Falling for Ella -- and nearly drowning (From Fall of Knight), new novel excerpt

The banks in my novel are much higher than in this picture

   

  Then, Ella takes off running.  I stare for a second.

     She stops and turns back. “Well, come on!”  Then, she takes off again.

     I follow as best as I can in flip flops. Ella runs as fast as she can toward the river, and I can barely keep up.  Just as I about to catch up to her, she jumps off a fairly high bluff.  Oh, shit, I think and follow.

     Ice water sucks me under and my breath stops.  Panic seizes me until I open my eyes and through the crystal clear water of the river, I see a flash of white and the kick of two beautiful legs.  When my feet touch bottom, I kick back up and head for the surface.

     As soon as my head breaks the surface, Ella cries out, “The water is awesome!”

     She swims to a large flat rock jutting from the water not ten feet from where we dove off the bluff.

     I pause.  She reminds me of the pretty lady.  For a split second, I see my dad and I am six again.  I flounder in the water.

     “Don’t drown on me,” the pretty lady calls out.

     I snort some water and realize where I am.  After I take a moment to catch my breath, I swim to the rock and climb up next to Ella.  It feels as if I am committing some shameful sin.

     “You could have killed me,” I say.

     “It’s perfectly safe if you know where to jump.”

     “I don’t.”

     “You’ll just have to learn to trust me then.”  She takes my arm.  “Isn’t it beautiful here?”

     “Yeah,” I say, once again overwhelming myself with my command of the English language.

     “There are bears in the woods.  And mountain lions.”

     “How boring,” I am desperate to say something intelligent, but I fail miserably, “I’d put monsters in the woods.”

     She gives me a blank stare – as if I’m stupid.

     “I write stories,” I say.

     A half smile crosses her lips, or I guess it could be a sneer, but I’m hoping smile.  “Dee thinks they’re cool stories,” I say.

     “Your sister?”

     “Uh, yeah.  I kind of test them on her.”

     “You’ll have to let me read them.  There they are,” she says after glancing downriver.  Then, she dives into the water.

     “They” are Roger and Dee who have found a flat, sandy place to set down blankets and put the cooler.  I dive in and follow Ella.  I’ve always considered myself a decent swimmer.  After Dad drowned, Mom made us take lessons.  Though I swim well, Ella swims better.  She gets to the beach several seconds before I do.

     “So, you jumped off the bluff,” Roger says to me.  He punches my shoulder a little too violently to call it playfully.

     “It’s not like I wanted to,” I say.  Mistake.  “Your sister made me.”  Mistake two.  Now, I’m more cowardly than a girl – at least that’s what Roger’s look says.

     “Dean writes stories,” Ella says.

     Roger glances at me briefly. “You two will get along great.”

     “Why’s that?” Dee asks.

     “Ella draws pictures,” Roger says. “Maybe you two can collaborate on some kiddie books.”

     “Dean writes some pretty awesome stuff,” Dee says.  I want to kiss her.

     “I don’t read much,” Roger says.

     “Me either,” Dee says.  I want to slap her.

     Then it comes: the challenge.  “I’ll race you to the other side.”  The alpha male has challenged me.  I can refuse –

     “What’s wrong?  You afraid?”

     With my honor at stake, I race him, and of course he beats me handily.  More than once.  He and Dee also manage to beat our asses in chicken, sand volleyball, and some other shit.  I’m ready to go home when Ella, maybe sensing my discomfort, says.  “Follow me.  I have something I want to show you.”

     I look at Dee, not sure if I want to leave her alone with Mr. Jock Itch.

     “Go on,” she says. “We’ll be fine.”

     From the second Ella and I get back in the water, I have the feeling my life will never be the same.