First Impressions

Chapter XV: Parental Guidance

It wasn't so much the Ferris wheel itself that presented the problem—it was more what occurred on it. Somehow I ended up stuck with Ashton again, because Britt practically leapt over Aimee—one of the girls from school—to get in the same car with Josh. Courtney and her boyfriend filled the next, and Aimee, appearing somewhat salty about Britt's stealing Josh, reluctantly joined Dave in the following car. Rubbish.

After a begrudging glance in Ash's direction, I followed him into the last car. An awkward silence hemmed in around us, although I could distinctly hear cheerful voices and laughs coming from outside our little sphere of solemnity.

We remained perfectly hostile as our car rose higher and higher in the air. Truth be told, I'd never ridden in a Ferris wheel before, mainly because they looked boring to me. In addition, I'd heard that it was primarily couples who went on them, and I didn't have a boyfriend.

With that thought, my eyes landed on Ash who was sitting straight across from me, and I felt a blush threaten to warm my cheeks again. I somehow managed to keep my embarrassment in check by looking out the window at the shrinking fairgrounds.

We had ascended to about half the wheel's height, when, suddenly, our car experienced a sharp jolt. It was obviously a mechanical error, for I was jerked right from my seat. Screaming in surprise, I tried to grab hold of something, but my body had already been flung too far forward.

Panicked, I threw my arms around the first thing I came into contact with, which, of course, was Ash. I didn't fully realize this until he let out a strangled exclamation from underneath me. "Maine, what the—"

Horrified, I jerked back from him, which only caused the car to rock back and forth further. I then proceeded in my retreat to trip and nearly fall onto the floor of the car, only to be caught by Ashton's arms.

We were both on our feet now—at least, he was. I was probably putting more weight on him than I was on my own two feet. Our car had nearly reached the top of the wheel by now, but I paid no heed to the scenery.

I was too busy staring into Ashton's eyes—into those chocolate orbs that stared right back into my blue ones. With my body pressed flush against his and our faces so close, I, for a nerve-wracking moment, saw his gaze drop to my lips. What is he doing?

My heart was racing by now—so fast that I could hardly take it. Ash was way too close, and I was imagining things that threatened the mere fabric of my relationship with him.

Over the expanse of a second, my own gaze flickered down to his lips and then just as quickly back up to his eyes, but it was too late. As soon as I looked into Ash's eyes, I knew I'd been caught. It didn't matter that he had been the first to commit the offense. All that mattered was that he had seen me do it—right in front of his eyes.

He stared down at me now, eyes narrowed, as if in some sort of challenge. I desperately wished that he would let me go, but under the heat of his gaze, I felt powerless to do anything except stare right back.

That was when the camera flashed.

Taken by surprise, we both whipped our heads in the direction of that sly camera, and, upon locating it, a loud curse spewed from Ashton's mouth. In response, I brought my hands to his chest and shoved him away. Then, as my brain put the pieces together, I dropped to my seat and ran a distressed hand through my hair.

Why hadn't the people in charge of the ride told us that this ride did pictures? Stupid, rubbish ride! I almost felt like swearing myself—but that that would only make me feel worse. Instead, I let out a frustrated groan as I banged my head against the back of my seat.