I was not happy that Noah was joining us.
I mean, sure he'd knocked around some kid from the team for me yesterday, but today was meant to be about Sam and Kiely, not him and Sabrina.
I stared with agitation as Sam, Kiely and Noah made their way up to the entrance, and I inhaled deeply before forcing myself to join them.
"What are you doing here?" I muttered from between clenched teeth, passing my ticket to the lady at the gate to check.
Noah smirked and glanced at me sideways. "What do you mean, little Cupid?" He winked, and I could tell from his cocky demeanour that he knew exactly what I was talking about.
I fought the urge to roll my eyes. "Why are you crashing our trip? Today was meant to be a chance for me to get to know Sam's girlfriend, not for those two to go have fun while I'm forced to babysit you and talk about your ex-girlfriend." I said sourly, pushing through the revolving door after Sam.
I guess I was a little bitter about Sabrina's petty act yesterday.
One month of the deal down, two more to go.
Sam and Kiely had already started towards the dolphin enclosure, and they were holding hands as they laughed and pointed.
"Ouch, you wound me little Cupid." Noah placed his hand over his heart and pretended like he'd been shot, making me scowl.
"It's not funny! It's not all about you, you know!" I huffed, walking faster in the hopes that he'd trip and fall into the shark tank and get eaten alive.
Okay, so I maybe I was being dramatic and mean, but today was supposed to be special for Sam, and that couldn't be if Noah was here.
"You know little Cupid, you change moods faster than a pre-teen girl's mood-ring. Why are you mad at me? Yesterday we were saving each others' asses and today you're trying to snap my neck in half!" Noah cried and jogged backwards to keep up with me.
He was right, of course, which just made me more angry.
"I'm not mad at you I just want to spend time with Kiely." I said in a voice as calm as I could muster.
"Why? Are you thinking of becoming a lesbian too and stealing Sam's girlfriend?"
I shot him a dirty look and crossed my arms over my chest. "I'm not even going to answer that." I left Noah standing on the path and went to join Sam and Kiely, who were 'ooh'ing and 'ahh'ing at the dolphins doing stunts in the huge pool.
"They're so graceful." I overheard Kiely say as I approached them. Sam beamed when she saw me coming, and I clung onto the handrail next to Kiely, sensing rather than seeing Noah appear beside me.
"Aren't they stunning?" I asked as the beautiful aquatic creatures spun and twirled in the air.
"I'd love to swim with one." Kiely agreed, and we launched into an easy conversation about how amazing it would be to swim with a dolphin.
"I've swum with a dolphin before." Noah interfered.
I ignored him and continued to chat to Kiely.
"It was pretty amazing." He sighed.
I rolled my eyes.
"You'd probably want to hear about it."
I continued to pretend like there wasn't an irritating boy stood next to me as I talked to Kiely, who was trying to hold back a shy laugh.
"Then after I finished swimming with the dolphin I made out with a stripper."
Kiely burst out laughing, and I turned to narrow my eyes at Noah, who was smirking manically.
I hoped he was joking.
The idiot.
"Let's go see the penguins!" Sam called, grabbing Kiely's hand to pull her to the enclosure. Noah traipsed along beside me, and I fought to hold back a sigh.
This was going to be a long day.
***
A few hours later and the park was swarming with people; a mixture of locals and tourists. It was a beautiful warm day, and everyone was whipping out their sunblock and sunglasses.
We'd migrated through the the fun park, where there were a few rides and interactive attractions. "Hey let's go on that!" Sam grinned, pointing to a spinning top where everybody stuck to the walls like flies on a windscreen. My stomach churned at the thought. Sam turned to me with a grimace, "I know you hate rides like that, but it'll be fun, I promise!"
I shook my head vigorously. "Nope. No way. That's what you said last time before we had to call the park medics because I passed out." I accused, and Sam blushed.
