“Ah hah” She said and I turned to see her smiling at the phone. She placed it down and a woman’s monotone voice came through the speakers “Route set. Turn left at 21st terrace.” She reversed out of the spot and followed the directions.
“I’ll call everyone when we get there so they know where to go.”
“Ok.” I answered and found us a rock station to zone out to. I already felt weirdly lighter somehow. It might have been the 6 glasses of Jack Daniels kicking in but I think it was mostly getting out of there. Alcohol affected Weres differently so it was hard to tell. I didn’t know Kira all that well but she was different from everyone else and I was starting to realize that might be a good thing. The darkness that had swallowed me whole seemed to dissipate the second I got in this car and I didn’t care if she drove us off the end of the earth, I was along for the ride.
We drove into the Zoomly’s Theme Park and Arcade 20 minutes later. The big sign broke me out of my haze. “Roller coaster’s? Really? What are we, twelve?”
She scoffed “In my experience doing something is better than sitting and whining. We’ll get our thrill on for a couple of hours and if you’re still up for it we hit a few house parties later just like we planned. This just seemed like a better pre-game to me.”
I couldn’t argue with that. I looked up at the ‘coasters I used to ride as a kid. They’d added some huge ones since then that I always wanted to try but never got around to. Kira looked up at them too “Don’t worry, we won’t go on them till your sober but if you’re too worried I’m going to whip you in air hockey, you don’t have to play me.”
“I’m actually feeling pretty solid right now but the ‘coaster can wait so, you’re on.” I cracked my knuckles slowly as a thought came to me. “How about we make it interesting? Loser buys pretzels, popcorn, and anything else the winner feels like.” It wasn’t very nice of me to mess with her like this but I couldn’t resist.
Her eyes fell on me and I noticed the challenge in them. “Cool, if you want to just give your money away like that, that’s totally fine with me.”
I laughed. Poor girl had no clue who she was dealing with. I was an air hockey guru master. “We’ll see. I’ll call Trent and have him pass our location on to everyone else.”
“Thanks, I’ll get in line with the tweens and their parents.” She looked at the kids in line and back to me, eyes sparkling at the height differences, daring me to laugh and I found myself smiling as I pressed the cell to my ear.
Chapter 7
Jay
The score was six to six and in traditional air hockey style the first to seven won the whole thing. At first I was going to let Kira win because it wouldn’t be a fair game anyway but she was a sick air hockey player and her drive kicked my competitiveness into gear. She had one the first round mostly because I had gone easier on her in the beginning but I had won the last round and this was the final showdown.
The puck had gone back and forth, back and forth. She swung out her arm-
“Hey, buddy” a hand clapped me on the back and the puck flung it into my goal as I looked up into Logan’s face.
Kira screamed and did a happy dance.
“Dude, you are so dead.”
Logan backed away palms out in front of him. “What, I didn’t mess you up did I?”
I couldn’t help smiling “I frickin’ hate you right now.”
“Eh, you’ll get over it.”
Kira flung her arms around Logan “You have amazing timing you know that? I am officially the air hockey champion of the world.” She backed away and held her hand out to me. Mock seriously she said, “Good game.”
I took her hand in mine though I noticed I only got the hand while Logan got the hug. “Yeah, yeah, if you’re into cheating than it was a great game.”
She shrugged, the grin plastered to her face “Hey, a win’s a win, right? I think some fried dough with powdered sugar sounds amazing right now. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“Definitely, and because Logan is the cause of my losing the bet, he can buy.”
Logan laughed, “I didn’t know there was a bet involved.” He considered “I guess I can buy us dough but Jay buys the drinks because honestly, you can’t eat those things without some.”
I rolled my eyes, Logan was always bargaining. “Deal but first let’s work up an appetite with the Cliff Diver.”
