025. Gasp.
Avril stared down at the water below. She'd never come to this cliff before, despite the number of times she'd visited her grandmother on the Mediterranean, and for very specific reasons. She didn't like heights. She wasn't exactly scared of them, but she didn't like looking down from them for long periods of time, or to consider jumping from them. Which was what had just been suggested she do.
"You'll be fine," The boy at her side urged. She didn't know him but there was a whole herd of boys that had cajoled her into playing with them. "Plenty of people have done and nobody's ever died."
Oh right, that's comforting. Avril thought sarcastically. Just because no one's died doesn't mean that I couldn't at least end up painfully injured. She glanced over the edge again and swallowed sharply.
She cursed her lack of adventurous spirit. Her grandfather had been an adventurer and she had always wanted to explore the world like he had, so why couldn't she make herself jump? To be a proper adventurer she would have to take far greater risks than jumping off a cliff into a body of water.
Still she hesitated, not quite able to make her body respond to her demands.
"Avril, come on it's fun." The boy begged. He actually began tugging on her hand in his earnestness.
Avril took a deep breath, steeling herself for what awaited her below. She had taken a small step forward to prepare for her jump when an elbow jostled her in the back. Her arms flailed and she went sprawling through the air.
Air rushed passed her as her body fell frighteningly quickly. Her heart pounded crazily in her chest. She closed her eyes to avoid watching the impact, then smacked into the water, her breath knocked from her. In whirl of bubbles she managed to drag her body to the surface, where she promptly gasped for breath as she clumsily treaded water.
Moments later, another body smacked into the water near her.
A boy bobbed above the surface of the water, grinning impishly. "You were never going to jump if I didn't help you out a little." He explained in a teasing tone.
Avril scowled and splashed water in his face.
In the water fight that ensued Avril managed to completely forget about her fear of jumping off the cliff.