali could be when you weren't on the receiving end of her love. The reason I always tried to stay on her good side. That and the fact that she was a better fighter.

   I'd get my ass handed to me by the time she's done beating it.

"Listen, I wouldn't—we wouldn't—be here if it wasn't important." I sighed. "Can you just hear me out?"

"Guys?" Rav's called out from a distance with an unrecognisable tone.

"Beth!" Tali retorted. "I wouldn't speak to you if..."

   Wondering why she trailed off, I trailed her wide-eyed stare to Rav. He did not look okay.

   Talise grabbed his hand and rushed to direct him toward the nearest dark corner. Rav snatched the bag she unravelled from a shrub the second she held it out, unzipping and sticking his head into the bag like his life depended on it.

   The subsequent gut-wrenching sounds that erupted from him lasted more than I—all of us present, really—would like to recall.

"Thanks." Tali was anything but pleased when he returned the vomit filled bag with a grateful wink.

"We could replace her bag if she's upset about that." Cami leaned over to whisper to me.

   I could only call the fact that she tossed the bag back into the shrubs and not our onto faces was nothing short of a miracle. I probably shouldn't jinx it though, she still looked ever ready to cuss us all out.

"It's not hers," I replied.

"Oh."

"Okay Beth." Everyone seemed to jump as she clasped her hands. Her ability to instil fear even in strangers has never ceased to amaze me. "I have helped your man-baby friend with his problem and there's only so much torture I can take for one night so... would you mind leaving with your friends now?"

"I know you're beyond mad and I don't blame you. What I want to tell you, though, isn't something that can wait. Two minutes, please." I sealed my palms in a pleading gesture. "Two minutes for you to know everything you wanted to. Everything that I kept for you—yes, I admit it. I kept stuff from you. Now would you please let me tell you everything and why? Please?"

   Predicting Tali's reaction was something I'd done once during the years I'd known her. I vowed to never make that mistake again.

   Holding my breath, I let my mind go blank under her penetrating stare.

A/N: CHAPTER THIRTY!!! To all that have stuck around since the first chapter, know that I appreciate you more than anything🥰❤️🥲!

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