top was almost torn off in the process.
But the second she bobbed out of the water, Becca ran up to the cackling perpetrator, yanked his bathing suit down before he knew what happened and her screams turned to hysterical laughter as she pointed at his pale, zit-covered ass.
“These guys all go to your school?” Maia asked, looking at Mark, voice full of derision.
“Yeah, pretty much,” he replied. “They’re the most popular kids. Our version of glitterati.”
“Really?” Maia asked, surprised. “Well, that’s wild.”
“How come?” asked Phil, having believed the hierarchical status afforded to jocks and cheerleaders was pretty much universal.
“I grew up on Army bases where the Catholic kids were never the popular kids,” Maia explained. “In fact, they were usually down at the bottom of the pecking order next to the Jews and Jehovah’s Witnesses. Protestants – they ruled the roost for the most part.”
Maia’s words might as well have been in a foreign language as Phil, Mark and Faith were all pondering this in the same manner. The idea that there could be a pecking order based on religion just wasn’t something they were familiar with or, at least, not that they’d noticed. And Catholics on the bottom? Crazy!
“Where do you go to school now?” Phil asked.
“Crocker in Cedar Hill,” Maia said, to which Mark nodded.
“My mom substitute taught there a couple of times. Tough school.”
“Not really,” Maia shrugged. “Well, you three wouldn’t last five minutes there, but it’s not so bad.”
Mark smirked. “You think we’d get shot or something?”
“Or something,” Maia replied, sizing Mark up. “You don’t strike me as the brave type.”
This took Mark aback. He didn’t exactly relish people piercing the ever-present bubble of cocksure confidence he worked so hard to exude.
“You want to see brave?” Mark asked, a smirk in his voice. “Watch this .”
Mark got to his feet, kicked off his shoes and walked to the edge of the cliff. Phil quickly jumped up and went over next to him.
“Oh, come on,” Phil whispered. “Don’t be retarded. No one’s gone in yet.”
But Mark continued scanning the water below. Finally, he turned a grin on his onlookers.
“Then the thing to do is to not think about it, riiiiigh...?” Mark said, before stepping off the edge.
Phil instinctively grabbed for his friend, but then caught his balance and took a few steps back from the rocks.
“Oh, my God...!” Faith said, her eyes going wide as she and Maia leaped to their feet and ran to the edge.
The drop was between four and five stories straight down, but it felt like a lifetime before they heard Mark hit the water with a tremendous splash. Phil watched him the whole way down with a mix of terror and exhilaration. Out on the beach, the cavorting jocks and cheerleaders all heard the splash and were looking out towards The Rocks, wondering who had the stones to go first that year.
“ Whoooooaaaa!” cried Mark as he rocketed back to the surface. “It’s fucking cold!!”
“Whooooo-hooo!!” yelled Maia in response before shedding her shorts to reveal the rest of her rust-colored bikini. She turned to Faith and grinned. “You coming?”
“Never in a million years,” Faith replied, giving her a look of and-I-can’t-believe-you-would,-either .
“Okay. Try not to miss me!”
With that, Maia backed up a few feet to get a running start, then dashed out over the edge, launching herself a couple of yards out past the cliff before gravity took over. Faith watched her all the way down as Mark, noticing he might be in the landing zone, quickly swam a few feet away.
“I can’t believe she just did that,” Faith said, finishing her sentence as Maia smacked into the lake, sending up a shower of water drops that rained down on Mark. “What if there was something under the surface?”
Phil just shrugged. “They’re lunatics, our friends.”
Down below, Maia broke the surface,
But the second she bobbed out of the water, Becca ran up to the cackling perpetrator, yanked his bathing suit down before he knew what happened and her screams turned to hysterical laughter as she pointed at his pale, zit-covered ass.
“These guys all go to your school?” Maia asked, looking at Mark, voice full of derision.
“Yeah, pretty much,” he replied. “They’re the most popular kids. Our version of glitterati.”
“Really?” Maia asked, surprised. “Well, that’s wild.”
“How come?” asked Phil, having believed the hierarchical status afforded to jocks and cheerleaders was pretty much universal.
“I grew up on Army bases where the Catholic kids were never the popular kids,” Maia explained. “In fact, they were usually down at the bottom of the pecking order next to the Jews and Jehovah’s Witnesses. Protestants – they ruled the roost for the most part.”
Maia’s words might as well have been in a foreign language as Phil, Mark and Faith were all pondering this in the same manner. The idea that there could be a pecking order based on religion just wasn’t something they were familiar with or, at least, not that they’d noticed. And Catholics on the bottom? Crazy!
“Where do you go to school now?” Phil asked.
“Crocker in Cedar Hill,” Maia said, to which Mark nodded.
“My mom substitute taught there a couple of times. Tough school.”
“Not really,” Maia shrugged. “Well, you three wouldn’t last five minutes there, but it’s not so bad.”
Mark smirked. “You think we’d get shot or something?”
“Or something,” Maia replied, sizing Mark up. “You don’t strike me as the brave type.”
This took Mark aback. He didn’t exactly relish people piercing the ever-present bubble of cocksure confidence he worked so hard to exude.
“You want to see brave?” Mark asked, a smirk in his voice. “Watch this .”
Mark got to his feet, kicked off his shoes and walked to the edge of the cliff. Phil quickly jumped up and went over next to him.
“Oh, come on,” Phil whispered. “Don’t be retarded. No one’s gone in yet.”
But Mark continued scanning the water below. Finally, he turned a grin on his onlookers.
“Then the thing to do is to not think about it, riiiiigh...?” Mark said, before stepping off the edge.
Phil instinctively grabbed for his friend, but then caught his balance and took a few steps back from the rocks.
“Oh, my God...!” Faith said, her eyes going wide as she and Maia leaped to their feet and ran to the edge.
The drop was between four and five stories straight down, but it felt like a lifetime before they heard Mark hit the water with a tremendous splash. Phil watched him the whole way down with a mix of terror and exhilaration. Out on the beach, the cavorting jocks and cheerleaders all heard the splash and were looking out towards The Rocks, wondering who had the stones to go first that year.
“ Whoooooaaaa!” cried Mark as he rocketed back to the surface. “It’s fucking cold!!”
“Whooooo-hooo!!” yelled Maia in response before shedding her shorts to reveal the rest of her rust-colored bikini. She turned to Faith and grinned. “You coming?”
“Never in a million years,” Faith replied, giving her a look of and-I-can’t-believe-you-would,-either .
“Okay. Try not to miss me!”
With that, Maia backed up a few feet to get a running start, then dashed out over the edge, launching herself a couple of yards out past the cliff before gravity took over. Faith watched her all the way down as Mark, noticing he might be in the landing zone, quickly swam a few feet away.
“I can’t believe she just did that,” Faith said, finishing her sentence as Maia smacked into the lake, sending up a shower of water drops that rained down on Mark. “What if there was something under the surface?”
Phil just shrugged. “They’re lunatics, our friends.”
Down below, Maia broke the surface,
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