Demeter - Ranboo

~thirteen~

The river was generally calm when compared to the ocean, but there was a deadly undercurrent that could sweep you away if you weren't careful. If you lost your footing for even a second, you were gone.

I could tell that Ranboo was nervous as soon as the river came into sight. He wrung his hands in front of his chest, his eyes never staying in the same place. The sound of the water rushing over rocks fell on our ears, offering a cool respite from the heat of the day. The purple particles surrounding Ranboo seemed to buzz, a low-pitched noise that was brimming with nervous energy. I didn't know exactly how to describe it, but they seemed afraid?

The kids were already wading into the water, the golden light from the sun casting a warm glow on everything. There was a large grassy outcrop that leaned over a lot of the river, kind of like a small cliff. Beautiful purple aconite and petunias mixed in with small patches of orange lilies covered most of the ledge, just wonderfully striking against the sunset.

"I'm going to go into the water to cool off a bit, but if you wanna find a place to sit that won't get you wet I'll join you soon," I suggested. Ranboo nodded and went to sit on the edge of the cliff, his legs dangling over the river. Hiking up my dress, I stepped into the crystal clear water, my bare feet disturbing the dirt on the floor of the river. Andrew and Toby were splashing each other and laughing while the other kids picked up shiny stones they found in the water.

"Mel! Come here!" Toby called out. In the corner of my eye, I saw Ranboo shift to watch us. Anyone else would have felt intimidated by his presence on the small cliff, but anyone else doesn't know him like I do. I had nothing to be scared of with him there.

"Play truth or dare with us," Andrew said once I made it to where they were. The water only came up to the middle of our shins. Any deeper and we would've been scared of being swept away.

"Sure."

"I'll go first. Andrew, truth or dare?" Toby asked the boy next to him. Andrew pondered it, before coming to a conclusion.

"Truth," he said calmly. This was odd behavior, coming from him. Andrew was always the one to do just about anything without a second thought. Toby shared my surprise.

"Okay, uh..." Toby trailed off, thinking. "Out of all of us here, who would you marry?" He finished, gesturing to all the kids in the river.

Andrew glanced at Toby first, a pink tint coming across his cheeks before he answered. "Mel, obviously." He sounded unsure. Toby's eyes narrowed at his answer. I wouldn't be surprised if there was something between them. It wasn't uncommon for boys to take each other for lovers before they settled down with a woman. I guess I just never thought about them being together.

Nevertheless, Toby nodded. "Way to take the safe choice. Your turn."

"Truth or dare Mel," Andrew asked me. If I picked dare I would probably have to kiss one of them; I'd seen how they played this game before. But if I picked truth, I'd have to answer a question that would get way too personal. I would rather say something questionable than do something incriminating.

"Truth." Both the boys' eyes lit up, turning to face each other. They then began to talk quietly amongst themselves, debating on what to make me do. After a few moments of very important decision-making, Andrew looked at me, a glimmer of triumph in his eyes and his arms crossed in front of his chest. Cocky idiot.

"Have you been taken to bed by anyone yet? And if not you have to leave." He knew the answer. He knew. He wanted the satisfaction of hearing me say it. How dense.

Instead of answering, I turned around and left. But I guess that's an answer in and of itself. It sounds strange on paper, that the majority of us teenagers have already had a round or two in bed with each other, but when most of your friend group is made up of lustful almost adults, what else would you expect?

I found Ranboo absentmindedly swinging his legs over the river, his feet at least twelve feet above the rushing water. His axe rested in the grass on his right side, glittering in the last few minutes of dying sunlight.

"Cooled off?" He asked me, tilting his face to look at me as I sat down next to him at the edge. He was leaning back on his hands, his hair gently blowing away from his face in the breeze.

"Enough I guess," I sighed. "What have you been doing?" I glanced up at him to find his mismatched eyes trained on mine.

"Watching. Thinking. Picking flowers," he said quietly. There was a small bouquet of orange lilies and petunias next to his axe. "You know, I'm really glad I had the guts to talk to you that day." He smiled, looking back over the river. He had a really sharp jawline.

"Aw." It was cute. He was being cute. Do friends find each other cute? I guess I didn't really care all that much if I'm being honest. "I don't think I would've had the confidence to speak to you if you hadn't started the conversation first," I laughed lightly. He joined me, his deeper chuckles resonating in my ears.

"Melanie." His tone turned serious in a split second. He was facing me head-on.

"What's wrong?" I asked, giving him my full attention. I didn't even notice how the sound of my friends laughing and talking in the river had gotten significantly softer.

"Can I ask you for a favor?" He said. His eyes glinted with something almost like sadness, almost like worry. I didn't like it.

"Of course!"

"I need you to go to the flower field with the allium patches tonight when the moon is halfway across the sky, okay?" He said, his face turned away from me.

Later he would blame himself for what happened next.

We didn't hear Andrew and Toby sneak up behind us, their bare feet barely making a noise in the grass. We didn't hear their soft whispers and chuckles. And we didn't know what was happening until they had picked me up and thrown me over the edge of the cliff.

I didn't know how to swim.

They knew that.

And they did it anyway.

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Shorter chapter because I wanted to that's why ahaha

I hope you enjoyed this little chapter! Make sure you eat something yummy, drink a glass of water, and get a good night's sleep tonight! Also take your meds if you have them :D

I'll see all of you in the next chapter!!!!!