Page 75 of Cookout Carnage
Tris looked at Sherilyn. ‘You happy with this?’
‘Er, ah, um, I’m sure there’s a very good reason for it,’ she replied, her face as red as the banquette seat she was sitting on.
He looked back at Amy. ‘There is?’ he asked sceptically.
The nodding sped up till her face was almost a blur. ‘Yes, it’s for health and hygiene reasons. One of the patrons has…’ She stopped nodding and leaned forward. ‘Acute contagious myofascibronchiplasmitis.’ She looked pleased with herself, as if she had made the effort to learn the word and just recited it to win a spelling bee. Tristan looked at the filthy screen.
‘And this will protect us?’ he asked. Her nodding started again. He was beginning to feel motion sick watching her. ‘Howexactly? What about the other customers?’
‘They’re immune. And it’s transmitted by line of sight,’ she replied.
‘But—’
Sherilyn kicked him under the table.
‘I’ll have the same as Sherilyn but with fries on the side please.’
Amy slid past the screen, then pushed it back into place.
Tristan looked at Sherilyn. She stared back at him, her face still aflame as if holding her breath. He raised his eyebrows.
‘Please just go with it,’ she said in a rush. ‘Small towns can be a bit, er, different?’ She put her head to one side and adopted a broad Southern accent. ‘You’re not in Kansas anymore, Tristan Fawcett-Underwood.’
He stiffened slightly at his full name. It always felt like part of a lie. He forced his shoulders to relax. She was right. Apart from a day and a half in Chicago, this was his first time in America. Just because they shared a common language didn’t mean they shared a culture. He didn’t want to be the typical Brit abroad, one foot in his mouth, the other trampling all over local customs. He couldn’t fuck this up. Sherilyn was way too important. And this was her home. He needed to go with it, no matter how nuts it seemed. So, he focused on her, and his happiness to finally meet her face to face. It should have been strange, but after a year and a half getting to know Sherilyn, it was easy. He knew her already, and she knew him. The tension left her face and she smiled back at him. His heart soared.
The background music got louder and a familiar piano and snare drum riff started. His grin got wider as Elvis started crooning about fools rushing into love.
He held Sherilyn’s gaze and brought his hands to rest on the tabletop. He had no fucking clue what was going on in this diner, but as instructed, he was going to go with it. In his peripheral vision he saw her fingers start to slowly move towards his as the music continued. His heart pounded in his ears. This was it. The moment they crossed that invisible line that took them from friends to so much more.
He followed Elvis’ instructions, taking her hand and interlocking their fingers. Tristan gently squeezed, pouring all his feelings into the tiny movement.
The song continued.
‘Can’t help… Falling in love with you…’
Sherilyn squeezed back.
25
Sherilyn had only ever been on a roller coaster once. Growing up, she was ‘baby Bodean’; the youngest, the smallest, the last to do anything. Each year at the county fair she’d watch her brothers on the rides, waving at them whilst they whizzed up and down, whooping with delight. She didn’t want to be on the ground, always having to peek around people or be lifted up to see what was going on. She wanted to be at the top, seeing everything. Aged ten she finally reached the minimum height to ride, courtesy of wearing her thick-soled school shoes and lifting her heels a fraction. Fender had managed to get them the two seats right at the front and she had been bursting with excitement. As they slowly ascended towards the first drop, her eyes had been everywhere. The whole of the fair below, the town beyond, the forested mountains further out and, in the distance, the rest of the world blurring in the summer haze. The future was out there, shimmering with possibilities just waiting to be discovered.
Then they dropped.
It felt like her stomach was bring ripped from her as they hurtled to the ground. Death was an abstract concept, something that happened to old people. But suddenly it was there, about to smash her in the face. The terror was all-consuming and she hadn’t been aware she was screaming until they had ascended for the next drop and her brother had his big hand over hers, shouting that they were going to be okay. Ninety seconds later, when the car slid to a stop, she was shaking so hard she couldn’t walk. Fender had to carry her off, and she didn’t stop trembling for over an hour.
Sixteen years later, with Tristan at her side, she was back on the roller coaster, but now there was even more at stake. She hadn’t imagined anything. In the diner, cocooned within the music, hidden behind a screen, she could feel the love she had for him reflected right back at her. From inside her pounding heart to the edges of her tingling skin; she was flying high. Her hand in his, there was nothing left in the world or her future but pure happiness and him.
Then the screen was torn back and they fell back into the matrix. Tristan was oblivious, but Sherilyn saw threats everywhere. Mrs. Jeffries peering over her glasses at the check as Amy stood in front of her, the family in another booth that she didn’t recognise, the couple at the bar who only had eyes for each other. Any one of them could turn on a dime, open their mouth and smash the illusion. Tristan opened the diner door for her and she stepped warily through, scanning the street. It was mid-afternoon and the summer heat hung heavy, radiating from the brick buildings and pushing most people inside to chase the cool. She dropped his hand with the pretence of fixing her hair, then held her purse protectively in front of her.
‘Shall we go back to yours now?’ she asked.
Tristan’s jaw dropped. ‘Er, yes?’
Oh fuck.
‘Oh no! I didn’t mean should we go back to yours for, erm, that we go back toyours,’ she babbled. ‘It’s just there’s nothing to see here and it’s really hot, so I thought you might like to take some clothes off… I mean, cool down.’
Tristan grinned and opened his mouth as if to speak, but she continued.
