My eyebrows furrow. “What talk?”
“Thetalk. Now that you’re eighteen.”
My stomach drops. “Mom, no! The talk is not needed.”
“Should I take you to the doctor to put you on the pill?”
“Mom!” I cringe and my cheeks burn from embarrassment.
“Well, I’m here if you ever want to talk about it or go to the doctor.”
I attempt to smile at her in thanks and wait for her to leave the room. I wait ten more minutes to ensure that I’m not bright red before I walk downstairs.
An hour later, the limousine arrives. We travel through the suburban part of town, toward the amusement park on the main strip of road close to Crown Beach.
Excitement shoots through me—I love the amusement park. We’re always guaranteed a good time, and Misty and I both see it as our happy place. It’s where Knox and I and Misty and Kane had our first double date. The restaurant, with its ocean view, is where our families have celebrated special occasions over the years.
We walk to the available ticket booth. When the worker sees us, his eyes widen.
“I’m Zara. This is Misty,” I glance between the guys. “This is Knox and Kane. Their mother is Audrey Crown. We’re here to get the VIP passes.”
The employee blinks a few times, then pushes his glasses up his nose. He looks at Knox and shuffles back in his seat like he’s scared of him. His colleague, who has finished serving a family at the next window, looks over and says, “Billy, the Crowns own the amusement park. Just give them the VIP passes.”
The guy turns away, picks up the passes, and places them on the counter. He clears his throat. “Have a good day.”
As we walk through the clown-face entryway, I’m greeted by a variety of carnival music and laughter. In the distance is the top of the red-and-white Ferris wheel, and to my right is a large roller coaster.
As we walk toward the food shops, the scent of coffee wafts to me first, followed by the smell of something oily and deep fried. Then I smell popcorn and candy floss, which makes my stomach rumble.
“I want ice cream. You want some?” Misty asks, her eyes darting between the three of us.
“Yes, please,” I answer.
“Kane, come help me carry them back.” He moans under his breath but follows her to the ice cream stand.
Misty and Kane stroll back to us and hand us our ice cream.
“Can you hold mine for a second?” Misty asks me with a wicked glimmer in her eye.
She hands me her ice cream cone and glances at Kane. When he brings the ice cream up to lick it, her hand bolts out and she smashes it into his face.
Misty, Knox, and I burst out in laughter as Kane stands and blinks a few times with his mouth open wide. Chocolate ice cream is everywhere—all over his face, even in his eyes. It drips off his face onto his shirt.
The shock evaporates, and a slow, evil grin paints Kane’s face. Within seconds, he hurls himself at Misty, who screams. He rubs his head on her neck, spreading the ice cream into her hair.
It isn’t long before Misty’s in the bathroom cleaning herself up while cursing Kane.
I put my hand under the tap and then run my fingers through her hair to try to get the stickiness out. “You’re not going to get all of this out now.”
She whines loudly, still trying to rub her shirt with water. “I give up. I want to go on the rides before DJ Mesah starts.”
When we return to the guys, Misty checks her watch. “Okay, we have time to go on two rides. What to choose, what to choose?”
She wiggles her eyebrows at us, exaggerating the hard choice, but we know what she’ll choose. “Bumper cars to make the guys happy.” She gives me a pointed look. “And our favorite, the carousel?”
Kane groans. “What is with you two and the carousel? It’s a kids’ ride.”
Misty has been dragging me on the carousel since we were young kids. It’s our thing.
