Chapter 11- Phantom Theater
(I don't know anything about Six Flags, so I am basing all of this off of Paramount's Kings Island, the names of the rides etc.)
"So where do you guys want to go first?" Parker asked the group.
"Well," Ema said, "I want to ride every ride, if that is okay with everyone else."
"That's okay with me," Trey said with a smile.
"Okay, we will hit every ride, but where should we go first?" Parker asked again.
"You guys want to start with Top Gun? We could do all the rides over there first." Becca said to the group.
"Sounds good, what do you think Aderyn?" Parker said.
"That works for me, the only thing that I really want to do is ride the Beast twice." Aderyn said and looked away, like she is not telling the whole story.
They were all walking over to Top Gun talking, laughing, and having a good time. So far Aderyn had only spent maybe two hours with Brett and Trey and she really liked them, they are really funny, and they are nice, they made sure that she was included in the conversation.
They were in line for Face/Off when the question that Aderyn had been dreading came up.
"So would you mind if I asked you a personal question?" Trey said cautiously. Everyone knew the question, and they all want to know the answer as well.
Aderyn closed her eyes for a few seconds then opened them and looked him in the eye. "You want to know why I am a foster child." She said it, knowing that was the question.
"Yeah." Trey said softly not looking away. "If you don't mind telling us."
"My mom died when I was 10, she had cancer, and my dad, well my dad is in jail. He owned a business with two other men and one of them started to cut back on things, and take money, and a lot of illegal things and when everything came out all three of them went to jail. He could possibly be paroled in a few weeks, and I am keeping my fingers crossed, so that I can go back to living with him, the only problem is that he will have a hard time getting a good job with the record so it may be awhile before I can actually live with him again."
"So your dad is in jail, but he didn't do anything wrong?" Ema asked.
"Yeah," She nodded, "It was one of those guilty by association things, I'm not even really sure what the guy did exactly, but I know it was bad."
"You said that he could be paroled in a few weeks? What are his chances?" Parker asked.
"They should be good, he has good behavior and he didn't actually commit the crime, the guy testified to that, so hopefully within the next two months I will be back with my dad."
"Well I hope all that works out, and I'm sorry about your mother." Becca said.
"Thanks."
"Okay, so how about happier topics! Did you guys see that sky today? Talk about blue!" Trey said and got a good laugh from everyone. Parker wrapped his arms around Aderyn to give her a hug.
"You okay?" She nodded and gave a small smile. "You sure?"
"Yeah, and just so you know I was going to tell you about my dad, I was it's just a little weird sometimes."
"Hey don't worry about it. It is a touchy topic. But I hope that everything works out for you and your dad."
"Yeah me too." They join in the conversation that the others were having about one of the new movies out.
They had gone on all of the rides in the Action Zone, the Racer, forward and backwards, and they had played a few of the games when they decided to stop and get lunch.
They were all having separate conversations, Trey and Brett were in a debate about which was better water skiing or snow skiing, Ema and Becca were planning a road trip for all of them, they everyone knew would most likely never happen and Parker and Aderyn were talking about families, and how crazy they could be.
"So what exactly happened between you and your mom and step-dad?" Aderyn asked.
"Well it really started a long time ago, when I was about 4, well that is when my mom met Drew anyway. Drew was great at first but we all know that didn't last too long, he started to control her life, and mine, who are friends were that kind of thing. Then when I was 13 he hit me, my mom told me not to tell my dad and I didn't well until a few days ago. Then I realized that had I told him I would have been able to live with him, well it would be easier for my dad to get custody. The funny thing was, that was what we were fighting about when he hit me, oh and when I say 'we' that would have been me and my mom. I wanted to spend more time with my dad and Tempe, and my mom was telling me no and I was going to call my dad and Drew jumped in when I was grabbing the phone and he hit me."
"Wow, that sucks!"
