Chapter 30 — Emmy
Carter and I are hanging with Ivy and Alice at the moment. We are eating lunch. Lynden is with Calder, Ryan, and Bex doing all the big roller coasters. Brie and Avery are watching some live water show thing, that I could care less about. We are totally being bad and eating all the food we shouldn’t be eating. I’m enjoying pizza. Carter has a cheesesteak, and we were splitting cheese fries. Alice has a bacon burger and Ivy has fried chicken. It feels so good to just eat like a pig. There is only so much salad, steak, grilled chicken, fish, and veggies that a person can eat. Sometimes you just need carbs and bad food to make you feel better. It is called comfort food for a reason.
I’m glad to see Carter having fun. I know he has been upset since the Enchantress murdered his friends and I can’t blame him. Alice and Ivy confess they are dating and I’m happy for them. I am also glad the cat is out of the bag. I never even got a chance to talk to Alice about her and Ivy, but now it didn’t matter. We meet up with Ryan, Lynden, Brie, Avery, Bex, and Calder at the big Ferris wheel in the center of the park. I normally hate Ferris wheels, but I am trying to let go and have fun. It’s fun and of course we get stuck at the top. Somehow, I think Calder has something to do with it, but that is just me.
After the ferris wheel we go on the swings, a few roller coasters, a haunted ride, and then the merry-go-round. Then we play games. There is a whole section of the park that is just games. There is everything from water gun races, basketball, milk bottle toss, cranes, arcade games, whac-a-mole, bean bag toss, and pretty much any game you could think of that you would find at a fair, carnival, or boardwalk. We get cotton candy, funnel cakes, and ice cream. We are being seriously fat today, and I love it.
I drag Calder into a photo booth and take silly pictures with him to give to our parents. Then we are all taking turns in the photo booth doing silly pictures. All the couples do a kissing picture. Calder and I are laughing as our parents approach us with Kenzie and Jason. I still haven't gotten used to calling Jason Uncle Jason yet or Kenzie Aunt Kenzie, I’ll get there. Calder and I give our parents our strip of silly pictures. They love it just like I knew they would.
“I see you two are getting along.” Dad states.
Calder wraps his arms around my shoulders. “Yeah, we are even if she can’t focus for shit.” Calder jokes.
“Hey at least I have dreams. Oh Burn!” I joke back.
“You know what? I think we need to settle this with a game of Skeeball,” Calder suggests as he rubs the top of my head with his knuckles like a typical big brother would do.
“Oh, you’re on.” I challenge him back.
I don’t even know who won because we were having so much fun. Carter is kicking Ryan’s ass at the hoops game and wins me a giant stuffed white bear. Around ten at night the park does fireworks over the lake, and we all sit on the grass eating more food and watching the fireworks. The whole team is smiling, laughing, and having fun.
As we get on the bus around eleven at night, we all thank my dad for our fun filled day. Even Darren has a huge smile plastered on his face and I don’t think I’ve ever seen Darren smile, he’s so serious all the time. Unlike the bus ride to the amusement park the ride back is full of laughter and talking. I’m snuggled with my big white bear. Brie has a green stuffed snake that Ryan won her. Avery has a heart pillow that Bex won her, and Ivy and Alice both won each other silly hats. Calder won Lynden a stuffed puppy, so she didn’t feel left out. I thought it was sweet of him.
It is well after two in the morning by the time I curl up in bed. I feel so free and light. I need a day of fun. Everything has been so tense and serious lately that I think I forget what it is like to laugh and have fun. Apparently, Darren had so much fun today he told us we could take a few days off from training. So, Carter is taking me out on his bike tomorrow for a ride and lunch. Then the team is headed to a bowling alley for some more fun. We all need some fun, especially because once the war starts life as we know it will cease.