The prospect of tomorrow buoyed her enough to let go, and Mira said goodbye. She ambled along the path toward the cottages, lingering in the feeling of her restless desire. She replayed the evening. As imperfect as it’d been, the memory was still hers to have. Memories always dimmed after their creation, and she wanted to stay in this one as long as she could. To think, she’d almost decided not to come. She licked her bottom lip, glad for a moment she’d let Celine persuade her otherwise.

VIII.

AS SHE WALKED back to her cottage, Jesse’s condemnation urged itself to the forefront of her mind. Celine was always going to do what she wanted, he’d said, dismissing the history of their friendship with one sentence, but it was true. Celine always did what she wanted. There was the time the two of them skipped school to swim at the river, where they’d come across a group of boys skinny-dipping. Celine and Mira giggled as the boys peeled off their sweaty and soiled clothes, naked and free as they plunged into the water.

“Let’s join.” Celine pulled off her clothes, threw them on the ground, and sauntered toward the group as if she’d always belonged. She talked with them for a few minutes before waving for Mira to join. The boys went to a school in a neighboring county and, like them, were playing hooky, swimming in the river because it was one of the few places they could be alone.

“There’s a nicer spot a little farther down,” one remarked, a sandy-haired boy with crooked teeth. “We should all go,” he offered, and the other boys responded with teeth-filled grins.

Celine and Mira followed until they saw the river cliff, and before Mira could tell Celine they should leave, the boys were daring them to jump. “We’ve all done it,” they teased. “Nothing to be afraid of.”

“I’ll go,” Celine yelled, bolting to the top of the cliff. The boys heckled from below. She’s not going to. What a liar, a tease, she won’t jump, but they didn’t know the Celine Mira did, one who could kill a copperhead as if it were a garden snake. They’d play chicken by lying on railroad tracks, and when they heard the rumbling of the train Celine would close her eyes like she was sleeping. She never looked to see who remained, waiting, listening as the train got closer until finally, right when they thought it was too late, she pulled herself up and ran away, her face flushed pink as she asked who won, feigning surprise.