chapter fourteen . disneyland
After the whole Oliver missing ordeal, the group needed a way to get rid of their stress. With the idea of going to Disneyland for two days, how could they refuse?
Wade was eagerly staring down at the ticket in his hand, although Victor was quick to pry it from his hands. "Hey!" He complained.
"I'm holding onto this for you before you can lose your ticket." He told him firmly, shoving Wade's ticket into his wallet.
"I never lose my tickets." Wade pouted like a child, crossing his arms.
"Oh yeah? Remember that one amusement park?" Hunter piped in, playfully nudging Wade. His friend turned around and locked Hunter into a chokehold.
"Whatever, pookie. You lost your ticket too." He laughed, purposely using his fist to mess up Hunter's hair. Wade held on until Hunter finally tapped out, shooting the middle finger at him.
Oliver was standing next to Maisie, a proud smile on his face. After the kiss with Victor, he was quick to tell his sister about it the next day. He claimed that even though Maisie got the first guy, Oliver got the first kiss. She didn't have the heart to tell him that they had both dated people before, but Oliver was right on the kiss part, Maisie always backed away from a relationship before it got to that level.
Her hand was held tightly in Adonis' while they navigated the line to get inside. Elizabeth looked the other way.
Of course, Elizabeth was over Adonis, but it still hurt to see the guy that she had been into choose the girl who seemed to have it all. She frowned and let Lucielle urge her further down the line.
Adonis watched her and sighed, he felt like his friendship with Elizabeth really broke apart after he started dated Maisie. He knew why, of course, but he still felt terrible about it for some reason. Maybe it was because he was really to closed off to make any really close friends, so Elizabeth's advances felt more friendly than romantic. So in a way, he felt like he lost a closer friend.
When they reached the front of the line at the entrance, he let his hand slide out of Maisie's and chose not to reconnect them when they reached the other side.
The brunette awkwardly shoved her hands in the pocket of her hoodie but stood by his side, "Addi? You good?"
"Yeah, just thinking." He responded, "Sorry." He added after a few more seconds of awkward silence.
"It's okay." She smiled assuringly, remaining by his side. It only took a few minutes for Jonna to come by and sweep Maisie away, squealing about how excited she was for the Spider-Man ride.
Victor found his way over to Adonis, the two boys finding comfort in their silence. They would occasionally ask each other a question, but they were both happy how it was.
"Guys! Let's hit the Guardians of the Galaxy first! I haven't been here since it was tower of terror!" Lucielle eagerly told the group, trying to lead them in the direction of the ride.
They all decided to hit California Adventure first so they could spend more time in Disneyland.
The group was stopped by a girl in a pair of black ripped jeans and a black hoodie, her brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she was searching around the crowds.
"There's Tess." Darnell pointed out, waving his arms for the girl. She walked over when she saw them. "Sup."
The security guard shot him a sarcastic glare, but he saw through it and smiled wider. Wade burst through the group, "Tess!" He engulfed her into a hug, ignoring all of their social boundaries. She wiped herself off in mock disgust when he let go of her. "You know you love me." He teased.
"Whatever." The girl scoffed, crossing her arms. Honestly, she had no idea why the group requested for her to be their security guard, but she was their security guard last time they went too. She usually just worked as a guard around the main entrances, but hey, she isn't complaining.
"Okay, let's hit the drop ride." Oliver began to lead the group. He was better at taking charge when he needed to because he was close with everyone in the group.
"Yes!" Lucy cheered, linking her arm through Elizabeth's. She began to cheerfully skip towards the ride, practically dragging her friend with her.
Maisie watched as Oliver tensed up when people glanced over at the two girls and she rushed up to walk next to him. "What are you more excited for? The rides or the food? Personally I think the food is exciting." She said, trying to distract him.
It worked. Her brother flashed her a small smile and paused to think. "Definitely the rides, they're nostalgic."
"Do you remember the first time Taylor brought us here?" She asked. Her eyes scanned the park as though she was reliving the memory itself.
