Collin had never known that such a small touch could cause wildfire to spread throughout his body. The air seemed to shimmer and crackle, all the oxygen being consumed by the flames of his desire. His pupils dilated and the world itself seemed to radiate.
Was he dreaming?
He concentrated on walking, knowing that nothing would ruin the moment faster than tripping over a crack in the sidewalk. With all of his leftover energy, he focused on just breathing, fearing that if he spoke, the spell would break.
They walked with their pinkies hooked for the next block.
Then, a group of people came walking out of a restaurant, and in the momentary sidewalk traffic, their connection was dropped.
"So," Collin said, mostly to steady himself. "Where did you grow up? I know you mentioned the valley, but which one?"
"Um, what? Like, I'm not your stereotypical valley girl?" she said in an exaggerated impression of Alicia Silverstone in Clueless, and then laughed. "I grew up in the central one. My parents live outside of Fresno."
Collin had never really been there. The closest he'd been to spending time in the central valley was driving on Interstate 5 to get to Los Angeles. But did that pass through Fresno? He didn't think so. "That's pretty close, right? Do you go home often?"
She shook her head. "It's about a three-hour drive one-way, depending on traffic, and I don't have a car. How about you?"
"I grew up just outside of San Francisco. I–" He almost said that Avery had a car and would drive them up at least once a month, but he stopped himself in time. "I don't have a car yet, but my folks said they'd get me one over the summer."
"That's nice of them."
"Well," he said as he held his palms out, "they know that if I have a car that I'll come up more. Also, they think that next year I should start applying for internships and things like that, and a car would give me more options."
"An internship doing what, exactly? Translating documents from Latin?" she asked with a twinkle in her eye and sarcasm dripping from her voice.
"I mean..." Collin shrugged with a self-deprecating chuckle. "Guess I can't live on their dime forever. I'll eventually have to figure it out."
They stopped at the corner of Pacific and Laurel, waiting for the light to turn so they could cross.
"Are you close to your family?" Heather asked.
"Yeah, my folks are cool." It was more complicated than that. Layers of sedimentary build-up with ribbons of conflict and resolution, misconceptions and understanding. But there was no need to give a full geological history of his relationship with his family, and right now, present tense, things were cool. Heather was present tense. The past was irrelevant. "How about you?"
The light turned green, and they stepped into the crosswalk.
"My parents work a lot, but they also make sure that the time we have together is really special."
As they walked down the next block, the wooden slopes of the Giant Dipper came into view, and they could hear elated screams woven into the ocean breeze.
"I'm guessing visiting the boardwalk were some of those special times?"
"Yeah." Her voice took on a far-away sound. "We always had a blast when we came here... Except for the time I ate too much cotton candy and..." She snorted. "You don't need to hear that story!"
"Now I really need to hear that story!" Collin gave her a gentle shoulder bump.
"Let's just say that puking on the cyclone is as horrendous as you might imagine!"
The cyclone was one of those rides that spun around so fast that you were pinned to the wall without needing restraints. He shuddered at the image. "Geez. That's disgusting. No cotton candy for you today!" He let out a hearty laugh.
She joined in with his laughter. "Yeah, no. I'm good."
When they reached the ticket kiosk, Collin walked up to the window ahead of Heather. "Sixty tickets," he requested, taking out his wallet and handing over the amount due just as she reached his elbow.
"How much do I owe you?" she asked.
Collin accepted the roll of tickets from the cashier, stepped away from the kiosk, and then turned to Heather. "Nothing. Tips were really good this week. And besides, I invited you to the boardwalk."
The money he would win from the bet waved to him from the corner of his thoughts, and the absurdity of the situation crashed over him. Heather was really fucking cool, and he wanted to be hanging out with her bet or no bet, date or no date. A weight he didn't know was there, lifted from his chest as he decided it was time to tell Tom that the bet was off. Should have been called off weeks ago.
"No, really," she insisted.
"No. I'm serious." He looked at her and stroked his chin. "But, the next time we go out, I will definitely let you take care of my bar tab. Deal?"
She squinted her eyes at him and then stuck out her hand. "Deal."
He took her out-stretched hand and shook it. But instead of letting go, he led her past the park's entrance. "What should we do first?"
There was no line for the haunted house, so they went there, her knee pressing into his every time an animatronic sprang out at them. They rode the pirate ship next, laughing and screaming as the enormous ship swung high into the air. Then finally, they headed toward the Giant Dipper.
Although it was early in the season, it was a Saturday, and the Giant Dipper was the biggest draw to the boardwalk. So, unsurprisingly, several dozen people had already formed a line. Collin and Heather were standing on the staircase that went to the riding platform, silently reading the placards that told the history of the ride and boasted how it was the oldest roller coaster on this side of the Mississippi.
