3
Ava
I woke up before my alarm, not on purpose, just because my body decided I’d had enough sleep. The house was quiet in that lake way: water moving somewhere you couldn’t see, trees whispering, a gull making some loud opinion and leaving.
Jake was facedown beside me, arm slung over my waist, breathing warm against my shoulder. I slid out carefully. He made a low sound, rolled onto his other side, and was gone again.
I put on my hoodie and tied my hair up. The upstairs floorboards creaked at every step, so I tried myself to walk silently. Downstairs smelled like pine, wood, and last night’s burgers. I grabbed a towel and stepped onto the porch.
The lake looked still enough to hold. I dropped my flip-flops, tossed the towel, and walked to the ladder. The water bit first, then wrapped
