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My Great Big Adventure
I didn't land directly in front of the Ferris wheel. I wasn't ready, not quite… I'd actually become pretty nervous on the way over. I wanted to get a good look at Curtis before he saw me. Just in case he was a creeper or something.
The amusement park was incredibly crowded, but it was a Saturday afternoon, so I guess that's to be expected. At least I'd have a good chance of someone hearing me scream if things got bad. I mean, I definitely hope the guy doesn't turn out to be Colress… but there's no such thing as being too safe, right?
Oh no, I forgot that the rides cost money! The park itself is free to enter, but you have to pay to actually ride anything… Maybe Curtis just has time to grab his xtransceiver and leave. Why am I even thinking about riding the Ferris Wheel with him anyway?
Because I really want to ride it with Hugh…
I quickly squashed those thoughts and positioned myself near the food court. It was easy to hide out here: I looked as if I could be scanning menus, while actually spying on the Ferris wheel. It was the perfect plan.
Except that I had no idea what he looked like.
I was looking around wildly for anyone who could possibly be Curtis. A boy around my age (probably). Standing alone. Looking around (for me). Near the Ferris wheel.
Most park guests were families or couples, or groups of giggling teenage girls. I'd never had any female friends my own age, and sometimes I wondered how I would've turned out if I was one of those popular girls with lots of friends. I suppose I might've turned out like my mom. Gross.
"Are you in line?"
I turned to find a woman and her young son standing behind me. In line…? Oh! For the food! DUH.
"No, no, sorry! Just… browsing," I replied embarrassedly, scooting out of the way.
The woman smiled at me. "Looking for someone?"
"Sort of…"
"If you're here to see the celebrity, I'm afraid he's already gone," she told me. Celebrity?
"I'm sorry…?"
"A famous tv star came here for a shoot recently!" she explained excitedly, and with an air of importance. "It's that one who's always on tv. One thing I noticed while watching the shoot is that star spends a lot of time on the xtransceiver! The entire break it was talk, talk, talk… laugh, laugh, laugh!" She giggled to herself.
"That's… nice." Truthfully I wasn't too interested in her story. The celebrity was probably one of Elesa's male model friends or something, probably shooting a hair shampoo commercial.
The woman frowned at me. "Hey wait, aren't you…?" I recognized the fangirlish look that started to form on her face. Red alert: danger, danger! Obsessed fan, incoming!
The line move up, and slipping away from the woman, I edged closer to the Ferris wheel. Still no sign of any young, singular boys. Maybe he had chickened out…
WAIT.
There. Just beyond the Ferris wheel, standing a bit off to the side. A boy.
A very, very green boy.
Not green like sick-green, just… he was wearing a lot of green. He sort of looked like a weed. Or a blank Christmas tree… (which I suppose would just be a regular forest tree well ok not if you have one of those fake ones). He's just GREEN.
And cute. I blushed. Would he hate me once he realized who I was?
Well, it's now or never, I guess. Here goes nothing…
I walked over, making sure to come up from behind him. I loudly cleared my throat.
He turned around, and I opened my mouth to say something. And then I couldn't remember what I was going to say.
This boy… I had the weirdest sense of déjà vu, like we'd met before or something. But that couldn't be right; I definitely would have remembered him. He stuck out like a sore thumb, err, rather, a green thumb. Pun intended.
He had on a green puffy jacket, a dark green long-sleeved shirt, dark jeans, and a large over-sized green hat. He also had light-green hair. Something about his face, though, looked eerily familiar. I just couldn't put my finger on it…
I had cleared my throat, causing him to turn around and jump slightly.
"No! I'm not what you think!" he said, practically throwing his hands up in defense.
Then he took notice of me. I blushed again.
"Oh! Sorry about that! I thought you were someone else," he apologized.
"You thought I was someone else and you say that? Are you avoiding someone?" Really, I wonder who he thought I was…
"Ehehe… Well, it's nice to meet you. I'm Curtis. But you probably already knew that… Unless you thought I was someone else…?"
Confused by his strange behavior, I could only nod. "Yeah… I mean, I assumed you were Curtis…"
He smiled brightly. Another wave of déjà vu.
