Elle expected to see the open arms of the open road as they drove with the windows down. She expected to feel the wind brush through her hair as the sun crashed down and reflected on their shades. She expected to have funky stops by a few gas stations on the way for some smoothies or ice cream. Her expectations were high enough by the road trips you see in tumblr that makes you wish that you were one of them, and here was an opportunity to do it. To fulfill every girl's dream: to drive cross country in a sweet car with a freaking hot guy that was giving the sun a run for its damn money.
But there was just one problem. She fell asleep through the entire thing.
She just suddenly started stirring awake when she heard the smooth sound of the engine stop followed by an annoyingly incessant series of disturbances that rapidly pulled her out of her sleep. "Elle? You awake?" She didn't even have time to focus on what he was saying, since his hand was shaking her by her shoulders left and right as her neck tilted with her body. Elle definitely tried to ignore it and shake it off, but she was soon left with no other choice but to open her eyes.
Everything was the exact opposite of her expectations. The windows were kind of tinted and rolled up. The air conditioner was blasting at them with full force as it submerged them into the grasp of the illusion of the north pole. There was a steaming cup of hot coffee in the cup holder. The only thing that was exciting was the banner that was hung above them that read East Coast Music Festival, and it actually made her forget about all the let downs and put a smile on her face.
"So, anything in particular that I should be expecting?" Elle asked as she leaned back on her seat and unbuckled her seat belt. There were a lot of precautions that she should run through her head one more time before plunging herself back into his out-of-this-world charm. She didn't want to give him another ego boost, but she also really wanted to look at him and internally squeal. It's just that the combination of beautiful eyes with sexy body and gorgeous everything was the general weakness of the female population, and Elle was definitely no exception to that fact.
"Well, there will obviously be music. Very loud. There may be a lot of horny teenagers who will be doing things that will go against your values. And finally, I am one hundred and thirty percent sure that there will be the widest variety of alcohol and booze you have ever seen in your life." He raised a finger with every mention of each, and Elle rolled her eyes. He was clearly implying that she was living as a saint.
After sharing a look, they finally got out of the car and what she saw was like a more exclusive and a more hardcore version of what she was expecting from this. There were already bands blasting through the giant speakers. People were walking in the festival excitedly. Suddenly, she felt more comfortable in her attire. Elle wore a simple black and white striped shirt with some denim shorts with some native looking sandals. And maybe it was the excitement or the adrenaline, but she soon jumped up and down before gathering enough girl courage to grab Jack's hand and pull him along as she ran as fast as she could into the festival.
There was a maze of booths and stands in front of them. Some were selling different types of food, and some were just offering games for the small attention span victims. There was also enough space to fit a surprising amount of rides. It was like no festival she has ever been too, and that just added onto the excitement factor. Clearly, they stopped by a majority of them, and Elle had a whole puff of cotton candy in one hand by the time they came out of the maze, while her other hand was settled by Jack's elbow who had a corn dog and a soda.
"We have to ride that ." Jack smiled determinedly as he looked up to the sky. Elle followed and looked for what has caught his attention, and she almost choked on the colored sugar that was in her mouth. He wanted to ride the most rambunctious roller coaster she has ever laid her eyes on. It had five consecutive loops followed by a dramatic drop down. The fear was creeping onto her, and the screams of those who were currently riding it in the background were not helping.
Jack didn't even give her a chance to say no as it was his turn now to grab her hand and pull her along to the queue. She felt her fear grow more and more profound as the line started moving and she got closer to her impending doom. The line continued to get shorter and shorter and the next thing she knew, they were next in line. "I'm super excited to hop on, aren't you?" Jack's smile dropped the moment he looked down onto Elle's face. He could practically hear her teeth chattering like crazy while her hands have lost their color and started shaking. It didn't take Einstein to figure out that she didn't share his excitement.
"Come on, Elle. Don't tell me that you're afraid of this." Jack gently nudged her shoulder, afraid that she'd be too stunned and fall if he exerted more effort. He saw how her eyes weren't even focused on him as he talked, her eyes were following the cart as it went up and down and in spirals in a deadly speed. "If you can't handle the thrill of a roller coaster, how are you gonna handle the rush of life as a teenager?" Elle hated to admit it, but she was listening. What's worse was that he had a point.
