Take The Jump

"Get out," Lucas commanded in a low voice, striding towards the stereo and killing the raucous beat of Def Leppard with a decisive pull of the cord.

Jake slowly came to his feet, his movements sluggish, as if he were trying to negotiate with gravity itself.

"Hey man, Derek said any room was game tonight." Jake's laugh was a weak attempt to defuse the tension crackling in the air.

Alanna's heart raced, her fingers still curled around the unsheathed condom, a slippery reminder of the moment interrupted. She watched, transfixed, as Lucas's gaze darted from the latex in her grip to Jake's disheveled appearance. 

With deliberate slowness, Jake ran his hands through his hair, regaining some composure. He reached for his belt, threading it back through the loops of his jeans.

Alanna felt the heat flood her cheeks as she shoved the condom into her purse, her hands scrambling for her scattered shoes.

She quickly found her shirt and put it on. She realized too late that it was on backward.

Lucas's jaw clenched, every line of his body taut with barely restrained fury. "You," he pointed at Alanna, "stay here."

"Me?" Her voice was a threadbare whisper, lost in the thick air between them.

Jake opened his mouth, likely to offer another half-baked excuse, but Lucas cut him off, his words a sharp bark. "Out. Now." 

Without waiting for a response, Lucas grasped Jake by the arm and steered him towards the doorway, an unyielding force against Jake's protests.

The door clicked shut, leaving Alanna alone with Lucas, the weight of his presence filling the room more than any music ever could. 

Lucas paced the room, his movements a caged animal's—a sleek shadow against the stark bedroom walls. "Alanna," he started, his voice threaded with concern, "did he force you? Did you guys—"

"Nothing happened," Alanna cut him off, her eyes wide and earnest, a tumult of emotions swirling within their green depths. She clasped her purse like a lifeline, the truth spilling from her lips in a hurried confession. "The condom, I—I found it in my dad's car. It's stupid, I know."

Lucas paused, his gaze softening as it met hers. With a sigh, he rubbed the back of his neck, the tension seeping out of his posture. "I'm sorry. It's just... Derek's friends, they're not all stand-up guys. I was worried about you."

"Really, nothing happened," she repeated.

"I guess it's none of my business," Lucas replied, his look hardening. Silence hung in the air between them.

A curious boldness took root in her chest, pushing her to fill the silence with a question that had been haunting her thoughts. "What about Jessica? Is she okay?"

"Jessica went home," Lucas replied, his voice neutral, but there was something unspoken shimmering beneath the surface.

Alanna hesitated, then decided to plunge forward. "Are you guys dating?"

"Sorry, forget I asked," she added quickly, heat creeping up her cheeks.

Lucas shook his head, a rueful smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "No, it's not like that."

He glanced away for a moment, as if gathering his thoughts, then turned back to her. "Hey, about that time after school—"

"Alanna!" The sudden howl from outside sliced through the tense atmosphere, severing Lucas's words. The scream came from the balcony, not the hallway.

"Alannaaa!" The shout split the air again, ricocheting off the walls. Lucas moved with swift grace to the balcony doors, flinging them wide open. Below, the shimmering pool reflected a collage of party lights, Derek and his friends congregating like dark crows by its edge.

"Come back to us!" Jake's voice rose above the din, laced with laughter and the thrill of the night's recklessness.

"What the fuck do they want?" Lucas said, turning to go back inside. Alanna remained frozen there.

After tonight, all her wishful thinking about Lucas would have been in vain. He probably didn't believe that she hadn't done anything with Jake.

She had nothing left to lose.

With a mischievous glint in her green eyes, she gifted Lucas a smile—bold, unapologetic—and stepped up onto the cool, sleek aluminum railing.

"Alanna, no!" Lucas cried out. But it was too late.

Without another thought, Alanna pushed off into the void, arms spread wide as if to embrace the sky itself.

The wind caressed her face, tugging at her long, wavy hair before the welcoming water of the pool engulfed her in its liquid embrace. Gravity relinquished its hold, and for a suspended second, Alanna was flying—free from doubt, free from the gravity of expectation.

The splash was titanic, water erupting in a joyous proclamation of her defiance. It was unusually tepid, but still cool against the moist, summer air.

As she resurfaced, shaking droplets from her lashes, she cast one last look up at the balcony.

Lucas stood there, a lone sentinel against the backdrop of the raucous celebration, his blue gaze etched with something unreadable—an emotion that danced on the cusp of concern and disgust. 

"Alanna Diaz, you're full of surprises," Jake murmured as he reached out to her from the poolside. 

Upstairs, Lucas pulled back, disappearing into the shadows of the room, leaving her to the wild cheer of the crowd, her name a chant upon their lips.

Alanna emerged from the pool, water cascading down her wavy brown hair and dripping from the hem of her dress.

Her heart pounded with exhilaration as laughter and music filled the air around her. The party seemed to be dying down, and she scanned the dwindling crowd for Sasha.

 "Hey Derek," Alanna called out, her voice trembling slightly as she approached him. "Have you seen Sasha?"

 "Uh, yeah," he replied, scratching the back of his head. "She's in the basement. Passed out, I think."

 Alanna's stomach clenched with panic. If Sasha was asleep, she wouldn't have picked up when her mom called. She muttered a quick thanks to Derek before rushing towards the house, each step pounding against the concrete like a ticking clock.

 Descending into the dimly lit basement, Alanna found Sasha sprawled on a couch, snoring softly. She noticed the belt around her pants hanging outside of their loops but quickly dismissed the thought.

Carefully, she picked up Sasha's phone from the floor and saw that she had texted her mom earlier, telling her that Alanna's dad would take them home.

 "Damn it, Sasha," Alanna whispered, biting her lip. Just as she turned to race upstairs and retrieve her purse from Lucas' balcony, she spotted it hanging next to the door.

A faint scent of Lucas' cologne clung to the strap, making her heart flutter momentarily before she snapped back to reality. He must have brought it over.

 Quickly checking her phone, Alanna's eyes widened at her dad's message: he had gone to bed because her mom told him they'd be staying at Sasha's place. They were now stranded with nowhere to go, and any attempt to remedy the situation would only cause drama with her parents.

 Alanna emerged from the basement, her heart pounding with a mix of worry and adrenaline. She needed answers, and Lila was the first one on her mind.