ღ Finding Cinderella- 35 ღ
-Tristan-
Of all the damn places we could go, she had to pick the one that held my worst childhood experience.
With a pallid face, I stared at the Ferris wheel and at the other daunting rides. The air was filled with the aroma of popcorn and grilled food. The din of the crowd was rowdy, and everyone's faces were plastered with smiles. I was supposed to feel elated just like them, but instead, dread was attempting to push my feet back to where I had parked my bike.
"Really, of all the damn places..." I muttered. It had been almost ten years since that incident, and when the nightmares had begun, I had sworn never to return to this despicable place no matter what.
Until this crazy girl beside me insisted.
"What? Amusement parks are fun, and it's been so long since I came here." Kylie had a wicked glow in her eyes that made her look sexy and dangerous. "Oh wait, come to think of it," she added slowly, provoking me. "Didn't you get lost here when you were a kid? Yeah... and a clown found you crying, and he brought you back to your parents."
"Shut up," I growled at the repressed memory. Thanks to my mother thoughtlessly tattling on without realizing the damage it could cause. "That freak was just getting in the way of me getting back to my parents on my own."
"How scary was it, anyway?"
I sighed. "Imagine meeting Pennywise in the fucking woods in the dead of the night. That's how it was."
She cackled. "Bet your face back then was the same as now. You look purple all over!"
"Quit it, Kylie."
"Oh, don't be such a wuss, Hartford. Let's go already."
"What did you just call me?"
She skipped ahead and shouted, "Careful not to throw up along the way!"
I merely watched her and smiled in defeat. Fuck it, I would soldier on through whatever trouble might come my way if it meant seeing her happy. So I followed her like a satellite wherever she went. She was jumping from booth to booth, looking at the displays, marveling at the rides, and exclaiming in amazement.
"Hey T, let's try the merry-go-round."
"But it's for kids."
"So what? There's no age requirement when you want to have fun!"
In the end, much to my shame, we went on the ride. She sat on the carousel in front of mine, and I watched as she stared at the lights blinking above us, a look of pure wonder on her face.
After that, she dragged me to the ghost train. During the ride, her voice was the only thing I heard above the noise.
"Ah shit, I can't stand properly," Kylie said in a slur as she staggered to the fence. We had gotten on the Orbiter, and the thing had rotated faster than we had expected. "That was wild, but I kinda wanna ride again."
"Yeah, that's what she said last night," I joked, and she elbowed me in the stomach for the second time, knocking my breath away. Apparently, the 'you hit like a girl' quote didn't describe her fittingly. 'You hit like fucking Bruce Lee' did it better.
Her hair was in disarray, and she ran her fingers through it to untangle the knots. "I'm hungry. Let's grab something to eat. You're paying," she declared with a smirk, knowing well that I was vulnerable to her requests.
There were a lot of food stalls that sold sweets, and by chance, one of them had her favorite.
"Vanilla pudding!" she gasped after I bought it.
Sitting on the bench beside her, I took off the lid of the plastic container. Kylie tried to grab it, but I evaded her, eliciting a cute pout from her.
"Hey, how about me?"
"We're sharing." I raised the plastic spoon—the only spoon we had—and gave her an evil grin. "But I'll be feeding you."
Her eyes bulged. "Tristan!"
I took a scoop of the pudding and lifted it to her face. "Little Kylie, say ahhh."
"Cut the crap, T. I'm not five!"
"Open your mouth, the train is coming." I flew the spoon in the air in a zigzag motion. "Choo, choo!"
"Yuck. No way." She whipped her head away in despise. A loud rumbling noise from her stomach came, and her cheeks went red in an instant.
I threw my head back, roaring laugh.
She bared her teeth. "Shut up."
"All right, sorry. Here." I placed the spoon in the container and handed it to her.
Just like turning a switch on, her eyes widened in delight. She was almost bouncing on the bench as she took the container from me. While she stuffed the food in her mouth, I asked her, "Why do you like it so much, anyway? I know you have a sweet tooth, but I'm curious as to why you enjoy that particularly."
