california world - dreamnotfound

cotton candy grapes

"you wanna go on something?"

the flashing lights from the theme park rides mixed with the loud edm music are making me nostalgic, reminding me of memories that never existed. inside there are cute pop-up shops selling cotton candy and colorful lollipops. mixed in with the beautiful pink sunset it all looks like a scene from a movie. a movie starring us three idiots, the height of californian history.

nick rushes in before i can even stop him, glowing with excitement like a little kid.

"i just... feel bad about wasting your money, you know?" i say.
"it's fine," clay smiles, placing a hand on my shoulder, "i'm here to treat you guys."
"shouldn't we save to afford a hotel?"
"i'll get paid soon anyway. i hope. let's just have some fun, stop thinking about the future so much!"

and with that, clay takes my hand, pulling me into the crowd. the laughter of kids and teens surround me, as well as cheers from the nearby ball games. nick is waving to us from over at the spinning teacups. he looks just as happy as those kids. seeing him this over the moon makes me feel good too. he's like a brother to me, a best friend i could never let go of.

as we pass through the scattering crowd, i become more and more aware of clay's warm hand in mine. how our fingers are so perfectly intertwined. like they belong together. the warm touch spirals out into the rest of my body, reaching all the way up to my face eventually. i try to hide it to no avail.

nick is clearly giggling at me glowing bright red and all i can hope is that clay won't notice it.

"we getting tickets?" clay wonders, abruptly letting go of my hand. i instantly miss the feeling.
"hell yeah," nick hypes, practically jumping up and down.

clay pays for 3 tickets and we're let into the ride. we pick a baby blue cup with flowers on it, or more correctly, nick picks it as he's constantly running ahead of us. we have to squeeze together to fit inside of it, me of course being in the middle because i'm the smallest.

"eww nick, take a shower," i jokingly complain, covering my nose.
"i could say the same about you man, you smell like grandpa who's been out in the fields the whole day," nick hits back.

clay, of course, just wheezes at our insults. it's what he's best at.

"you guys are so cute," he points out as the cups start spinning.

nick looks at him, then at me, then bursts out laughing. he knows too much.

a few kids in a different cup start screaming as the ride picks up speed, meanwhile i'm just enjoying the little thrill it's giving me. the blinking lightbulbs in a nearby kiosk pass by quicker than lightning. all the colors start mashing together. like an escape from reality.