"Yeah and the one we had earlier this week was so stupid! I told my parents that I wanted to join the Army, or course my mom said no, that I was expecting, and then my dad told me all about his time as a Ranger. When I got home all I wanted to do was just have a few hours to think, and they wouldn't give it to me. They started yelling, and then I heard my mom yelling at my dad, I picked up the phone and asked my dad if I could go stay with him, he said yes. I went over to Treys to call a cab, because I was not going to wait for it there, when the cab came Drew was out there, and we got into another fight, and I'm guessing that Mrs. Gal was the one who called my dad, who called Tempe, because she was out, and she came by to pick me up. She is pregnant and Drew tried to hit her too."
"Oh my God! He tried to hit a pregnant woman?"
"Ha ha ha yeah," Parker laughed.
"How is that funny?" Aderyn was beginning to think that Parker was not who he pretended to be.
"Because Tempe has three black belts and can almost beat up my dad." Parker said, realizing that, even if it was just for a few seconds, Aderyn thought he was a jerk. "Tempe is not like any other, when my dad first met her she was really withdrawn, she had no pop culture knowledge, and she was a serious workaholic. Now don't get me wrong, you can still say a few things and you will get a 'I don't know what that means' but it is WAY better now that she is with my dad."
"Oh okay, does she really have three black belts?"
"Yeah, there was this one time I was almost kidnapped, as an attempt to get back at my dad, and Tempe was there and she kicked some ass, it was awesome. I was really freaked out, but it was awesome. Let's see, she shot a guy in the leg who was going to set her and some evidence on fire, she beat up a gang leader in the hallway of the FBI building, she was kidnapped and almost fed to dogs, she and Hodgins were buried alive, she was almost attacked by the head of the FBI, but then her dad came in, killed him and set him on fire, umm, she had to kill a guy to save my dad, that one really messed her up. Some stalker chick shot at Tempe, my dad jumped in the way, Tempe then had to shoot the stalker so she could help my dad. Then at his fake funeral she hit the guy my dad was fighting with a mannequins arm, then slugged my dad in the face for not telling her that he was not dead."
"Wow, so don't piss her off?"
Parker laughed, he is about to answer when Becca does, "No, it's not like that at all, she is great, sometimes she will be talking and you'll have no clue what she is saying, but I think I have only seen her mad once, and that was a few weeks ago, and that was at Seeley, which was he fault, and she just yelled at him saying a bunch of scientific stuff. That is scary in its own right."
"Yeah, I don't think she has ever really yelled at me, she is not at all like my step-dad, which is not that hard, she just had to not be stupid!"
After they were done with lunch Trey suggests that they go to the Phantom Theater. They all think that it is a good idea and they walk over there, stopping to buy funnel cakes.
They were waking to Phantom Theater when Parkers' phone went off. "Hello…yeah you told me about that…yeah… he came?...well that's good… yeah that is okay with me… yeah I'd like to meet him….okay see you later tonight." He hung up the phone, "My dad had one of his old Army drop by to see him, so he will be at dinner too."
They finished the funnel cakes in line while waiting for their turn on the ride. They pair off when they reached at the front of the line and Parker puts his arm around Aderyn once they sit down in their chair. She smiled and leaned into him a little bit.
"So are you having a good time so far?" Parker asked her.
"Yeah, I am really glad that you asked me out. I am going to tell you that I have liked you for a while now."
"Hey I started liking you when I was still going out with Candi. And I a really glad that I asked you out too." They were looking at each other, Parker put his hand on her cheek and rubbed it softly with his thumb and leaned in slightly. Aderyn closed her eyes and leans in a little also. Parker closes his eyes and when their lips finally meet it is slow and tender, then the kiss deepened when Aderyn parted her lips slightly and Parker slid his tongue into her mouth slowly. The instant there lips first met there was a flicker of something warm in the bottom of his stomach that made him believe the feeling would last forever. When they finally pulled apart Parker rested his head against hers, "Wow, that was,"
"Incredible," Aderyn finished for him.