She slowed down her munching, but she didn't give an immediate answer. Eventually, she made a knowing smile and said, "It's a secret. Let's go walk around."
She nibbled in silence as we ambled along with the flow of people. In a while, we reached a throng that was watching a street magic show. There was a lot of cheering from the audience, mainly from the kids, and Kylie had that toothy grin again as she observed.
Meanwhile, all I could do was shift from one foot to another and look elsewhere, acting like I was bored. People actually enjoyed this? I didn't mean that the guy's magic tricks were bad, but he just looked so fucking creepy. He had thick white makeup, a mass of curly red hair, and beady black eyes that reminded me of It, a horror movie that had fueled my coulrophobia. I knew it had been years since the incident, but still—no way I'd deal with another Pennywise.
A moment passed when I felt a nudge in my side.
"Tristan."
I spun to Kylie. "What?"
Then I realized that everyone was looking at me. I almost stumbled backward when the clown gave me his spooky ass smile and extended his gloved hand toward me. "Sir, would you like to be a volunteer?" he asked in a squeaky voice that didn't match his entire look at all.
Volunteer for what, a sacrificial ritual?
Kylie shoved me hard before I could open my mouth to decline. Grudgingly, I staggered my way to the front. Everyone clapped while she laughed and screamed, "Good luck, T! Time to face your fear!"
Yeah, guess now's the time.
I swallowed as I turned to face the thing that had given me great trauma. I was expecting that the clown would make me enter some narrow box and he'd chop my body like in the TV, but, to my relief, he only gave me a deck of cards and a set of instructions, which I followed without saying a word. Later on, he started to do his tricks. It was a typical pick-a-card-and-I'll-guess-what-it-is-blah-blah, but people ate it up, behaving like they saw the world split when the clown retrieved my ten of diamonds card. I managed to keep my cool throughout the trick, but it was probably only because I wasn't looking at his face directly.
The clown thanked me afterward, and I got off the spotlight with my shoulders unburdened. I started my way back to Kylie when a trio of teenage girls swarmed around me. They boldly asked me for my name and number, but my gaze drifted to the girl who had my heart, my soul, and even my fucking lungs, and told the others, "Sorry, but I don't want to upset her."
The girls turned to where I was looking, and one of them said dismally, "Oh... your girlfriend?"
"Someday."
I strode past them, and when I reached her, Kylie said, "I'm surprised you didn't pass out in front."
I scoffed, squaring my shoulders. "Me? Would pass out because of a stupid clown? Not gonna happen."
"Oh, really? I saw your knees trembling, though." She laughed.
"Not funny." I glanced at the rides in the distance, and an idea flashed in my head. "Hey, since you forced me to face my fear, I guess it's fair if I teach you how to face yours."
"Huh?"
I took her hand and began making our way until we reached the only place in the park she had never dared to go to: the Ferris wheel.
"Oh my God. No. No." Kylie began to pull away, but I squeezed her hand more firmly.
"Two tickets, please," I asked the person behind the booth.
"Tristan! I don't want to climb on that freaking thing ever. Just looking at it makes me sick!"
I turned to her and raised the tickets. "Too late."
"Nooo!"
She grabbed the fence as I tried to pull her in the gate. An empty car was brought down, and the Ferris wheel employee blankly stared at us as he waited for us to finish our tug-of-war.
"Time to face your fear, Kyles," I repeated what she'd said earlier. She continued wailing, attracting more people to look at her.
"At the count of five, you have to get off the fence or I'll have to pick you up and carry you inside." I stepped forward. "One—"
"Shut up!"
I extended my arms around her. "Two—"
"I said no! Can't you understand simple English?"
"Five!"
"WHAT?"
The shock weakened her hold on the fence, and I quickly pulled her in the car. The employee muttered something under his breath before securing the gate of the car and signaling the other people to line up properly.
I sat beside Kylie who immediately drew back, crossing her arms and legs in an attempt to avoid me. I laughed.
