Bryan convinces Kai to ride a rollercoaster.
.
"We are not going on the rollercoaster," Kai insisted, glaring daggers at Bryan.
Bryan laughed. "Are you afraid of a rollercoaster?"
"No!" Kai spat, "I just... don't want to lose my lunch."
Kai and Bryan were standing just outside The Tower of Terror at DreamWorld, having a heated debate about going on the ride verses not going on the ride. Kai hated coasters of all kinds – there was no way in hell Bryan was going to get him on that thing.
"Come on, Kai. There are children as young as seven that are going on it. You're twenty one now," Bryan argued. He glanced up at the ride, then back at Kai again, a hint of a smirk on his face. "Don't be such a big baby. It's not going to kill you."
The mighty Kai Hiwatari afraid of a rollercoaster? It was laughable. The only rollercoaster he had managed to get on was the Madagascar one. "I've already been on one today."
"That was a kid coaster."
"It was still a coaster."
Bryan crossed his arms over his chest, and gave Kai a stern look. "If you don't go on the ride with me, I will instagram a photo of you completely wasted. Mr Dickenson won't be pleased when he becomes aware of that photo, Kai. You will be banned for life."
Damn Bryan and his evil mind. "You wouldn't dare."
Bryan smirked. "Come on the coaster with me. That's all I ask." Kai knew he wasn't going to get out of this no matter how hard he tried, so he nodded, resigning himself to a painful ride with Bryan. "We're going to go on the Giant Drop first though. That'll get you prepared for what's to come," Bryan added, leading Kai towards the tall tower.
His stomach tightened. A fifty metre drop didn't sound like a lot of fun. Hell, the Tower of Terror sounded less intimidating now. Look on the bright side Kai, he thought, at least the rest of the gang aren't here. Tala had dragged Spencer and Ian with him to the animal area so he could look at the cute animals and feed kangaroos. How he wished he was with them right now. "I hope I don't die."
"You are such a drama queen," Bryan teased.
Eventually, they reached the queue line for the Giant Drop. Fortunately, they didn't have to wait too long in the line. The smile on Bryan's face widened as they drew closer to the start of the queue until finally, they were seated. "Fuck," Kai mumbled.
Bryan just cackled. "Wimp."
Kai was too scared to reply to nasty Bryan. He was busy praying that he wouldn't die. The lady supervising the ride ensured they were all safely seated, then pushed the button to start the climb. Bryan was humming some tune which suspiciously sounded like Christina Aguilera's 'Your Body' while Kai willed himself to not look down. "Don't look down, don't look down," he whispered, clinging to the safety bar for dear life.
After what seemed like minutes of climbing fifty metres, they stopped at the very top. The view was spectacular but Kai was more concerned about his racing heart and sweaty palms than observing his surroundings. Bryan swung his legs and happily said, 'Now we wait for the click'.
"The click?"
"You hear a click then you drop."
Oh joy.
So he waited.
And waited.
And waited some more.
"When are we going to drop? It's been minutes since-HOLY FUCKING MOTHER OF CHRIST!" he screamed as the seat suddenly plummeted to the ground. Bryan cackled the whole way down, while Kai screamed out a bunch of random obscenities during the four second drop. "Fucking hell," he said, as they got off the ride. His legs were shaking like jelly.
"Are you alright, Kai?" Bryan said, looking at him.
Kai nodded. "I'm alive."
Bryan placed a hand on Kai's shoulder. "Excellent. Now we'll make our way over to the Tower of Terror entrance. Remind me to buy you something later."
The two boys made their way over to the entrance which happened to be on the far side of the park. Bryan wouldn't share any details about the ride. Evil son of a bitch, Kai thought. After much walking, and some sightseeing, they reached the entrance. The queue was relatively short so it wasn't long before they got onto the ride. Right at the front. "I hate my life," Kai said, once again clinging onto the bars for dear life.
"This one will rip your face off," Bryan replied, grinning like a madman.
Once again, Kai prayed. He wasn't religious by any means, but now seemed like a good time to believe in a god. "Shit."
Five seconds.
Four seconds.
Three seconds.
Two seconds.
One second.
"Fuck!" The car launched backwards through the tunnel like a rocket, then up the track only to come hurtling back down again. Kai honestly thought his face was going to come off as they sped back through the tunnel. The ride was over in about ten seconds. "Oh my fucking god." As he climbed out of his seat, he felt his face. Still perfectly intact, thank god.
"That wasn't so bad, was it?"
"Never again." Being terrified was not his idea of a fun time. He took in a couple of deep breaths and tried to steady his racing heart, while concentrating on the path ahead. His legs were still a little shaky. "Let's go on something a little more gentle next time. Like the log ride," Kai said, as he searched for a place to sit.
"You did well today, Kai. I'm proud of you. I'll buy you an ice-cream."
Kai was speechless. All that for a bloody ice-cream?!