Capital Dare

Vodka and Cranberry Juice

Three grueling hours later, Seth had successfully forced me to go on every kid ride in the entire amusement park. I mean every. single. one. There were so many mermaids, princesses, caterpillars, trucks, and Disney characters that even when I closed my eyes I still saw them. Parents gave us the stink eye for taking up seats on the rides, and when the little kids weren't tugging on my hair like I was an animal at the petting zoo, they were coughing and sneezing and all over the place. It seemed like every ride their screams got louder and by the end, I was seriously considering pulling a Van Gogh and cutting my ear off. 

"I can't believe you made me do all that," I said, grumpy and hangry. We were headed down to the food court so I could eat some greasy burgers and fries and try to forget about this whole experience

Seth chuckled beside me, stepping closer to avoid a chubby lady pushing a stroller. Our arms brushed. "Come on, tell me that was not the best three hours of your life." 

"It was not the best three hours of my life," I growled. 

"Well, I had a great time." He flashed me that contagious smile of his, much too wide for his face. 

"I'm just so glad."  I glared at him, too hungry to waste energy saying something snappy. 

It was getting dark out, but the amusement park seemed even more packed than it had been when we'd first arrived. The crowds were thick and relentless and they walked like if they didn't get wherever they were going right now they'd be murdered in cold blood. We dodged people coming from the left and the right, struggling to stay together. After I almost tripped over the leash of an abnormally large dog, Seth moved his hand down my right arm and laced his fingers through mine.

When I protested, he leaned close and shouted over the noise. "It'll be easier to stay together this way." 

I rolled my eyes. "So the move making continues. I'm starting to think you've got a little crush on me here."

"Don't flatter yourself." He said, shaking his head.

"If I don't, who will?"  

It felt like thirty years had gone by before we finally reached the food court. To our horror, the food court was two times as busy as the walk here had been. One hundred people seemed to be waiting in line for every booth and the tables were littered with trash and scraps of food. Most of the seats were filled with families. I threw my head back and sighed. I suffered through the Love Train. I tolerated the kid rides and the crowded walkways. I was good today! What did I do to deserve this?

"You've got to be kidding me." I fought my urge to fall to my knees and shout profanities up to the heavens.

Maybe it was because Seth was finally starting to develop the human trait of empathy. Maybe it was because he thought he figured he'd been enough of an asshole for the day. But he led me over to the only free table bent down close. "Stay here. I'll go get in line." 

I raised my eyebrow. "What's the catch? There's always a catch." 

"Maybe there isn't one this time. Maybe I feel like being nice." He shrugged, and before I could say anything else he turned on his heel and headed toward the line in front of the burger joint to our left. 

Weird.

***

When we finally made it back to the bus it was eight o'clock. It was Peyton's turn to drive, and the rest of us squeezed into the seats right behind her. She drove thirty miles over the high way speed limit and Nevadas colorful lights whizzed by us in the windows.