Chapter 8
Not for Novices
Serenity found herself wrapped up in classes, working on her assignments, developing the app for Eva, and trying to research the work she was doing for her project with Alaric. It kept her from having time to think about other things, especially Ryland – although she did find herself thinking about him when she went out walking. Keeping to their agreement, she did not go on the trail by herself. There were plenty of nice parks for her to explore that were close to her place.
Before she knew it, it was Saturday morning. Packing up everything she had been told she would need, Serenity took off to meet the group. A couple of them had volunteered to drive, and she was more than happy to take them up on the offer, especially since the drive would take nearly two hours. She noticed that Ryland was not among the group, but she didn’t want to ask about him because she didn’t want people picking on her. It was also hard acknowledging that she had been wanting to see him, something she continually denied to herself.
Despite it being early in the morning, everyone seemed very energetic and ready to go. They grabbed a quick breakfast and hit the road. Serenity sat between Silas and Cora and enjoyed the conversation as the five people in the car made their way to the starting point. There were times when it was a bit challenging because the pair were incredibly lively and boisterous, but she was still glad to see it. Silas appeared to have gotten over the fact that she was not likely to take an interest in him and was acting goofy and entertaining. Now that he wasn’t hitting on her, she was able to see who he really was when a relationship was no longer a consideration. Serenity had to agree with his assessment, too. He was a lot of fun to have around, knew how to make people laugh, and was caring in a very unobtrusive way. When she was quiet, he would ask her how she was doing and would talk to her while the others were busy chatting about things that she couldn’t follow. He provided something like a narrative and background story to the discussion so that she could better rejoin the conversation, making her feel more like a part of the group than she would have otherwise. Someone is going to be very lucky to get him someday. Hopefully, he doesn’t find out the hard way like I did. He was so sweet that she wanted to help protect him from some of the more harmful experiences.
Once they arrived, the crew piled out of the car. Serenity climbed out last and was immediately aware of how much colder it was in the mountains. It came as a shock. They had gone quite a ways up the mountain pass, which was part of what made it a trip for more experienced rafters. Pulling her jacket around her, Serenity wondered if she should have brought something a little thicker for the trip. They had told her not to because they were bound to get wet, and a heavy coat would have made her colder. Instead she was wearing a slicker that had proved to be very useful in the constant drizzle of the last week. Even now, the air had a bit of mist in it as the clouds completely covered the sun.
It was only after they were out of the car that she realized a vehicle was already waiting for them up at the parking area. Leaning against it was Ryland. “There you guys are.” As soon as Serenity noticed him, her heart fluttered. The last time she had seen him was when she had given him a kiss and fled to keep from going any further.
Cora beamed and ran up to him, stopping just a few feet from him and bouncing on the balls of her feet. “You made it! We had figured you were still stuck at work.”
“No way. They have broken the contract, so I told them they would– Oh, hi, Serenity. Silas.” His attention immediately turned to Serenity and Silas as they approached. From the way he had cut off the discussion, she had a feeling he was avoiding talking about work. Whether it was because he didn’t want to talk about it in front of her or because he really didn’t want to talk about it at all, she couldn’t say.
Now that everyone was together, they began to prepare the raft and oars. Ryland stayed close to her, saying very little while everyone else busied themselves with the preparation. Serenity briefly pondered asking him about work, but felt it was a subject that would likely make him snarky instead of conversational. There wasn’t much else to talk about, so she just watched and tried to learn about whitewater rafting from the hustle and bustle around the raft.
A low voice beside her cut into her observations, “You’ll need to be careful. I know you are tough, but this really is not something that a beginner should be doing.”
Serenity looked over at Ryland. “I know how to swim, so everything should be alright. Right?”
He gave her a look of pity. “When you are in the rapids, being able to swim really isn’t relevant. It’s nearly impossible for most people to force their face up to the surface during the worst of the rapids. And that’s assuming you don’t get knocked unconscious.”
“All of you guys seem to be fine, so how bad can it be?”
“We grew up doing this, and none of us started on anything like this.”
“If you really thought I shouldn’t be here, you could have asked me to stay behind. Like you asked me to avoid going on the trail by myself.”
Ryland grinned, “You are right. I probably should have. Then again, I wasn’t sure when I would get to see you again if I told you to stay behind.”
Serenity looked away for a moment and watched the progress of the people preparing the raft, trying to hide the slight blush at the words he had and hadn’t said. Mostly the group were arguing over little things and poking fun at each other. She turned back to Ryland. “So would you be here if I wasn’t?”
“Probably, yes. I said I would be here, and I hate when work forces me to break engagements. And since it already made me break one engagement with you…” His expression was unreadable as he looked at her. “There is only so far I am willing to let them infringe on my personal life.”
“You were supposed to tell me what you do when we went walking. Since I held up my end of the bargain, I expect you to hold up yours.”
“What if I tell you over dinner tonight?”
Serenity took a deep breath, the suggestion taking her completely by surprise. “I thought the group was going out to dinner.”
“I never said I would be part of the dinner plans. They will probably go somewhere like the diner, and that kind of food really does not agree with me.”