************
Kira
I had noticed the Cliff Diver from out in the parking lot before even entering the park and was intrigued by it. It was the tallest ride I’d ever seen and its function was to slowly take you to the top and then allow you to freefall down at incredible speeds. It would jolt to a stop at random intervals so you never knew where it would stop or even if it would. You simply bounced around waiting to see which direction it would bring you next, further up and then down again or straight down. I was pumped.
“So where’s everyone else?” Jay asked.
“They went on Green Thing.” Logan pointed over to what must have been one of the newer roller coasters at Zoomly’s. The thing was huge, spanned most the park with its winding and flipping, and had an almost completely vertical drop from the highest point. Not surprisingly it was lime green and looked freshly painted. “It’s not my thing so I came to find you two.”
I looked at him. “You don’t like heights?” If not, I thought the Cliff Diver might not be a good idea for him.
Jay answered “Nah, he’s good with heights. It’s the twisting that makes him sick, always has.”
Smirking, he said “It’s true. It involves a traumatic story with a tire swing.”
I looked skeptically at him but decided to let it go as we got in line. I faced the guys, “You ready for this, James Dellarson?”
He cringed slightly at the use of his full name. I considered it a small triumph. “Piece of cake” he replied “and F.Y.I. you’ve been hanging out with my uncle too much.”
I laughed. “That doesn’t bother me. Doc is awesome. Logan, you sure you’re ok with this ride?”
“Hell yeah, no twisting, just straight flying, you feel me?”
I looked all the way up at the ride once again. “Definitely.”
I thought about flying and I missed my broom with a yearning so deep, it took my breath away. My broom was the one thing my parents would not allow me to bring. There wasn’t any situation, they said, that I would need it for. They’d also made me swear on my magic that I wouldn’t spell another broom to fly unless a life or death situation required it. Which we all knew, wasn’t ever going to happen. Flying wasn’t much of a defense for anything and there were quicker means for transportation.
Didn’t they understand that flying to a witch was like flowers to the earth? Neither was necessary but they made life better, more beautiful. I lamented my broom mournfully but tried to look forward to this sort of flying. Diluting myself with this ride for a few short minutes was better than nothing.
The seats were placed as two together, a space, and then two more together. You were strapped into the seat and a bar came from above your seat to hold you in place. A red-haired girl, no more than 13, eyed Logan and when our turn to get on the ride came up, she hurried to sit next to him. According to the grumbles behind us, she was ditching her friends in the process. There was that space, then I sat on the inside and Jay on the outside.
As we slowly ascended, anticipation that felt a lot like butterflies filled me. The ground was getting further away and everything became so much smaller. I gripped the bar hard. “Jay?”
“Yeah?”
Even though the belt kept me pretty secure, I managed to move my head just a little and turned towards him. “I’m glad we’re eating after we ride this.” I joked.
He turned his head towards me and I was shocked by the light in his eyes. Energy and excitement shone out of him. I gasped involuntarily at the beauty of him in that moment. “I know what you mean.” He said, laughing.
I nodded, speechless. I was staring
at him one second and then the next, the cold wind rushed up at me, pushing me back. I faced forward and watched as we plummeted into the world, gripping my bar and screaming my head off. We were bound on a fall that seemed to have no end and every part of me felt alive.
Suddenly, we jerked to a stop and I managed a few heavy breaths before we were lifted slowly up all over again. My eyes met Jay’s, his purple eyes were intoxicated by the rush and I knew mine must have looked the same. We stayed like that without exchanging words until we dropped again.
**************
Jay
After the ride, Logan’s gaze kept sliding to me, concern and pity shining like flashing marquees on his forehead. I ignored him as we walked to the counter.
Logan looked at the teenage girl behind the stand “Three elephant ears, please.” She smiled and may have swallowed her own tongue as she worshipped my friend.
I decided to help things move along or we’d be here all night. I stood beside him, adding “and three lemonades.” The girl’s blue eyes looked like they were about to bug out of her head as they passed from Logan to me over and over again.
