NOVEL NEXT Chapter 17: The Sidekick and the Fair (Part 2)
“Let me get this straight. We were at the arcade for over an hour and you two decided it would be a good idea to keep riding the Twister that whole time?” Ethan asked.
I gave him a pained nod.
“No wonder you both look like crap.”
Rika, along with the rest of them, stayed a safe distance from the bench me and Nora were resting on. Couldn’t blame them in the slightest. With the both of us green in the face and slumped against one another for support, there was a good chance we would projectile vomit at a moment’s notice.
“I feel like crap too.” My stomach continued to flip even though I was no longer suspended in the air or upside down. A groan from next to me assured me that my partner in crime wasn’t feeling much better.
“We can’t let it end in a tie though. Give me a minute and I’ll be good to go,” Nora mumbled.
“Right back at you,” I replied, praying that either the ride or her would collapse and hand me a merciful win.
“Well, I admire your…” Ethan chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck, seemingly struggling for an appropriate word to describe us. “...competitive spirits, the rest of us want to ride it too.”
“Great, we’re almost–”
“Without the two of you,” Rika clarified. “It’s nothing personal, but I would have to kill you if you threw-up on me. And I don’t want to have to do that.”
Nora pushed herself up to level a glare at the other girl. While normally anyone would wither under her intense gaze, her current state made it rather underwhelming. So, pale and shaking, she slumped back against me and let out a low whimper. “Then what should I do?”
“Sit there?” The inflection in Amelia’s voice made it sound like a question, but it was more of a command.
She vehemently shook against my shoulder. “Can’t do that. Nobody’s won yet.”
The four of them exchanged a glance. They probably thought we had lost our minds and maybe we had, but I also couldn’t help but agree with Nora. As much as I dreaded the very idea of going back on that ride, we couldn’t just quit. That would go against our very nature.
“What about the house of mirrors?” Chloe asked, fidgeting with her blouse as everyone turned toward her. “You could relax there for now, then come back and ride more.”
“That’s not a bad idea.” He pointed off into the distance. “Why don’t the two of you head over there while we ride the Twister?”
Without needing to say a word, the two of us stood up and threw an arm over one another’s shoulder. I tried not to lean on her too much, realizing the disparity in my height and weight compared to her own. Yet, I wasn’t sure how successful I was. The dizziness made my vision swim, meaning even the simple act of standing up was impossible without leaning heavily on her. Everything continued to spin around me, and I was suddenly aware of how a planet must feel about its orbits. Stupid comparison aside, everything slowed down when I kept my gaze locked onto the ground, so that’s where I kept it planted, counting on Nora to lead us to our destination. There was definitely some guilt there at relying on her so much, but not enough to force me to look up.
The journey was an arduous process of placing one foot after another and avoiding the crowds–sometimes skirting around them, and sometimes plowing through them–but eventually, we arrived at the house of mirrors. There was no line for the attraction, allowing the lady in front of the gate to give us a thorough once-over. That was when it dawned on me. I drew away from Nora, the pain in my stomach and dizziness being the least of my concerns at the moment; instead, the hammering of my heart in my ears was deafening. The girl gave me a questioning stare, but I stretched my arms above my head until my shoulder gave a small pop. It was a lame attempt to play off what I had.
Distracted by motion sickness, I hadn’t realized how close we’d been ever since taking a break from the ride. Close enough that her breath had tickled the nape of my neck and I could smell the strawberry shampoo coming from her hair. Would she get the wrong idea about me? Was it going to be a repeat of back then?
Whenever you touched me, or I forced myself to touch you, I thought I was going to hurl.”
I didn’t get to dwell on those memories as Nora, also more or less recovered, pulled me toward the entrance by my sleeve. Her grip was strong, so I didn’t bother trying to pull away, but I kept my arms pinned to my side. The lady, for her part, only glanced at our neon bracelets before unlatching the gate and allowing us to enter the house of mirrors.
Nora released me and pushed in ahead. I trailed her, ensuring I was a few paces away. Our footsteps echoed around us, and I took a moment to admire how the groups of mirrors changed my appearance. Granted, none of them were flattering, either squashing me or stretching me too tall and lanky. They did the same to Nora, but she evidently was less interested in the mirrors and keener on finding the exit to the maze.
I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself, not realizing that Nora had sidestepped down another corridor. My nose and forehead rammed into a mirror leaving me staring at an image of me with a gigantic head and a snarl.
A chorus of giggles comes from my right. “You’re such an idiot!”
My forehead and the bridge of my nose ached dully, but I stepped away and went to the right myself. At the end of the corridor I was greeted with the sight of Nora, her hands on her hips and an expression I couldn’t quite read. I trudged past her regardless, deciding she had the right idea. The sooner we could leave this place, the less awkward it would be for me.
“C’mon, you’re not seriously ignoring me again? We were getting along just fine. Now, you’re going to ignore me like at school?” She sighed and turned away, walking back in the direction we came. “Whatever. Not like what you do matters to me.”
She was right. Painting Nora with the same brush as those other girls was wrong. The other day hadn’t I been saying how nice all of these girls were? Yet here I was doing what exactly?
My hands clenched into fists. “Hold on!”
My shout reverberated around the hall, a dim echo reverberating underneath it. The action was so sudden, Nora paused, keeping her back to me. “What?”
The surrounding mirrors provided little insight into her mood, giving me only distorted images of the girl. With nothing to go off of, I had no choice but to lay it all out. She didn’t need to know everything, however, she deserved an explanation for my stupidity.
“You’re right. I’m an idiot. I was having fun hanging out with you, but I got caught up in my head and started to doubt myself. Can we restart?”
“...I don’t really get what you’re saying, but fine.” She twirled around and stomped over to me. Her finger jabbed into my chest far enough that it actually hurt. “We’re going to race to find the exit, and if you give it anything less than your all, I’m going to be pissed.”
“Of course.”
With that, I gently shoved her to the side and sprinted ahead, ignoring her cries of protest about cheating and injustice. The mirrors trailing alongside me displayed my freakishly large grin.