Child-like wonder

Nia: Wait so, is this really the first time you’ve been to an amusement park Rina?

Rina: Yep! I was really excited when you guys invited me. I’ve always wanted to visit one, but was told they were just a thing for kids.

Nia: Whoever told you that is a real stick in the mud.

Emery: It's more accurate to say they’re usually attractions for families. That’s changed in the last couple decades though. It’s a lot more common these days for parks to cater heavily for our demographic.

Our friend’s eyes darted around the myriad of different stalls while chatting. While at first her focus had been primarily on teasing me with Nia, she seemed to have completely forgotten in favor of taking in all of the new sights. Having waited a week, I couldn’t say I wasn’t a little disappointed, but watching the usually suave and powerful basketball star act like an excitable puppy was plenty satisfying in its own way.

We decided to embrace it and just enjoy things as they came. Fetching a couple staples, Nia and I guided Rina through the assortment of stands. Cotton candy, water guns, digital horse races, and a sickeningly wide array of fried doughs, and that was just a fraction. Unsurprisingly, she was very competitive when it came to the games. With us and with the establishments themselves. It was after a fifteen minute stint of repeated failures that we had to drag her away from the ring toss before she and the snarky operator she accused of rigging the game got into a spat.

About an hour or so of sampling all the different attractions later, we opted to take a break on a bench. Nia jogged to some nearby drink machines while the two of us lounged.

Emery: Having fun so far?

Rina: Yeah! Hehe, this is a blast Em!

I was taken aback by just how much genuine glee she’d compressed into that short response. Outside a hard won game of basketball, her smile was the brightest I’d seen on her since we met.

Rina: Do you think you’d be down for some rides after this? Ohhh man, do you wanna do that drop tower? I’ve really been jonesing to get on that since I saw it!

She slammed her palms against my thighs and excitedly brought our faces close. I flinched back and steadied against the metal behind me. Her blinding mood abated some at that, suddenly sobered from the colossal high. She broke eye contact and pulled away, though not entirely off my lap.

Rina: Ah…uh, sorry. I’m acting like a hyper kid, aren’t I?

It was surprising just how much my reaction seemed to dampen her luster. She was never so hot and cold as far as I could recall. Admittedly we had only recently gotten this close, but wasn’t Rina one to act confident and smooth over any awkwardness? Was this fragility a new development? Or was I just getting to know the real her?

Regardless of the reason for her behavior, I felt bad that she seemed so put out.

Emery: Hahaha Rina, what are you apologizing for?

Playing it off seemed like the best route to take. If I took things too seriously then I might drag out some topics she doesn’t want to touch on. Or worse, she’ll think she ruined the date altogether.

I pressed my hands on top of hers and squeezed them softly, hoping to impart some reassurance. Normally I’d feel weird about being so physical, but my years adjacent to Rina told me that form of expression came intuitively for her.

Emery: Nia is right, you apologize too much. Don’t worry so much. I’m having fun too.

Emery: Was there anything else you wanted to ride aside from the drop tower? There are a couple of coasters here that I’m really fond of. The big red one, in particular.

I cringed at what I was about to say, but for the sake of levity it was worth the blow to my ego. I leaned in closer to her and whispered in a playful manner.

Emery: Though if I’m being honest, I’m actually too short to ride some of them. They just let me on because Nia and I have been regulars here for years hehehe.

Rina burst into a short fit of hard laughter, her face contorting as she tried guiltily to suppress it.

Rina: Whooo man, that’s great! Hehe, I shouldn’t be laughing so hard at that. My bad.

Emery: No no, it’s fine heh. I know it’s pretty funny. Besides, I'm the one who made the joke.

Rina: True that. Don’t be funny if you don’t want me laughing, aight?

Thankfully, the atmosphere seemed to have recovered.

Nia: You know guys, I thought I was the one who was supposed to be getting the action here.

Rina and I both let out a yelp as a frowning Nia suddenly appeared next to us; sporting a trio of sports drinks under one arm and holding her hip with the other. Her faux grumpy expression cracked, evolving into her usual teasing smirk.

Nia: Do you two want the first round instead?

We assessed our positioning. We’d been incredibly close for a while, she had a point. Before I could pull away though, Rina wrapped her arm around the small of my back and pulled me against her chest. She looked up at Nia coquettishly.

Rina: Oh yeah? I’ll take ya up on it, if the offer’s legit. Think you can handle being on the other side of the show~?

Nia blushed hard — far harder, in fact, than I would have predicted — then puffed her cheeks and produced a noise of frustration.

Nia: N-no! I was kidding! I’m too jealous for that!

She hopped onto the bench and pressed her butt between us, sitting on our laps to create a separating gap.

Nia: Don’t go stealing my man!

She hung onto me and squished ourselves together.

Nia: Or my role! I’m the star of the show this time!

We couldn’t help but laugh at the over the top display of petulance. She didn’t act out like this when she was actually angry. She must have heard us talking and wanted to help lighten things up. Not wasting Nia’s assist, I looked toward Rina and came in with the finisher.

Emery: There, not feeling so “childish” now, right?

Rina: You’ve got me there. At least I’m not acting like that.

Nia wrapped her arms around our necks and pulled us into an awkward headlock.

Nia: I can hear you!