Disneyland » s.m

5

"What are you doing tonight?" Shawn asked me on a summer night, exactly a month before we went into our sophomore year of high school.

"I'm just going out with the girls," I said, twisting my hair around my finger and smiling. "Why? What are you up to?"

"Nothing really. I was going to call and ask if you wanted to do something but you're busy."

"Maybe you can come with us," I suggested.

"I don't want to ruin your night."

"You're not going to ruin it, dork. You can invite the guys," I smiled.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I'll just let Brook know,"

"Alright. See you tonight," he said.

"Alright." I hung up the phone and called Brook to make sure she was okay with the boys coming.

"Definitely!" She said, once I finished talking. "That would be totally cool."

"So you're okay with it? I asked, making sure one last time.

"For the last time, Audrey. It's fine," she chuckled.

"Okay, I'll see you there. I have to finish getting ready," I said hanging up.

***

"I've always found this ride creepy," I admitted, walking through the line to Pinocchio.

"Why?"

"Well first of all, one of the first things that happen to you is you're trapped in a gate. That definitely makes me feel good."

"Well that's apart of the whole experience." Shawn replied, emphasizing the word 'experience' to make it seem dramatic.

"Well little 2 year olds definitely want to witness the whole experience." I mocked him, chuckling at him rolling his eyes.

"Why did you choose this ride, anyways?" He asked, following me through the lines of poles meant to direct people throughout the line - at least if there was one.

"I don't know," I shrugged my shoulders. "I guess if we're going to be stuck here for a while, I figured I'd save the best rides for last since there really is no wait for anything."

"But you can easily come back and go on all of them again on a day it's empty."

"But that'd suck out all the fun. We'll never get this time back so why not enjoy it," I went up to the stand and flipped on the switch, getting into a cart. I stared at Shawn who was just standing there as the cart moved, shocked by what I just did. "Are you coming or what?" He slightly shook his head, snapping himself back into reality and jumped in next to me. Immediately, we were in through the doors and hearing the loud noises of the characters screaming and the music playing. My heart raced when the gate closed on us and we were 'trapped'. Ever since I was a little girl, I'd always been this way, scared even though I knew what was coming next. But maybe I didn't really always know what would come next. Maybe I would think that I'd get out one minute and the next minute I'd actually be stuck in this cage, this time with no way out. I never actually knew what was coming next like I didn't see this coming - the storm hitting California which was practically impossible yet it still happened. I didn't see me getting stuck here with the last person I ever wanted to be stuck with in a snowstorm yet out of the billions of people I could've gotten stuck with in this world, here he was sitting next to me so innocently and kindly after the way I'd treated him. And maybe what I'd always been fearing had actually happened, but in a bigger space and my fear was disguised as a dream.