Just as I have those thoughts, I feel an arm slide around my waist and another grab my arm and pull me out of the water. When my head reaches the surface, I take a deep breath and cough up river water. I rub my eyes and frantically look around. Valentina saved me. She is hanging off the outside of her tube, using it to keep herself afloat so she can easily rescue me. Sofia is not too far ahead, paddling against the current to stay close. For the first time in my life, I am the damsel in distress. And I have a knight in shining armor.
“Isa, are you okay? You scared me half to death.” Valentina wipes my hair out of my face and grabs my chin to make me look at her. “You can go on, Sofia—she’s fine!”
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” I say in between coughs.
Valentina starts to inspect all of my limbs and then gasps.
“What?”
“Isa…you’re bleeding!”
I look down at my forearm to see a long scratch going down toward my elbow. It isn’t deep at all—just a surface wound.
“Val, I’m fine.” I chuckle. “I promise.”
Valentina paddles closer to the river’s edge, where the water is still and shallow, so we can catch our bearings.
“Thank you for saving me. I don’t know what would have happened if you weren’t here to rescue me. I don’t know if I would have come out of that water. It just…kept holding me down. I was getting so tired. It was terrifying. But you were there for me. You managed to swim against the river just to save me. I’ll never forget that.”
“I’m just glad you’re okay. Let’s get you patched up. I have a first aid kit in the cabin.”
As we step clumsily out of the water, we finally make it onto the riverbank. Up ahead, I can see a dirt path. I pick up my foot to get past a section cluttered with branches and debris from the river but lose my footing and begin to fall. Then, like a supernatural instinct, Valentina swings around and catches me, resting my back against her forearm. I look up at her, completely shocked.
“Be careful, Isa,” she whispers as she pulls me back up to stand. “What am I going to do with you?”
The question intrigues me.
Since we didn’t make it to the end of the route where the van is, we begin our trek back to the cabin, and it seems to take forever. We’re barefoot, wearing these silly T-shirts Valentina made, and somehow the fucking penis hat survived the crash and stayed securely on my head. Valentina has several glow stick necklaces around her neck and the same hat on her head. We look ridiculous.
The dirt path is surrounded by the lush, green vegetation winding alongside the river. The trail is narrow and well-trodden, with soft, brown earth packed tightly underfoot. The dirt is rich and fragrant, scented with the smell of the surrounding forest, and damp from the nearby river, making it soft against my toes.
The path is engulfed by tall trees that reach toward the sky, their branches providing dappled shade to the path below. Sunlight filters through the leaves, casting its warm, golden light on the path.
“That was fun,” Valentina says. “Besides the whole you almost dying part.”
“Yeah, sans drowning, it was awesome. It would have been nice to get to the end with the rest of the party. I heard there was going to be sparklers and goody bags.”
“I like this better, though.” Valentina smiles.
“It’s nice,” I agree. “Nice and quiet. I wish I lived somewhere where there were trails I could hike through like this. Makes me appreciate nature a bit more.”
As we continue to walk, our conversation trails off, and the only sounds are the crunch of the dirt under our feet and the gurgling of the river. I am lost in thought, thinking about how much I enjoy just being near Valentina, even in silence.
“So,” Valentina says, breaking the silence.
“So,” I repeat.
“You like me, huh?”
I turn my head so quickly I nearly give myself whiplash.
“What?” I cough, choking on my saliva.
Valentina chuckles. “I asked if you like me.”
“Were you awake the entire time?” I groan.
“No, I woke up right around the point where I heard you and Sofia talking about me loving her and you liking me.”
