Save Me

Seventeen

I grinned as Daniel tugged me to the rollercoaster ride. We were at the carnival of Raleigh since they were holding one. I had heard about it from Myles when I accompanied Robbie to his check ups because he couldn’t really drive much so he asked me to drive him there. Once I heard about it, I thought of DJ and I asked Danielle if I could bring him there on Sunday, after church. I’ve also asked Scott if I could take the day off since there weren’t so many cars to fix since we finished them on Saturday. He agreed, since his cousin was there to help him.

“DJ, slow down!” Danielle hollered as we both chased after the hyperactive four-year old.

DJ stopped short before the massive rollercoaster ride where a lot of people were screaming their heads off. Danielle and I stopped beside him to stare at the enormous thing. Danielle shifted on her right foot beside me, her eyes wide as she stared and I immediately noted the fear in them. But I don’t think she was afraid for herself, but for her kid.

“DJ, I don’t think this is safe,” she said, trying to divert DJ’s attention to the other rides. We’ve just arrived so we allowed DJ to choose whatever ride he wanted us to go in first.

“Well Mam,” the guy who was assigned to give us our tickets and operated the coaster, grinned. For some strange reasons, he looked like a mischievous fox, “This is the safest construction we have.”

Danielle stared at him and replied bluntly, “Then I presume the Ferris wheel isn’t safe, then?”

He looked at lost for words for a moment and I laughed, ushering DJ to a different ride, “But Dad, he said that it’s safe. C’mon.”

I looked at Danielle who looked desperate to not let her son in, “DJ, please. It doesn’t look safe.”

“He said it was safe!” DJ replied stubbornly, pulling me to pay the man. I swear that this kid’s stubbornness and temper is taken from his mother. But I have to say, I have the same amount of it too, maybe even more than Danielle.

Danielle groaned beside me but then nodded slightly. I paid the man, who grinned wickedly which earned him a glare from the girl beside me. He shied away as we got in a seat. It was a good thing that it could accommodate the three of us so Danielle and I sandwiched DJ between us. As the ride started to move up, I noticed DJ tensing beside me. I chuckled and took his hand, squeezing it. I glanced at Danielle, making sure she wasn’t panicking or anything. To my surprise, she looked calm and also had Daniel’s left hand in hers.

“That was awesome!” DJ screamed, jumping up and down between us. He was pale and Danielle and I thought he was going to vomit but he didn’t although he was a bit dizzy from the ride, “Can we go again?”

“And risk you actually puking?” Danielle said, shaking her head, “No.”

He pouted but turned to me, “Who’s going to choose the next ride?”

“D,” I said lamely, “What ride do you have in mind?”

A wicked grin spread across her features as her eyes wandered around and finally fell upon a ride. I turned my attention to where she was looking at and my eyes widened as I saw the huge boat that swayed really bad. I remembered I had told her in the car ride that I had hated that ride. Why did she live to torment me?

“No,” I said sternly.

She looked at me wearing the most innocent expression her face, “Why?”

“D,” I sighed, “You know I hate that ride.”

“But Falen,” she said in a whining voice, “It looks really cool. Please?”

I sighed and Danielle squealed, grabbing my hand and tugging me to the ride, following DJ who was already way ahead of us. We sat at the top most and I swear, my hands were clammy and sweating. Danielle giggled beside DJ as the ride started and I squeezed my eyes shut, feeling my stomach move up and down with the boat as it swayed.

When the ride finally stopped, I felt a hand hold mine and when I opened my eyes, I met the bluest eyes ever imagined. She had a huge grin on her face, the wind blowing her wavy black hair. She tucked a few strands behind her ear and giggled at me.

“The worst is over, Rose.”

I glared at her as the two of us followed DJ out, “You live to torment me, Rivers. Bringing me to swim with sharks and now, forcing me to a ride that scared the s**t out of me.”

We sat at a table and ordered ice cream. DJ was busy playing with my phone while Danielle looked at me amused, “Falen Rose is afraid?”

“Not afraid,” I mumbled as our order arrived and took a spoonful of my sundae, “Just, uncomfortable.”

She raised her left eyebrow, “Bad memory with that ride? Just like with the sharks?”

I had told her about the sharks a few weeks ago and she had laughed at me and told me that they weren’t that dangerous. In her weird state of mind, she told me that dolphins were more dangerous since they go on killing sprees when they don’t get laid. Which is so weird but I don’t know what’s weirder, the fact that dolphins do that or the fact that Danielle knows that.

“Seriously D, I just hate that ride.”

“You are so weird.”

“Speak for yourself,” I mumbled and winced when she pinched my arm. Seriously, if I didn’t really like this girl too much I’d sue her for physical abuse. And seriously, her pinches hurt a lot, sometimes I’d get bruises from it.

We went on for more rides and I grinned when DJ one himself a bear, “How ‘bout you big boy? Your son won himself a bear. Why don’t you win your pretty wife one too?”

Danielle was about to protest when the old lady said she was my wife but I quickly replied, “Don’t worry, babe, I’ll win you one.”

I took the fake gun from the lady and shot at the five bottles, hitting all of them. Did I mention I had target shooting classes? I chose the biggest bear. It was gray and had a black bowtie around it. Danielle just rolled her eyes but accepted the prize.

