The competition was starting today. Cody and I stood outside the hotel, wishing good luck to the others who where returning for the second season.
"I can't believe those idiots." Eva scoffed from behind us. I looked over my shoulder. "Clearly you aren't so desperate for a million bucks, but you are desperate to keep up that figure of yours."
Eva grunted, but didn't say anything.
Cody took my hand. "We should go to the fair today!"
I shrugged. "Sure, why not. It could be fun."
---
The fair was fun. To be honest, it was the most fun I had had in a while.
"We should go on that ride!"
Cody pointed to a small roller coaster, with carts shaped and designed like barrels.
"Sure," I said, "but only if we can get some funnel cakes after."
Cody nodded. "Of course." He nudged me in the side playfully. "I didn't think you liked funnel cakes!"
I raised an eyebrow. "What gave you that impression?"
He shrugged and went to join the line for the ride. The line wasn't long, so it only took about three minutes before we where able to get on the ride. Cody sat on the inside because he was smaller than me (somehow), so I sat on the outside.
"Are you ready?" I asked him, holding his hand. He nodded, but I could tell that he was a little nervous.
"Yeah." He lied. I gripped his hand in mine as the ride started. It started off slow, as most rides did, but it got faster and faster over time. We started to ride up a tall hill of the coaster, and Cody's hand got sweaty.
"I'm scared Noah." He whispered.
"It'll be alright, I'm here." I said, as comfortingly as I could. We got up to the top and sat there for a minute.
"I wanna get off!" Cody whispered again, but this time louder.
I was going to say something reassuring, but before I could, the cart flew down the hill, with Cody screaming all the way down. We reached the bottom, but the cart kept moving through the long, twisting rails of the roller coaster.
The ride came to a complete stop right where it had started. I took a deep breath and looked over at Cody, who was practically hyperventilating. I put my hand on his shoulder. "You okay?"
He nodded, but his cheeks where flushed and his eyes where full of panic. We got out of the cart and walked down to safe ground. If I'm being honest, I was feeling a little woozy, but I wouldn't admit that to Cody, because he already looked panicked enough.
He laid his head on my shoulder and took a few more deep breaths until his breathing pattern was back to normal.
"It was really that bad, huh?" I asked, trying not to laugh. He nodded slowly.
"Can we get funnel cakes now?"
---
I had ordered a blueberry funnel cake with whipped cream, and Cody had gotten a chocolate chip funnel cake with cherries. He took a bite, and crumbs fell onto his lap. I chuckled.
"Feel better now string bean?"
He nodded, mouth full.
"Good."
We sat in silence for a few minutes, eating our snacks, when Cody said something that caught me off guard.
"I miss Gwen."
What?
"What? Cody, what?"
He sniffed. "As a friend, Noah. As a friend."
Really?
"Okay. If you say so."
After we finished our funnel cakes, we went on more rides and played more games, but Cody's words where always floating around in the back of my head.
"I miss Gwen."