Never Gonna Stop

Chapter Three

“That was AWESOME,” said Jason as the three guys walked out of Space Mountain. “I love that your aunt sent you Disneyland tickets for your birthday.”

“Some things are just classic,” said Mikey. “We should ride that one again. But this time let’s sit in the front!”

Madison put his hand on his stomach. He’d been feeling off all day, and all those twists and turns and sudden drops hadn’t helped. “Guys, I think I’m going to sit this one out. My stomach doesn’t feel great.”

“You need an iron stomach like mine,” said Jason, smacking his belly.

“No, this is an iron stomach,” said Mikey, lifting up his shirt and flashing his abs.

Jason threw a light punch at Mikey’s stomach, and Mikey aimed a return jab at Jason’s, while Madison laughed.

“C’mon, Mikey. Let’s let Madison go ride It’s a Small World or something while we get one more run in,” said Jason, motioning toward the line entrance. “It’s only a 25 minute wait right now.”

“Okay, but Madison, you better be ready for Splash Mountain when we’re done.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Madison waved them off and went over to a bench to wait. He wanted to lay down on the bench, but that didn’t seem like appropriate behavior in the most magical place on earth. He needed a distraction. He thought about the school show they’d done that morning in Ventura, and smiled. Though Richy would have notes for them, and he knew they should always be striving to do better, overall he thought it had been pretty good. And seeing people really get into the music, hearing them clap and scream at the end had been the biggest rush. Nothing could compare to performing live. He could only imagine what it’d be like in an arena or on an awards show. One day …

He saw Cinderella, decked out in her baby blue ball gown, round a corner just ahead, clearly in a hurry. (Maybe it was a carriage-into-pumpkin situation, but more likely she was just clocking out for the day.) She was taking quick, dainty steps — no doubt glass slippers weren’t ideal for much besides waltzing.

Just as she passed by, she seemed to roll an ankle, and down she tumbled, blue satin parachuting around her.

Madison hurried over to the damsel in distress. “Are you okay?” he asked.

Cindy looked embarrassed. “I think so. My ankle hurts, but that’s an old dance injury. I’m more worried I’m going to catch hell from Costuming if I wrecked any part of this dress though.”

“Don’t you have a fairy godmother just to bibbity-bobbity-boo it back into shape?” he teased.

“Something like that,” replied Cindy.

Madison took her arm. “Here, let me help you back on your feet, princess.” He eased her to her feet.

As soon as she put her weight down, her right leg buckled and Madison caught her, holding her firmly.

“Here, put your arm around my shoulders,” he prompted, and she did. “Now, can I help you back to your carriage?”

“Well, I’ll need to get out of costume — looks like I’m done for the day. There’s a cast entrance just behind the gift shop over there. If you can get me there, I can get out of this dress and have someone come get me."

“No problem,” said Madison and they started slowly toward the gift shop. He considered picking her up and carrying her, but something about the ball gown made that seem like too much. So they hobbled along, making slow progress toward the entrance.

“So you used to dance? Me too.” asked Madison. “What did you study?”

“Oh, everything. But I loved ballet most.”

“Ah, I never looked good in a tutu,” he said. “So it was hip hop for me.”

She smiled, and her eyes narrowed playfully. “Well I for one think you should give tutus another try.”

They reached a door marked “CAST ONLY” and Madison swung it open and helped Cindy through, into an empty gray corridor lit with fluorescent bulbs.

“Here we are,” she said, “the secret labyrinths of Disneyland."

Even though he had a good reason, Madison got the idea that he shouldn’t be here. People weren’t supposed to see where the magic of Disney was made.

“Turn into that dressing room on your right,” said Cindy.

When he entered the room he saw the stuff of childhood nightmares: probably 20 character heads, all neatly arranged on shelves, staring down on them with empty eyes. It was like Chip and Dale and Daisy and Donald and Mickey and Minnie had all been decapitated and left on display. Headless suits were hanging in an oversized wardrobe to the right. It was creepy, but it was also cool. “Wow, I can’t believe I’m in here,” said Madison.

He helped Cinderella down to a bench and sat down beside her.

“My hero,” she said in her sing-song Cinderella voice, “how can I ever repay you?”

“Well, maybe put in a good word with your fairy godmother.”

“Could do. Or we could go conventional.” She paused and smiled slyly. “A kiss.” Her cheeks flushed and he thought he could see some freckles through her makeup. Madison loved freckles.

He found himself moving closer to princess, as if drawn by a spell. The whole thing was so unlikely it was almost a fairytale. “Well I suppose that is how fairytales end.”

She leaned toward him, their lips almost touching and whispered, “And I’m a sucker for a happy ending.”

On instinct, he closed the gap between them. It was better than Space Mountain.

***

When Mikey and Jason emerged from the ride, Madison was waiting for them, smiling dumbly, thinking about that kiss, and how Snow White had barged into the dressing room, black wig in hand, just seconds after he and Cinderella had kissed. She’d offered to help Cinderella out of her gown, so an already flustered Madison figured it was time to go. He hadn’t even thought to get her number or her real name. But he supposed there was always an off-chance he’d find her shoe.

“Feeling better?” asked Jason.

Madison smiled, his queasy stomach long forgotten. “Never been better.”

To Be One has another busy week on their California tour. When we rejoin them in a week, should they:

a)    Spend a day at the beach

b)   Perform at a charity show