Free Minds

Chapter 30.

"HE'S GONNA JUMP!"

   Camila, Dorian and I raced to the source of the shout, finding a swarm of teenagers surrounding a tree near the river. This tree was the type that had its countless branches spread out in all directions.

   It wouldn't have been an issue on a normal day that the tree stood at the edges of Clearwater River's bank. Neither would it have been a problem that most of its branches were directly over the waters.

   But the giggling, unstable mess of a human on one dangerously looping branch being yours truly?

   Problem.

   I shoved through the crowd at inhuman speed, not faltering until I stood before the tree. All attempts to soothe my frantic heart proved useless. Nothing was going to calm me down as long as Rav was still up there, clinging to an unreliable branch that hung directly above the water.

   It seemed, however, that I was the only one on the panicking end. The figure on the tree had the biggest smile, hyping the excited group with his deep cheers and arm waves.

   This pothead was going to die.

"Don't encourage him!" I yelled to no one in particular as the gathering crowd wasted no time in responding to another one of Rav's slurred 'Wooos' with louder hoots of their own.

"Rav!" I stamped my foot, looking up his moving frame. "Don't you dare jump!"

   Great, now I sounded like my hysterical mother.

   Dorian and Camila had finally caught up and joined me at the tree that loomed over the murky waters of Clearwater River.

   A sharp breath was inhaled by the three of us in unison when Rav lost his footing for a second. Fortunately, it wasn't enough to send him spiralling into the water.

"Don't worry guys," Rav stared down at us with a smirk. "It's quite simple. All I have to do is apply momentum and a little bit of Pythagoras theorem. I have this all figured out."

   How could a person be equally smart and a dumbass at the same time?

"Rav, if you're able to jump from a sixty degree angle, you shouldn't mess this up." Dorian called out to him.

"He only needs to lean a little further to get to that angle, actually," Amber told Dorian before craning her neck up at the tree once more. "Come on, Aarav!"

   Wait, what?!

"Are you guys serious?" I shrieked. "We have to figure out a way to get him down!"

   As much as I wanted to hound them for their display and encouragement of stupidity, I couldn't do so without feeling responsible for bringing them here in the first place. My fear of facing Talise on my own made all that was happening right now my fault.

   Besides, it was obvious that what Dorian and Camila were saying was influenced by what they'd both drank. Clearly, it was sitting too well with them.

"Come on, Beth." Camila whined, bumping my hip with hers. "Worst case scenario, he's going to hit the water. Just let it happen."

"Plus, Rav is an excellent swimmer," Dorian added with an uncharacteristic grin. "What's the worst that could happen?"

   I sighed. Why was I trying to reason with lost causes when their semi-sober feet were the ones on hard ground? Maybe talking to Aarav directly would get to the little sense of judgement I could only hope was still in his head.

"JUST JUMP ALREADY!" A husky voice from the back of the audience yelled.

   I turned over to the fast-growing group of people with my death glare in full force. It would've been so easy to find and tell that asshole what he should do to himself if—