let's light up the sky ☆

Chapter 10

"Please keep your head back, and hold on tight. Enjoy your ride."

"Ready?" Cody shouted over the sound of the Xcelerator's mechanics revving up.

"Am I gonna die?" I quickly yelled out before we were on the go.

"Maybe." That was all he could say before we were blasting off down the windy metal track. This coaster gives you no chance to breathe before it shoots you from zero to faster than a rich man's Lamborghini on Rodeo Drive. At its peak, we slowed down long enough to look over the city before we were going full speed again. I screamed at the top of my lungs, grateful that my thick braid cushioned some of the blows from my head bouncing off the back of the seat.

We came to a screeching halt at the end of the ride. Cody laughed at the top of his lungs and reached over to give my arm a gentle squeeze. "Are you still with us?"

I finally caught my breath. I laughed at the tingling sensation of the leftover adrenaline rush. "I'm good."

I needed his help getting out of the seat because my knees were wobbly and barely holding me up. For the first time, Cody took my hands and held onto them for longer than a few seconds. He didn't let me go, even when we met up with the rest of my family. Quite frankly I didn't want him to. I couldn't help but wonder if I was reading too far into it.

"How was the ride?" Mom laughed when she saw the expression on my face.

"We heard all we needed to know," Armen quipped with a cheeky smile.

I broke from my trance long enough to take a playful swing at him. "Really? All I can hear is the sound of your LIES."

"Sorry, they, um–" Dad started, sliding over to Cody.

"Fight like cats and dogs?"

"Exactly."

We had a little over 30 minutes before Cody had to be back with his family. The lines for almost everything had gotten too long, even with our fast lane passes. I had already done everything I wanted to do today anyway. It was nice to end the day on a ride for all of us that would help us wind down after this fast-paced day. We settled on the carousel. "So how are we gonna do this?" Armen asked.

Dad counted the line in front of us and then looked at the available opens. "Would you wanna take the bench seat with me and Sofia? Then Anoush and Cody can pick whichever ones they want."

I narrowed my eyes suspiciously at him. As soon as they let us into the ride, I picked an open seat behind the covered bench that they had taken. We picked two seats shaped like giant jack rabbits. Whoever designed this thing decided that making it out of horses alone was a little too mainstream.

"I'm so sorry if they're being annoying," I apologized to Cody once we were out of their earshot and line of sight.

Cody huffed a laugh and shook his head. "It's okay. My mom does the same thing when she finds out that I like someone."

I looked away to hide my blush. Shit, did he just call me out? "So... if we were with her, would she be acting this too?"

Cody grinned, his dimples on full display. "What do you think?"

The ride started moving, interrupting me before I could continue. I took the slow acceleration of the ride to pretend I needed to catch my balance and put my focus elsewhere. This was finally happening, and I didn't know what to say.

"How long?"

He cocked his head to the side. "How long, what?"

"How long have you..." I paused.