"You know, I've been meaning to invite you..." Collin's voice trailed off over the heads of everyone else in line.
Heather looked at him, expectant. "Yeah?"
He backtracked and started again. "Have you ever been to the Queer Fashion Show at Porter?"
"I've seen the fliers, sure. Why? Are you in it?" Her eyebrows raised.
"What? Me? No, no. I usually like to keep my clothes on in public." He let out an awkward laugh. "But Sam is in it."
"Oh, really? She didn't tell me."
A train was boarding and their conversation paused as they stepped up the stairs. When they stopped, Collin continued. "Yeah, the last show is tonight. And actually, Sam and my other roommates are hosting the afterparty."
"Oh yeah? At your place?"
Heather hadn't been to his place, but she knew what street he lived on.
"Yeah," he answered. "And I was wondering if you'd want to go to the show with me. Sam had some extra free tickets."
The line moved again, and they stepped onto the platform.
"Where do you want to sit?" she asked, pointing to the different rows that the line split into.
"Well, the front is the best." Collin raised his eyebrows, questioning.
"Okay." She stepped towards the front row.
"Okay, you'll come with me tonight?" he asked hopefully.
She looked back at him. "I–I don't think I can."
He averted his eyes and wanted to kick himself. Of course, she wouldn't go to the queer fashion show. That wasn't her scene. And, he thought of Veronica and Monica, it definitely wasn't her friends' scene. "That's cool," he mumbled. "I get that it's not your thing."
The next roller coaster pulled up, screeching to a stop. Passengers whooped and high-fived as they jumped off. Everyone stepped forward as empty seats filled in. The safety bars went down, and the train pulled away.
Collin and Heather stepped up to the yellow line. They were next.
"It's not that." She cocked her head. "Why wouldn't it be my scene?"
"Well, you know..." His hands fluttered. Was she going to make him say it?
The next train was already pulling forward, safety bars lifting, people standing, all with exhilarated smiles. When the train emptied, Heather and Collin took their seats in the front car.
"I love this ride," Collin said to Heather as the attendant performed a quick safety check.
In response, Heather just gripped the chrome-plated safety bar.
With a lurch, the car rushed forward, immediately disappearing down into an ink-black tunnel. Everyone screamed. Then the front car caught onto the moving chain, and with a slow and rhythmic click-clack-click, the train was pulled out into the light and up the huge wooden hill.
"I forgot how high we go," Heather shrieked.
"It's an amazing view!" The sky was clear and Collin scanned around, noticing the expansive blue ocean to their right, the rows of parking lots and curving streets to their left.
And then they reached the pinnacle. They hovered for one exhilarating second, with an unobstructed view of the coming fall. Heather grabbed Collin's hand with an iron grip and then they plunged downward.
His stomach flew to his chest, and Collin let out an unrestrained scream as the wind rushed through his hair and pricked at his eyes. Then they were racing upwards again, and back down, curving on a hard bank. Heather's fingers interlaced with his and she let out a string of profanities as Collin laughed with glee.
Then, as quickly as it had started, the train slowed and then jerked to a halt. It was over.
"That was something," Collin mused.
"Sure was." Heather shook her head.
They walked out the exit and passed a row of television screens flipping through pictures taken of passengers on the ride. It only took Collin a second to find the picture of him and Heather. He was smiling like a goofball and she was screaming with her eyes clenched shut.
"I have to run to the bathroom," Heather announced.
"You okay? Not gonna puke, are you? I made sure you didn't have any cotton candy!"
"I'm not going to puke!" She rolled her eyes. "I'll be right back."
Collin waited a minute and then walked up to the counter and purchased a printout of their picture. He wished he'd worn a pair of cargo shorts so he could have easily hid the picture away. Instead, he slipped it into his back pocket.
"I wasn't too long, was I?" Heather asked when she returned.
"Not at all."
"This was fun, but I didn't realize how late it was getting. Mind if head back?" she asked.
"Of course not," he lied. "But what's the rush? Big date?" The question popped out without thinking as they walked away from the boardwalk and towards the Holiday Inn where she lived, which was just a straight shot down Ocean Street.
"No, stupid." She shook her head. "I have a work-study job and have some grunt work I need to get done tonight. That's why I can't go to see Sam with you."
"You have two jobs?" How did he not know this about her?
"Gotta pay for tuition somehow." She shrugged without looking at him, and he felt awash in guilt for how much he took his parent's money for granted.
"What's the grunt work you have to do?" he asked, the gears turning in his head, trying to figure out what his next move would be.