Author's Note (xSweetEternityx): Hi everyone! This is my first time doing a collaboration piece with another author, but when Eletha Landon suggested it, I wholeheartedly agreed; it sounded like a challenge, but it also sounded like it would be fun. Not to mention how I'm a big fan of her work. You have got to love the way she can make you squirm and clinging onto her, begging for more.

So yes, I'm totally delighted that I can work with her. All right, well, since we're alternating chapters, the flow might be a little strange, but like Eletha Landon said, please bear with us :)


The Conspiracy

Part 2

As we merged onto the highway, I tried to ignore how close Chloe was. She was, oh, about an arm's length away. Not that I was measuring. I caught a whiff of her citrusy shampoo with the air conditioning circulating in the car and my knuckles tightened on the steering wheel. Unlike most girls who showered in perfume, like a certain somebody in the back seat, Chloe smelled nice. That and the fact that she was dressed in a pair of jean shorts, a tee and a pair of sneakers. In other words, something that is suitable for an amusement park.

It never fails to see some girl complaining about her shoes or about the state of her hair after getting off the roller coaster. But thankfully, none of that from Chloe. Maybe some from Tori, but I knew ways to make her shut up.

Behind me, I could hear Simon and Tori arguing about some movie and I was well aware of the awkward atmosphere that lingered up front. I could sense Chloe's nervousness, as though she felt that she was a little out of place, and I wanted to make her ease up a little by starting a conversation.

"The weather's nice today."

Hell, I sound like the fucking weatherman. Besides, where would I go with that? Announce the temperature off the thermostat? Yeah… no. That would go in the Guinness book of World Records for lamest conversation starter ever.

How about… "You smell nice"?

That isn't creepy in the slightest. Not at all. Ten points to Gryffindor if she didn't kill herself in her haste to escape out the door and into the oncoming traffic.

I growled in frustration as I discarded each idea as soon as it came. How did something as mundane as starting a conversation become so damn difficult? My eyes went to the rear mirror and saw that Simon was gesturing wildly at some point he was making. Out of the two of us, Simon had always been better at this type of thing. He could magically pull a topic from nowhere. Me, I'm better with numbers and logic. Good for school, but not helpful with my social life. Which is probably why I have none. But it never mattered to me.

At least until now.

I shifted in my seat as I listened to Tori shoot back a retort on "how wrong he was to the point that it was laughably sad." It was something about one of the movies that was being shown in the local theatre and evidently, my siblings were in the middle of a heated debate.

Speaking of movies...

It didn't sound too bad as a topic. Maybe I could even ask Chloe about the latest one she saw. After all, she loved movies. Enough that she carried a small black leather notebook with her everywhere. One time during one of our tutoring sessions, Chloe had left to grab something to drink and while I was shifting stuff around, I had accidentally knocked her bag over. Some of the stuff inside spilled onto the floor and as I was gathering it up, I had noticed that a small notebook had opened to a page full of writing.

It was bunch of notes on movie stuff like plot, colour, lighting and other things that I didn't really get. I had been surprised to see how detailed it was since I never paid any attention to the technicalities. Just if the movie was any good or if it sucked to the point where I would consider demanding a refund.

But in those notes, Chloe had given each movie a rating in the end and clearly wrote the reason why. It was kind of ridiculous in a way, but I got the image of her scribbling frantically into her little black book whenever she watched a movie. I had wanted to ask her about it, but I also figured that she probably wouldn't appreciate me leafing through her stuff so I just put it back and pretended nothing had happened.

So even if I couldn't ask about her written film reviews, talking about movies in general was a fairly safe topic. I cleared my throat as I snuck a glance at the girl sitting next to me. "So uh... you mentioned about wanting to see that-" I struggled to remember the actual title but drew a blank. "-Superman movie that's out. Did you go see it?"

Chloe looked a little surprised at the sudden conversation but she recovered quickly. "You mean Man of Steel?" she asked as I shrugged in response.

"Yeah. Sure."

"I saw it last week with my dad."

I nodded as I took the exit off the freeway. "So, what did you think?" While it didn't quite seem like my type of movie, I remember hearing the excited chatter at school about the new remake. "Everyone seems to want to watch it."

