Chapter 28: Chapter 28

Emrys refused to tell me where our date was, saying it was a surprise, and told me to dress casually. There are a lot of things to the word “casual” and everyone had their definition of it. I was sure that ours differed because casual to me was wearing sweats and a tank top which I was also sure wasn’t the ideal dressing code for a date.

I had literally brought down my entire closet and didn’t find anything that shouted “I’m going casual but I don’t want to look like I just rolled out of bed”. Needless to say, there was nothing fitting that description.

Brielle came in ten minutes after my emergency call and stood, staring at me like I was a model she was trying to fit into clothes in her mind but it wasn’t working.

“How the hell does he expect you to know what kind of casual he’s talking about?” Brielle asked with a loud groan.

“Exactly what I thought,” I cried. “This is unbelievable. I have less than thirty minutes to be ready and the only thing I can wear is what I already have on.”

Brielle’s nose scrunched up immediately. “Unless you’re trying to subtly tell him that you want to be just friends, wearing your barbie PJs on your date is a horrible idea.”

I groaned and fell on my bed. “What do you suggest then?”

She placed her hand on her chin and began to stroke it. “I guess we can work with your legs.” I raised a brow. “You have long, sexy legs so instead of hiding it like you always do, you could flaunt it and be casual.”

I sat up straight since things were finally looking up. “What do you suggest?”

“Your vocabulary is quite broad today,” she said and I rolled my eyes. “You have these cute white shorts that I think are adorable and will flaunt your legs plenty. Then your pink leopard print crop top that would look adorable on you.”

“So, I’m going for a cute look today?” “Pretty much.”

I shrugged. “It’s not like I have anything better in mind.”

“Don’t worry I’ll make your hair and your makeup wow the world,” she said with a wink as she rushed back to her room.

Sometimes, asking Brielle looked good until she decided to take it into her hands and you were like her puppet for the day. She’d always had a fashion craze so I wondered why she didn’t go into that and settled for journalism.

When she came back, she was ready to turn me into whatever picture she had in mind because, as always, I was her mannequin. After what seemed like hours of pulling my hair and at my face, she told me she was done and finally let me see what all the pain I’d gone through was for.

I looked in the mirror and I had to admit I looked really nice even though I thought it was unnecessary. She had styled my hair in a weird updo style that looked even complicated for me to describe it. It was like she was gifted when it came to matters of the hair.

I pulled her into a hug and smiled. “Thanks, B. You’re the best.”

“Of course, I am,” she said with a proud grin. “Now, go get your man.”

I rolled my eyes and walked up to where my sneakers were and put it on. When I was done tying the laces, I stood up straight and picked up my cross bag and walked out of the room winking at Brielle before I left.

Downstairs, Emrys was waiting for me with a large smile on his face. He took my hand and led me to his car and only until I was inside, did I ask, “Where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise,” he said with a wink as he started driving.

“If you knew better, you’d know that I hate surprises,” I said, crossing my arms.

“Does it really matter?” I didn’t reply. “Okay, if you must know, we’re going for a Christmas themed festival. Brielle told me your love things like that and I thought it would be great if I take you for one.”

That was all it took for me to grin. “Oh my God, will there be roller coasters? And…and cotton candy?’

“I’m sure all of them will be there,” he said with a chuckle at my childlike excitement. “This is going to be a great day,” I said and he nodded.

It took a while but we got there and it was like nothing I had ever seen before since my parents never let me see things like that. Emrys and I left the car to go in with our tickets but I remembered that I left my phone in his car. I told Emrys to wait for me while I went back to the car to get the phone.

I did that but, on my way back, my right leg got caught in a mud puddle and I tried to get my leg out but it was literally war. I did everything possible but it was almost like the puddle was too in love with me to let me go. I tried my best and finally I was able to get my leg out but my shoe didn’t come out with it and I landed on my butt.

I thought of trying to get my shoe out but I didn’t think I’d be able to wear it back so I decided to leave it there. I sighed, stood up, rubbed my sore butt, and walked back to where Emrys was waiting for me.

He raised a brow. “Where is your shoe?”

“The giant mud puddle down the road demanded a sacrifice,” I said dramatically and he laughed causing me to cross my arms. “It’s not funny.”

“It kind of is,” he said with a shrug and when he noticed my glare, he stopped laughing. “Let’s go in. I’m sure there will be somewhere you can find flip-flops to buy or something.”

I smiled as I bent down to untie the laces of the other shoe. “I think I’ll do fine without either. I happen to hate shoes and it’s not like I’ll step on a nail.”

“It is actually very likely,” he said with a slightly raised brow probably questioning my sanity. I looped my arm in his and skipped to the gate. “What on earth are you doing?”

“Nothing other than living on the edge,” I replied with a casual wink.

He sighed. “Right now, I don’t know if I want to kiss you or shove you off a bridge.”

“Can I pick?” I didn’t mean to say it aloud if it’s believable. I just thought about it and was going to reply with something much cooler that made me seem less desperate until I realized I’d already said it. “What I mean is…um…well…”

He burst into laughter immediately then used his free hand to pinch my cheek. “You’re too cute.”

