Rewrite The Stars

Chapter 16

I smiled, finding those weird words extremely sweet.

    “Where are we going, anyway?” I asked after fifteen minutes of driving.

    “Well, at first I thought we could spend your birthday at Chuck E. Cheese,” my eyes widened in shock at that. “But I thought we could do something more mature.”

    “Aha.” I nodded, raising a brow. “And where are we going now?”

    “An amusement park!” he said with excitement.

    “Yeah, that's way more mature.” I scoffed. “But actually I love the sound of that.”

    “In that case... Coney Island, here we come!”

***

We bought tickets and got inside. The excitement of everyone there could be heard in their happy screams and loud laughter.

    “Where's your coat?” was the first thing I said to Zach.

    “Shoot, I think I left it at Lauren's dorm.” He frowned.

    “But it's freezing! Do you want my coat? I'm wearing something warm under it–”

    “–I'll be fine.”

    “Bullshit.” I said, taking off my scarf and rapping it around his neck.

    “Thank you, Mrs. Crazy.”

    “Your welcome, Mr. Weird.” I said, leaning in to kiss his lips, but he laughed. “What?”

    “This is so cheesy!”

    “I know!” I joined his laughter and so we kept going.

    By the time we had tried all the games there were, the night had completely fallen upon us and the moon was on full display. We had eaten two cotton candies and were on our way to get the third one that Zach stopped us.

    “Is that an ice-cream cart!?” he pointed at a man in a weird uniform, giving kids ice-cream. “Why didn't we see that earlier!?” and by that, he took my hand in his and dragged me toward the cart like a little boy.

    “We'll have one ice-cream, with two spoons, please.” Said Zach, taking his wallet out of his jeans' pocket.

    “What flavor?” asked the man. “I've got chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla.”

    “Can I have three scoops, one of each? Thanks.”

    When the man handed him the ice-cream's cup, Zach gave him the money, and then said, “Can you give me an extra spoon? Just in case I drop one.”

    And by that, I was reminded of the day we had met in that coffee shop. I truly regretted storming off on him, even though deep down I knew he had spoken the truth.

    “Oi, Zach.” I said as we had sat down somewhere, eating ice-cream.

    “What?”

    “Ten o'clock!”

    “Already?” He looked confused, checking his watch.

    “No, idiot.” I laughed. “I mean check out my ten o'clock. Some girl is staring at us. I think that b***h is checking you out.”

    He chuckled. “Then use the wave-technic.” He said. “Make me proud, kid.”

     And as I was told, I looked at that girl, smiled like fool, and waved at her. She didn't look away and just glared at me.

     So I took it to the next level by shouting, “HELLO STRANGER!” at her. And by that, she immediately looked away as if I were making her uncomfortable by my mental illness.

    “Nicely done.” Zach mused. “My teaching is complete. I have nothing else to teach you.” He sighed proudly and patted my shoulder, making us both laugh at the end. “You know,” He started, “Maybe after this we can go back to my place? Uncle Frank's not home tonight.”

    “He's having another night-shift?” I asked.

    “Actually, no.” He shook his head. “He has taken a few days off and is on a trip to Atlantic City with his girlfriend for the weekend.”

    “Ooh, go Uncle Frank!” I wolf-whistled before saying, “By the way, I guess we left the best and yet most cliché part for the end.” I said after we'd finished the ice-cream and threw the cup in the trash. “I always wanted to have a kiss at the top of a Ferris wheel.”

    “Then get ready to scratch that off the bucket list.” He winked.

    We stood in line for what felt like hours and when we finally got on top of the Ferris wheel, it was so cold that made me say, “I feel like if we kiss, our tongues would stick together because of the freezing weather.”

    “I don't see what's bad about that.” Zach teased and I nudged him with my elbow. But then I leaned in and connected our lips, but Zach laughed, probably at the image of our tongues being stuck together like ice.

   “Sorry. But it's just so funny to imagine.” He said.

    I quickly pulled away with a grin, saying, “Some stuff are more romantic in your head. But when they actually happen, you see that they are too cheesy that it makes them pretty awkward. You know what I mean?”

    He laughed again, but then it faded into a smile and said, “The kiss might be ruined, but at least we can watch the stars from up here. I think that's more beautiful.”

    I looked up at the sky when we again came on top of the Ferris wheel but then frowned in confusion. “No, we can't see them. The weather's cloudy.”

    After a few moments he said, “I wasn't talking about the stars in the sky.”

     I smiled, because I realized what he meant.

    “Look at me.” He whispered.

    And I did.