"Caitlyn!" I gasp. "How much further?"

"All the way to the top!" comes her chipper response.

I groan and pull myself up the rocky face a little further. "Are you sure this is safe?"

"Pssh, no!" Caitlyn yells back down to me. She's reached the top of the rock now, and is beckoning to me. "Come on, you have to get to the top to see what I mean,"

"Fine!" I grunt, hoisting myself up until I'm nearly at her feet. She reaches down for my hand and in one swift movement she has pulled me up beside her.

"Shit, Caitlyn, why the hell did I just do that?" I grumble, dusting myself off.

"Look," she replies in a soft voice, and I turn to see what she means.

If I had to describe the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, I wouldn't be able to. Words can only say so much. You have to actually see what I'm seeing; otherwise you just can't comprehend the majesty of it. The forest in every shade of green surrounding Camp Rock seems to stretch out for miles; I can make out tiny strips of roads zigzagging in and out of plain view. The lake shimmers in the sunlight, sending dazzling sparkles off of every ripple. The pool of glitter seems just inches away from my feet, but in reality it is actually meters down the precipice I'm standing on. The camp itself that I can see is nothing but an assortment of drab, square buildings that seem so out of place in this grandiose environment.

Caitlyn stares at me expectantly. "I told you it would be worth it,"

I just flash a smile at her, unable to take my eyes of the scenery that unfolds around me. The faint breeze blows Caitlyn's hair backwards, and I catch a whiff of her scent in the air. She smells like fruit shampoo and chamomile.

"Is it true, what Mitchie said before?" she interrupts my wonder with an out of place question.

"About what?"

"About me not being more than just her friend to you?" Caitlyn bits her lip hesitantly.

I'm about to lie, but somehow I know that she would be able to see right through it. So I heave a sigh and respond. "Yeah, pretty much,"

"Well, you were never really more than Mitchie's boyfriend to me either, so I guess we're square," she chuckles.

"But we're friends now, right?" I grin. "I mean, I'd hate to think for one person to know so much about me and not be my friend,"

"Oh, I think I can manage that," she teases, her eyes glinting with humour. "But the thing is, I don't really know all that much about you,"

"And I don't know much about you. Apart from, well, you know…" I trail off as I motion towards her fluffy wristband and the crimson burn poking out of the collar of her shirt.

"Maybe that tells you all you need to know," she shrugs, scowling.

I start to process an argument, thinking that there is obviously more to her that just her shitty past, and that I want to get to know her outside of our common ground. But all of a sudden her overcast expression lifts and she spreads her arms out wide, moving her legs shoulder-width apart.

"What are you doing?' I ask in bemusement.

"There's a big gust coming. Copy me, quick!" she commands, and I do so in bewilderment.

Without warning, I feel the air around my body pick up speed. My clothing is pulled tight against my body and my hair is blown backwards. I wobble precariously, but Caitlyn reaches out and hooks her fingertips into mine, steadying me. Suddenly my entire body is consumed with thick wind and I become completely weightless. The airstream tears at my every contour, but with Caitlyn's fingers interlocked with mine, I'm not afraid of falling.

Caitlyn pushes herself onto her tiptoes and leans into the air that is pressing against us, laughing uncontrollably. She looks pretty ridiculous, with her curly hair being blown in all directions and her wide smiling mouth starkly contrasting her windblown watery eyes. She glances at me and laughs louder; I guess I must look just as silly as her, if not more so. Despite myself, I throw my head up in the air and let out a howl of rapture, which only makes the both of us laugh harder than I can ever remember laughing in my entire life.

Eventually, the wind dies down, and the sensation of buoyancy dissipates. I heave a sigh in disappointment. "That was fantastic!"

"I know! I love doing that! The feeling it gives you… God, it's better than any drug," Caitlyn beams.

"Yeah," I mumble, grudgingly admitting that she's right. I've never felt that free, not even when I've gotten a fix.

"See, I told you that there are better ways to escape monotony," she grins smugly.

I feel defensive against her superiority, and attempt to bring her down a notch. "Yeah, but we can't spend the rest of our lives on top of rocks waiting for the wind to change!" I snap.