Kira went to the window next to ours “Hi there, I’ll have three elephant ears and three lemonades, please.”
The girl behind that window said “Coming right up. That’ll be fifteen dollars.”
I handed Kira six dollars and Logan placed nine more dollars in my hand to give to her. She flipped her dark hair over her shoulder and laughed at us with her eyes.
When the girl behind the second counter handed us our drinks and plates we turned to go. Logan smiled at the girl who had yet to move from her spot at the first window “Well, thanks anyways.”
A giggle came out of the young girl “Anytime.”
We walked to find some seats as Kira shook her head and said “You guys are ridiculous.”
***************
Kira
They were so ridiculous but in a cute, funny way. I thought I’d seen it all this week with girls going crazy everywhere we went but complete loss of motor skills was a new one. Logan and Jay had just made that girl’s day.
It wasn’t a surprise to me that everywhere I went with my new group of friends, people stared. The towering heights of the guys alone would have anyone doing a double take but get all of them in a group together, add in the surreal good looks that frankly each one of them possessed and you entered major gawking territory. I never had a huge group of friends growing up but I was pretty certain this type of this wasn’t normal.
Growing up I was the girl with the protective parents. Being a witch can be hard when you’re a kid surrounded by humans. I made a few mistakes and suddenly I’m the freaky girl. One mistake too many and we had to move. We moved around a lot until I was nine years old and then we settled in Boston. There, I was home schooled until college.
I had lived at home and commuted but we were always close with the neighbors. I hadn’t learned until I was older that it had been a strategic choice that my parents made for us to fit in and be liked by our neighbors. When you’re on the run, you need every illusion of normalcy you can get. It was best, they explained, to be hidden in plain site.
I met people in undergrad and figured out how to socialize as best I could. There’d been a few guys and a few dates but no one was tripping over themselves to stare. I decided I was fine with that, I’d never worried overmuch about my looks before, and honestly I wasn’t going to start now. For now I was far, far away from home and loving the freedom.
Jay and Logan had already polished off their food and were talking sports as I tried to finish the colossal task of powdered sugar that lay in front of me. I saw Brandon, Trent, Max, Mena, Annabella, Demi, and Will coming over to us.
We all exchanged “Heys” but I noticed everyone’s eyes fall on Jay like he was an escaped mental patient. I’d noticed Logan giving him similar looks earlier and I wondered what that was all about.
Max was looking scrambled and nauseous and Will was practically holding Max up as they walked. “Dude, I get why they call it the green thing now, it’s the color of your face,” Trent said as he too, helped Max to sit down.
Max shrugged “Go on the roller coaster they tell me. It’ll be fun they tell me.”
Mena rolled her eyes “Stop being a baby, it was fun.”
Demi came and sat next to me “Kira this idea was brilliant. How did you come up with it?”
I was shocked at her nice tone. She was hardly ever flat out nice. “I don’t know. It was just…needed.” I looked to Jay as I said it and his eyes connected to mine in shared experiences.
“Well regardless of the fact that we are all at least ten years too old and completely overdressed,” Demi continued “it’s the most fun I had in a while.”
It was true. Demi was in a cute dress, Annabella was in her designer labeled jeans and blouse, and heck, I was in a skirt, but no one really seemed to care.
“Same for me,” Annabella added. “Besides, kids today don’t know what they’re doing, they need us to show ‘em how it’s done.”
Trent looked to Brandon and said “Bumper Cars?”
“You know I’m down.” Brandon replied. Then he looked to me “Kira, you gonna finish that?”
I’d only managed half of it and was full. I handed him the plate “It’s all yours. Also, I want in on the bumper cars.”
“Me too.” Logan said.
“Let’s hit it, then” Jay added and we all went for it. Even Max tagged along to watch.
Chapter 8
Kira
Three Hours later, the park employees had to kick us out as the lights shut off and the park closed. They held it open longer than they were supposed to anyway just for us when a basketball shoot-out between Brandon and Will ended in tie after tie. Finally, during the fourth rematch Will had won.
