Context: The GHC never met Tj, until they go to Adrenaline City one fateful weekend.
~
Cyrus, Buffy, and Andi had managed to score three weekend passes to the local theme park, Adrenaline City. All three of them were stoked to go and hang out together, even though Cyrus wasn't a big fan of the big rides. Andi's mom picked them all up Saturday at noon and they drove to the park.
The three thanked Andi's mom and rushed to the tickets booths. Quickly they got inside and stood in line for their first ride of the day. Normally when they came here each of them took turns being a single rider on each ride. Cyrus volunteered to go first, but when they got closer to the front of the line there was a big sign that said "NO SINGLE RIDERS".
"They should really put that at the beginning of the line!" Cyrus said angrily, "What are we going to do now?"
"Um, excuse me," An unfamiliar voice said, "I overheard that you three are looking for an extra rider."
"Yeah we are," Cyrus replied.
"Well my sister is wanting to ride with her friend so I kind of don't have a riding partner either. Would you want to ride together?" The stranger said.
Cyrus was taken by surprise that a stranger would be so brave to ask him that. He wasn't quite brave enough to answer though, so he was just standing frozen, completely unaware of the situation.
"Yes please!" Buffy said after a short silence from Cyrus, "You can ride with our friend here, his name's Cyrus."
"Well hello Cyrus, my name's Tj." Suddenly Cyrus was once again aware of the situation. He could now see that there was a very tall, very handsome boy in front of him. He also just put together that he'd be going on a roller coaster with this good looking, mysterious stranger.
Buffy and Andi started talking to Tj's sister and her friend. They all got along very well.
As they approached the front of the line Tj started a conversation with Cyrus. "So, Cyrus, what do like to do for fun?" he asked.
"Well I like dinosaurs, and muffins. Mostly my biggest hobby is just making sure my friends aren't a complete mess all of the time."
"Well that's a pretty big job, but who makes sure that you're not a complete mess?" Tj said.
"That responsibility usually falls on me too, ha." Cyrus half joked.
"Well that's not fair. You should have someone who helps you, just like you help them." Just as Tj said that they reached the front of the line.
"Oh I should warn you," Cyrus said as they got into the cart, "I really don't like roller coasters."
"Don't worry muffin, I'll protect you."
"Muffin? Why would you- ahh!" The ride took off quickly mid sentence.
When the roller coaster rolled to a stop Cyrus was breathing heavily and had gotten extremely close to Tj. Immediately he pulled himself off of Tj and lifted the bar to get out. The two groups of three met up outside of the exit line. The girls all hit it off, so they thought of a really good plan for the rest of the day. The two groups would hang out together and ride all the rides with the same people.
The next ride they got in line for was the drop tower. This was a ride that Cyrus actually loved. The drop in his stomach was the best thrill rush ever. Tj seemed nervous in line though.
"Why do you seem so afraid? You were fearless on the roller coaster, what changed."
"Well you were so fear-FULL on the roller coaster. Why is this ride so different?"
"I like the felling of falling. It's exhilarating." Cyrus said quietly, unsure of how that must sound to Tj.
"Okay I can get that. You always feel like you must be in control. So in a situation like falling, you don't have to be in control, it's either you drop or something catches you." Said Tj.
"How do you know so much about my life? Everything you've said has been so painfully true" Cyrus laughed.
"Psychology is a passion of mine, and it's really easy to read someone who you connect with." Tj smiled at Cyrus, and he smiled back. For a minute they forgot about the line and just looked into each other's eyes.
"Hey guys, come on!" Yelled Andi as they filed into the tower.
As they sat on the seats Tj looked more and more nervous. "You don't like falling, do you? It makes you feel like the world is falling away with you." Tj tilted his head and gave a confused look to Cyrus. "I have four therapist parents," Cyrus said, "I've picked up some stuff about psychology."
The tower car started to raise, and Tj started to get very nervous. Cyrus looked over at him. In a moment of pure confidence, he took Tj's hand in his own, hoping to comfort him. They stayed like that for the whole ride, hand in hand.
When the car reached the bottom again Tj looked at Cyrus, then released his hand.
"Shall we go get something to eat?" Amber said as they all joined outside the ride.
The six kids all walked over to the food district of the park, Amber and Andi went to grab pretzels, Buffy and Amber's friend went to get slushies, and Tj and Cyrus sought out the corn dogs. They were the first to get their food, so they found a table.
"Hey, thanks, for that earlier." Tj suddenly said. "That was nice." Cyrus smiled at him and took a bite of his food. The girls all came up to the table and sat down with their foods. The conversation carried on.
The group kept riding rides, Tj and Cyrus rode most of them hand in hand, until almost sundown. The park was to close in 30 minutes, and Buffy and Andi really wanted to go on the Ferris Wheel. They stood in line and all talked until they came up to the front of the line. Andi and Buffy got on first, then Amber and her friend. That left Tj and Cyrus to ride together.
They sat in the cart and let the ride take them up and around. As they approached the top Tj once again interlaced their fingers, this time he squeezed Cyrus' hand as he took it. Cyrus turned his head toward Tj. As close as they'd been all day, Cyrus had never actually looked to see Tj's face. It was beautiful. There were imperfections and blemishes, but nothing was wrong. Tj's shamrock green eyes stared right back at Cyrus in the exact same way. As the cart moved to the peak, they both leaned in and closed what little space there was between them.
Tj smiled as they pulled apart, "Was that okay?" he asked.
"That was the most okay thing I've ever experienced."
Cyrus leaned his head on Tj's shoulder and they took in the sunset view as the Ferris wheel continued to go round, and round.