That got me a smile and I took a little longer than necessary to return my eyes to the road. "Yeah, there was quite a bit of hype before it came out, but honestly, I didn't really like it."

The admission came out hesitantly, as though she was ashamed to admit that she didn't like this particular superhero movie. And even though I only watched movies when Simon was in between dates and had nothing better to do, I was surprisingly intrigued to hear about what Chloe had thought about the film. "Why?" I questioned, my tone curious.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Chloe bite on her lower lip, a sign that she was hesitating on whether or not I really wanted the details or if it was just an automatic reply. When I gave her an expectant look, she smiled and her reluctance dissipated. "Well, I did kind of like Clark's back story about his childhood," she began. "But I think the excessive damage caused in the fights later on made the movie irredeemable. Not to mention all the plot holes and how rushed it felt. There was this scene..."

And so for the rest of the car ride there, Chloe filled me in on what she liked and didn't like about the remake. Before long, I pulled into a parking space and the last bit of the conversation subsided. As soon as I turned off the ignition, Simon threw the door open and bounced out. "Wow, it's been forever since we last came here, hasn't it?" he asked as he took in the scene in front of us. "I used to love this place."

I rolled my eyes as I pressed the auto-lock on the remote. "And apparently, you still do. I'm starting to feel that you stopped maturing at age 12," I muttered as Chloe giggled.

Simon flipped me the finger. "Whatever, bro." Then he turned to Chloe and mock-whispered, "Just ignore him. He acts like that, but wait until he gets on the wooden roller coaster. That's his favourite."

Chloe grinned as she looked up at me. "Yeah? That's mine too."

I shrugged, trying to look nonchalant at the idea of liking something in common. It was no big deal; lots of people liked the wooden roller coaster. But even so, I couldn't help but feel a sense of warmth at Chloe's grin.

We exchanged our tickets for a hand stamp and entered the amusement park. Once inside, it was like entering a whole different world. Outside, everything was kind of muted and moving in slow motion, but here, it was the opposite. Cheery recorded music blasted from nearby rides and people of all ages chattered excitedly as they passed, not even sparing us a glance. The metallic whirling as machines operated to perform what they were designed to. The dull clank clank and high pitched squeals as a roller coaster descended from a slope.

Everything was in constant motion. From the different rides to the guests milling about. From the popping of popcorn to darts whizzing towards their targets on the wall. A couple of kids, no older than eight or nine, ran towards me and I jerked back just in time to avoid colliding into one. The boy shot me an apologetic grin and caught up with his friends, delight on his face. Obviously, he and his friends were having a great time because they raced for the lineup at another ride, not wanting to waste time with something as frivolous as walking.

Gazing after them, I could see a faint version of Simon and me at a similar age looking just as carefree as those kids. We used to want to go on every ride at least once, our cheeks rosy from running from place to place. After each ride, we'd laugh until we were dizzy and breathless before saying that we wanted to do it again. Nothing else seemed to matter. Only that we played as much as we could before our dad told us that it was time to go home.

Those days seemed to stretch forever and I had forgotten what it had been like to just forget everything and have fun. I used to live for those days, waiting anxiously for the summer to come just so that my family would go to the amusement park.

But as time passed, I grew up and the memories faded. The vivacious music muted. The roller coaster slowed to a stop. And the colour drained away, turning the once-magical world into something monotonous and dull. School became more important and even when it was summer, I busied myself with prepping for college, never once thinking about the good times I had as a kid.

But now, those memories came rushing by like a river of endless emotions. And I was caught in the middle of it, not knowing where to look, but at the same time, knowing everything because I had lived through it. When I was reminded about the amusement park event today, I admit that it felt like I was being dragged to do something that I had no interest for. But now that I was here, it didn't feel like that anymore.

There was something about the atmosphere itself that made you feel like being a kid again, even if it was only for a few hours.

"Derek?" Light fingers brushed my arm and I glanced down to see Chloe looking at me with a concerned expression. "You okay?"

I blinked away the memories and took in the present scene. Tori and Simon were a little further ahead, looking back at us, probably wondering what was holding us up. "Yeah."

"Y-you sure? I mean... you didn't seem to be thrilled earlier about coming here."

So she did notice after all. I gave her a small smile. "Yeah. I'm good," I murmured as Tori tapped her foot impatiently in the distance. "Let's go before Tori chews our heads off."