"And you are…?" he asked, a slight hesitation to his voice.
He should know my name. Which meant he was waiting for me to say it, because he knew I'd been lying. Well, I had suspected he'd figure it out…
"Rosa…"
"…"
I can't even remember how long I waited for his reaction to that one, simple word. My name.
"Oh, so it's Ro-sah? You let me pronounce it incorrectly this whole time? Why didn't you say anything?"
Okay… that was not one of the reactions I was expecting.
"Umm… bad connection?"
"Ah, makes sense," Curtis agreed, accepting my statement without question.
I wasn't sure if this was the best way for things to work out, but he seemed ok with it. At least he wasn't screaming or fawning over me. Yet.
"You're different than I imagined, so I was a bit surprised," he continued, laughing. Something about his laugh…
"Oh, well here," I said, moving things along and digging his xtransceiver out of my purse. "Here's your xtransceiver back."
"Thanks! I'm sorry I couldn't find the time to pick it up sooner, but I really did enjoy talking with you, so maybe I was a bit lucky!" He grinned at me, a slight blush on his cheeks.
I tried to mentally suppress the growing blush on my cheeks.
"Umm, if you don't mind… could I still call you sometime…?"
He wants to keep talking to me?! The blush had consumed my entire face.
"I… I would like that," I stammered, not really sure why I was so flustered.
"Phew," Curtis sighed with relief, "I was scared you might say no…"
I caught his eye and we both blushed this time. His eyes were so incredibly green…
"Oh, can I ask you something?" he said, taking a step closer. I nodded and also stepped in.
"I called you on the xtransceiver too often, and… well, one of my coworkers… got really mad at me… So, Rosa, maybe… sometimes… you could call me?"
He wants me to call him. He wants me to call him!
"Ye-course!" I answered, fumbling horribly. "I… I started to say yes but then I tried to say of course…"
Curtis looked really happy, and my face was so red that I thought it was going to melt right off if he didn't quit smiling like that.
"Really? Thanks, Rosa! I'm usually at work, and… sometimes, in… my building, I can't get signal, but I'll call when I can… and if you wouldn't mind calling me sometimes…"
"Yeah," I nodded. "That'd be… great."
Suddenly Curtis's xtransceiver beeped. Checking his message, he frowned and sighed deeply.
"Sorry to cut our meeting short, but I have to get back to work." He sounded really disappointed. I was a bit disappointed too…
"Oh, well, that's ok… I have… stuff… too…"
"I'm really happy we finally met in person though," he added quickly, reaching for my hand. "It's been a pleasure."
We shook hands, and I didn't want to let go.
"Pleasure… is all mine," I finally managed to get out. Curtis's smile only widened, and he was still holding my hand. We stood there for a bit, just looking at each other. Until his xtransceiver beeped again.
"Umm, well I guess I need to get going," he said, reluctantly dropping my hand. "Call me sometime, okay?" He tipped his hat at me and started to walk away.
"Yeah, definitely," I replied, my brain so focused on the tingling sensation in my hand that I had no thoughts for what I was saying. I stood there dazedly and watched him walk away.
I couldn't stop blushing even after he was gone. He was just so… cute! So very good-looking… with his tea green hair and emerald eyes… gah, I'm spouting poetry over the guy! Crazy hormones…
But what about Hugh…?
"Well, what about him?" I asked aloud.
I mean… it's not cheating, right? It's not like Hugh and I were ever a couple or anything. I'm allowed to think about other boys, right? It's not wrong, it's completely fine! Hugh and I were never together. He left me. I have no ties whatsoever.
So why does it feel like I'm betraying him?
My xtransceiving began ringing, interrupting my thoughts.
Could it be… Curtis?! I quickly answered. "Hello?"
"Hey, Rosa…"
Bianca. She sounded… worried.
"I'm sorry to interrupt your date—"
"It's not a date!" I cried, blushing to the tips of my toes. Me? On a date? With Curtis?!
"If you say so. Look, whatever you're doing… I think you should come back to Driftveil."
"Why?"
"I saw that guy in town…"
No, not again. Not this soon.
"What. Guy."
"The crazy one… Colress."
