The wind blows, giving my spine a chill. It's a late fall afternoon in my small town. Unlike a big city, here you have to make up your own entertainment, and what better to do than go explore the woods with friends. I bundle my red hoodie as I sit and wait for the rest of my group to join me. As per usual, we are meeting at the falls. A nice quiet place where none of our problems can follow us. 

A sudden shout from the distance echoes through the air.

“You’re early!” 

“Nothing better to do,” I shout back at my long-time friend Cory.

Cory, a certified daredevil, then runs down the steep hill, only looking incredible for a second before he trips on a branch and falls face-first into the dirt.

Giggling through my words, I yell, “How did that feel for yah!” 

 A muffled “Shut up” comes from the ground. 

Cory stands up and carefully walks down the hill to approach me.

 “How long have you been sitting here?” 

“A couple of minutes. Did you bring the fireworks?”.  

Cory then pulls a bundle of bottle rockets from his waist. 

“Anyone else joining us?” he says while he stuffs the fireworks back into his pants. 

“The girls should be here soon. Said they were getting some coffee before coming down”.

“Should have told them to get me an energy drink. They taste so good”. Cory said with a twinkle in his eyes. 

Me and Cory talked and talked for a bit when familiar giggles echoed through the distance. 

“That must be them,” Cory says while straightening his collar. The two girls are Gwen and Jill. Gwen is a girl who doesn’t let anyone tell her what to do, while Jill is more submissive and quiet. I often compare them to complementary colors. Opposites on the wheel of personalities that fit each other so well. You could say the same about me and Cory.

“You're late!” Cory shouts.

 Gwen with a quick reply. “You're lucky we even showed up. We could be doing other things besides this!”

“Oh yeah, like what!” Cory says

Gwen and Jill, now within average talking distance, sit on the rocks next to us. 

“None of your business, Cory.”  

“Well, Gwen, you showed up, which means I'm worth something to you.”  He says with a slight blush on his face. 

Those two just need to get together, honestly. Cory and Gwen have been flirting for years, starting in middle school when they would always sit together during lunch. It's unbelievable to see how far we have come. We all met in 6th grade, and now we are juniors in high school trying to figure out the next steps of our lives. However, that is tomorrow's problem. Today, our goal is to light fireworks at the highest peak. 

“We should start heading up. It's a little bit of a walk,” Cory says while putting on his hoodie. 

With a scrunched-up face, Gwen replies, “How far exactly? I don't want to get sweaty”. 

Cory turns around with a sarcastic look on his face. “Relace, princess, not far enough to get you all sweaty.” 

“You better not be lying,” Gwen says as we start toward the hill. 

Midway up the hill, I felt the sweat start to roll down my back, though it was immediately blown away by the breeze. The leaves rustled between a soft and heavy rhythm. The air smelled damp and fresh, with a hint of pine. With each step, I could feel my muscles contracting and releasing. A flock of geese flew up above us. I prayed that none would drop their waste on us as they honked in laughter across the sky. 

The ground then began to flatten giving my legs and back a break. The trail weaved back and forth through the trees until an opening came into few.

“This is it”, Cory said with a little bit of shortness in his breath. 

“You said this would be an easy walk,” Gwen said as she sat on a rock in exhaustion. 

“Gwen that was easy, you just need to get out more.”

“Shut up Cory”

As Gwen and Cory started to playfully argue, as they always do, I sat next to Jill. 

“How are you feeling after that intense hike” I said sarcastically.

“It wasn't that bad, I just wish I wore better shoes,” she said with her head down looking at her feet.

“Here, take mine, I got small feet so I'm sure they will fit you,” I said already untieing my shoes.  

“Oh no, I will be fine, thank you for the offer though”

“You sure?” I said hesitating to put my shoes back on.

“I'm sure, I'm not that weak”. Jill said with a smirk on her face. 

There was a moment of silence before Cory came over with a huge smile on his face and fireworks in his hand.

“You ready for the show,” he said, his smile never leaving his face. 

“As much as I appreciate your enthusiasm Cory we should wait till is dark. Then we will really be able to see them.” 

Cory's smile drops “Well since you want to wait till dark, what should we do to pass the time”

I think for a minute looking around at our surrounding area. I know Cory won't want to do something boring. I then noticed some rocks that border along the cliffs. 

“How about we climb those rocks”

Cory gets that look in his eyes, “How about we race to the bottom.” 

“$20 I can beat you,” I said with a smug look.

“Oh, you're on,” he says running over to the rocks. 

Me and Cory are now standing right in front of the rocks. I'm already mapping out my path to reach the bottom. 

“You ready” Cory says getting into his battle stance. 

“Ready” I reply double checking my path down. 

“Alright on 3, 1...2…3!” Cory burst forward with his athletic build. It seems he mapped out a path to. I start my descent down, carefully checking each rock to see if it will hold my weight. I look over my shoulder and see the long drop-down. At the very bottom is the rushing river. I can sense its powerful force even from my position. The wind picks up and I grip tighter onto the rock. I look up and see Gwen and Jill looking down at us

“You guys are idiots, you better not fall,” Gwen says 

“Don't worry Gwen” I say triple-checking my path again. 

I then noticed that Cory is moving faster than me. I need to catch up, no way I'm losing $20. I started to check my holds faster and faster till I was barely checking them. I started to catch up, that $20 was going to be mine.

 I then felt my foot slip. The rocks seemed to be moving past my face faster than before. Then it dawned on me, that I was falling, faster and faster. Everything started to blur together. I screamed for fear, fear of the pain of hitting the river. I wasn't the only scream. I could hear the screams and cries of my friends. My friends that had brought so much joy into my life. I started to think of all the memories we had together. The good, the bad, and everything in between. I looked up and saw the tears in their eyes and a smile came to my face. The fear of pain didn’t scare me anymore. I was content with life. I looked into Jill's eyes, her innocent, gentle eyes. My only regret was not telling her how much I loved her.