"Yeah! And she bought us those matching Disney ears." Oliver responded, his smile widening. "And she put on that ridiculous wig so that she wouldn't be recognized."
"And she looked so fucking stupid." Maisie laughed, "But she didn't care, because she wanted to protect us."
They reached the rude within a few minutes and they eagerly went up the lightning lane. They didn't wanna cut the whole line, so it was a good idea to invest in just paying for the fast passes that anyone could have access to.
The line was still long, and they spent most of it in an awkward silence, heavily aware of the people around them. It was too early to get recognized.
Tess' eyes were constantly scanning the area around them, making sure people weren't taking photos or staring for too long. She was ignoring all of Wade's annoying questions and facts that he was bombarding her with.
"Pookie, I don't think she likes you." Hunter commented from where he was standing with his arms crossed. A small laugh echoing from his throat when Wade glared at him. "Ooo feisty." He joked.
They got on the ride quickly, taking up the entire back row. Lucielle immediately chose the seat that was in the middle of Jonna and Hunter, she was visibly scared.
"Lucy." Hunter laughed, "Are you scared?"
"No, I'm just- I'm just- Oh my god." She buried her face in her hands. "I hate this." Lucy leaned back against the seat, her hands not leaving her face.
"Hey, hey. It's okay." He set his hand on her shoulder, trying to assure her that it's okay. "Nothing's gonna happen."
"That's not it." She groaned, "This is too much, I'm getting off." Lucielle began to pull at her seatbelt, but Hunter grabbed her hand and pulled it away.
"It's okay, just hold onto me." Hunter told her. He let her grip onto his hand while the ride began to go up, not caring how tightly she was holding on. She immediately reached over and grabbed onto his arm with her other hand, holding onto him tightly. She squeezed her eyes tightly, hating the feeling of her stomach dropping.
Wade and Maisie we're having the absolute time of their lives on the side, holding their hands up high in the air while they dropped. Jonna tried to join them once, but she immediately put her hands back down, preferring to hold on.
The ride ended shortly after.
"Oli! You look like you got struck by lightning." Darnell joked, squeezing through the seats to point at his hair. The boy quickly set his hands on his head to flatten his hair down.
"You're just saying that 'cause you're jealous." Oliver responded back, "My hair is flawless."
Lucielle was quickly trying to get out of her seatbelt and immediately jolted up once she got out. Hunter's arm had a red mark on it from how hard she was holding onto him, but he still pulled her into a hug with a smile.
"You good now?" He asked, letting her pull away to fix her shirt.
"Yeah." She mumbled. "Sorry about that, I shouldn't have freaked out like that." Lucielle was clearly upset at herself, the embarrassment feeling like a dagger stabbed into her side.
He playfully nudged her, "It's fine. Wade used to be like that all the time, now look at him." Hunter nodded his head towards the guy who was practically bouncing off the walls after the ride.
They hit their next ride soon after, the Incredicoaster. The line was pretty short (of course they went in the fast pass place though).
Tess was already done with their "bullshit" and told them that she'd never work for them again if they kept annoying her.
Their seating was simple, until Wade got pissed about having to sit next to Elizabeth. Adonis reluctantly gave up his seat so that Wade could sit next to Maisie, leaving him next to the princess.
The wait for the ride to launch was more than awkward for the two and Adonis couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy when he saw his girlfriend giggling at something Wade said. He looked down at his hands. Why do I always have to be the fucking peace keeper? He thought to himself, shaking his head.
The ride went over fast and they all posed for the camera when it came. Oliver found the photo hilarious and bought himself a copy.
Elizabeth held Adonis back so she could talk to him privately. They walked a bit slower behind the group so none of them could hear. "You know I don't hate you, right?"
"I hoped not." Adonis sighed, looking straight ahead. "I didn't know what to believe."
"I just wanted to let you know that I don't have any hard feelings towards you or Maisie. I'm over it, I promise." She told him, her voice quiet and nervous. "I miss our friendship."
