Content warning: Child abuse
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In the distance, George could see the amusement park with it's attractions slowly grow into his field of view. The screams and laughter grew louder in his ears. Clay found a spot to park, with everyone else parking near by. The setting was amazing.
The amusement park sat right next to the beach, giving people the opportunity to swim if they wanted to, which people did; the beach looked busy. Stores, shops and restaurants surrounded the park, resembling a downtown area. Everyone gathered up and walked towards the park. The noises and sounds of the rides grew noisier. Since the amusement park was a bit larger than most beach-parks, there was a small fee to pay, but it wasn't bad.
"You guys, we all should ride this one," Nick pointed up at the main roller coaster. It was tall, and fast, sending people hurtling through the air.
"Yeah, there's no way I'm getting on that." Clay said.
"Come on! You only live once!" Zak shouted.
"The line isn't long, and it looks like the ride is ending!" Nick encouraged for everyone to get on. Everyone else ran towards the line. George and Clay stayed behind. Clay looked at George.
"Wanna try?" Clay sounded like he wanted to try. George didn't want to cause any inconvenience, or annoy anyone. He looked at the giant roller coaster, then back at Clay.
Nervously, he said, "Sure."
Both of them walked to the line, standing behind the rest of the group. Everyone seemed super excited to ride the roaring roller coaster, but George was nervous. But standing next to Clay, he felt safe and comfortable. George looked down, Clay's hand rested next to his. It was so close, almost touching. He had an urge to hold his hand. George suddenly became flustered, he brushed it off. He looked back at the roller coaster. It's just a stupid ride, it'll only last for two minutes, he should stop making a fuss. The ride made it's way to the entrance, the people riding it got off and exited. The worker managing the ride let people in to get into the ride. They walked up the metal stairs onto the platform and climbed onto the seats. Each seat fit two people.
The seat was snug, putting Clay and George's bodies close. The fear from the ride and the sensation of Clay's arms against his confused his brain, he couldn't process what he was feeling. They sat in the middle between all the seats, with the rest of the group right in front of them. Suddenly the ride starts to move forward, climbing up the hill accompanied by it's clanking.
"Oh god," Clay muttered under his breath. They kept going higher and higher. George looked out. He could see the entire coast line and the entire amusement park, it was beautiful. He can't remember the last time he was this high up-
"Shit!" Clay yelled. The roller coaster plunged down, catching George off guard. His heart dropped to his stomach. The coaster took a sharp left and right and flew its way around the park. George closed his eyes shut and looked down. He could hear mixtures of screaming, laughter and cheering all around him. The wind hit him across the face. George needed something besides the coaster to hold onto. He grabbed Clay's arm and tightly held on. The ride kept going on forever. Every second he wished it stopped. And eventually it slowly came to an end. Once it made a full stop and the worker unlocked the seats, both Clay and George quickly got off and exited the ride.
"Holy shit I'm never doing that again." Clay sounded like he was out of breath.
"Yeah neither am I," George agreed.
"Oh my god you guys are such babies, it wasn't even bad." Nick playfully teased them. "Do you wanna go on the other rides with us?"
"Uh no, I kinda just wanna walk around." Clay responded."
"Yeah, me too." George added.
"Okay, we can meet up later. Just send us a text." George watched as the rest of the group take interest in the other rides the amusement park had to offer, but after what he just experienced, he doesn't have any interest going on anything.
"Wanna grab something to eat?" Clay looked at George. His nerves suddenly melted away, Clay's words were comforting.
"Sure!"
Both walked over to the food stands, away from the bustling action of the rides.
"Wow, there's so many options." George was genuinely surprised. Pizza, burgers, fries, Italian, seafood, tacos. His stomach was still spinning, so he settled for the pizza.
"The pizza sounds good." George pointed out.
"Yeah pizza does sound good, wanna get some?"
George agreed and they both walked to the food stand. Clay ordered a slice of pepperoni and George ordered a slice of cheese. Clay also got two Coke's. Clay without warning payed for everything. They grabbed their food and found a table near by.
"You didn't have to pay for everything, I have money."
"It's okay, don't worry about it." Clay smiled.
"Well, do you want fries or something? I can pay." George asked. He wanted him to say yes, he felt bad.
"Sure, you can get a large one, we can share."
"Okay, I'll be back." George walked over to the stand that made burgers and fries. He asked for the large fries, paid and returned to the table with the food and some ketchup. The smell of the pizza really made George hungry this time. Both munched on their food and looked at the scenery that surrounded them. George wished he could live each day like this; happy and surrounded by people that he cared about.
