The Summer I Drowned (SEA GLASS)

chapter one

THE MOMENT MY FOOT slips from the cliff's edge, I know that I'm going to die.

Jagged rocks pierce my skin. My shriek penetrates the sound of crashing waves in the air. The surface of the water slams into my body like concrete and reverberates through my muscles, and I plunge below until everything is silent. It's a deep, indigo blue, like the depths of space, but a silver light ripples above and shines like glass. My hand extends up, reaching, reaching, reaching...

Clusters of bubbles fizz and swallow my whole body. It's so quiet. Peaceful, almost.

My heart restarts.

I kick and flail, but the light shrivels away. Water seeps into my mouth and tastes like seaweed and raw fish. The weight is tremendous, like I'm trapped under layers of sand, like I can't even swim. The current drags me deeper. Fingers grip my ankles.

It's over.

I'm going to die.

Bubbles flow to the moonlight and become faint, weak.

Everything goes black.

I wake up in the backseat of my parents' minivan.

* * *

Caldwell Beach is exactly how I remember it. I haven't felt this since the day I left—the afternoon sun beating on my bare shoulders, the hot air from the land blending with the cold breeze from the Labrador Sea. Layers of houses descend the cliffs like crooked teeth, all box-like and brightly coloured. Some buildings are flaming orange, some a cool blue, others a royal purple.

Really, it reminds me of a colouring book scribbled on by a kid who can't stay in the lines.

"Liv!" Before I have the chance to blink, Keely's body slams into mine. She wraps her thin arms around my neck, and with a laugh, I breathe in the scent of coconut on her curly black hair. We hold hands and jump up and down.

"Holy shit," I say, unable to stop smiling, "I can't believe we haven't seen each other in over a year."

"I know, I've been dying. What the hell? Your hair's so freaking long!"

"Says you." When I realize that I'm looking up at Keely, my jaw nearly drops. "How tall are you?"

She grins. "Five-foot-eight."

"When were you going to tell me?"

"I wanted it to be a surprise." Keely glows, like she has the sun's glitter speckled on her dark cheeks. "I randomly hit a growth spurt this year, and now I'm one of the tallest girls at school."

"Wow, jealous."

Mom and Dad talk to Keely's parents, Sun and Roger, beside Dad's pine-green minivan with the lame stencil of trees on the side. How screwed up is it that I'm going to miss it? Mom and Dad wear tight, terrified expressions, as if they're shipping me off to another country or something. It's just for the summer, and I can tell by Sun and Roger's comforting smiles that they're trying their best to ease my parents' worries. If there's any family Mom and Dad can trust me to, it's the Myers.

"Okay, guys." I walk up to them. "You can go now."

"You can't get rid of us that easy," Dad says. I roll my eyes as he pulls me into a hug.

"Dad, okay. Stop."

"Be safe, princess."

I cringe. You'd think with Vans tied to my feet and a pair of ripped capris on, Dad would stop calling me princess, but nope.