My body was still dripping after pulling myself from the watery depths I had been submerged in, gasping in deep lungfuls of sweet air.
Reid was still smiling up at us, his fluffy brown curls billowing around his still face that we all hovered around, waiting.
His usually rosy lips were blue and his soft caramel skin that had been so full of life was now limp. His glistening blue eyes seemed dull and distant as they stared back at us, instead of sparkling with mischief like they usually did.
The water over his face looked like a soft silk sheet blanketting him. It even sparkled like jewels when the sun reflected off its clear surface.
No-one spoke as they waited. Waited for Reid to resurface.
We had all been trying to hold our breaths the longest under the water, and had done it many times before.
Reid was determined to win this time. The only unusual thing was that Reid was still under and that four of his closest friends were gathered around the shallows of the secluded lake that remained quiet.
It wasn't a sad moment though. This wasn't the end; it was only a chance at a new beginning.
That's a chance Reid would not let pass him by. He was such a boisterous kid that only wanted to make his mother and father proud.
They were such kind and loving people too. I didn't quite understand how he could make them love him more than they already did.
Or make me love him any less.
It was such a strange feeling to feel this way about a friend, let alone one of the same gender. I hadn't felt like this for long. It started with a bubbling feeling within my stomach that i got whenever he passed by the fence of my front yard with his cheeky smile. We had only just been brushing fingertips at the sneaky chances of handholding before we had ended up underneath the water.
It was a young love that was mocked amongst our friends whenever they caught us testing boundaries. It was one i still couldn't bring up the courage to ask my own mother or father about.
Reid wanted to be something more than he already was. To me; but more importantly, to his parents.
Now that he had gone limp, there was only a chance he would leave his watery grave. It was only a glimmer that a demon from the land of the dead would take Reid's soul as its own and rebirth him back into this world. We wouldn't even know what nightmare would choose to hide beneath his skin until it tore from him and revealled itself.
If it happened.
If it didnt, Reid would be gone forever. We would have lost him to something entirely unnessessary and foolish. There was no way we would be able to face our parents, or each other, if Reid didn't take his first breaths soon.
We waited. No-one breathed as they watched the dancing surface.
The sun burnt our skins before the cold air flitted across our bodies to sting it as the first stars of night set in. When we couldn't see Reid's frozen face anymore, we left him behind to hesitantly return to our own homes.
We would remain quiet about his disappearance.
Reid was safely at my home tonight; his parents would not question that lie.
It would buy us only a day, maybe two, before things spiralled further out of control.
Before I snapped under the hidden grief of never seeing Reid's smile or feel his warm fingers brushing mine.
As long as my tears didn't spill for him, we would be fine.
And we could pull Reid out of his watery caress to mourn him tommorow.
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