Tidbit Tuesday! Whatever It Takes

“Fine.” Her fiery eyes were glassy with tears as she turned to face the edge. Though her shoulders were set in stubborn determination, Sebastian could see that her hands were shaking. She rocked back and forth a few times from one foot to the other, biting her lower lip as she stared down at the water below, and he found himself wondering if her drive to jump was not based solely on thrill-seeking, but something more, perhaps a desire to prove something to herself. For a second it seemed she had reconsidered as she took a few steps backward, and Sebastian closed his eyes in relief. When he opened them, however, she was gone, and terror pierced his heart like a knife. He lunged toward the edge and looked down just in time to see her enter the water, the resulting splash a mere pinprick of white in the center of the emerald-green pool. Sebastian squinted, holding his breath as he waited anxiously for her to reemerge. He could see the other jumpers who had followed her surface and make their way to the sides, but Chloe’s entry-point was gone, and her body was nowhere to be seen. His mind was now imagining the worst. Could anyone sitting on the rocks down below see her? Was anyone besides himself realizing she hadn’t resurfaced yet? Was she sinking to the bottom at that very moment, unconscious and possibly wounded? Without thinking, without even removing his clothes and shoes, Sebastian threw himself over the edge feet first, his arms pinned to his sides. The freefall seemed to last forever as all he could hear was the thundering of his own heartbeat and the rush of wind in his ears, yet it was only a matter of seconds before he penetrated the surface with his eyes screwed tightly shut. His impact with the water was what he imagined hitting a wall of concrete felt like and was only exacerbated by the shock of the frigid temperature. Despite being helplessly dragged away from the light and down to the murky depths, Sebastian forced his eyes open in hopes of locating Chloe, but he could see nothing past his own outstretched hands. He began to kick furiously upward, and when he finally surfaced, he didn’t even allow himself time for a breath before frantically scanning the water surrounding him for a blonde head.