Jump | Zach Mitchell

twenty-two

IT'S when I'm finally catching my breath again and the adrenaline is slowing that I hear the first scream. 

At first fear overtakes me. Did the boys not get away? Did the dinosaur figure out where we are? Did we jump for nothing?

Then I recognize the yell. It's Zach. He's calling for me.

"Jonelle!"

I clear my raw throat. "I'm here, Zach!" I shout as best as I can over the running water. "I'm okay!"

My voice is drowned out by the water.

"Jonelle!" He screams again. I can hear the terror in his tone. He probably thinks something bad happened. He knows how much I hate water.

...what if he thinks I drown?

I push myself on shaking legs, shuffling my feet to the edge of the rock. There's a small opening between the waterfall and the cliff, allowing me to poke my head out.

Zach is on the bank, Gray standing beside him. They're both covered in mud. Gray is looking around anxiously, little neck craning.

Zach is near hysterics. He's pacing, fingers in his hair as he shouts. My heart crawls into my throat. Seeing him afraid is the worst.

His arms drop by his sides. "Jonnie!"

He hasn't called me that since we were five.

Without thinking about my fears, I step off the rock. I don't care about the water any more. I just need to get to Zach.

___

THE second I'm not in danger of drowning or being eaten alive, I'm being hugged so tightly that I can barely breathe.

Zach's clutching me, hard body pressed against my softer one, soaked clothes squeezing water onto one another. His fingers are shaking as they cradle the back of my head and the curve of my hip.

"Oh my God," he breathes softly. At once, his body loses the tension. "Oh, God," he repeats. Then, to my surprise, he places a chaste kiss to my temple.

My face burns at the innocent gesture; I slam my face against his sternum, smashing my nose so hard that my eyes water slightly.

He laughs softly, chin pressing onto the crown of my head as he sways me side to side. "Hey," he says. "You jumped."

"You forced me," I mumble against his shirt.

"You still did it." Another kiss to my temple. "Gah, I'm so proud of you."

"Take it easy there, champ. I jumped off a cliff to get away from a hungry dinosaur. I'm not cured of my crippling fear of water yet."

He laughs again, a little harder this time, sounding a little hysterical.

"That's why you wouldn't jump?"

I jolt at the sudden addition to the conversation. As terrible as it sounds, I forgot that Gray is standing right next to us. But, hey, who can blame me when I'm wrapped in the arms of the guy I've had a crush on for... well... who knows how long?

I peer at Gray through the gaps of Zach's grip. "Yeah," I admit sheepishly. "I'm kind of... scared of drowning."

Gray frowns. "But... you know how to swim."

"Uh, yeah..." I slowly step out of Zach's grasp, wrinkling my nose and crossing my arms. "It's just, um..." I shift awkwardly. I've never had to explain myself before. When I first told Zach my deepest fear, he didn't question it. If it was enough to scare me, it didn't need to have a reason.

"Leave her alone, Gray." Zach shakes his head, causing his wet hair to shower droplets everywhere. "She doesn't want to talk about it."

"Okay," he says simply. "I just thought that she didn't want to jump because her make-up would run or something."

"Jonelle doesn't need make-up," Zach says dismissively, just as I raise my hands to my face and ask, "Oh, God, is it?"

Zach whirls on me quickly, confused. "No, it's not..." he trails off. "Why are you wearing make-up?"

Once again, my cheeks burn. I hope that my blush isn't noticeable, or that it can be passed off as me getting hot from the island's humidity. "No reason."

"Bullshit. You've never worn make-up before. You always said that you were afraid that it would make you break out." He crosses his arms over his chest.

I roll my eyes, quickly becoming irritated. "I just want to feel pretty, I guess. Okay? Does that answer your question? Why do you care, anyway?"

"You want to feel pretty?" He mocks my phrase, raising his eyebrows and his voice. "Are you kidding me? We're on a vacation, not here for you to pick up a guy."

My mouth drops open. "You're fuckin' nuts!" I shout, hands balling into fists at my sides. "You have been flirting with every single thing with two 'x' chromosomes since we got here!"

"That's not true!" Zach bellows. "I have not!"

"Okay, aside from your aunt and me, you have flirted with every other female here!"

"You're got to be fuckin kidding me, Jonelle-"

"I'm not! You're such a fuckboy-"

"-I've been trying to flirt with you this whole goddamn time, and you never even notice-"

"-always making heart eyes at every single pair of tits that bounces by – well guess what, Zach, it's fuckin' hot, and sometimes girls want to wear tank tops, but that doesn't mean you should take advantage of the situation, you fuckin' pig-"

"-trying to make you jealous this whole fucking time and all you care about is chasing after Gray-"

"-and you've got Kelly, for shit's sake, so why are you even looking at other girls-"

"-you almost fucking died and I would not have been able to fucking live without you because you're right: I can't fucking function without you around-"

"-I just don't get why you always have to go by what your dick thinks instead of being a decent fucking person-"

"-but you always get mad at me for the stupidest shit and I can never understand why the fuck you're pissed this time-"

"-and if I want to wear make-up, I fucking will, bitch, and don't you try to stop me or my mascara brush will find itself wedged so far up your ass-"

Gray stops us from attracting any other dinosaurs. "Hey!"

We both stop our rants. My chest is heaving; I glare at Zach darkly. He's staring at me just as fervently, nostrils flaring.

"I can't believe you two just had a blow-out fight," Gray says, staring blankly at the waterfall between us. "Well, actually, I can believe that. I can't believe you didn't hit each other this time."

"Don't tempt me," I mutter. "I still might."

Zach huffs, roughly yanking on his hair.

"Well, look on the bright side," Gray tempts. "You don't have to worry about me spilling your secret anymore, Jonelle."

"What are you talking about? What secret?" Zach asks, stepping forward to pierce Gray with a hard stare.

My eyes go wide and I quickly come to stand between the two brothers. "Don't you dare," I warn, tone threatening.

He frowns. "Why not? Zach just said that he's been flirting with you and trying to make you jealous this whole time. I think that means that he likes you, too."

I blink. "What?" I turn to look at my best friend. "When did you say that?"

He runs a hand over his face. "While we were yelling. I guess it slipped out." He won't meet my eyes now. "Jonelle, I get it if you don't..."

"Shut up."

Zach scowls. "Excuse me?"

"Stow the shit. I do like you, asshole. I have for a while now."