"Chill. This may be the biggest ride in the park, but it's the most relaxing one."
She contorted her pale face into a furious scowl. "Please. You know very well that the speed isn't my concern."
There was a jolt, and she quickly straightened her sitting position, gripping the safety handle.
"Oh God, it's moving," she mumbled, squeezing her eyes shut. Her legs bounced as the wheel took us higher and higher in slow motion.
The warm afternoon wind brushed through, and a strand of her hair fell gently on her face. It gave my heart a little tug.
This was the perfect time and place to tell her how I felt. This was my chance. But my lips trembled, and the words that I wanted to say got jammed in my throat again.
"Kylie, open your eyes."
She shook her head.
"Trust me, if you won't open your eyes, you'll miss something beautiful."
At last, she opened them and gasped. We were at the highest point, and the wheel seemed to be as high as a ten-story building. From up here, we could see the entire park, and everyone below us looked like ants. The sun was setting, the sky was painted in a range of red and gray, and the pale glow of the moon was starting to show.
"Wow," Kylie breathed, a sparkle in her eyes. "It really is beautiful."
"You are, too," I said and intertwined my fingers with hers.
She looked at our hands before glancing at me, her cheeks taking on a crimson color. She made a silly expression, saying, "Ugh, that's schmaltzy as hell."
"But is it working?"
She didn't answer and only watched the scenery before us, much to my frustration.
Loving her felt like speeding through the highway, and she was in control of the car and I was in the passenger seat with my knuckles white on the door handle. I didn't know which direction we were heading, but the drive was chaotic and her laughter was electrifying and the way her hair danced in the wind was fucking charming. She was messing up my emotions, pulling my strings, keeping me wide-awake, keeping me wanting. Considering all these things, maybe I shouldn't be in love with her, but I was, anyway. I had always been.
I could only hope we wouldn't crash.
ღ
After a few hours, we found ourselves biking under the stars. Kylie was sitting on the front again, and I could smell the vanilla scent in her hair.
The tiring day was over, but it was too perfect that I didn't want it to end. I probably should thank Clark and Lacey for a job well done because, if it wasn't for them, this might not have happened.
I pulled the brakes when we reached her house. She hopped down before I swung my leg off.
"So... are you happy?" I asked.
"With what?"
"Everything. You know, this day and all."
"Of course, I am. Don't be silly." She laughed. "Do I look like I'm crying?"
"You were almost crying at the Ferris wheel."
She made a face. "And you almost chickened out from the magic show."
"It's a win-win situation, then. We both faced our fears. Isn't it cool?"
"I guess. Anyway, I wonder if Lacey's back from her date. I hope everything has turned out well for her." She yawned, stretching her torso. "Ah, I'm so tired. I'm gonna go inside now. See you at school. And thanks."
"Wait," I said before she could take a step away. "It was... a date, wasn't it? What we did..." I knew I was asking lame questions, but I didn't care. I had to know what she thought.
"Um... yeah," Kylie replied. I almost leaped for joy until she continued, "As I said, friends can go on friend dates, right?"
Damn. Should've expected that counterattack. It felt like a bullet in my chest, but I endured it, forcing a smile.
"Right..." I said.
A mysterious smile danced on her lips before she pushed their fence gate open.
"But, Kyles, I just want to say..."
I didn't want to end this perfect day on a cliffhanger. I wanted to say that I loved her, but in the end, I simply sighed and said, "Goodnight."
I was trying to be considerate. I had said that word instead because saying 'I love you' would mean some falling.
And she was afraid of heights.
"Oh... okay." She gave me a nod and finally walked away.
With a dejected soul, I dragged my bike alongside as I proceeded to my house. But then, I heard footsteps coming behind. Turning around, I saw Kylie running toward me. I was about to ask what was wrong, but when she stopped beside me, I snapped my mouth shut.
To my surprise, she lifted on her toes and kissed me on the cheek.
"Goodnight, Tristan."
author's note:
still alive?