I didn’t say anything since I was sure that I was blushing a fierce tomato red at that point and just walked quietly beside him hoping that I’d be able to live down the embarrassment. He gave the ticket to the man by the entrance, dressed as a clown, who gave us this creepy smile that reminded me of Pennywise totally reminding me of the one reason why I hated circuses more than anything.

There were so many things to do and such little time. I had never been so excited in my life and Emrys was getting a kick out of my childishness but I had the most fun I’d ever had with him. It was something I wouldn’t forget in a long time.

Emrys had given his phone to a lady to take a picture of us which she did then told us how cute we were and suggested we went on the Lovers Coast. I didn’t know what that was until she pointed and saw the highest rollercoaster I’d ever seen in my life. I didn’t know why it was for Lovers because it seemed like a death sentence.

Despite my apparent fear, Emrys was excited to go on it and I was too chicken and ashamed to tell him that I was actually terrified of heights that were too high. I kept giving silly excuses to make him give up on his suicide mission all to no avail.

Composing myself was easier said than done because the closer we got to the coaster, the closer I was to my imminent death. I didn’t know when but I hugged Emrys even tighter as we got to where we’d hand over our tickets and get into the ride.

“Are you scared?” Emrys asked, finally noticing my fear and I nodded. “Don’t worry, I’m beside you.”

I really wanted to tell him that no matter how much men said it in movies to comfort the girl, if something bad was going to happen, it would happen. I stopped myself from saying that because I knew it would ruin the moment he was trying to create and I settled with, “I feel better already.”

That said, we got on the rollercoaster. The moment it started going up, I swear I nearly broke Emrys’s hand with the way I was squeezing it. Normally, I found rollercoasters fun but there was something about this one that made it feel like I was going to die. I was so sure that at the rate we were going, I’d find myself dead or something.

As if to prove my point, after minutes of endless screaming and at the time we were at the peak of the rollercoaster, the rollercoaster came to a stop and we were left upside down. I

swear I saw my life flash before my eyes and while most of us were screaming, some people were actually cheering.

I knew it was a technical fault and I couldn’t help but think it was associated with my bad luck. I closed my eyes but the fear would cause me to open my eyes and close it again continuing the process over and over again. Emrys was rubbing small circles on my palm to calm me down but it wasn’t working.

“Calm down, Paris.” “What if I fall?”

“Okay,” he said and I thought he was done but he added thoughtfully, “but what if you fly?”

“Fly? How the hell do you think I will fly? I would literally land with my head and die on the spot. There is no flying!”

He chuckled lowly and it was so low that I wouldn’t have heard it with the screams if his head wasn’t so close to mine. “What if you fly? Anything is possible in a world such as hours.”

I took deep breaths trying to calm myself down but his words really annoyed me. “I remember you saying that you are a vampire and unless you’re trying to tell me that you’ll transform into a bat and save my life, SHUT THE HELL UP!”

“Relax,” he said still laughing. He had the audacity to find it funny. “Everything will be fine. I promise you. Just think about things that make you happy and it will almost be like you’re anywhere but here.”

I nodded and closed my eyes, beginning to think about the joy of candy and soft purple pillows with a purple mug holding warm chocolate to make me happy. I could feel my mood lifting and my smile increased.

Emrys pinched my cheek and cooed. “You are so adorable.”

“If you do that again, I’ll throw you out of your seat you- what are you doing?” I asked when I saw him twisting in his seat.

“Checking how high the drop is to see if it’s worth it.” He said and even had the balls to wink at me. I was sure I would die from embarrassment before I died from falling down.

It was almost as if luck was back on my side because almost immediately, the ride went back to normal. Or slightly normal because the speed was way faster than when we had gotten on it. I screamed until my voice left me to have fun in Heaven and even then, I was rocking the soundless scream thing.

Finally, after enough tormenting minutes, the ride came to a stop and I ran out as though my butt was on fire not even bothering to check if Emrys was behind me. I just wanted to be far away from that death contraption. I stormed away from it and only when I was far enough, did I stop to pant and place my hand on my burning chest.

“Paris, I’m so sorry. I didn’t think you would be that frightened of it. I thought it was the usual jitters before you got in and realized how exciting it was,” Emrys sincerely apologized and I just thought how I had never known a man as gentlemanly as he was.

I smiled at him despite myself and said, “It’s fine. It’s not like I died like I expected. It could have been worse. I don’t know how but it could have been.”

He sighed. “Thank you. I thought you were really mad at me.”

“So, are we leaving now?” I asked him with an eager smile as I made to leave but he dragged my arm to stop me. “What?’

“I want to tell you something.” I grinned. “Shoot.”

“I woke up this morning and the first thing I wanted was you.” I couldn’t think.

I couldn’t breathe.

“I want so many things,” he whispered. “I want your mind. Your strength. I want to be worth your time.” His fingers grazed the hem of my top and he said, “I want this up.” He tugged on the waist of my shorts and said, “I want this down.” He used the tips of his fingers to touch the sides of my body and said, “I want to feel your heart racing next to mine and I want to know it’s racing because of me, because you want me. I want every second. Every inch of you. I want all of it.”

And, just as I expected, I dropped dead all over the floor.

The last thing I heard was him whispering, “Paris?” before I fell into the darkness.