“How many?” the cast member assigning people to cars asked us as another came to a stop—this one had Anger, fromInside Outon it—and discharged another foursome. They spilled out, high-fiving and talking about how awesome it had been.
“Two!” Bryony and I said at the same time. The cast member gestured us toward the waiting car, and I got in first, Bryony sliding in next to me.
“Two? Do I have a party of two?” the cast member called, looking around.
“Us!” I heard someone yell, and saw two girls hurry to join our car.
I bent forward to tuck my bag between my feet, and when I straightened up, I had a clear view of the girls who were sitting across from us—and blinked in surprise when I realized I knew them.
They were Greta Franklin and Nora Silver, from when we’d lived in Arizona, two years and I don’t know how many schools ago. I hadn’t seen them since we’d left, but they looked the same. Greta was Black, tall, with oversize glasses; Nora was white, ?petite, and more intense. When I’d known them, they’d been best friends, and since they were here together it seemed like that hadn’t changed.
I stared at them, trying to ?process this. It was one thing to see people from my school in Los Angeles—but from Arizona? It justwasfunny we’d ended up in the same car, and I was just about say something likeOf all the Ferris wheels in all the world, when Greta leaned forward.
“Cass?” she asked, her voice tentative.
I smiled at her. “Hi—” I started, when Bryony interrupted.
“Wait, you guys know each other?” She raised an eyebrow at me. “Do you knoweveryoneat Grad Nite, Cass?”
“We do know her,” Nora said, her voice frosty.“Unfortunately.”
I blinked at that, startled, and glanced between Greta and Nora. All at once, I noticed that neither of them looked particularly happy to see me. “Wait, what?”
At that moment, the cast member stuck her head in. “Everyone all set?” she asked, but without waiting for an answer, said, “Enjoy!” Then she shut the door, locked it, and the car—with all of us stuck inside—rose up into the air.
Ilooked across the car at Nora as we rose up and then stopped abruptly as the car below us let people off and picked up new riders. “Wait, what do you meanunfortunately?” I crossed my arms and started to lean back, but at that moment, the car swung down and forward, rocking sharply back and forth.
“Uh-oh,” Bryony said, her eyes wide as she looked around.
“Is our car broken?” I braced myself against the side, my heart pounding hard. “Is there something wrong with the ride?”
“Um,no,” Greta said, rolling her eyes. “This is one of the swinging cars.”
I stared at her. My stomach plunged—and then plunged again when our car rolled sharply back as we started to rise again. “No,” I said faintly, even though all the evidence—like the fact that we were sliding all around this track and swinging freely in space—was contradicting me.
“There were signs when we came in,” Nora pointed out.
“You know, I did have that thought when we got on,” Bryony said. “All of a sudden, I wondered why the other line was so much longer. I think it’s because that was the one for the non-swinging cars.”
“Oh god,” I said, as the car plunged forward again, then swung wildly in space. I closed my eyes, hoping that would make it better, but then opened them immediately when I realized that made it worse.
“Cass doesn’t like roller coasters,” Bryony explained in a low voice. Then she shook her head. “Oh sorry—I’m Bryony.”
“Greta.”
“I’m Nora.”
“So nice to meet you!”
“You too,” Greta said. “I love your shirt.”
“So, you know Cass?” Bryony asked, looking from Greta and Nora and back to me. She widened her eyes like she was sayingWhat the heck. I started to shake my head at her—letting her know I thought this was crazy, too—but that just made things feel extra spinny, so I stopped.
Nora folded her arms. “Wethoughtwe knew Cass.”
“But clearly we were mistaken,” Greta added, shaking her head.
“Uh,” I said, looking from one to the other?, trying to figure out what this weird vibe was. I turned to Bryony, who also looked baffled by what was happening. “Of course you know me,” I said. “We were in school together when I lived in Arizona,” I explained.
