It Starts With Him

08

"There's no way we're doing this," I say with a nervous chuckle, gripping the car door handle. I can't do this. "It's breaking and entering, isn't it?"

Ace laughs and runs a hand through his hair. He unlocks the door and gets out, then gestures for me to do the same. I shake my head violently. I can't. He dramatically groans and throws his head back for effect. "You wimp, come on," he says. I frown at him and cross my arms. "You know peer pressure is wrong, right?" I say in a whiny voice and he chuckles.

I hesitantly get out of the Corvette and follow him to the gate, pulling my phone out of my pocket and turning on its flashlight. I stare at the huge lock attached to a chain and look over at Ace.

His smile falters for a moment, and he says to me: "It isn't Tuesday, is it?" 

I take a moment to think and then shake my head. "No. Monday," I reply questioningly. "Why do you ask-" 

He cuts me off by grabbing the lock and messing with the combination of numbers on it. After a few extended seconds of him playing with it, it clicks and the lock falls to the dusty ground with a thud. I shine my flashlight on it in shock. "I- How did you..." my voice trails off as the gate swings open, a creepily loud creak to accompany it.

Ace laughs, a husky sound, and walks into the park. He turns back to me and flashes me a huge, bright grin. "It isn't breaking and entering if we're only entering, right?"

I smile and laugh nervously, and follow him with hesitation in every step I take. This is so not like me. Since when do I do stuff like this? We could get arrested for this, couldn't we?

Mom, if you're in cahoots with God, please ask Him to bless me and not let me go to jail.

"Are you coming?" Ace calls and I jog to catch up with him. It seems like I tend to do that a lot. "Where are we even going in here?" I ask, and he shrugs. "Whatever we want," he whispers with a daring smile. A sudden rush of energy runs through my veins as if it replaced my blood. I smile a real one this time. My nerves haven't disappeared, but now I catch myself embracing them. They add a little flare to my adrenaline rush.

I look in front of me and think of all the possibilities. What to do? "Do the rides function?" I ask, and he scoffs. "Definitely not," he replies, and I nod my head. Figured that. 

But that doesn't mean we can't have some fun on them, right?

We walk past a carousel, and I mindlessly go over to it, finding refuge on a rusted pony with a pink plastic mane. Ace joins me on the pony next to me, this one with a blue mane and a bright green harness. I hold onto the golden pole that holds the pony upright and look upwards at the lights that used to be lit. They cover the entire ceiling, and I frown.

"Why the sad face?" Ace says, his voice mocking. I roll my eyes and laugh. "I'm just trying to imagine what the carousel looked like when the park was open. It's kind of sad to think of how many happy people were here, and now it's just... vacant. Empty and dark," I explain, staring at the spiderwebs in the cracks.

Ace sighs and lies down, so his back is resting on the seat and his legs are kicked up against the pole. "I don't really think of it that way," he says after a moment. I glance over at him and feel a slight breeze toss my hair around.

"I mean," he starts, tilting his head in thought. "If you think about it, the place itself really has nothing to do with it. Sure, when it was open it was bright and colorful, but what really made it such an exciting place? The people did. Not the working rides or the lights. The people made it good. Just like we're doing, right? The lights don't matter to me." He turns to look at me and I smile.