The Summer Escape

Chapter 4

Hallie had gone insane. Well, not quite insane. She was searching through all of the clothing she had brought with her to her grandparent's house trying to find the perfect outfit to wear. Nobody had ever asked her out before, and she wasn't going to mess this one up by wearing the wrong clothes. By the time it was time to leave for the party, Hallie had decided on wearing her favorite fringed teeshirt, with light wash shorts and converse. She was hoping that she wouldn't be underdressed, but then she remembered that the party was at the Great Escape, so a cute teeshirt and shorts were acceptable. Allison on the other hand, never truly worried about how she looked, unless it pertained to her insecurity with her nose. She, too had decided on a nice teeshirt and shorts. After the girls applied a fresh coat of lipgloss and a spritz of hairspray, they were off to the party.

They can really shine this place up! Hallie thought as she and Allison walked through the gates of the park, and saw twinkling lights left over from last year's Christmas festivities shining about in various places throughout the park. All of the rides were lit up like they always were when the park was open at night, but the only difference was that the regular ride operators were now the ones riding the rides and enjoying cotton candy and popcorn, as well as wearing normal clothing instead of their work uniforms. Hallie looked around, trying to spot Connor amongst all of the party guests, and she then remembered that she was supposed to meet him at the carousel, as she had done earlier that day.

Allison had also begun searching about, but not for Connor and his friend that she was being "set up" with. She only had one person on her mind, Max Fresco; and she was determined to find him. "Come on!" Hallie called as she was walking away, "We're supposed to meet Connor at the Carousel!" Allison obediently followed Hallie, internally scolding herself for agreeing to go to the party with Connor's friend, when she really wanted to see Max. The Carousel looked magnificent, spinning and twinkling with all of it's lights, and Connor looked magnificent too. He was wearing a red polo shirt, and khaki shorts, and Hallie thought he looked delectable. His friend though, looked completely the opposite. He was short, he had greasy hair, and his sweat-stained white teeshirt was competely unappealing, repulsive even. Hallie wondered how such different people could be friends.

Allison was less than impressed when she saw her date for the evening. By the looks of Connor, she had expected his friend to be at least decent looking. She was completely disappointed, and she immediately knew that her night was not going to be what she had expected, or so she thought. 

"Hi ladies," Connor greeted the girls, "This is my best friend Riley. We've known each other since grade school." Riley looked at Allison in a way that made her feel uneasy. "Riley, this is Allison." Connor explained, "She'll be your date for tonight. I told you you'd like her." Ugh, date. Allison thought. And just when she thought things couldn't get any worse, Allison looked to her left and saw Max approaching with a girl about her age, and she was beautiful. Allison wanted to throw up.

Oh no, this is so bad! Hallie thought as she, Connor, Allison, and Riley all walked over to a cotton candy stand to pick up snacks. Allison's going to hate me for making her do this. Hallie looked over at her best friend and her skeevy date. Okay, he's totally looking at her butt. If he tries to touch her, this is all done. Allison and Hallie made eye contact, and shared a look of pure horror. As if things weren't bad enough already, Max and his date were closing in on the group, standing behind them in line for cotton candy. Allison quickly grabbed her snacks, and retreated to a nearby picnic table.

As she hurried away, Max looked up and noticed who exactly was frantically rushing past. It's her! But who is she here with? Max wondered. The party was only for Great Escape employees and their friends. I have to talk to her.