Judges

Chapter Sixteen

"Mom don't freak out! It's just a friendly thing," I say as my mom fusses over my tangled hair and scrunches her nose. "It's just a theme park. Don't even worry about fixing my hair."

"Don't worry about your hair? Honey, you know that's one of my pet peeves, my only daughter going out looking ragged!"

I had forgotten that was something she cared about.

"Fine, mom, just pull it back and be done with it please. To be honest I don't really care what it looks like."

She runs a comb through my messy hair and pulls hard, then twists it tightly into a bun and pins it up.

"There, better?"

I nod and try to escape, but mother chases me down the hall and directs be back to my room, where I'm forced to choose from an array of blouses and skirts.

"I couldn't care any less, mom."

"Fine," she sighs. "Young lady, please get yourself to the car. You're going to be late."

We get in the car and I switch on the radio and turn up the volume.

"Say it ain't so,

Your drug is a heartbreaker

Say it ain't so

My love is a life taker."

I enjoy the lulling music for a few minutes before we pull into the parking lot of the park. My mother leads me out of the car and into the ticket line, and we wait for a few minutes before I spot Jared off to the side, getting out of a nice Ferrari and speaking to whoever's driving it.

He doesn't see me.

I turn away and pretend I never saw him, and I wait until I heard him slowly approaching from behind. He suddenly lunges and grabs my shoulders, and I exhale loudly.

"Ah! Scared you!" He laughs.

"Sure."

My mother smiles. "I'm Mrs. Hayes. You can call me Angela."

"Nice to meet you." He smiles and shakes her hand, and looks at me. "You ready?"

"Yeah, it's just that I've never been on a roller coaster before."

"What?" He mock gasps. "And you live so close to a theme park, why on earth not?"

"We never got around to coming, really. It's a shame. Augusta, don't be afraid. I've been on one, they're really fun, perfectly safe," mother chimes. "If you want, I can come with you."

"No, no, that's fine. Jared is going to be with me the whole time." Butterflies rush through my stomach.

"Oh, well then, honey. I think I'll get a coffee and read right here at this store." She points to the coffee shop near the entrance gates. "You and Jared come and get me if you need anything. I do want you to meet me here by three, though, please. We need to get home and make sure your father gets dinner. I'm sure that will be more than enough time to have a ton of fun."

"Of course, mom. Jared, let's go."

I run away, dragging Jared behind me, before mother has a chance to protest or offer any coffee to keep me from being alone with this boy.

She's a bit overprotective, always has been.

We run to the nearest ride, a small one close to the gate, but I see that the climax is over a hundred feet in the air. I gasp a bit without realizing it, and Jared squeezes my hand.