“Oh, well, um. Sure. If you promise to talk about yourself because you already know far more about me than I know about you.”
Ryland gave her a look that she couldn’t understand. “I put in about the same amount of effort as you to learn. It would actually have been easier for you–”
“Hey, you two!” Cora called up to them. “We’re ready!” She was seated toward the front of the raft and others were beginning to climb in.
Ryland smiled at Serenity, whatever he had been saying completely disregarded. “Come on.” He took her hand and helped her down the slope and into the raft. He carefully climbed in after her and pushed away from the bank.
“All aboard!” Cora said, her voice echoing in the woods. A cheer went up, and the crew chattered as they began their trip.
Once they got a little ways away from the bank, the raft picked up its pace, moving and shifting in a way that was far more noticeable than a ship at sea. Serenity was surprised as the raft jerked forward as soon as it hit the current. The group let up a whoop and their delight at the action was almost palpable. It felt like no time had passed before they were approaching the first rapid, and Serenity could feel her heart speeding up at the thought of how much worse that would be than the current flow of the river. Ryland may have had a point. This is not at all what I had expected.
People began shifting their positions as they reached the rapids. Serenity managed to force a smile as the raft shuttered and shifted wildly. Then the water struck her and she let out a loud gasp. It was freezing.
“It’s okay.” A warm hand took hers as her teeth began to chatter. She looked over into the cool eyes of Ryland. His smile did not fit the rocky motions or events going on around them – it made her feel much calmer than she should have.
The next few rapids were much tamer, and the group managed to fall into conversation. It seemed strange to watch people nonchalantly talking as they took the rocky areas, but it showed just how much experience they had with it. Serenity felt even more relaxed as they progressed.
They had been on the water for roughly 45 minutes when Cora turned around. “Alright guys, we are coming up on one of the big ones.”
Serenity turned to look at Ryland who was relaxing, the usual vague smile on his face.
“We know, Cora,” one of the other passengers said.
“Yeah, this isn’t our first time going down the rapids.”
Serenity pursed her lips, but no one said anything about her. Ryland’s hand slid over hers again, and she wondered when he had taken it back. The entire experience had been so wild that she had been overloaded by everything else. He leaned over. “Just hold on to me and you’ll be alright.”
Serenity nodded, but as her eyes looked at the rapids, she found she could not smile. He squeezed her hand. “It’ll be alright.”
At that moment, the raft reached the first major dip, and the entire crew began shifting to compensate for the raft’s movements.
Cora was letting out a whoop of excitement when the raft suddenly spun around, tossing her body to the side. Her whoop changed into a scream as her body pitched forward over the edge of the raft. Her head momentarily went under as her hand grasped a handle. Her oar sped away from them as her shocked face looked back at the crew. The two people closest to her immediately jumped into action. Silas grabbed one of her arms and legs before she fell out of the raft. Trenton grabbed her leg, and as soon as he confirmed his grip, Silas leaned over, his arms dipping into the water as he began to pull her up. Her eyes were focused on his as her startling purple hair clung to her face. Several others were holding on to him as he tried to pull her back. Ryland slid forward a little, telling a couple of them when it was safe to pull Cora in and when they needed to wait until the raft stopped shifting around wildly. The rapids seemed to be never-ending, and Serenity suddenly understood why Ryland had been against her being there. She was no help at all. The best she could do was cling to the raft and watch as the others worked to get Cora back aboard.
Serenity’s attention was focused on the efforts of the crew, so the sudden motion of the raft took her completely unaware. The raft slammed into a rock and jerked the passengers in the other direction. Serenity felt like she was on a ride at an amusement park, a ride that didn’t have to meet any safety regulations. The raft spun so that Serenity was now at the front. The next rock knocked them to the left, but they were immediately turned back to the right by a log sticking out. The crew was fighting to get Cora back in the raft, something that no longer seemed to be guaranteed as they found it more difficult to keep a hold on her now that they were covered by the cold water. It soon became obvious that the best they could hope for was to keep a hold on her until they reached the end of this part of the rapids. Serenity watched the scene unfolding almost like it was a horror movie. She was unprepared for the next motion of the raft as it bumped into another rock, pitching her to the side and causing her to lose her balance. As she attempted to correct it and get a better grasp on the handle nearest her, the raft went over something in the water. Briefly airborne, Serenity found herself just high enough to slip over the side and into the water.
The shock of leaving the raft was quickly replaced by the only thought that mattered – Freezing! Freezing! Nothing anyone could have said prepared her for how cold the water was. She barely noticed as her body slammed into a few objects because her mind was completely taken by the shock of the water’s temperature. Serenity had no idea where the raft was or what was happening to her as her body was thrown around in the water.
Suddenly she felt something catch her and begin to drag her in the water. Unable to focus or see anything around her, she felt herself beginning to lose consciousness. It almost felt as if the water was moving less rapidly. Desperately trying to get her mind to focus on the situation, Serenity found she was losing to her body’s desire to sleep. The worst thought was that every part of her hurt, making it seem like death may not be as horrible after all. Trying to force herself to stay conscious, she found that it was a losing battle as her eyes refused to stay open.