The Everlark Family: Book 1

45 - Rollercoaster

~ Third Person POV ~

The end of May had come, which meant that the science fair was almost here. In three days to be exact. Rye had already finished his project with his friend Quinn. Now Willow was finishing hers up with Oliver who had willingly requested to be her partner. Because of that awkwardly tall, brown-haired, green-eyed kid, Willow slowly begun to feel more self-assured in school. Though Devon usually came around and managed to bring her confidence down a notch. At least Oliver had her back; he cared for her and she could tell. Willow cared for him all the same. 

Willow sat at the dinning room table where her and Oliver could complete the paper rollercoaster model. 
Katniss set down a platter of sandwiches down beside Willow for the two of them. "How's that going?"
"It's good. I think we need more speed, though. The whole purpose is to see how fast it takes for the marble to reach the end."
Katniss leaned over to inspect the curves and loops. "You said it needed more speed?"
Willow nodded.
"Then you should add a dip so it will glide down smoother, which equals a more fast paced travel. It's been a couple years since I've been in physics, but I know it will work."
Willow mentally pictured it and then looked up to smile at Katniss. "Thanks, that will help a lot."

"Anytime, Will--"
A soft knock sounded on the door. "Oh--that must be Oliver." Katniss said, walking to the door.
She was right. Oliver gave her a courteous smile once the door swung open. "Hi, Mrs. Mellark."
"Hi there, Oliver. Come in. Mr. Mellark made you sandwiches."
"Cool, thanks."
Soon the project was coming along quickly. Willow added the dip the Katniss recommended. 
"Alright, let's try this again, Willow." Oliver said as he cautiously dropped the marble onto the track, tracing it with his eyes as it zoomed down, picking up way more than enough speed. The marble catapulted off the track like a bomb from a cannon. Oliver sucked his teeth in disappointment. Despite the letdown, he flew into action of how to fix it. 

"I think we made that dip too deep. . . We can't fix it, but--"
"Let's just add an incline to it?"
Oliver snapped his eyes to look into hers. "Yeah! That's exactly what I was thinking."
Willow helped to cut several more pieces of cardboard. Oliver glued and stapled the pieces. Though it looked like it had survived a nuclear explosion, it was efficient. 
"Great. Let's try it." Oliver said dusting off his hands from the sandwich he quickly swallowed down. 
"It should work." Willow held the marble hovering above the track. "Ready?"
"Yeah, go for it."

Still, there was an error. Oliver stood there for a long moment, thinking of how he could fix it. He let out a loud sigh. "We're gonna have to redo this all."
Willow stood there. Speechless. "W-we can't restart! Do you know how long it took for us to get this far?"
"We have all day. We can do it." Oliver encouraged.
 Willow shook her head. "I can't fail this. . . I already failed enough in math, and I just--"
 "Willow, calm down." Oliver cut her off.
"We're going to fail this science--"
"Willow," Oliver interrupted once again, "you cut everything out, and I'll tape everything together. Okay?"
She reluctantly agreed. "Alright. You're right."
Oliver chuckled. "I know. Now don't stress yourself out."

It took three additional hours to construct. By that time the sun had gone down, but at least the project was done. Finally!
"Try it now." Oliver ordered, a timer in hand. Willow nodded and released the marble. Oliver timed it the precise moment it took off. It zoomed and glided, smooth but not too fast, yet just fast enough for it to be successful. 
"Twenty-five seconds!" Oliver exclaimed. 
 "Oliver, we're going to win this fair!" Willow exclaimed along with him. The maximum time was fifty seconds. The fact that they were able to complete it that quickly was award deserving.
"I know, Willow!" Oliver replied, smiling widely.
Willow embraced Oliver in a tight hug. "Thank you for being my partner. I couldn't have done it without you."