"I do too, it's just been a little weird." He glanced over at the right moment to see her face fall, "But we can fix that."
"Really?" Lizzie asked, her eyes brightening.
"Yeah." Adonis smiled, "Now I gotta go catch up to everyone else, but maybe talk to Mae too? She feels a little threatened by you- but don't tell her I told you that."
"Yeah, of course, anything." The smile on her face never faded, not even when they joined the group again. Once they reached Cars Land, they got in line for the cone food stuff (idfk). Elizabeth found her opportunity to drag Maisie away and asked the girl to walk with her. They walked to the other side of the street.
The group couldn't hear their conversation, but they watched as Maisie pulled Elizabeth into a hug. The two girls exchanged a few more words before beginning to walk back over.
Adonis watched them with a small smile from the table he was reserving for the group.
"You're not gonna get anything?" Hunter asked, setting his food down at the table. "I can save the table while you get in line."
"No, um, I'm gonna wait until we pass a place that has a salad or something."
"Are you sure?" He asked, scanning Adonis' face for any sort of emotion. "Okay then."
— — —
Oliver had his arms wrapped around Victor, the brunet's head leaning forward onto his chest. Victor always had a very low social battery, and when in social situations with large crowd, he always seemed to drain a lot faster. His eyes were closed while he let Oliver play with his hair.
Victor almost didn't want to go to Disneyland, but was his first opportunity to go out in public now that he has a boyfriend. We're dating, right? He thought to himself. He shrugged and chose to focus on the moment in front of him.
There was just this thing to Oli that just drew Victor to him. He hates physical touch, but when it comes to Oliver? Suddenly he loves it. Everything about him just felt perfect to Victor. He knew this relationship was going to last.
The line finally moved again and Oliver slowly nudged Victor up, who mumbled something and walked up the line. He let Oli cup his face in his hands and plant a small kiss on his forehead. Victor leaned back in and relaxed again in Oliver's arms.
"This makes me so single." Jonna remarked, turning away from the couple. She adjusted her Spider-Man themed ears.
"Literally." Lucielle sighed, she was relieved when they reached the front of the line and was the first on the ride.
The group split up into two different groups for the ride, deciding that they'd race each other.
— — —
"Look! There's the Spider-Man performance!" Jonna grabbed Oli by the arm and dragged him over to the ride side of the path, where a group of people where standing.
"Hey! It's the Disney channel girl!" A kid squealed from the area, pointing at Maisie. She awkwardly gave the kid a small wave and smiled it off, trying the best to stay casual. The rest of the group seemed to still be unnoticed and blended in with the group, but soon someone else walked up to Maisie for a photo.
"Oh, um- Okay." Her eyes scanned around the group to see if Tess was watching her, but she was too busy scolding Wade for trying to pull out her ponytail. She looked up at the mother who was holding up a phone. Maisie flashed a smile at the camera, pulling in the kid for a side hug. She immediately shot up when the photo was done, "Have a good day."
"Wait! Wait! Can I get an autograph?" The kid asked her again.
"Oh shit guys." Darnell's words broke Wade and Tess from their banter. He nodded his head towards Maisie and the kid, who was drawing a bunch of attention towards her. She had a smile plastered on her face, but it was clear to the group that she was panicking.
Tess quickly stepped in between the celebrity and the fan, "Actually, we gotta go. Sorry." She turned and grabbed Maisie by the shoulders. Her grip was tight enough to forcefully spin the brunette around and pushed her in the direction of the group. The security guard ripped off her black sunglasses and pushed them into Mae's hands.
The mother of the child shot them a glare and pulled her child away. Tess only watched and laughed bitterly at them.
Adonis pulled Maisie into a hug, "What a fan, right? I'm still trying to figure out who really wanted that autograph. The mom or the child?" He joked, trying to lighten the mood.
"Oh definitely the mom." Darnell joked, "Did you see how pissed she got?" He patted Adonis on the back and kept walking forward.
