Chapter 2: YARON

“I’m not going to jump.”

“You’re a chicken, Yaron.”

“And you’re crazy.”

“I know, silly. Now jump.”

I looked down. We probably weren’t really high, but it looked like a mile high to me.

Vee stuck out her tongue and ran toward the edge of the rocks. I thought she was just trying to scare me, but instead of stopping at the edge, she jumped down. My heart started pounding so hard in my chest that I could feel it in my ears.

I ran as fast as I could to the edge and looked down. I couldn’t spot Vee.

My parents were going to kill me. It had been hard enough for them to accept my friendship with her, and to top it off with the responsibility of her death.

We were at Glacier National Park. It was summer, and my parents usually took my sisters and me to camp for a few days. They had let me invite a friend, like every year, and I had surprised them all by choosing Vee over my best friend Daniel Cohen. The choice was easy, Daniel was a Jewish boy scout; he had plenty of opportunities to go camping. Vee didn’t.

I climbed down the first rocks as best I could, feeling my stomach turn inside out and my body shaking. I hated heights. That was why we were there, of course. We had walked out from the hiking route. It was forbidden, but for Vee, the rules never made sense. We had come across a small waterfall that fell into the lake. The water was crystal blue from the melting of the glaciers. I imagined it would be ice cold. It seemed impossible that a thin girl like Vee could survive.

I climbed down another rock, but realized I couldn’t go any further. My only option was to jump into the water like she had done, or go back and take the path to the bottom, but that would take at least an hour.

I had no other choice. I closed my eyes and jumped down. The water was ice cold and took my breath away. As soon as I emerged to the surface, I quickly started looking around.

“Boo!”

I turned around and saw Vee smiling at me.

“What the hell were you thinking? You could have died! I could have died!”

Vee laughed and swam toward some rocks. She climbed them and sat down. I sat at her side.

“You did it!”

“That was not cool. You scared me to death.”

Her laughter made me even angrier.

“Aww, you came to my rescue. My hero!” And she hugged me.

Her body warmed mine. We both had goosebumps. The fear I had felt minutes before made me think about what would happen if something had happened to her. I imagined her body lying in a coffin, like Mrs. Stein.

I looked at her hand. Her scar was shining. I reached out and touched it. The skin was softer over the old wound.

“How did you get it, Vee?”

She smiled and looked ahead.

“I got bitten by a snake. My hand swelled so much that this piece of skin burst. The venom was such a deep purple ... I have never seen anything like it.”

I shook my head. I knew it wasn’t true. It never was when it came to her scar, but I loved hearing Vee make up stories about how she was always a brave, reckless girl who could overcome anything. She truly was. She was the bravest person I had ever met. And she was crazy, too.

When we returned to our camp, my parents didn’t seem very happy when they saw our wet clothes.

“Where have you been? I came here to rest, for God’s sake, Yaron! Your mother was worried sick about you!” my father yelled at me. But he was looking at Vee.