The first ride we chose was the wooden roller coaster. Since it was pretty famous in our area, there was a massive lineup for it, but we waited until it was our turn. Since it was divided into two seaters, I sat in the very back seat as Tori climbed her way in the seat in front of me. As Chloe motioned after her, Simon held her back. "You don't want to sit next to Tori," he advised as Chloe's brows furrowed in confusion. "You'll go deaf from her screaming. Sit with Derek instead."

"Hey!" Tori protested as her half-brother shot her a good-natured grin and sat down next to her. "I do not scream."

"Oh yeah? You wanna bet?"

I tuned out their incessant bickering and out of the corner of my eye, I watched as Chloe took her seat next to me. "You don't scream, do you?" she teased as the ride operator stopped by to make sure everything was secured.

I gave her a look. "Do I look like I scream?" I asked as her grin widened.

"You don't look it, but you never know," she mock-whispered.

I rolled my eyes but said nothing as the ride began with a sudden lurch. I swallowed thickly as the roller coaster turned a corner and click-clicked up the rails for the first slope. As we began our slow ascent, I turned my head to the side and marveled at the sight. We could see everything in the park. The people below looked like ants as they sauntered about. Even the music was more subdued. I was barely aware that the roller coaster was slowing down until Chloe let out a small gasp and I whipped my head to see that we had already made it to the top of the slope.

I grinned at her. "Ready?"

She shot me a look that was part anticipation and part trepidation. "No! Oh my-" the rest of her sentence ended in a scream as we lunged forward so quickly that it felt like we were barely holding on for our lives. I let out a whoop of laughter as the wind roared in my ears. One moment, it felt as though we were falling and the next, we were crushed against our seats as our train soared uphill again. And just like that, the biggest slope was conquered.

A few minutes later, we emerged from the ride, still feeling the effects of the thrill as we lumbered our way to the photo shack. There was a part on the ride where the camera captured the moment and after a second, I spotted the one of Chloe and me, trying to look as bored as possible. It had been a little difficult to keep a straight face as the roller coaster was zooming downhill, but we did it. In the photo next to us, Simon and Tori sipped from invisible tea cups and tried to hold the position. However, it was ruined by Simon's scrunched up face as the force of the wind hit him. Tori cracked up as soon as she saw it. "So classy, Simon," she teased.

"Hey, I was on the outside, okay?" said Simon, trying to look peeved but failed as a smile tugged on his lips.

"Uh huh. Sure, tell yourself that if it makes you feel better," Tori sneered. Then after a moment, she looked around. "So, what next?"

"How about the Hellivator?" Chloe suggested as she nodded to the tall structure.

I eyed the ride. It was a new addition to the park long after I had stopped coming here. It was basically an elevator sort of ride that strapped you in with shoulder supports before shooting up at a ridiculous speed. But despite the occasional shrieks during the initial blast off, it didn't seem like a challenge. "Doesn't look like much but sure," I said, striding over to the lineup. "Let's see what it can do."

. . . . . . . . . .

A handful of minutes later, we emerged from the ride as I closed my eyes, bracing myself against a nearby fence. It had seemed so simple, but I swear the contents of my stomach sloshed up into my thoracic cavity when we were shot into the air.

"Are you okay, Derek?" Chloe asked, sounding concerned.

I opened my eyes to see her looking at me, her brows furrowing. "Yeah," I managed to say as Tori snickered behind me.

"You sure about that? Looking a little green there," she said in a singsong voice.

I shot her a glare, telling her to shut up. "I'm fine," I said through clenched teeth.

She returned my look with one that said that she didn't believe me but shrugged and walked ahead. Simon glanced between me and Chloe. While he did look somewhat worried, there was a gleam in his eye that I didn't like. "So are you okay to go on more rides?" he questioned as I scowled at him.

"Of course," I growled.

Simon ignored me as he turned to face Chloe. "Derek likes to act tough, but would you mind keeping an eye on him?"

Chloe looked a little surprised but she recovered quickly and smiled at me. "Yeah no problem. Leave it to me," she said, grinning.

I sighed in exasperation. Apparently, I couldn't be trusted with my own health. But when I noticed how close Chloe was sticking to me, I forgot about my annoyance by the time we got onto the next ride.

