A/N: The title is from Panic! At The Disco, which stemmed from my newfound obsession with Brendon Urie.

"Shut up!"

"Sammy, swear, you will kill me if I don't speak up!"

"You're over-exaggerating!"

"Actually, no. You're probably the worst driver in the history of our existence. That's a fact. Marissa posted it on Yahoo Answers and everything."

I rolled my eyes. "You guys suck. And I'm getting the hang of driving stick! You said I was better than last week!"

"Sams, last week was so bad, there was no possible way you could have gotten worse this week. The only way to go is up."

"Aha! That's indirectly saying I'm improving."

Casey was sitting, tense, next to me in the passenger's seat. He was clutching the armrest and the window, his eyes glued to the road, sensitive to every movement in front of him. His acute focus traveled from traffic to my hands on the wheel and the stick shift.

I stopped at a red light, and he breathed out an audible sound of relief.

Finally, after a silence, he muttered, "This is fucking exhausting. I much prefer you driving my stick."

I gasped, but despite myself the corner of my lips turned upwards and I struggled to keep my eyes on the road. Nevertheless, I found the stamina to punch him in the arm. Hard.

"Ow!" He said, rubbing his arm despondently.

"It'll be harder next time," I warned as the light turned green.

"How kind. But I'm serious, Sammy, if you total my precious car, I will defenestrate you."

"Oooh, I'm SO scared." I intentionally elongated my words like a ten-year-old and turned my head to stick my tongue out at him.

A car swerved in front of my path as I did this, and my eyes snapped back to attention as I slammed on the brakes. The guy in the other car flipped me off and turned back onto the road. I reversed the car and pulled into the parking lot that faced the road on my right. We and the car were okay, but I couldn't help but stifle a laugh as the blood drained from Casey's cheeks.

"You're literally milk white right now," I teased, and Casey unbuckled and walked around to my side of the car.

He leaned down, tapping the glass on my window expectantly, and I rolled it down and smiled innocently. "Yes, officer?"

"I'm going to need you to step out of the vehicle, m'am," he said.

"On what grounds?"

"On the grounds of I don't want you to steer me to my death."

Couldn't argue with that. I reluctantly unbuckled my seatbelt and scooted over to the passenger side. Casey took the wheel.

He reversed back into the street and turned down the road opposite to where we were supposed to be headed.

"Uh, Case?" I asked tentatively.

"What?"

"My home is that way."

"I know." He said a matter-of-factly.

I crossed my arms. "So where exactly are you taking me?"

"Somewhere."

He drove until I smelled salty air that indicated the ocean. Soon, the Pacific came into view as we wandered closer and closer to loud cheers near the end of the highway. The Santa Martina Boardwalk came upon us just ten minutes afterwards, the source of the noise. He pulled me out of the car and led me inside, browsing through all the potential rides and booths. After giving into my craving and buying some bright blue cotton candy, we joined the lines for our favorite attractions.

I beat Casey at the Baseball Toss easily (playing softball has yet to spite me), but he retaliated and won the Bumper Car Race. I'm pretty sure that he used my driving inability against me when he picked that ride, but we celebrated nevertheless coming in first and second place (ignoring the fact that we were the only two people over seven years old that participated).

The sun was beginning to set, and I was nearly positive that my blue cotton candy was starting to make me look like a Smurf. As our final ride, we started towards the Circumsight, which was the largest attraction at the boardwalk. It was a gigantic, world-famous Ferris wheel that always had lines of desperate people shoving at each other.

I, myself, have been scared of heights ever since I was little. Casey had always begged and pleaded to go on it, but I had always refused to, up until now. He was lucky I was feeling a little adventurous today, because apprehensive bursts jittered my stomach as I stared up in awe at the attraction. Lines were especially long at sunset, when the view was said to be the 'most beautiful.'

We waited for our turn patiently. To ensure that we got a ride, we even had to resort to calling out a few idiots who thought they could get away with cutting to avoid the line. Finally, the attendant removed the chain and helped us into the cushiony seats.

The ride began, and up and up and up the Ferris wheel went. Well, I was just guessing that we were making our way up, because my eyes were shut tightly. Casey pried my hands off my face, and told me, "Seriously, Sammy, nothing's going to happen. You're fine."

And then it stopped.

The ride came to a jarring, creaking, stop as it broke down, right as Casey and I reached the very top of the Ferris wheel.

I turned to the jinxer on my right, and my mouth dropped open with wild eyes, "WAY TO FUCKING GO, CASE."

Casey looked down from the carriage. He could barely contain his amusement at how scared I was. Mainly because I was rarely in this state of sheer terror. He stretched his arm out to lower my blood pressure or something.

"The attendants'll fix it in no time. Calm down, Sammy, you're FINE."

Is it just me, or did the air feel thinner up here? Are there any existing ferris wheel casualties? Is that a thing? I whipped my head to him,

"This is a sign. This is a sign. To never trust Casey Acosta again when he goads me into 'testing my comfort zone'!"

"This is a sign to enjoy the view, Sammy. Wow. Look."

I stopped reprimanding Casey for one second to look out at the Californian landscape. The words I was about to say were tossed from my vocabulary as I was overcome by stunned silence. My eyes hurriedly flickered over the view, not wanting the ride to kick back into gear before I memorized the scene stretched out in front of me. I wanted to look at everything at once, and at the same time I wanted to take it slowly and admire every detail at my own leisure.

The sun was slipping below the water line of the Pacific Ocean, and the sky was illuminated with dark orange and bright yellow streaks that warmed and relaxed my face. It was so serene. I couldn't even hear the crowd from here. The waves lapped up against the sand and I felt so content. I could sit here for hours.

My hand instinctually traveled to my phone to snap a picture of this moment, but at the last second I decided against it. No photo could capture the vastness of this, and any attempt would just be a distraction. I never understood when some photographers said this, but looking out at the water, I comprehended it completely.

A lurch and whirling noise took my attention to our ferris compartment, and the ride cranked back into motion. We began our descent back into the stupid, fast-paced reality of life.

Casey was watching me look out. "Are you glad I made you come?" He asked.

I reluctantly met his intense gaze. "Yeah. I really am."

He straightened his back and leaned against the carriage seat. "It's been...nice spending the day with you."

I regarded him playfully and brushed his shoulder with mine. "What descriptive language. Was that your attempt at capping off this Ferris wheel ride?"

He blushed slightly. "Okay, not the best word choice. But could you cut me a break? It's hard to shut up sometimes."

So I leaned in and shut him up.

A/N: Do you guys know what's crazy? I was thinking about an English essay that I have to write this weekend (sob) and I realized that this site has allowed me become a better writer than anything I could ever learn in class. Your suggestions and acceptance of my venting are SO appreciated because it seriously helps relieve stress sometimes and improves my thought process. This is such a genius outlet for exchanging ideas.

I'm going to try my very best to update for you fantastic people on weekends! Keep an eye out!

X,

DKMV