The time has finally come for her to face it as she watched the passengers get out of their carts and the employee asking them to come and sit down. "Trust me." Jack grabbed her hand and flashed her one of his stunning smiles, and Elle found her legs walking and climbing into the front cart. She strongly believed tat she would have had a heart attack much deadlier than the roller coaster itself had it not been for Jack and how much she actually did trust him.
"I've got a really bad feeling about this." Elle stuttered as she felt the cart start to move up the steep climb. "Just trust me." Jack said confidently, but it was kind of hard to now that they were at the peak and were overlooking the drop that made her stomach do somersaults. Her heart was beating really fast but not with fear. Surprisingly, it was a weird sensation of excitement and adrenaline all in one explosion, but she couldn't describe it any better since they fell from the top and into the series of loops.
Elle was screaming at the top of her lungs, but she shockingly wore a smile with it as they swerved left and right and moved up and down. Jack was also wearing a smile on his face as thrilled sounds came out of his mouth, and he also unhooked the fingers of his one hand from the safety bar and swung that around Elle's shoulders as he pulled her against his side. Elle was laughing her heart out, almost as if Jack's aftershave was laughing gas as the wind blew against their faces.
"Admit it, Elle." Jack told her as he offered his hands for her to hold onto as he helped her out of the cart before they headed out. "Fine, that wasn't as bad as I thought it would be." She couldn't stop the smile that was pushing on her lips. Having Jack's arm around her felt like a routine now as she proceeded to wrap both arms around his torso. "Where are we off to now?" Elle asked him as they walked among the other festival enthusiasts, and Jack pointed off to the distance. "There."
Other than the sun starting to set, the only other thing she saw was a massive stage with strobe lights flashing blinding colors everywhere as they rocked out with speakers that were put to the max. The audience was clearly enjoying it as they jumped up and down and danced like no one was watching. The lavender sky threw a tint of purple everywhere, which just made it a bit more exciting. "That's the main event." Jack informed her as they ran towards it enthusiastically, Jack noticing Elle's rapid change of mood.
Jack shoved his way to the center to the front row of the people who were far to drunk to even care, with Elle trailing behind him before they stopped and started jamming dancing. Her arms were wrapped around his neck, and his hands were on her waist as they jumped up and down and swung their heads around finally knowing what it feels like to be a carefree and reckless teenager. The music was vibrating through their bodies, and it made it a whole lot easier to lose yourself in it.
"I have to find a bathroom." Elle tiptoed and yelled next to Jack's ear, since the music was blocking off the proper flow of communication. It took her a while to find her way through the crowd and out of the concert ground, but she soon found a very modern and very stylish version of the usually crappy outhouse, but there were already some girls in front of her, which meant that she had to wait. She shifted her weight from one leg after and another and was fiddling with her nails for about ten minutes before she take her turn and relieve herself.
"Excuse me." She whispered as she tried to find Jack in the ocean of rapidly moving people. Him being at the front wasn't helping her either. She soon resorted into tiptoeing and finally spotted him. "Hey." Elle smiled before turning him around to face her. She didn't know how nor did she know why, but he managed to get himself wasted in a span of ten minutes. The way he was moving gave off that fact as he kept staggering left and right, almost falling at some points but Elle managed to catch him.
He tried telling her something, yelling it towards her by how big his mouth was opening, but the music was drowning it out. "What?" Elle tried to get him to repeat it. But instead of saying his words again, he grasped her face in his hands and smashed his lips onto hers before pulling away. Elle was stunned and frozen in place as she tried to recall what just happened.
She felt the tingles she always did when he touched her multiply into a spine tingling electrical current that ran through her the second his lips touched hers. She felt her heart flutter and skip a beat when she found herself kissing him back. She realized that it was the most enchanting feeling she has ever experienced in her life. And that she wanted more.
And so, she went back up on her toes and went for another kiss just in time for the rain to start pouring down on them, feeling Jack's hand find it's way to the nape of her neck and pushing her lips closer.