Star-Crossed ✔️

12

- 12 -

It wasn't very often that I was faced with a decision as close to life or death as I was at this very minute.

The sun burned down onto my skin as I stood stock still in the middle of the walkway. A sweat was broken down my back an hour ago, dampening my T-shirt disgustingly. My eyes darted around, searching for the nearest exit, but Noah's voice broke me out of it.

"C'mon, Theo."

I scowled. I wasn't angry; I was terrified.

We made it to Six Flags. The park was crowded and a temporary body guard was standing not too far away from us inconspicuously. Due to the vast number of attendees present, Joey insisted we have some protection in case of emergency. I wondered if being forced onto a roller coaster counted as one.

"I can't," I shook my head, my stomach dropping to my knees when I looked back up at the monster coaster called Goliath. "I'm gonna throw up."

Noah pouted. "Pretty please? Please, please, please, please, please—"

"Stop!" I exclaimed, gagging right after. "I can't."

His shoulders flagged and he looked around hopelessly. I didn't feel bad, not even a little. My fear was far bigger than any disappointment he could face. Not even my disturbing crush on the boy could change my mind about this.

"We can go on the dark ride," I suggested, finding a smooth indoor boat ride much more appealing than a flying death machine overlooking the entire state of Georgia. "I'll buy you some cotton candy."

Noah sighed and nodded. Our body guard, Jesse, trailed behind us quietly while we made our way to the dark ride. He waited in line with us and then, when we were ushered inside, he left us to go wait by the exit. At least he wasn't riding the rides with us. We hadn't been noticed yet, which was a fucking miracle in itself, so we were having a pretty good time. Other than the blistering heat and long lines.

We loaded onto a boat with a handful of other people and sat side by side. I held onto the handlebar and tried to smile at Noah. He smiled back.

It wasn't scary at all and we pointed and laughed at all of the weird animatronics inside. I took a selfie of us at the very second we got splashed from my side. Noah laughed so loudly when the side of my body got soaked and I caught the beautiful smile on camera.

"You think this is funny?" I asked as we walked out of the dimly lit building. Noah shook his head, but he was still laughing. "Come here."

"No, Theo, don't you dare," he warned, side stepping away from me. Body guard Jesse fell into step behind us.

I held my arms out, the grey T-shirt I was wearing clearly dark with water. "Don't what, Russo? All I want is a hug from my long lost best friend," I said, choking on a laugh at the end. I stepped towards him dauntingly and he squirmed away, which lead to me chasing him around the small area we were at.

The dark ride was luckily overlooked by many park-goers so we weren't swerving around huge crowds in this part of the park. It was just a family or two trying to find shade. Jesse was trying to keep a close eye on us and I think Noah was actively trying to stay within his range of sight. I almost grabbed him, but he jumped away at the last second and sipped into a little corner next to a maintenance door.

Once I had him cornered, I walked a little slower with a devious grin. "Where ya gonna go?" I asked and, between his giggles of desperation, he looked on either side of me for an escape. I held my arms out again and he backed up to the wall, covering his face.