Overlap

Chapter 48-F: Honeymoon Phase

<05/28/2011 - 15:30 | Six Flags Park, Austell, GA, USA>

"This is it!" I threw my arms up high above me, presenting my favorite amusement park to the both of us. I'm never this expressive, but I could no longer contain my own excitement. "Six Flags!" I once again used the idea of getting my parents to take me somewhere, while carefully planning the day and its weather to when I could bring Lumina there with me.

"Six Flags, more flags, more fun?"

"Six Fags, more fags, more gay."

"I don't... What?!"

I chucked once I knew I confused the hell out of Lumina, but she doesn't get the reference I was making. People still use the gay tag as a general insult, and I recently heard somebody blurt that out at random. I thought it was clever, but seeing as Lumina wasn't laughing, I had to rethink my level of comedy quick. "What I meant was... Oh, never mind." Maybe it's too offensive to keep going like that. I'll have to teach myself stage magic before I can make Lumina laugh, in a way that doesn't involve humiliating myself somehow.

"Well I got to hand it to you Reed. I wasn't expecting you to take me to this park. I've never really ridden a roller coaster before, let alone watch somebody else ride one."

"Well today is your lucky day!" Oh, is she in for a treat! Given the properties of telepathy, the physical sensation of momentum and inertia should closely imitate what it feels like on her body if I go ahead and ride one myself. That's the theory anyway; I can't be sure until I give it a shot. "The temperature is holding nicely at forty-eight."

"True. But it's nearing summer, and the sun is out on a clear day. It won't last."

"Don't be a pessimist. I'll do my best to split from my group and spend time with you, one on one."

"You mean from your parents? Yeah, good luck with that." Lumina was so certain that I'd never be allowed or capable of spending a single minute alone by myself in Six Flags. However, as I panned my eyes all around me in a subtle twirl of thrill, she finally noticed the obvious. "Wait! You already did?!"

"You would be amazed how much an overprotective mother will back down if I bark loud enough. Plus, I have my cell phone on me just in case." I never considered myself to be the rebellious teenager, but lately, I've had to set some boundaries for myself, such as my ability to go on night walks alone or other crazy things. Everybody is entitled to some amount of freedom.

"I'm told you can't bring those on the rides." Yeah, told by the giant painted sign near every entrance.

"Of course not. You just leave them in the cubbies until you get off."

"Won't people just go and steal them?"

Why is she pushing against me on this so much? "Stop being so nervous about this. I don't like the feeling of dropping to my death either. But this is your very first time here. Please try to enjoy it."

"Enjoy what? Falling to my death? I suppose you make it sound fun, in your own way."

"Keep it up, and all the water rides will come first." Lumina doesn't realize just how many rides in Six Flags involve getting splashed with massive waves of cold water.

"Are you threatening me? With water?!"

"Ah, I see Altiri appear to be weak against water. Good to know."

"And I see that Reeds are apparently weak to something as harmless as strings of film tape. But you know, if you want to be so pushy about it, I could just leave."