A haze of thoughts clouded my mind; I blinked, but my stare remained blank.

Atop of the dock of Briarview Lake four of us stood. My arms quivered to even look at the sight before me, as droplets of water trailed down their skin, each and every one a constant reminder of what had happened before.

I couldn’t let this happen.

My eyes darted across the dock, a wooden, rickety frame somewhat randomly placed in the emerald green of the forest way south of the town. Thin trees enveloped me into their hold, arms stretching, wide, ready to swallow me whole.

Inhaling the cold air and glancing down at the moss-covered lake below brought another wave of shivers. The girl to the left of me and below, inside the water, was a brunette by the name of Claire. She rose a manicured eyebrow up at me.

“Are you just gonna stand there, or…?”

The two boys inside of the lake, one with jet black, now soaked as he dipped his head underwater, and the other a messy blonde, responded with a laugh; low and unsteady, much like the dock. I lowered my body down to sit down at the dock, my feet lingering close to the blue-green lake.

“I don’t really feel like getting in,” I replied vaguely, not so much a lie, but vague enough to remind myself that ‘don’t really feel like’ was a synonym for ‘definitely not no thank you’. I had seen this same image before, a similar looking girl to me entering the water, never to be seen again…

Head underneath the water, sounds muffled, ears scalding under the pressure of the deep. The blue-green becoming darker and darker, screaming becoming fainter, quieter, until nothing at all.

I swept my dark hair over my shoulder. The three in the water glanced at me, faces scrunched up in confusion. I didn’t seem to realise the goosebumps on my skin in nearly 28°C weather, with little to no wind, and a piercing blue sky that was covered by the green on the tree leaves.

I straightened. Time to face my demons.