Page 11 of Hero Mine

Amari’s smile softened as she studied Joy. “I also heard about the attack last month.”

The warmth of the moment vanished, and Joy felt her walls snap into place. Amari was a good friend, but this topic wasn’t open for discussion.

“Oh yeah. That. I’m fine.” She waved a hand, aiming for casual. “Nothing I couldn’t handle.”

Amari’s brow furrowed. “Joy.”

“I mean it,” Joy said, forcing as bright a smile as she could manage, ignoring Jakob Kozak’s voice in her head that made real smiles so difficult.

Your smile would make a wonderful trophy.

Joy cleared her throat, pushing past the nightmare. “I’m good. You know me—bounce back like a rubber ball.”

Amari crossed her arms, clearly unconvinced. “You’ve always been a terrible liar, you know that?”

Joy opened her mouth to protest, but the words got stuck. Amari had known her since they were kids. She could read Joy like a book, and right now, Joy felt like her pages were being peeled back one by one.

Amari touched her arm gently. “You don’t have to tell me everything, but… I’m here, okay? If you need someone to listen. You’ve always been there for me, Joy. Let me be there for you now.”

Joy swallowed hard, her throat suddenly tight. She nodded but said nothing, terrified that if she spoke, the cracks in her armor would show. Instead, she hugged Amari again, holding on just a little longer this time.

They broke apart as a voice crackled over a portable speaker, grabbing everyone’s attention. “All right, folks, the sun’s going down! Time to get ready for the plunge!”

Joy looked toward the lake, now bustling with activity as families hurried to the bank and younger kids squealed with excitement, splashing in the shallows. Off to the side, a group of teens egged one another on, daring one another to jump from the quarry’s higher ledges. The energy was infectious, even for Joy.

“So—” Amari turned to Joy with a sly grin “—which ledge is it this year? You’ve done them all, haven’t you?”

“I—uh—” Joy stammered, her hands fidgeting with the edges of her coat. “I wasn’t really planning to jump?—”

“Oh, fuck that noise.” Amari cut her off, shaking her head firmly. “You’re jumping. Period. If you didn’t bring a bathing suit, you can just do it the way God intended: in your undies.”

Joy’s cheeks flushed. “I’mnotjumping in my underwear.”

“Well, then…” Amari waggled her eyebrows. “Better hope you’ve got a suit.”

As it turned out, Joy did. She muttered something about muscle memory making her toss it into the car out of habit. Amari grinned triumphantly and grabbed a towel from her own bag, holding it up like a curtain. “All right, let’s see those Olympic-quick clothes-changing skills. No peeking, I promise.”

Joy rolled her eyes but couldn’t suppress a small laugh. “This is just like when we were fifteen, sneaking out to swim after curfew.”

“Except this time, I won’t dare you to try a cannonball off the high ledge,” Amari teased.

Joy wiggled into her suit behind the towel, muttering complaints about the cold, but Amari just told her to hurry up.

With her suit on and towel wrapped snugly around her, Joy nodded. “Okay. Let’s do this.”

They made their way to the second ledge, higher than the five-foot ledge where all the grade-school kids were waiting to jump, but lower than the quarry’s daredevil ledge. Only a few people had ever attempted that one, including Oak Creek’s resident thrill-seeker and extreme sport athlete, Colton Harrison.

“Nope,” Joy muttered, glancing up at the high ledge. “I’m not that crazy. Not today.” The attack had nothing to do with her not wanting to jump from there. She’d done that only once, and it had been enough.

“Medium ledge it is, then,” Amari said, bumping her shoulder against Joy’s. “This is going to be fun. Just like old times.”

“Yeah, cold and miserable,” Joy muttered.

She climbed the path to the medium ledge with Amari, her breath puffing out in frosty clouds as they made their way up. The noise of excited chatter and laughter grew louder, and she spotted a group of familiar faces waiting near the edge.

“Joy!” Dorian and Ray Lindstrom turned in unison, their warm smiles lighting up the cold evening.

She grinned as Amari’s parents pulled her in for tight hugs, the kind that made her feel like a kid again. “It’s so good to see you both,” Joy said, the genuine warmth in her voice surprising even herself.

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