Jonna wanted to watch the performance so they scooted towards the back so they wouldn't be recognized. She watched excitedly as the guy did flips along the area, jumping in surprised when he launched up. "That's so cool!" She exclaimed.
She removed her hat to get a better view and her eyes lit up as the scene went. One thing about Jonna is that she loves everything about Disney, especially marvel. She could recite every Spider-Man movie by heart, and it's a constant joke among the group that she's the next "MJ" although it's been a dream of hers for her entire life.
That's when it hit her. Jonna really missed her family. Disney was something that she really enjoyed with them, but she lost all contact when she moved out. Her dad was always too busy with his job and her mom was always terrible at texting back, so she truly was on her own for the first time. The realization brought a sad gleam to her eyes and she turned away once it was done. Sure, the friend group was like a secondary family to her, but she really missed her real family. Is that what happiness does? Does it take once it gives?
"Jonna! Let's go!" The Latina was dragged out of her thoughts by the yelling of Hunter. He was waiting behind for her while the rest of the group went on. He jokingly held out his arm for her, letting her pink arms with him. "Did you like the performance?"
"I loved it! It's so cool how they could do things like that." She responded, using her other hand to adjust the ears on her head. They were Spider-Man themed, of course. Her dad bought them as a present for her on her fifteenth birthday. She was obsessed with them, and never goes on a Disney trip without them.
"True. Those backflips were cool." Hunter added, "You know, we haven't really talked as much as we used to."
"I think it's cause of the whole living together situation, we're all a bit sick of each other." Jonna shrugged, "plus we've all been crazy busy, and you're always with Wade."
"Oh." Hunter felt a pang of guilt that he didn't know he was feeling, "I didn't mean to do that. He's just, you know, he's like my brother."
"And you're like my brother." She was beginning to feel a bit sadder and noticed that her friend was beginning to lose his smile. "I'm not mad at you, and I'm not accusing you of anything, I just really miss you."
"I miss you too." He gloomily looked down at the floor, something Jonna rarely sees. She could tell that he felt horrible, and could also tell he was being absolutely genuine with her.
"Stop being so sad." Jonna swatted his shoulder with her hand, "Let's just say you owe me a churro."
"Deal." He smiled, his face lighting up in a way to show his relief that she wasn't upset with him.
The group reached their next ride in a matter of seconds and Jonna was absolutely having the time of her life. She kept taking photos of the scenery around her, obsessing over the Spider-Man ride.
"It's just a ride." Darnell joked, playfully ripping the phone from her hands. She huffed and crossed her arms.
"It's not just a ride! It's a piece of art!" She argued back, but she reluctantly let him keep her phone and chose to focus on the details around her.
"You know, I met Tom Holland once." Wade commented, sliding his hand over the railing. Elizabeth shot him a glare of disgust and he immediately dropped his hand, wiping it against his pants.
"Really? What was he like?" Jonna's attention shifted to Wade, a hopeful smile on a face. She could've sworn she saw change of emotion on Darnell's face. Was it jealousy? He shifted back into his smile too fast for her to be sure.
Wade chuckled, slinging his arm around her. He purposefully made the group walk up a bit because he knew they were way behind the line. "Oh he's amazing, you know, I can hook you two up." The last part came out as a joke.
"Wade!" Oliver scolded, playfully hitting him. "Stop teasing Jons like that."
"I'm just being funny." He laughed back, "Anyways, as I was saying-"
"I mean it, or I'll bring up that one time you were head over heels for that one singer... What's her name?" Oliver didn't get a chance to finish his sentence because Wade was quick to remove his arm from Jonna and lunge for his curly haired friend.
"Don't you dare-" He pointed his finger at Oli, but he only raised his eyebrows back at Wade. "Fine." He huffed, "I'll stop teasing Jonna about her crush."
Jonna giggled slightly at the two boys. "Guys it's not that big of a deal, I'm more obsessed with his character than him."
— — —
Maisie stayed back with Adonis when the ride was over while the rest of the group went to get in a different line.
