Dylan has recently come out of the closet in his second year at college. With little experience and luck with guys, his best friend decides to set him up on a blind date. But when he arrives at the theme park, the last person he expected to see was...
There's a funny feeling floating inside my chest. I feel kind of, nervous- and not because of the Wraiths roaming the queue line or the spooky music playing around us. No, I feel nervous because for the first time I actually care about what someone thinks of me.
I care about what Simon thinks of me.
When I was younger, my nan would always say to me; "Dylan- once bitten, twice shy." I never knew what it meant, and for a while I thought she was threatening to bite me if I ever acted shy... which is obviously ridiculous but it did keep me from being timid as a child.
It's only as I've come to look back on my past, and how to correct the things I've done... have I realised the true meaning. A person is more cautious when they've been hurt before, and I've hurt a lot of people. So I need to respect the fact that Simon is going to be more cautious around me. He's going to be guarded and he won't be as willing to open up as I'd like, but I understand and respect why.
As we continue to walk through the queue, we finally reach the line of people waiting to ride. We're inside this dark room, with a strange metal cage to our right and creepy music playing through hidden speakers. A deep hum fills the air, and I can feel the pressure from the noise beating against my chest.
Suddenly, a bright flash of light arcs from behind the cage- loud static energy reverberating through the room as controlled bolts of electricity shoot around inside the cage. I jump back in panic, grabbing the nearest thing to me and holding on for dear life.
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"Are you ok?" Simon asks, and I slowly open my eyes to see that I've latched onto his arm like a frightened kitten. "It's just a tesla coil, it can't hurt you."
"Y-yeah..." I say, scrambling to unpeal myself from him as smoothly as possible. "Just, jump scares you know, they kinda freak me out."
"Kind of? You basically just jumped out of your skin!" Simon chuckles, holding out his arm. "If you want to hold on to me that's fine, I won't tell anyone," he says, his lips curling into a courteous smile.
I slowly accept his offer, embarrassed by the fact I've nearly shit myself twice now in his presence. Despite only wearing a thin shirt on what is probably the gloomiest day of the year so far, Simon is delightfully warm to the touch. His freckled skin is radiating heat that I can feel even through my leather jacket... unless that's just my mind playing silly tricks on me.
The line moves at a steady pace, so the sudden shocks of electricity from the tesla coil only jump starts my heart a few more times before we're out of that room. My grip around Simon's arm tightens, and the little girl in front of us chuckles every time I let out a little yelp. Great... that child has a stronger stomach than me for this shit... how fucking embarrassing.
"So, where are we sitting?" I ask as we finally reach the boarding room. There's gates for each carriage, and it appears you can either queue separately for the very front seats... or take your pick from the rest.