“Landon!” DJ shouted and ran away from us. Danielle and I quickly ran after him and breathed a sigh of relief when we saw he was just with Landon.

“Hey guys,” Patrick greeted cheerfully once he neared us. He was pushing Paige’s stroller, “On a date?”

“Sorta,” I replied.

“Well, if you two want to spend some alone time, we could take DJ off your hands. The Ferris wheel is a romantic ride,” Denise said suggestively.

Danielle rolled her eyes and was about to decline when I grinned and thanked Patrick and Denise before pulling Danielle along to head to the Ferris wheel. Once I bought us our tickets, Danielle kept on staring at me with an amused expression.

“Do I have something on my face?”

“No,” she replied, “It’s just that we’ve had more dates already and I’m sure you’re thrilled with that.”

“You don’t like spending time with me?” I asked, almost hurt.

She shook her head quickly as we got in a seat, “Of course not. I like you too, Falen.”

My eyes shone and suddenly, everything seemed right once the machine started bringing us up, “Really?”

She laughed, “What’s not to like? You’ve proven me wrong about all my assumptions on you.”

“See,” I said in an I-told-you-so voice, “You shouldn’t be too quick to judge. So what does this mean now? Are we together?”

She furrowed her eyebrows and rested her head on my shoulder as I interlaced our hands, “I don’t know. I don’t want to rush into that first. I just want to enjoy whatever we have right now, whatever we feel towards each other.”

“You know, I didn’t get what Denise meant when she said that this was a romantic ride,” I said softly, leaning my head on hers, “But now I see her point.”

“What do you mean?”

By that time, we both already reached the highest peak, “Because we get to be on top, alone, away from the world for the briefest moment.”

“You want to kiss me don’t you?” she asked softly.

I swallowed, “Not if you’re not ready.”

She smiled and kissed my cheek, stunning me, “Thank you. For respecting that.”

I kissed her forehead, “Always.”

Once we got back down and were with DJ and the rest, we decided to have lunch now. We dined in the small diner in the middle of the carnival which was decorated with colorful balloons and animal prints. And even better, they didn’t just serve seafood. While the girls decided to buy some souvenirs, Patrick decided to use the time we had for the older-brother-talk-to-the-guy-his-little-sister-is-dating talk.

“So you and Cam, boyfriend and girlfriend, huh?”

I shook my head, “We’re not boyfriend-girlfriend.”

“What?” he asked confused, “But you guys were holding hands and cuddling and acting so sickeningly sweet after you got back from that first date you two had.”

I shrugged and ran a hand to my long blonde hair before putting back my beanie on, “Well, we just didn’t put a label on our status. I mean, does it matter?”

“So you guys are together?”

“Sort of,” I replied, “But not together-together.”

“Whatever,” he replied shaking his head, “Just don’t hurt my little sister okay? She’s been through enough.”

“I know.”

The girls got back empty-handed and Denise seemed to look panic as she sat beside Landon. Patrick furrowed her eyebrows at his wife, “Babe, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she muttered.

Danielle sat beside me and I leaned over to her just as our order arrived, “What happened?”

She shrugged and looked at her sister-in-law weirdly, “I dunno. She just started to pull me out of the shop. I tried asking her but-,”

She stopped in mid-sentence and mid-bite of her lunch. She looked frozen in her spot as she stared at something faraway. I looked at Patrick who had narrow eyes. Denise looked panicked and weary and then I felt someone else tense beside me. I looked at DJ, his blue eyes were wide with confusion until such time, and they became excitement.

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion and followed their gazes. I saw a tall guy, but he would still be two inches shorter than me. His light brown hair was cut neatly, like the ones in the army, and his hazel-green eyes glinted with surprise and curiosity as he made his way towards us. I absently took Danielle’s hand, squeezing it lightly and I wrapped a protective arm around Daniel who looked nothing but surprised.

As the man neared our table, I prayed that he didn’t know the ones I was with now, that they just looked the same but I was dismayed, “Elle?”

Danielle tensed beside me but she didn’t speak. It was Patrick who spoke, “William.”

I heard Danielle gasped quietly beside me and I tightened my arm around Daniel. Will looked at me, his eyes narrowing but then softened and then turned confused. He shifted his gaze to DJ and I saw the hurt that flooded his eyes but they were gone in a minute. He turned back to Patrick and smiled at him. I noticed Denise was holding onto Patrick’s arm tightly, restraining her husband from doing something stupid.

“What are you doing here Will?” Denise asked calmly.

Will sighed and licked his bottom lip, “Mariah and I are moving to Wilmington.”

At the mention of the new name, a girl appeared beside him. She was short and a bit chubby. She was really cute and looked like a girl version of Will. Her eyes twinkled and she immediately launched herself to Danielle, “Cam!”

Despite all the tension, Danielle giggled and hugged her back, standing up in the process, “Iah. It’s nice to see you again.”

When they pulled away, Mariah placed a hand on Danielle’s shoulder, “You too, Cam.”

Then Danielle turned to Will and I could see her eyes soften and then she turned back to Mariah, “Moving back to Wilmington, huh?”

Mariah nodded with a smile, “Thailand wasn’t for either of us. And Dad had asked me to look after the business here.”

She turned to Will again and a smile graced her features, all tension gone. Will smiled back, relief evident in his face. Danielle spoke something that none of us expected, “Then I guess you guys would have dinner with us then?”