His hands were shoved into his pockets, a faint smile on his face while she watched them go. "You want some alone time or something?"
"No, not really." She responded, "Have you eaten anything today?"
Adonis felt totally thrown off by the question, his smile faltering. "What?" He looked down at his girlfriend, noticing the solemn expression on her face.
"You didn't eat anything when we got Starbucks this morning, and now lunch-" Maisie paused, trying to word her sentences right. "I'm just worried, that's all."
He set his hands on her arms, "Mae, I'm fine. I'm just on a diet, I promise I'll eat something when I find a salad or something healthy."
"A diet?" She knew he was trying to assure her that he was fine, but all it did was trigger her emotions more. "Why?"
"Well I'm a model, you know how it is." Adonis responded, rubbing her arms to try and calm her down. "Mae, it's really not that bad. It's just cause I need to look good for the next photoshoot-"
"And you don't think you already look good?" She interrupted him, the brunette lifted her hands so she could cup his face in them. "Addi, you're perfect. Why would you think that?"
"It's what the model agencies want." He relaxed into her hands, leaning in slightly. "This is why I didn't wanna tell you."
Maisie shook her head, "I know damn well those modeling companies didn't tell you to diet like that."
Adonis sighed, looking down at the floor to avoid meeting the concern in her eyes. He wasn't perfect, he wasn't perfect enough. Nobody ever told him that he wasn't good enough but he knew there were others better than him, and he needed to be at his best. He saw every diet and skipped meal and extra workout as a path towards that perfect image.
"Adonis." His girlfriend's words were quick to snap him out of his thoughts. "Adonis." She repeated until he finally looked back into her eyes, coming back to reality in a way.
"I'm sorry." He mumbled, "I just hate waking up in the morning and hating what I see in the mirror. I want it to end."
Maisie let her hands fall to his shoulders. "Adonis, no diet is ever gonna change how you feel about yourself. The only thing that can fix that is your mindset."
Adonis nodded, "I don't know, everything's just so wrong with me. I've always wondered why companies chose me."
"Well I know why they did." The brunette stepped back so she could gesture to his entire body. "You're so... You're so fucking perfect. You're perfect the way you are. So don't you dare keep telling yourself that you aren't, okay?"
He nodded slightly, "okay." Adonis gave her a small smile, "Thank's for that, you really-" He let himself get interrupted her throwing herself into him for a hug.
Adonis slowly felt himself relaxing into the hug, where he held the one girl who he thought he was the luckiest man to have. The girl who can understand him even when all of his friends don't understand a motive for his silence. That was when Adonis knew that he was in love with Maisie Swift.
— — —
"Damn, what took you love birds so long?" Hunter called them over from the ride's exit. "We rode this twice! We were about to come find you."
Maisie's hand held onto Adonis' while she gave them a cheery response. "Taking cute photos, of course."
"Lemme see!" Oliver reached to grab his sister's phone but she pulled it from his grasp, the look she shot back of him clearly showed him that they weren't taking photos and his face scrunched up, looking between the two.
"Get your mind out of the gutter." His younger sister warned him, "Anyways, what ride next?"
— — —
"No, no, no!" Lucielle begged, pushing at Darnell's chest. The comedian only ignored her pleas and continued to pull her towards the raft of the water rides.
Lucielle hates water rides. Especially after she spent an entire hour in the morning to do her hair.
"Cmon Lucy!" Hunter laughed, patting the spot next to himself. She stuck her tongue out at him and made another bolt to it, but Darnell caught her again and picked her up.
"Fine! Fine! Put me down!" The optimistic blonde tried to sound serious, but a small laugh cracked through her words. She waited until Darnell to set her down on the raft so that she could sit in the seat next to Hunter's. Lucielle made a big deal of pulling out her hoodie to cover her hair.
Elizabeth laughed at her friend from her spot on the ride. It was actually her first time in an amusement park, her royal status had blocked all her other tries beforehand. She was sitting next to Victor, the two close friends continuously chatting until the ride began.