As a result, Demi now held a huge pink gorilla under her arm. It matched the purple one and the green one I got from winning at the squirt gun game, twice. Everyone was shocked when I won the first time and the guys were too competitive for their own good. Thus, after participating in the insisted rematch, I won again. I wasn’t about to tell them that spells required you to have amazingly precise aim and focus, so I just enjoyed my victories with a mysterious smile.
I ended up giving the purple one to Mena when she and Annabella played Rock, Paper, Scissors for it. That surprised me that Annabella thought she could beat Mena at a tactical game because I’d gotten to know Mena a little and she was amazing at that type of thing. When I said as much Annabella shrugged “I’ve beat her at it before.” She put an arm around Mena, “she may be smart but I’m unpredictable.” Mena smiled saying “It’s true, I really did win that out of luck, although I usually add other elements to make it more challenging but simple works too.”
Overall we had eaten too much, or at least I had, it didn’t seem to affect anyone else to eat mass amounts of junk food. On top of the Elephant Ears, we had hot dogs, popcorn, pretzels and even cotton candy. As per our agreement, Jay paid for mine, grumbling ineffectually about cheating and never going easy on me again. As per a new unspoken agreement, Brandon ate half of whatever I ordered. He was always hungry and I was too full so it worked out nicely.
In the end we had ridden The Green Thing, the others, minus Max, rode it again for us, along with almost every other roller coaster in the park. Max and Logan hit the arcade most of the night allowing them to remain intact.
Now we hung around the parking lot, figuring out our next plans. “We could hit up that twelve year olds birthday party, after party.” Brandon quipped.
“We would but I don’t think you’re invited anymore after you almost crushed him into the wall with your bumper car.” I joked.
“Yeah,” Annabella added “I don’t think you’d want to run into his little sister again, she did crush you against the wall.”
Logan smiled and shook his head “Six year olds today, man.”
“Yeah, yeah. Shut it.” Brandon whin
ed and we all snickered.
“Seriously though,” Logan said, pointing to the only three cars in the lot, Max’s, Trent’s, and mine. “That Daniel kid’s got a party going tonight and it’s only 10:30. Shall we?”
I hesitated, considering. I was tired and somehow the party scene didn’t feel right after a night like tonight. This adventure seemed out of place in the real world and I was uncertain about forcing them to collide. On the other hand, I had completed my first full week here, had a great job, great roommate, and great friends. In general I had a lot to celebrate.
That is of course, unless I counted my possible upcoming attack. I frowned. Crap. I’d been doing so well with not thinking about that till now. I’d dodged calls from my dad by texting him to let him know I was fine but not actually picking up, in order to avoid the dreaded conversation. Though I hadn’t harped on it, it was always in the back of my mind. I’d felt paranoid all day. Even some of my friends had asked me once or twice if I was all right when I couldn’t stop looking around. I knew I was safe in a public area and there was no way for anyone watching to know what I was unless I unleashed some of my magic. Still, no matter how much fun I had, it was there. Still was.
Jay, noticing my frown, shook his head at me “Kira, this day isn’t over. Not yet.” He knew where my head was at somehow. Probably not the specifics but he knew that I was worried like I had been at the pub earlier. He probably knew because maybe his mind was on his problems too. He got it and he was trying to throw us both another lifeline and at least a little more time.
I nodded, my eyes never leaving his and metaphorically grabbed on. “All right, who’s in my car? If you want shotgun, you should call it now.”
Jay nodded imperceptibly. While everyone fought for that spot, Jay shouted “I’ll call shotgun of Trent’s.” This was followed by loud groans because no else had thought of that.
Eventually my car held Mena, Will and Demi with Brandon up front with me. Trent’s car held Jay and Annabella and Max drove with Logan in his car.
Shifting Shadows (Sparks Collide Trilogy) Page 5