"Still jet lagged?" Clay joked.
George giggled, "No, I don't think so." Clay smiled at him. "I'm so glad I can finally get away like this, you're so lucky that you live here."
"Yeah I mean, it's pretty nice. I don't go out as much though."
"Why?" George was curious, Florida is such a beautiful place, it seemed like there are endless things to do.
"I don't know, I guess youtube has taken over my life right now," Clay laughed, "I still can't believe how big I'm growing but, sometimes it can be a lot on me." George resonated with him.
"Oh, me too though. Like, sometimes I still can't believe millions of people watch us, it's crazy. But you know, people can be," George paused. He felt his throat swell up, he cleared his throat.
"You okay?" Clay sounded concerned.
"What? No, I'm fine." George tried to cover up his discomfort with a light tone in his voice.
"If you need to talk about something, you can. Well maybe not here, but when we go back." Clay's voice was comforting, George could burst into tears, but he held it back.
"What are you talking about? I'm fine." There was silence between the two.
"Do you wanna walk around? We can check out the shops, they look cool."
"Yeah we can do that." George smiled through the pain.
They cleaned the table, threw their garbage in the trash and headed towards the shop. Clay took the initiative to text the group chat where they were going, everyone else was busy at the amusement park.
They slowly walked on the cobbled path, looking at all the cute shops. Some sold arts and crafts, clothing, food, anything you can imagine. The looked around for while, at one point they stopped at a shop that sold all kinds of souvenirs. George settled for a small Florida shaped key chain that Clay bought for him. When they left the store, Clay's phone ringed.
"Yeah? Oh!" There were pauses between his words, "Okay, well then we'll head back now." He hung up the call. George looked at Clay, "Everyone went to go buy marshmallows and stuff for a bonfire tonight, they're heading back to the house now."
"Oh, let's go then." George smiled.
Both made it back to the car and headed back to the house. The ride back was normal, although for some reason Alex popped back into his head. He still wondered why he asked him out - in some way it freaked him out. George was always the last choice, the one people forgot. And a boy? George couldn't be, gay? But Clay, why was he having these weird thoughts with Clay? Maybe they weren't weird, it was platonic, wasn't this how people connected with each other-
"Okay let's go." George looked up, they were at the house. When they walked inside, he noticed a bunch of plastic bags filled with groceries all over the kitchen table.
"Hey!" Darryl greeted them.
"Hey, enjoy all the rides?" George asked.
"Uh! I was scared but it was fun! You should've came with us!" George laughed with Darryl.
"There's no way I could've, I probably would've puked." They laughed again.
Zak and Lucas were organizing all of the groceries, putting them away. George heard some fussing outside. It was Nick and Alex trying to figure out how to light the fire pit. At this point in time the sky started to dim, slowly turning into warmer colors. Clay had to go outside and handle it himself, and of course he started the fire on the first try. George laughed to himself.
"Hey George, wanna help us bring this outside?" Zak asked.
"Yeah!" He walked over and grabbed the marshmallows and sticks and headed outside where everyone else was. The patio had a seating area that surround the fire pit. Zak and Darryl set up a platter with the graham crackers, marshmallows and chocolate, making it easy to prepare s'mores. Everyone sat down, with Clay sitting next to George on the bench.
"Ugh. I wish we had alcohol." Nick complained. Clay laughed.
"Dude, you're obsessed. If everyone really wanted to, we can get some tomorrow. Is everyone comfortable with that?" Clay asked.
"Uhhh," Darryl murmured.
"Oh, Darryl, you don't have to drink, don't worry everyone will be responsible." Clay looked at Nick.
Nick laughed, "Why are you looking at me?!" Everyone laughed.
"Don't worry, I don't like to get drunk, if anyone acts dumb, I'll take care of them."
George loved how they bickered. Moment's like this is when he feels extremely thankful that he had friends like them. He wouldn't want anything more or less. He wished that these weird feelings he was having for Clay would just disappear. He figured it was just because he was meeting him for the first time. George couldn't bare the thought of tarnishing their friendship over something stupid. It would be better if he suppressed them.
George listened to their conversations over the night. They talked about their day, how hot Florida was, funny memories over the years and video ideas. Everyone laughed at Nick's jokes and Nick arguing with Clay debating which flavor of ice cream was the best. Time went by fast. Without even knowing, the sky had turned completely dark, with the moon and stars in full view. The air turned cool. All the snacks were eaten. The statement that says time flies when you're having fun couldn't have fit in better.
"Oh damn, it's almost two?" Nick pointed out. George checked the time on his phone. It was 1:52 a.m. It made sense, he was feeling sleepy.
