Page 34 of Finding Romance
“Fuck. OK, it’ll be OK. Maybe, uh, close your eyes,” he suggests. I try that but then my other senses take over. I hear the metal clicking as we begin to ascend the first hill. I can hear people around us talking excitedly.
And then, the short kid speaks. “Holy shit! This is so tall! What do you think would happen if we got stuck up here?”
“For the love of…can you guys cool it? My girlfriend here is afraid of heights,” Kasen growls.
“Well, riding this is a stupid thing to do, then, isn’t it?” the tall kid sneers. But I’m still stuck on the fact that he just called me his girlfriend. Girlfriend? Did he mean that? No. No, there’s no way. He’s probably just making that up to get his point across.
“I’ve killed people for talking less smack than you,” Kasen growls.
My eyes fly open and I look over at Kasen in horror. The kid’s face is white and he shrinks away from Kasen, muttering something about “crazy adults” to his friend.
“Kasen!” I chastise. “Seriously?”
He looks over at me. “What? The kid was out of line. I don’t need some punk-ass little shit making you feel more nervous.”
“Be nice! They are just kids,” I state as I look over at the boys, but they are both glaring at us. So, I start to look ahead when I realize we are at the precipice and about to go downhill, and fast.
“Oh, shit!” I scream as we fly down the track.
“It’s OK!” Kasen yells. But it is definitely not OK. How can this be OK? Why do people like these rides?
“It’s not OK! I hate this!” I scream.
“It’s almost over!” he yells.
“It is so not almost over!” I retort.
And then it happens. A kid in front of us throws up. This is officially the worst date of my life. Now, I’m covered in vomit, having a panic attack, and I’m two seconds away from peeing my pants out of total fear.
“Shit,” Kasen mutters in disgust.
“Gross! Bro, you totally cursed us with that story!” the tall kid screams.
“I’m going to be sick!” the short kid yells and then he vomits on the people behind us.
Twenty seconds later, we pull back into the station and the safety bars pop up. Staff are there ready to clean the ride. I’m thankful it only hit my shoulder and it appears Kasen is also mostly unscathed.
Kasen takes me by the hand and drags me out of the area and into a nearby shop where he promptly purchases us T-shirts and sweatshirts, dumping our dirty ones in a plastic bag. Once we are changed and cleaned up, he buys us sodas and parks us on a bench.
“That was…well, I think I’m over the original PTSD, but I have a whole new one unlocked now,” I grumble, breaking the silence.
He groans. “I’m sorry. Fuck. This was supposed to be about getting you out of your comfort zone, not traumatizing you,” he mutters.
I start giggling and I can’t stop. I keep laughing until I’m doubled over and tears stream down my cheeks. Kasen starts laughing as well.
“Well, I’m definitely out of my comfort zone. Did I pass this test?” I ask as I finally pull myself together.
“With flying colors,” he says as he wipes away a tear under his eye.
“Can we, uh, maybe play some games or something? Like, no more rides?” I ask.
He stands and I grip his outstretched hand as he hoists me up and wraps his arms around me, giving me a giant hug. “Thank you for making me laugh. I haven’t laughed that hard in a very long time,” he murmurs against the top of my head.
“You’re welcome. Now, come on, I want a giant stuffed animal,” I state as I drag him toward the games.
Three hours and two teddy bears and a giant stuffed squid later, we’re back at one-eleven Hearts Lane. We’re standing at Kasen’s apartment door. And I’m anxious for another goodnight kiss.
“So,” I say as I toe the old carpet in the hallway.