We were looking for our fifth ride when Simon suddenly stopped. "Oh man. We have to go on that one," he exclaimed, pointing at a circular type of ride that resembled a Ferris wheel, only that it was horizontal instead of vertical and went a lot faster.

"Uh, no we don't have to," Tori clarified as she gestured at the long lineup.

"Tori," said Simon and the two of them exchanged a look that I couldn't quite interpret.

After a moment, my foster half-sister rolled her eyes. "Fine. Let's go on the Music Express."

With the number of people in line, it took us a good chunk of our time to finally get onto the ride. As I climbed in after Chloe, I saw Simon gesture to Tori at the one behind us. At my quizzical look, Simon shouted over the music, "There's no room."

What the fuck was he talking about? Each car could hold at least four people and considering how we were all pretty lean, there was plenty of room. But before I could voice my reply, they had already gotten settled into their own car.

Once the ride attendant made sure the handle bar was locked, the ride started to accelerate. Even though this was my first time on this thing, all my years of physics figured out the mechanics of the ride a few laps in. Chloe and I started out sitting with a small distance between us but as the ride got faster and faster, it was evident that maintaining that distance was starting to prove difficult.

Due to angular momentum, which is given by multiplying angular velocity and the inertia of the rotating body about an axis or rotation, all of the riders were shoved against the far side of the car in a similar way compared to that of swinging a bucket full of water in a circle with a piece of string and having no water splash out. But it also meant that Chloe was now pressed up against me as she struggled to hold onto the handle bar. "I'm sorry!" she yelled as the booming music roared in our ears. "I'm trying!"

She attempted to peel herself off me by using the bar to pull herself along but it looked like more work than it was worth. "It's okay!" I yelled back as she glanced at me. "Just relax."

"Okay."

I would argue later on that I had no ulterior motives for letting her rest against me because it was difficult to maintain a distance with the angular velocity we were going at. But as the ride progressed, I was more than aware that our sides were pressed so closely together that it was hard to tell where my body ended and where hers began. I was so tuned into the sensations that Chloe had caused that I was able to ignore the merciless metal wall that was digging painfully into my other side.

However, my right arm was starting to go numb under Chloe's weight.

Gently, I shifted so that my arm rested against the back of the car, right behind Chloe's head. If I wanted to, I could have easily slung my arm around her shoulders, but I wasn't sure if it would make her uncomfortable. And judging by the faint blush on her cheeks, she looked uncomfortable enough.

As the wind blew strands of Chloe's hair onto my face, I could smell the chemical mixture of oranges and grapefruit. It took everything I had to stop myself from sniffing her hair. Because that was creepy. Not to mention that it would definitely make things awkward between us.

But for now, I'll just stop thinking and enjoy the ride.

Once the ride ended, Chloe inched away slightly subconsciously, her cheeks tinted with a faint blush. I was a little disappointed with the ride's short duration but at the same time, I was glad that I could think coherently again.

"Well, that was not awkward at all," Tori muttered as she glared at her half-brother. "Thanks for suggesting the Music Express."

Simon sighed as we climbed down to let the next group in. "Just deal with it, Tori," he mumbled exasperatedly. "It's for a good cause."

I was about to ask what they were talking about when I felt a pair of eyes looking at me. Turning, I met Chloe's startled gaze. Embarrassed that she got caught, Chloe quickly looked away with a shy smile. My heart did a weird stutter as I took in her pinkish face that was illuminated by the full sunlight. Seeing her reaction, my lips twitched and I found myself returning her smile.

By the time we finally caved into hunger, it was long past lunchtime, but even then, there were people everywhere. Nearly every table was occupied with even more people milling around with food. We stood at the side, scanning for a place to sit when Chloe suddenly exclaimed, "There!"

She pointed to a table where a mother of two kids looked like she was packing up. We hurried on over before anyone else could claim it. Simon let out a tired sigh as he planted himself onto the bench. "Finally," he muttered. "I'm exhausted and I'm hungry. Not a good combination."

Tori rolled her eyes as she placed her hands on her hips. "God, is food all you can think about? How about going to get us some, huh?"

"I'm saving the table."