To say they ended up soaked was an understatement.
They all sat huddled outside of the ride, each of them visibly shaking from the cold. Maisie found herself in the arms of Wade, who was too cold to make any jokes about the ride.
Adonis shot a glance at them, but let himself shake off his jealousy. He knew Wade had no romantic intentions with Maisie, and he knew that she only saw him as another brother figure. He just wished she was in his own arms, not Wade's.
Jonna ran up behind Elizabeth and jumped onto her back, the princess let out a grunt at the sudden weight but adjusted easily.
The sun was going down, the afternoon sun getting exchanged for a chilly breeze which had all of the celebrities putting on their jackets, except for Victor, who thought his outfit was too cool to be ruined by a jacket that day.
"You're gonna freeze to death." Oliver commented, playing with a strand of Victor's hair. "Here, take my jacket."
"It's fine-" Victor quickly responded, "I'm not cold at all." Oli saw right through his lie and was quick to pull off his hoodie, pushing it towards Victor. He knew Victor preferred to be independent, "Oliver."
"Just take it! I wanted to buy a hoodie here anyways." He looked at the stubborn face of his lover, "Please? It'll make me happy."
Victor grumbled, pulling the hoodie on. "Fine, just because you want me to." Oliver mentally cheered and quickly pecked Victor on the lips.
"Ewww, get a room." Hunter quickly shoved himself in between the two. "We can't have pda in front of the kid." He nodded his head toward's Jonna, the youngest of the group.
"Hey!"
— — —
"Look at these ears!" Lucielle squealed, holding up a pair of yellow ears towards Elizabeth. "Aren't they cute?"
"Cutely expensive." Her friend laughed. She was quick to take the ears from Lucy and checked the price with a small smile. "Yep, called it."
"Who cares? They're beautiful." The blonde took the ears back, putting them on her head. "I think they suit me."
"They definitely do." Hunter commented, walking towards the two girls. "I think they look pretty, you should get them."
Elizabeth and Lucielle shared a quick look, a look that could possibly only be understood by the two of them. Her face heated up slightly and she took the ears off. "Thanks. I'll go pay for them."
Of course, like all the other lines at Disneyland, the line for Lucielle was extremely long. In fact, it was so long that half of the group ditched her to go get food.
Darnell had his arm resting on Hunter's shoulder while they waited outside of the store for Lucielle, a tired frown on his face.
"You look like somebody just ran over your dog." Hunter commented, grinning over at his friend. Darnell shot him a glare.
"We've been walking too much. I'm tired." He complained, "Plus I've been a total third wheel all day."
"No you haven't. Most of us are single here." Hunter laughed.
"Do you think I'm that stupid? I literally just saw you hitting on Lucy." Darnell stated bluntly, crossing his arms. "I see that look on your face. Don't deny it."
"So a guy can't call a girl pretty without someone assuming that he's flirting with her? Ew, no. She's my friend." Hunter's response was short and obviously annoyed, making it clear that he had no intention to make any advances towards Lucielle.
"Whatever." He sighed, looking up when Lucy and Maisie exited the building. "You ladies ready to go?"
"Yep!" Lucielle pointed happily at her ears, oblivious to the conversation the two boys were having before. Darnell jogged up to them and playfully pulled them off of her head.
Hunter watched the three, taking his time to think about Darnell's words. Lucielle and him? Hunter had never thought of her that way before, but as he watched her wrestle back her ears from Darnell, he decided that he wasn't that opposed to the idea of it.
NOTE
okay this has been written forever but i wanted to split it up into two chapters so instead of waiting to post it, i kinda just cut it in half and decided to rewrite the other half in another chapter
i also haven't read this in like a month or two so i don't remember anything from this chapter so have fun with that lol
the biggest motivation for me to write is comments, so those who comment the most will always get included the most. the worst feeling is when somebody only comments when it's their oc and not anyone else. so i'm gonna start involving characters less because it honestly makes me feel awful
love y'all,
nini <3