Chapter 09

Gael

We arrive at the park and while Ness and Charles are waiting for the second car at the park entrance, I go with Rayka to the counter to buy the passports.

“Good afternoon, I am a Diamond member, I need a bracelet, and I will also want seven passports with Flash Pass Platinum.” Rayka asks, handing the attendant a card.

Very smart of her to buy the flash passports, they offer the advantage of not having to stand in lines waiting to ride the rides, which will give us more time to enjoy the park. And although it costs a lot more than a regular passport, the benefit is worth it.

“Here you are Miss Powell.” The girl says handing over the wristbands.

“Thank you.” Rayka says and walks away.

I notice that the attendant did not even mention the prices, now I do not know how much I will need to give Rayka for my passport.

“Rayka, how much do I need to give you?”

“Don't worry about that, the passports are on me.”

What? She can't be serious about banking all our passports.

“Rayka, that's not right, you must have spent a lot on those passports.”

“Not really, my dad pays a yearly membership to Six Flags Diamond, I get a discount on everything in the parks, including the extra passports.”

“Still, I don't think it's right for you to pay for everything.”

“It's already bought, so let's just enjoy the day, okay?”

She’s quite stubborn and won't let me pay.

“If there's no other way, do what.” I shrug.

We go to our friends and Rayka starts handing out the bracelets.

“How are we going to decide which toy to go on?” Allan asks.

“I thought we'd each have our turn to choose a toy, and everyone go.” Rayka says.

“And how are we going to decide who gets to choose?” Bryan asks.

“To avoid a fight, I thought it would be in alphabetical order, and when everyone has chosen, we'll reverse the order, going from the last to the first.” Rayka says.

“It's a great idea, but we're short on time, we won't be able to ride 16 toys this afternoon.” Allan says.

“Yes, we will, because our passports are with Flash Pass, so we don't have to stand in lines for hours.”

“So, the order will be Allan first, followed by Liz, Bryan, Charles, Gael, Rayka, Sarah and finally me.” Ness speaks.

Bryan once mentioned that his sister's name is Vanessa, but she prefers to be called by her nickname. And from the order she spoke, she must have used the whole name as a basis.

“But Liz is with an L, shouldn't she be after Gael?” Charles asks.

“If my name was just Liz, yes, but my name is Anelise.” Liz explains. “So, Allan, what's the first toy we're going to.”

“Batman The Ride.”

And so, our fun begins, Batman The Ride, has a different mode, because when we sit down our legs are hanging. Liz chooses the Catwoman Whip, a more radical Ferris wheel. Bryan chooses the Gunslinger, a swing in the heights. Charles chooses New Texas Giant, a huge roller coaster with a wooden finish. I choose El Diablo which has an amazing loop. Rayka chooses Titan and Sarah chooses Dive Bomber Alley, which mixes skydiving, hang gliding and bungee jumping, and finally Ness chooses La Víbora, which is shaped like a giant snake.

After the first round of adrenaline, which although we did not face queues, it was very long, since we were walking from side to side to go to the toys. Only in this part I could already notice that the park, besides being huge, has great toys, and I couldn't help but notice how Rayka always has her arms up, screaming for excitement, without any fear.

We go to the food court and eat portions of nachos and potato chips, while talking and laughing. During the conversation, I notice that Bryan is very affectionate with Liz, I don't know if to show that he is not gay or because of the pin she gave him earlier, I hope he is not just using the girl, because it would be very scoundrelly of him.

After eating, we walked around the gift stores for a bit to digest the food. In a store it is possible to buy a photo of our moment at Texas Giant, there was one that appears the eight and we all bought a glass with it printed.

We return to the rides and this time, Ness chooses first, and his choice is the Shock Wave, which has consecutive loops. Sarah chooses the Judge Kaneki Scream, a roller coaster with several difficulties. Rayka chooses Mr. Freeze Reverse, which has a very fast launch and goes backwards. I choose Pandemonium, which has spinning cars and allows people to control how the ride goes. Charles chooses Runaway Mountain, which is inside a mine and totally in the dark.

Before the ride starts, I notice something wrong, because Rayka seems very tense, the opposite of what she has been doing so far, which was always excited, and since she has not shown fear before, it can only mean that she is afraid of the dark. As soon as we sit in the stroller she holds on tight to the bar.

“Rayka, are you afraid of the dark?”

“Not normally, but here it's different, you can't see anything at all.”

I notice in her voice that she is indeed scared, and apparently, she is too proud to admit it and not walk on the sidewalk. So, I slip an arm behind her and hold her shoulder and with my other hand I grope the bar until I find hers.

“Let go of the bar and give me both hands.”

As soon as she does what I asked, I take them to my chest, so that she can use her touch to see something in this dark, and right then we arrive at the first descent. We stay the whole way like this and although I just want to offer her support, I can't help but feel how soft her skin is, when we can see the light at the end of the walk I begrudgingly let go of her, because I imagine Bryan will tease her if he knows that.

“Thank you.” Rayka says giving me a kiss on the cheek.

Just this small gesture showed how soft her lips are, I wonder how it will be in a more intense kiss.

“Dispose.” I says with a smile.

After that, Bryan chooses the Sky Screamer, another swing model 400 feet off the ground. Liz chooses The Riddler Revenge, a kind of giant pendulum, with a counterclockwise spinning wheel. And finally, Allan chooses the Superman Tower Power, a 100-meter tower with a sharp drop.

As we still have some time before heading back to the stadium, we decide that each pair will be able to choose a toy for a second round. Allan and Sarah choose Batman the Ride, Ness and Charles choose New Texas Giant, Bryan and Liz choose Shock Wave and Rayka and I choose Mr. Freeze Reverse. And to finish everyone agrees to go on the Titan.

Let's go to one of the stores, because the girls want to buy a hat for the event later, after each one chose their own, Rayka jokingly put a black model on my head and said it looked great, I ended up buying it for me, and getting a beautiful smile with that.

“I'm thirsty, I'm going to get myself a coke, anyone want one too?” Bryan asks as soon as we leave the store.

Since everyone says they want it, I offer to go with him to get it, so he doesn't have to bring the eight cans alone, meanwhile the rest stays in front of one of the candy stores.