I blinked at her. I’d never even considered blaming her for my sprained ankle. It had been my fault I was out on those rocks to begin with. I was the stubborn one who needed to put Jayden back in his place.
That was how this had all started.
“Please, Charlotte, come back.” I glanced fearfully at the river as it broke over the rocks and fell forcefully over the waterfall. No way should anyone be in the water right now. “That wasn’t your fault. It was all mine. Now come back before you fall. We can talk it all out.”
Her forehead furrowed with frustration and she put her hands on her hips. “No. I don’t want to talk to you. I don’t want to look at you.”
“Char—”
“You kissed him.” Her voice broke. Grief poured into her face. “You kissed the boy that I love, in the rain. You kissed him. I can’t even look at you.”
She spun and hopped onto the next rock as realization hit, taking the wind right out of me. Charlotte had seen us yesterday saying goodbye. And I’d been a complete idiot.
I should’ve confessed it to her right in the beginning. None of this would’ve happened if I’d just been straight with her. And now, she was getting closer to the middle of the river, where the water was running frighteningly fast.
“You’re not going to go after her, are you?” Audrey asked, appearing at my side with Trina. They both stared out at the river, fear flashing in their eyes.
“It’s the only choice I have.” I stepped tentatively on the first rock, feeling the cold, hard surface beneath my bare foot. “I have to keep her safe. It’s my job.”
It didn’t take long to reach the stone behind my sister. As I got closer, I could hear her sniffles above the rush of the water. She was slouched over, her arms wrapped around her stomach, facing the opposite way from me. I paused on my stone, not wanting to scare her.
“Charlotte, I’m sorry.”
She huffed and shot me a bloodshot look over her shoulder. “I don’t want to talk about it, okay? You told me to find my person and then you took him. It hurts too much.”
“I know. I’m so sorry, but I couldn’t help it.” I took a deep breath and then held it in, fighting against the words that refused to be silenced. “Charlotte, I’m in love with him.”
The muscles in her back tensed. She stood still, the only movement in her body coming from the shallow breaths she took. I couldn’t believe I’d just confessed to her my feelings about Jayden. Here we were, in the middle of a rushing river, and we were talking about love. It was crazy.
“You’re in love with him?” She turned her head so that I could only see the side of her face and stared blankly up river. “Really?”
“Yes.” Tears clogged my voice. “But you don’t have to worry about that anymore, okay? I told him we couldn’t be together. Not if it was going to hurt you.” I inched closer to her on the rock, my toes gripping the slippery surface. “We don’t have to talk about it right now. We just need to get you back to the shore. Come on, take my hand.”
Stretching out my arm, I waited for her. All the while, my heart pumped blood throughout my body at an alarmingly fast rate. The only sign of the fear growing inside of me was in the slight shake of my hand. Finally, Charlotte turned toward me, her eyelashes wet.
“I’m sorry I can’t be more like you,” she said, her lips pulling down. “I’m sorry, Mandy. I really am.”
“I don’t want you to be like me, Sis. I just want you to be happy and safe.”
She rubbed her eye with her fist, smearing her mascara. “I messed up. I keep messing up. Mom is going to get sick again because of me. She’s going to get sick and die because I can’t get my life together.”
I shook my head sharply. “No, she’s not. I won’t let her. And I’m going to take care of you, too. Come on. Let’s get out of here and we’ll talk more about it.”
With a nod, she extended her hand toward mine and relief rushed over me. This was almost over. Charlotte had a lot of growing up to do, but at least we were both on the same page now. I would help her. We just had to get back to shore.
But as she took a step, her balance faltered. Her eyes widened with panic and she let out a shriek as she waved her arms to right herself again. I reached out to stop her, but it was too late. She slipped off the rock faster than I could have predicted, the river swiftly tearing her away and plunging her over the side of the waterfall.
“Charlotte!”
It didn’t take me more than a second to make up my mind. I jumped in the water after her, kicking and waving my
arms in a weak attempt to control my body’s position as the strength of the river battered me. Spray hit me in the eyes, blinding me. The taste of dirty water filled my mouth. The sudden drop over the waterfall came as a surprise that made my stomach drop into my feet. My nose filled with foam as I landed in the pool below, my limbs feeling extra heavy.
There was no time to breathe. No time to think about the burning in my lungs as I reached out blindly in the dark water, searching for my sister. She was here somewhere, being pulled deeper within this watery grave. I couldn’t abandon her. Not now.
Suddenly, I kicked against something hard. At first, I thought it had to be the bottom of the Cascades, but it was too soft for that. So I twisted my body and reached out blindly until my hand closed around a soft and fleshy limb. Kicking with all of my might, I broke the surface of the river and gasped for breath.
Charlotte’s brunette head bobbed beside me. I turned her over, so her face was out of the water, and started swimming toward the bank. It wasn’t a long way to go, but it felt like it took hours to get there. My muscles strained with the effort of fighting the current. Despite the loud buzzing of adrenaline in my head, I could hear shouts coming from the shoreline. And when I was close enough to stand in the water, two pairs of arms reached in to help me bring Charlotte the rest of the way in.