𝕃𝕠𝕔𝕜𝕖𝕕 || 𝕁𝕒𝕔𝕜𝕤𝕖𝕡𝕥𝕚𝕔𝕖𝕪𝕖

ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟛𝟙 • 𝕋𝕙𝕖 ℙ𝕒𝕤𝕥 𝕧𝕤. 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔽𝕦𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕖

The newest addition to our group stepped back and just squinted his eyes at Mark. 

Then at Brielle. 

Then finally, he quickly glanced between Jack, Katlyn, and myself. 

"Mhm, okay. Sure. We'll go with Bri's way."

The group finally relaxed and we started walking in the direction of Adventureland. There was still some slight tension in the air and thankfully, right as that thought crossed my mind, Mark decided to be the hero and try to lighten the mood again. 

"Hey, we're wasting lots of light, so we gotta get to each ride as fast as possible,"

"What are you talking about?"

"Last one to the Adventureland sign sucks!"

He announced before taking off in the direction of the park section, with the rest of us confused in his dust. I quickly threw a smile in Jack's direction, to which he responded with a nod before we both took off, following closely behind the red-haired man. 

Once we reached the sign, I leaned forward to try and catch my breath as Jack paraded around in front of me, also struggling to breathe. 

"Ha! Beat ya!" He spoke between breaths as I scoffed at him.

"That's only because you cheated and went before I did! If it was fair, I totally would've beaten you!" 

"Ha! Yeah, right! Sore loser, much?"

We stood there, arguing and struggling for breath like kids after a race when Mark came over and started to gloat his own "victory."

"You two seem to forget that I beat you BOTH!" Jack and I just looked at each other and scoffed, before we turned to Mark.

"Oh, please. Your win was even more unfair than his,"

"Yeah, Mark, you were way more ahead of us." Mark sulked as we dismissed his victory and the rest of the group came walking up behind us. Brielle just rolled her eyes at us as she started to comfort Mark. 

"You did great, they're just weird," She said, sticking her tongue out at me, which, of course, I returned. I turned back to Jack to avoid talking to Katlyn or Luke, while Brielle and Mark continued their conversation on which rides we should hit first. As Brielle and Mark spoke, I couldn't help but notice her hand lingering on his arm, her touch still there as they looked at the map of Disney World. 

Luckily for me, I wasn't the only one who noticed. 

"Ohohoho... what do you think's goin' on over there?"

"Ooh... I dunno, but I think we could totally meddle... what do you think?" 

I smiled mischievously at the Irish man and he returned an evil chuckle. We definitely knew what we'd be up to these next few days at the parks. 

We had made it through all the restaurants and snack carts leading up to all the rides looked up to scout our different options. There was the Swiss Family Treehouse to just walk through, the Magic Carpets of Aladdin, which made my stomach uneasy, the Jungle Cruise, which seemed cool, despite all the animals being electronics, and The Pirates of the Caribbean ride, which I didn't actually know anything about. I knew I definitely didn't want to do the treehouse, as it seemed a little boring, or the Magic Carpets, one: because I hate heights and two: because it seems like a kinda kiddie ride anyway.

"Okay, so which should we do first?"

"I think we should do the Pirates ride first." For the first time in what seemed like a while, Katlyn spoke up and voiced an unproblematic opinion. Everyone, except Brielle, seemed to be perfectly fine with the idea, so we lined up and prepared to stand for a good hour until it was our turn.

~~~~~

"Ooh, almost there! You nervous, Y/n?"

"Why would I be nervous? It's just gonna be a fun, pirate ride right?"

The salty smell of ocean water wafted through my nostrils and made me feel like I was on a ship, rocking on a beautiful, relaxing cruise ship. The sailor music was even enjoyable and thankfully, having all these people to talk too, made the wait less irritable.

We were inching towards the beginning of the ride, where we would be boarding into large boats that fit three people in a row. We had already determined that Brielle, Jack, and I would sit in one and Mark, Katlyn, and Luke would sit in the row either directly in front or behind us. 

"How many people?"

"Six."

"Three in each row, please. Enjoy the ride."

We thanked the attendant as we sat in our seats. I glanced around the room, hating how dark it was, but knowing that it would soon get brighter. 

As the announcement system went over the basic rules of the ride, Katlyn leaned from behind us and spoke to us. 

"Hey, Y/n?"

"Yeah?"

"Didn't you say you were afraid of the dark and heights?"

The ride started slowly moving across the water and we waved goodbye to the attendants and people waiting in line for the next boat. As I waved, I slightly turned to answer Katlyn's question, even though I don't ever remember telling her anything about any fears.

"Uh, I don't think I've ever said anything about that to you... but, uh, yeah, I kinda sorta hate the dark and heights..."

"Uh, Y/n..."

We started to enter a dark tunnel that caused a pit to form in my stomach. 

At least this is it... right?

"This is kind of a dark ride..."

Aw, crap.

Note: Yes, you have a fear of the dark and heights. You're welcome for the spice ;)