Tori let out a scoff. "Fine. I'll go with Chloe and Derek to get our stuff. Don't blame me if I decide to get you something you hate," she said.

Just as we turned to go, Simon bolted upright in his seat. "Hey Tori," he called as his half-sister gave him a look.

"What?"

Simon waved in a vague direction off to the side. "Don't look now, but there's some guy checking you out. He looks like your type," he added with a quick glance. "You know, tall, cocky, popular, quarterback sort of guy."

With her interest piqued, Tori halted and scanned the sea of people. "Well, he sure knows his stuff. Where is he anyway? I don't see him."

"Maybe you should stay here. If you're lucky, Mr. Quarterback might stop by. God knows how long it's been since your last boyfriend. What was it? A month before you scared the poor fellow off?"

As Tori sputtered a retort, I sighed as I waved Chloe onwards. "And they're at it again. I'm looking forward to the day they both grow up," I muttered as Chloe grinned.

"So what about Tori's choice of food then?"

I shrugged as we headed towards a burger joint. "Get her the unhealthiest, greasiest thing you can find. She can't complain."

Chloe laughed, the sound of her voice was a rich, warm melody and I found myself liking it. I had heard a lot of her laughter today and each time, it made me smile without realizing it. As we chatted, I thought back to everything that had happened today and how each time Chloe and I were paired up. Whenever we tried to shuffle things a bit, Simon and even Tori, had different excuses each time. Which was beyond strange. It could just be me but it felt that we were being set up for something. And it aggravated me that I didn't know what was going on. But as the light reflected off her sky blue eyes, making them look brighter than before, I found myself not caring about what my siblings were up to.

All that mattered was that Chloe was having a good time.

We talked for a little while more before she gave our orders to the cashier. A handful of moments later, a tray slid into view full of burgers, hot dogs and pizza slices. As Chloe picked it up, I frowned, realizing that something was missing. "We forgot to get drinks," I said as Chloe stopped, seeing that I was right. "It's okay. You go on ahead. I'll get them."

"Oh okay. See you in a bit then."

I entered the lineup again and I was deciding on what to get when I saw the food stand also offered slush drinks in addition to sodas. Seeing the range of flavours available made me think of one of our tutoring sessions when Chloe had brought in two cups filled with each colour. I had been slightly skeptical because there was no way that dumping everything together could taste good, but she had only sighed and before I could protest, she handed me one. It would look bad if I refused it after she went to the trouble of getting it, so I tried it and to my surprise, it was actually pretty good.

So when it was my turn to order, I got two diet sodas for Simon and Tori and chose multi-flavoured slushes for Chloe and me.

When I went back with my tray of drinks, I saw that the food was still uneaten and that they had waited for me. I passed around the cups and Chloe grinned when she saw the different colours stacked into one. "Hey, you remembered," she said, accepting hers with a thanks. Then she saw my choice. "And you got one too! I remember your skepticism the first time I bought you one."

I shrugged as everyone began opening up their wrappers. "It wasn't as bad as I thought," I replied as Tori made a face at her burger. "So, where's Mr. Hotshot?"

She gave Simon a withering look and he shrugged. "Seems that I was mistaken. Oh well," he mumbled with a mouthful of pizza. Then he glanced at his half-sister. "There will be other chances."

Tori grumbled something uncomplimentary but gave in and ate her food without a complaint. "So, what next?" Chloe asked as we finished up half an hour later.

"Nothing that will make us barf," Tori added as Simon looked around us at the nearby rides.

"How about the gondola? It'll give us a break to digest what we just ate without making it come back up," he suggested as he jabbed his thumb in the direction of the hill.

I glanced over at the structure that resembled a ski lift, only that it gave a good view of the entire park. Along with the Ferris wheel, it was one of the more gentler rides, but still popular all the same. "Sure," I said. "Why not?"

My brother studied me for a moment and then grinned, his eye having a glint that I didn't particularly like. "'Why not' indeed," he echoed.


A/N: Well, I had some trouble writing this part since the flow came and went, so I apologize that it took so long for an update. But even then, I had a fun time doing this and I hope you guys are excited to see where Eletha Landon will take us from here because I definitely am.

Don't forget to leave her some birthday wishes as it's her 20th birthday today! See you next time! :)