She raises a single eyebrow at me.

"I guess you're right," she shrugs, and throws herself off the edge of the rock.

"Caitlyn!" I shriek frantically, teetering over the edge and looking down at the foaming undulation Caitlyn made as she landed in the lake.

After a few incredibly long seconds, Caitlyn emerges with splash and an enormous smile on her face. "Care to join me?" she calls up to me.

"Are you fucking insane?" I scream back down at her.

"Maybe!" she laughs, rolling onto her back and floating with her arms outstretched.

"You are! You're fucking crazy!" I mutter to myself. "No, there's no way. I'm not going to. I'll kill myself!"

But looking down at Caitlyn imperturbably lolling about in the water, jumping off the rock doesn't seem like the most dangerous thing in the world. Before my brain can even register what I am doing, my body has coiled back, then hurled itself into the air.

My veins overflow with adrenalin. I am flying through the air, falling faster and faster. I open my mouth to scream in exhilaration, but only manage a weak yelp before I plunge into the cold water. For a terrifying split second, I don't know which way is up and which way is down, and I'm convinced I'm going to drown. But with a panicked kick of my legs, my head breaks the surface and I'm breathing in lungfuls of fresh air that taste like lake water.

"WHOOOO!" The scream that never left my mouth in the air breaks out of my chest. I spin around in the water to see Caitlyn swimming towards me. "That was awesome!"

She opens her mouth to say something, but the self-satisfied looks on her face tells me before she can get any words out.

"Don't say I told you so!" I laugh.

"I wasn't going to! I was going to challenge you!" she smirks.

"A challenge, huh? Bring it on, sister!" I snort.

"I bet I can hold my breath for longer than you can," she contests.

"I'll take that bet," I sling out my arm to shake her hand.

Smiling sweetly, she takes my hand in hers, and in one swift movement, she yanks me under the water. I'm enclosed in dank green darkness, and I can see Caitlyn's fuzzy outline floating in front of me. Concentrating, I focus on the air captured in my lungs, beneath my rib cage, imprisoned in my body. Gradually, I feel the compression of this incarcerated air push against my sternum, like it's trying to breakout. I let one or two bubbles escape as I begin to feel the blood pounding in my ears. Giving up, I try and kick to the surface, but Caitlyn's grip on me does not relent. I struggle against her grasp, but she only holds me tighter underneath the water. I open my mouth to yell at her and all the air that I had been holding prisoner effervesces around my face. My head is throbbing now, and multicoloured spots dance in front of my eyes. The fear of drowning that inhibited me before comes rushing back, and I don't know if I start to cry or not. I can't tell with all the crushing water swirling around me.

Then, I'm not longer being smothered by the dark liquid. I feel a cool breeze on my face and I choke on the water in my throat as Caitlyn and I emerge from the depths of the water. Gasping for air, we both weakly paddle over the bank of the lake and heave ourselves out, collapsing on our backs in the grass.

"So, how do you feel?" Caitlyn wheezes, wiping water of her face.

"I feel… amazing!" I struggle to breathe, but at the same time, the light-headed sensation I'm feeling is remarkable.

"Yeah, someone told me once that the highest feeling of euphoria you can experience is in the few moments before your oxygen deprivation becomes too much for the brain to stop functioning consciously," she shrugs.

"Really? You're trying to tell me that the best feeling in the world is suffocating?" I gape at her. "Not orgasms?"

"Apparently not. Not all the joy in life comes from human relationships, Shane," Caitlyn fiddles with her damp hair, absentmindedly staring up into the sky.

"So I should just run away and become a reclusive hermit for the rest of my life?" I scoff light-heartedly.

Caitlyn giggles. "No! I don't think happiness is real unless you can share it,"

I've never had an epiphany before, but I think this comes pretty close. No words can describe what kind of effect Caitlyn's insight is having on me. I guess I can liken it to a hot knife cutting into butter. With her every word, Caitlyn is peeling away a part of me that I thought I knew, to show me that I actually don't know it at all.

Deep, no? Keep the reviews coming, they boost my self-esteem!