Page 45 of #Starstruck

“Where are we?” I asked as we got out of the car.

“You’re going to love this. Come on.”

We came to a nondescript door painted bland green that reminded me of the trash cans in the park. A man with dark hair and wire-rim glasses stood there wearing a red-and-blue plaid vest, a white long-sleeve shirt, and blue pants.

“How are you today? I’m Braden, and I’ll be in charge of your VIP tour today. Think of me as your personal concierge. Anything you need, anywhere you want to go, any ride you’re in the mood for, just let me know, and I’ll take care of everything. So, I already know your name, Mr.Covington.”

They shook hands, and Chase said, “Just Chase, please.”

“I’m Zoe.”

Braden shook my hand as well, his wide grin with perfect teeth never faltering. “A pleasure! This entrance we’re using now is the one favored by many of our celebrity guests, both past and present. I shouldn’t really name-drop, but let me just say it has been the entrance of choice for people whose names rhyme with Fichael Schmackson and Marbra Smeisand.”

We were in a dim hallway, and I saw a light up ahead. When we reached it, I was hit by the smell of seawater and realized we were in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. We were at the beginning, where the old man in the rocking chair plays his banjo across from the Blue Bayou restaurant just after you’ve boarded. The tunnel we were in ran along the top of the banjo player’s cabin. Patrons were eating and laughing while boats carrying guests launched beneath us. I wondered if people could see us up here. If they would wonder who we were.

I just stood there, totally in awe. “This is the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen.”

“I think I might be offended,” Chase teased, not knowing how right he was. Because standing there in the ride wasn’t technically the most amazing thing I’d seen. I’d witnessed sweaty Chase partially out of his superhero costume. And lathered-up Chase on the beach. And beach Chase with seawater dripping off him, and ...

Okay, so this made the top ten of the most amazing things I’d ever seen.

Possibly.

Then we were out on the street in New Orleans Square, and Chase immediately put on his hat and sunglasses, something Braden noted. “Will you be needing extra security today, Mr.Cov—Chase?”

“I’m an actor. If I can’t manage to blend in, then I’m not very good at my job, am I?”

I didn’t think it had anything to do with whether or not he could act. He had an inborn magnetism you couldn’t look away from. Not to mention we were being escorted around by someone in very bright colors, and Braden was sure to draw attention to us. But Chase seemed confident, and I decided to trust his judgment.

“Where to?” Chase asked. “Your wish is our command.”

“Since we’re here, Pirates and then Haunted Mansion. And then Small World.”

Then the best thing in the entire world happened. Braden walked us onto Pirates of the Caribbean. I’d had this brief moment after we arrived where I’d worried about what would happen if Chase waited in line, but now I realized why we had Braden. Because Chase would get mobbed if people recognized him and he stayed in one place for too long.

Deciding to get out in front of my roller-coaster phobia, I explained to Chase that I didn’t like the drops on Pirates. I was a serious wuss when it came to fast rides and big drops. When Lexi and I went to Grad Night (once a year, high school seniors go to Disneyland after it closes and spend the whole night), everybody wanted to be on Splash Mountain, the Matterhorn, and Space Mountain. And they’d thought those rides were tame. I could force myself to go on them, but I closed my eyes and didn’t like them, which Chase seemed to find amusing.

But rides like Pirates? This was what I loved about Disneyland—it was the best people trap ever set by a mouse. It was the atmosphere, the magic of the surroundings. Not just in the architecture but in the attention to every detail. Hidden outlines of Mickeys everywhere. How clean and beautiful everything was. Even if I didn’t go on a single ride, I just loved being there. For me it was like stepping into another world, and if I’d been able to justify spending the money on a year-round pass, I probably would have dedicated a large portion of my free time to being in the park, just hanging out. As a kid I had routinely fantasized about hiding out on a ride and then having the whole place to myself after closing.

Braden pointed out the headboard in the captain’s quarters. He said that although all the other bones and skeletons were fake, the skull and crossbones in the headboard were real. Why did that make me want to touch it?

I liked Chase even more when he turned to me and said, “I kind of want to touch that now.”

Having been to Disneyland at least twice a year for the past sixteen years, I thought I knew everything there was to know, see, and do in the park. I found out very quickly how wrong my perception was. When we got to the Haunted Mansion, Braden took us around back to show us a pet cemetery I’d never known existed. We also got death certificates when we finished the ride that said, “I survived the Haunted Mansion.”

I knew I was going to frame it.

When we rode on It’s a Small World, I told Chase about when Lexi and I had gone on the ride on Grad Night. Since it’s considered a kid’s ride, we were the only ones in line and literally had the place to ourselves. Lexi got out of the boat several times to dance with the animated dolls. At one point she messed around for so long that she missed our boat. She’d had to jump in one behind me, hop over the rows, and climb across the boats until she got back to where I was. I didn’t have the guts to run amok like she did, but I was thoroughly convinced that when we got to the end of the ride, we would be kicked out of the park. It didn’t happen. The only thing I could figure was that teenage boys were staffing the ride and were either amused or didn’t care, and nobody said anything to us.

Even though the song always became an earworm that would burrow deep into my brain, I always thought this ride was romantic. The little gondolas, the water, the darkness. Sitting pressed against Chase only exacerbated it.

The same thing happened on every ride after that. Suddenly they were all magical and romantic, and I wished we were alone and that I had the nerve to rest my head on his shoulder and hold his hand.

I considered it when we were given a ride on a private train car called the Lilly Belle, named after Walt Disney’s wife. Braden said she had helped design the car, and it remained just as she’d decorated it. The inside was full of dark hardwoods, red plush armchairs, and Victorian end tables and lamps. It was totally closed in, unlike the other cars, which were open on all sides. It was a nice break, but we couldn’t say or do anything because we weren’t alone. There were some other people with guides dressed similarly to Braden, and Chase’s distinctive voice would have given him away. As it was, we were starting to get some side-eyes and whispers.

When the train returned to the station, Braden seemed aware of what I’d noticed and ushered us out quickly.

We went up Main Street USA and slowed down once we reached the Sleeping Beauty Castle. I veered off to the right, over to the Snow White Grotto. It was an area that people usually just passed through, but it had special meaning to my family.

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