I stepped out of Nathan's parent's minivan, which he'd borrowed, and looked out at the monster that stood in front of me. It seemed to laugh at me as it swung its victims around, threatening to let them go. I swallowed, leaning against the vehicle. All I heard were screams and cries as hands shot into the air to surrender to its control. I could feel the nervousness rising in my chest. I could hear my deep breaths over the shouts. I stared at the large object in front of me as it tempted me with a manipulating smile on its face that could make anyone crawl under a rock.

"Jackson," it said. It called my name some more with a slow and challenging voice. "Jackson? C'mon, Jackson. Hello?" Suddenly, the voice started to change into a higher pitch as I brought myself back to reality. "Jackson? You coming?"

I cleared my throat, looking around me. I could smell sunscreen. There were hundreds of cars stopped at the parking lot, crowding around me. The sky was blue, with no cloud in sight. The sun was hot and it beat down on me, but I still wore my gray hoodie. I squinted my eyes as I glanced at a tall digital billboard. I only caught the words "Bamboozle Roadshow 2010" before it changed to a screen that read "All Time Low, Boys Like Girls, and Good Charlotte".

"Are you okay?" Melissa was looking at me with concern on her face.

I took my eyes off of the billboard and looked at the girl next to me. "What?"

"Is something wrong?"

"No." My voice was off pitch as I swallowed the lump in my throat. "Everything's fine."

Melissa looked at me strangely-as if she didn't believe me. "It's gonna be okay, Jackson. This kind of stuff goes on all the time. Nothing's gonna go wrong. Alright?"

"Yeah."

"C'mon, guys," Eric called from several feet away. "Hurry up."

"You ready?" Melissa asked me.

"Yeah."

We jogged toward the group of teenagers, then started walking across the parking lot. There was a line of people next to a gate. They advanced down the sidewalk, parading toward the point of no return. We got into the line with them and followed.

I looked at the gate that was next to us and saw a sign that read "DANGER: DO NOT CROSS". It had barbed wire on it. I put my eyes straight ahead of me and fingered the cross around my neck. After a moment's thought, I tucked it underneath my shirt to keep from losing it. I pulled the left sleeve of my hoodie up to my elbow and placed my hands into the pockets on the front. I wriggled my feet around carefully so I wouldn't fall and make a total fool of myself. I didn't remember the last time that I'd tied or untied my shoes. But they felt secure.

"So we'll head back to the car at about…" Nathan looked at his watch to see that it was a little after ten. "…two so we can eat lunch."

For lunch, we each had a Lunchables Pizza. There was also Diet Coke, Mountain Dew, and water. All of this was resting inside of a cooler filled with ice.

"Where's the gate?" Taylor asked.

"Waaaaaay up there." Nathan pointed past the figures in front of us.

"What? That far?" Eric groaned.

"Yeah. It's like a ten minute walk."

"Well, it's a good thing that I wore tennis shoes today," the blonde said, looking down at her shoes.

"How are you wearing that jacket, Jackson? It's hot out here."

I just shrugged, lost in my thoughts.

Suddenly, creatures were thrown toward us-just a couple feet above us-shrieking as they were caught and pulled back into the air. I let in a quick breath and followed the victims with my eyes. I licked my lips nervously, then averted my eyes.

A few minutes later, we passed by a large beast. It was smaller than the other, but more frightening, for its path was furious. But, suddenly, I saw three of its many legs dance under the weight of the excelling soon-to-be casualties. My mouth dropped open a bit as I followed the prey's flight through the azure. My breath, once again, became the only thing I could hear. I felt dizzy. I tried to calm myself and act natural.

We soon reached the end of our journey and divided into separate lines. We each bought our tickets, then showed them to the man at the gate. I stood behind Melissa, who was getting her ticket checked, which means that I'm next. I took a shuttering breath, attempting to settle myself.

"Band, please."

I looked up at the man, then held up my wrist to show that I was wearing a pink band. When he nodded his consent, I took a step and passed through the entrance bars, which turned with a click, resetting itself for the next unlucky person to enter. There's no turning back now.

As I passed the man at the gate, he said, "Thank you. Have a Six Flags day."