"Yeah, I'm getting pretty tired," Lucas yawned. Zak put out the fire and Darryl helped him clean everything up.
Everyone eventually headed off into their rooms. George went upstairs and went inside his room, shutting the door behind him. He changed into some shorts, although it was colder than usual, so he decided to put on a t-shirt. He brushed his teeth, washed his face, turned off the lights and got into bed. For some reason he couldn't sleep, getting all wrapped up in his thoughts about Clay and Alex. He put his earbuds in and opened up Netflix on his phone, deciding to watch a movie. The movie was better than he thought, despite it's bad ratings.
Halfway in the movie, his room was suddenly filled with a bright, quick flash followed by a muffled loud noise. George's heart immediately started racing.
No, please no.
He got up and hesitantly moved the window curtain to look outside. Dark, ominous clouds filled the sky, covering the bright moon. Rain quickly started to race down the window pane. George took a step back, his hands began shaking. Another bright flash followed by a loud boom in the distance made George yelp. He covered his mouth with his shaking hands. The raining became more intense by the second, seeming like it could burst through the glass window. The rain became louder, the thunder became more constant, morphing into what seems like explosions. All the noises were deafening, he couldn't even hear his own breathing.
George got under the blankets, shutting his eyes and covering his ears as tightly as he could. He kept trying to forget. Tears quickly welled up in his eyes, eventually streaming down his face. George tried to keep in his sobs, but he couldn't. He couldn't help but cry. He tired to breathe but his sobs kept cutting him off.
Please stop, please.
"Don't ever fucking talk back at me again! You piece of fucking shit." The man's stood over George with a bat in right his hand, his other hand balled into a fist. His eyes were swelling with anger.
"D-dad, I'm s-sorry, p-please don't" The man kicked George in face. George screamed in pain. Blood dripped from his soft cheek. George laid on the floor uncontrollably sobbing in fear, holding his hand up blocking his face from the man.
"What did I just fucking say?!" The mans screaming was petrifying. The man lifted the bat in the air.
"D-dad!" George's eyes widened in terror. The man took a swing at George's fragile legs. Hitting him as hard as he could. He let out a scream in pain once again. His crying became hysterical, his throat could give out from the crying.
The man grabbed George by the hair and looked him in the eyes, George could barely see through the tears,"Get the fuck outside, now." The man dragged him to the back door, throwing him down the patio stairs outside. He slammed the door shut, locking it.
George felt like he had no tears left, he laid there in the rain, broken. He managed to build up enough strength to crawl himself under the patio.
The thunder and rain drenched him in shame. The loud thunder and pounding rain was the only thing he could hear. Young George cried under the patio in a fetal position. He wished he could run away forever. Away from this horrible place.
He had no one. He was left all alone with his tears running down his bloody check.
George was uncontrollably sobbing, no matter how hard he covered his ears, he could still hear the roaring thunder. The memories kept replaying in his head. He needed someone. There was only person he could think of. He quickly got up from his bed and ran to the door. He opened it and stood in front of Clay's door. He placed his hand on the handle. His hands were still shaking, tears still falling down on his face. He can't do this. He just can't. It was pointless.
A thunder strike that resembled a gunshot made him jump. He looked down and opened the door and closed it behind him. He looked at Clay who was sound asleep. He was frozen in place, breathing heavily. George built up the courage to walk up to his bed. The thunderstorm still ravaged outside. The curtain was slightly opened, inviting the flashing lights to enter the room.
"C-Clay." George could barley speak.
Nothing.
"Clay, p-please wake up." He let out a sob. Clay shuffled around in bed, slowly opening his eyes.
"Huh?" Clay whispered. He reached over to the nightstand to turn on the lamp. Clay looked into George's teary, red eyes.
Clay gasped, "George?! Are you okay? What happened?!" He got up and sat on the bed.
"Can I please, s-stay with you?" George still couldn't talk. It was the type of cry where you could barely speak a word, trying to gasp for air.
"Yes, of course." Clay lifted the blanket to let George in.
George got into the bed. Clay held him close to his body. George placed his head against Clay's bare chest. He couldn't help but sob. His crying only became worse, tears racing down his face into Clay's chest. Clay held him even tighter, placing his hand on George's head, rubbing it back and forth. Eventually the storm calmed down, and so did George's crying. He was able to finally close his eyes without those memories playing inside his head. Both of them held each other in their arms, slowly drifting into sleep.
George felt safe in his comforting, warm embrace. It was something that he was missing his entire life. He never wanted him to let go.
He wanted it to last forever.