‘Connor…’ Ryan clapped him on the back. ‘You’ll be fine.’

Hailey stood on tiptoes and pressed her lips hard against his and then her mouth against his ear.

‘This is dangerous. You should just say no.’

‘I’ll be okay.’ He flexed his biceps and she laughed but he wasn’t feeling like a man at all as he picked his way down to the shore, more like a scared boy. A stupid boy. He unlaced his boots and pulled them off, followed by his socks. The ground was damp. Freezing under his feet. Quickly he undid his belt, unzipped his jeans and tugged them down.

The pebbles were sharp as he picked his way across them. Something ripped his skin. It stung. Great, now he was probably bleeding. He glanced around for the others, but they’d been swallowed by the night. He couldn’t hear their footsteps, but in the distance, Tyler’s voice. If he started now they’d be there when he climbed out, Hailey holding the towel wide and open. Enveloping him in its warmth.

He dipped a toe into the water. It was freezing. He hesitated. But then he remembered all the times his mum had ripped a plaster off a scraped knee or elbow.

‘Best to get it over with,’ she’d say before kissing the wound better.

Connor hobbled over the uneven ground. The slime in the water covered his feet, his knees, his hips. He took a moment. His breath catching in his chest. His limbs already turning numb.

This was stupid.

He plunged forward, face wet. The lake was pungent – something rotten like eggs and he could taste it on his tongue, smell it in his nostrils. Front crawl was always his best stroke and he set off at a reasonable pace, trying not to tire himself too soon, but not wanting to hang around longer than he had to. His arms sliced through the water.

Three strokes, head turn, breath.

Three strokes, head turn, breath.

Every now and then he would glance forward, fix his eyes on the moon, knowing that Hailey was waiting the other side.

God, it was cold.

His pace was slower than usual. His body felt heavy. For a split second he worried that he wouldn’t make it but his nerves drove him forward. Harder. Faster.

‘Come on Connor. Almost there!’

He heard the shouts, looked up. Shadowed on the shore were the others.

Connor stopped, his body shifting from horizontal to vertical, raised his arm and waved.