Face The Music

Bippity-Boppity-Boo-Hoo

When we got off the monorail, the first thing the girls did was run at nearly full speed over to Tomorrowland. I looked behind me to see the rest of the girls my age going in the opposite direction, but I didn't even have time to process my emotions in that second. I had to chase after Piper and Charlotte.

"Space Mountain! Space Mountain!" they shouted.

"You guys can't just run away! Slow down!" I said, trying to fight my nausea and keep up with them.

When we got to the long line at Space Mountain, I was trying to catch my breath. Please, please tell me they're not gonna be like this all day.

"Why aren't you with the rest of the older girls, Denali?" Charlotte asked.

Sometimes I couldn't tell those two apart, especially if one had a long t-shirt sleeve covering her glucose meter, until they talked. Charlotte couldn't pronounce the letter R very well. It was actually pretty adorable.

"They didn't want to hang out with me," I said.

"Is it because you guys kicked Addie's butt in the duo?" Piper asked. "I bet that's why."

"No, that's not it," I said. "It's because I'm having a baby and I can't go on all the same rides as them."

"What, you're pregnant?" Charlotte asked.

"That's what it means when someone says they're having a baby, idiot!" Piper said, nudging her with her elbow.

"I know that!" Charlotte said. "I just didn't know you were having a baby. I know you're in high school but like, you're not even really an adult."

"I know," I said. "Sometimes things just happen."

"So you can't go on any rides at all? That sucks," Piper said.

"No, I can still go on some. Just not Space Mountain and a few other ones. I can hold all of your bags though," I said.

"Okay," they said in unison.

We waited absolutely forever and the girls finally got to ride Space Mountain. After that we went to the PeopleMover, where I got some time to put my feet up. I was already getting tired and there were just hours upon hours to go. After that was the Buzz Lightyear ride, which I loved back when I was a kid. It was my favorite.

We stood in line forever while I checked my socials, and the girls played Minecraft on their phones. It was hard seeing pictures of my dance friends having a great time while I was stuck with babysitting two ten-year-olds I barely knew.

"Yes! We're next!" Piper said when we finally got to the front of the line.

A car pulled up and the girls got in ahead of me. Only two could ride at a time. Charlotte saw the look on my face and said, "Sorry, Deni."

"Don't be. I'll get the next one," I said as their car pulled away.

I sulked and got into the next car, riding all by myself. I felt like I really hit a new low in my life. How pathetic was I, having to go on my favorite ride all alone because my friends ditched me? I could hear Piper and Charlotte having the time of their lives in the car in front of me. I wish I had someone to ride with me. This isn't fair.

We finished the ride, and now the girls were hungry.

"Turkey legs! We want the turkey legs!" they said.

"What? Eww. No. I hate turkey," I said.

"Turkey! Legs!" said Piper, crossing her arms.

"Okay, fine. We'll see if we can find the turkey legs," I said, huffing as we walked out of Tomorrowland.

When we got to the next part of the park, I saw a big line. What luck. It was Goofy and Pluto. I could see the perfect tagline for when I uploaded this photo to all my socials: "Goofy-ing around at Disney!" or something like that.

"You guys, look! Let's get in line so we can get a picture!" I said.

"Eww. No. That's for little kids," Charlotte said.

"Not a turkey leg. Not interested," Piper said.

The girls were rock solid. We couldn't ride a single ride or stop anywhere until they got their prized turkey legs. That I had to pay for. Nina "forgot" to give them money. And to top it off, once they finally had their food and were sitting down, my phone died. I left my charger in the hotel. This pregnancy brain was already killing me.

The girls finished their turkey legs, and I wanted to go into the nearby gift shop to pick out something for my mom and my little cousins, but they didn't feel like it. We had to go on to the next ride, which was Big Thunder Mountain. And guess what? It had a big, thundering, hour-and-a-half wait. I basically just had to look around and try and talk to the girls since my phone was dead.

When it was finally time for them to ride, I held the bags and they were back ten minutes later. We walked in the hot sun to the Peter Pan ride, which I had to go on by myself, since like the last one, the cars only fit two people. I felt like the most miserable person, even though I was supposed to be at "The Happiest Place on Earth."

By the time we were done with all that, guess what time it was? No, really. Guess.

It was dinner time. And try to figure out what the girls wanted more of?

"Turkey legs! Turkey legs!" they said, their arms linked as they walked ahead of me all the way to the other side of the park.

This was so awful. I just wanted this day to end. I felt so sad, but so pissed at Zoey and the rest of the girls. If they didn't want me around, why on earth did they tell me after we got to the park? Had they just told me before we got on the damn bus, I could've avoided this whole thing.

I could've been relaxing at the pool or watching a movie in the room. Sure, I would've been sad that I wasn't at Disney, but it definitely would've been better than riding rides all alone and playing around with the turkey-leg-twins, who were starting to get on my last nerve.

The sun was getting slightly lower in the sky, and now we were actually going to do something fun: it was time to watch the parade! We made our way over, and it was a lot more hectic than I remembered as a kid. Everyone was all squished together like Covid never happened, and these Disney moms were the most overly-aggressive people I'd ever seen. One of them literally ran over my foot with her double stroller.

All I wanted to do was cry. It felt like my whole life was ruined. I was sixteen and pregnant, all my friends sucked, my Disney trip was completely ruined, and now my foot hurt. Just a few weeks ago I had everything, and now I felt like I had nothing. Seriously, what was my life?