"ANDI'S JUMPING OFF THE WATERFALL!"

Emma Alonso and Jax Novoa were running as fast as they possibly could towards the secret waterfall near Miami Beach. Emma has just received a very short call from Andi saying, "I'm tired of acting all tough and not actually doing anything that I'm afraid of. So I'm taking the jump. Love you, Em." Emma and Jax hadn't originally known what she was talking about, but once they pieced it together...they were gone.

Emma was aching and out of breath, but she had to keep going. She didn't know what Andi was going to do, but there was no way she was going to wait around and find out later. Jax was right behind her, huffing as he tried to keep up. In reality, Emma should have been on the track team instead of Daniel Miller. But Daniel wouldn't understand the urgency in the situation. And he probably wouldn't care. Gigi Rueda hadn't blogged about it yet, which had to mean her brother Diego didn't tell her.

Emma knew exactly what this was about.

A few weeks ago, Andi decided to tell Emma about her crush on Diego. She had liked him for two years, but first he was just her friend and she didn't want to believe that she actually liked someone. Then last year, when he started going after Head Panther Maddie Van Pelt – well, that just made her sick.

He and Maddie had been a thing for a year now, and everything was going smoothly until yesterday. Yesterday, things had unraveled.

Emma had decided to tell Jax. And that wouldn't have been such a bad thing if Jax hadn't been hanging out with Diego at the time. When the wizard was in the bathroom, his phone made a noise, so Diego checked to see if it was important. But it was Emma finally telling Jax who Andi liked.

And Diego didn't know what to do.

So he let Daniel in on the whole situation, but Daniel (who was still annoyed that everyone had agreed on sending his ex-girlfriend Mia Black into the past) told Maddie. He even had her slip a twenty into his locker for the information! When this got around to Gigi, she would be sure to mention how proud she was to have an experienced tipster at Iridium High.

Maddie was so angry she went totally ballistic and humiliated Andi at the Beachside 7 in front of a bunch of their fellow students. Andi didn't have a clue what to do, so she had Emma tele-transport her into the pool. Anything was better than being there.

Jax and Emma arrived just in time to see Andi jump off of the cliff and fall quickly into the water below.

"No!" Emma screamed, racing to jump off the cliff herself. But Jax held her back with an arm.

"No, Em." He held up his free hand and cast a spell directed at the future Guardian. Within two seconds she was back at the top of the cliff, soaking wet and shivering.

Andi took in where she was and groaned. "Why'd you do that?" she complained to Jax, making a face as she pushed her wet hair behind one ear.

Jax held his arms out. "Oh, sorry if I don't want you to commit suicide."

She made a retching noise in the back of her throat and sat down on the rock they were on top. "I wasn't going to kill myself."

Emma took a seat next to her and crossed her legs. "Then what were you doing?" Jax sat on the other side of Andi.

Andi sighed. "I just wanted to get away for a little bit. I'm such a strong swimmer I could have got to that canoe out there and just chilled for awhile." She pointed to a tiny canoe extremely far out in the water.

Emma gasped. "Andi, you couldn't swim to that! It's too far, and besides…Would you even come back?"

She rolled her head around and tapped her fingernails against the rock. "What's there to come back for?"

"Andi, you have tons of friends and your family, and you LOVE Miami! What is there not to come back for?"

Jax pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms them. "Em, you don't understand. When something huge happens like this . . . you feel like nothing is important. Like anyone you've ever known doesn't care what will happen to you . . . Like . . . you're–"

"Alone," Andi finished with him, sighing.

Emma leaned forward to look at Jax's expression. "How would you know how she's feeling?"

He cocked an eyebrow at her. "You know that Last Light plan?"

She nodded then looked down, trying not to relive the memory.

"It was my dad's. So after I threw the plan for you . . . He told me I might as well just stay in Miami because I wasn't welcome back home." He shut his eyes tightly.

Emma reached over to touch his arm. "Hey," she said quietly. "It's alright."

Andi shook her head. "I don't think so."

A few minutes passed in silence. Emma wasn't quite sure what to say – all she knew about the feeling of abandonment and depression was that it sucked. Emma's mother might've not played a role in her life, but that wasn't Maria's fault.

Somehow it felt like it was Emma's.

"You know my mom died, right?" The Chosen One asked, mainly to Andi.

She nodded. "Wasn't it during labor?"

Emma's eyes glazed over. "Yeah."

Jax noticed. "No, Em, that's not your fault."

"Really? Cuz last time I check, she was giving birth to me, not to you," she retorted, trying to hold in her tears.

Andi cleared her throat. "You know, we could all use some cheering up. I know there's a yogurt stand back near the beach." She looked at the magical beings on both her sides.

Emma pushed herself up and wiped off her pants. "I'll go get some for us."

Jax looked up at her. "You sure, Em, cuz we can go with you."

She shook her head. "No, it's fine. I, uh, really need to think about some things." She ducked her head and off she went.

Andi sat there, staring ahead but not really seeing anything.

Jax nudged her. "What's up?"

She shook her head. "Jax, you really don't need to pretend like you actually care."

His eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

She turned to face him, her face blank but her words strong. "Emma's not here. You can stop acting like you care about me." She twisted away, not making a sound.

He sighed. "Andi."

"What?"

He grabbed her arm and made her face him. "I care."

Andi just stared at him, but the tears forming in the corner of her eyes weren't fooling him.

Jax released her but held his arms out wide. "I'm here if you want to talk."

She shook her head and looked down, letting her hair shield her face. A few moments later, a sniffle escaped.

Jax sighed and put his arm around the girl, pulling her close. "It's alright," he whispered.

Andi balled her fists up and covered her face, crying into Jax's black t-shirt.

He held her. "It's going to be alright."

And despite everything that had happened, despite everything that would happen, she chose to believe him.