Noah exploded into a fit of laughter beside me, only bothering to hold it in when I shot him a death stare. "You two go." He told Sam and Kiely as he clutched his stomach with laughter. "I'll stay and babysit dizzy Cupid here." He winked at me, and I scowled in return.
I made my way to a bench off to one side of the path as Kiely and Sam lined up outside the spinning top. Noah sat beside me and pointed to a roller-coaster where people were screaming at the top of their lungs. "Man that looks fun, want to go on?" He asked, his eyes twinkling with excitement.
I took a moment to look over him, taking in his tan shorts and navy wife-beater. His RayBans were hooked onto his shirt, making a little V shaped neckline and showing a portion of smooth brown chest. I tore my eyes away violently and looked up see Noah smirking at me.
I'd totally just been caught perving.
"Seriously? Did you not just hear me mention the fainting fiasco?" I asked in disbelief as he grinned at the roller-coaster. No way in hell was I going on that thing. No way in...
"Ladies and gentleman please keep hands and feet inside the carriage at all times. Secure any personal items and remember... don't look down!" The voice appeared from the speaker in front of me as I clutched onto the arm rests on the carriage. My teeth were gritted together and I was shaking with fear as we started to move slowly. I could hear Noah laughing from beside me and I knew that he was watching me, but I couldn't bring myself to do anything but stare straight ahead, paralysed with fear.
We started to move faster, climbing up the ramp to reach the highest peak of the roller-coaster track. My heart was pounding in my chest and I could swear I was about to cry.
Who's bloody idea was this anyway?
We chugged along at a relatively slow pace, and I squeezed my eyes shut as the cart reached the platform and stopped, letting me know that we'd reached the top. Noah was still laughing, and I had to wonder how the hell he was doing so.
Wasn't he scared shitless right now?
That was probably just me.
In a sudden movement, the cart jumped into motion and we began flying over the death drop so fast that the sheer force pressed my head into the seat back.
"IhateyouIhateyouIhateyouIhateyou!" I yelled to Noah as my stomach dropped, my eyes still squeezed shut. I was too scared to even scream, even though I could hear the laughter and screams of everyone around me.
"Open your eyes!" I heard Noah yell, though his voice sounded distant, like he was on the ground whilst I was up here.
"Are you freaking crazy?!" I retorted.
"Just open them! I'm here!" Something warm and soft wrapped around my hand which was glued to the arm rest, and I opened one eye slowly. Noah was holding my hand trying to comfort me. I couldn't help the small smile that appeared on my face as I opened the other eye. Immediately my stomach calmed, and I managed to collect my breathing into a fairly even rhythm again. He was smiling at me too, and then pointed ahead of us at where we were going.
My mouth formed the shape of an 'o' as we approached the last drop, and I screamed and we sailed over, this time my horrible cries also meshed with laughter.
I was still laughing as we slowed down at the exit and the security bars lifted, allowing us to leave. "See that wasn't so bad, was it?" Noah teased as we made our way to the little shop to see the photo that was taken at the top of the peak.
I stopped in front of the screen and looked to Noah with a smile, and only then did I realize that we were still holding hands. My eyes fell to the floor as my cheeks burned, and I dropped his hand immediately.
There was a second of silence before our picture came up on the screen.
"Oh my god I'm definitely buying that one!" Noah said, laughing manically at the image. My face was morphed into a look of sheer terror as the wind blew my hair in an eruption of frizzy curls around my face, and my body was stiff as if I was in an electrical chair.
It was not the most flattering, I admit.
Noah, on the other hand, looked like a freaking God, as per usual. He was staring at me with bright eyes, a huge smile on his face as he held my hand.
"So we don't need me to call the medics for you?" Noah asked with amusement as we made our way back to the bench we'd sat on earlier. Sam and Kiely must have still been on their ride. The line to get on was ridiculously long.
"No, I think I'll survive vomit free. Or should I say, I think you'll survive without getting vomited on." I winked.
Noah opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a familiar voice behind me.
"Isabelle?"
I whirled around and my mouth popped open with shock.
There's no way.
"Mom?"