Operation: Random
By Skye and Toad Rocket Disclaimer: We've been over this. We own nothing. Surely you didn't think
we did.
*~*~*~*
Mary had woken up as soon as the pilot had come over the loud speaker. They were about half an hour away from their destination. As soon as the speaker had switched off, the plane shook. Oliver awoke with a start.
"Mmrph. Are we there yet? Please, please say we are," he prayed. Mary sighed and shook her head. Oliver let out a long breath and leaned his head back onto the seat. Mary put an arm around his shoulder.
"It's okay, Oliver. I thought you weren't scared anymore," Mary half-said, half-asked. Oliver looked guiltily toward the floor.
"In all honesty," he began, "I'm terrified." Oliver's voice shook.
"Okay. Listen, you need to get over this. What can I do to help you, Oliver?" Mary asked impatiently. Oliver picked at his fingernail.
"I don't know," he said finally. Mary rolled her eyes and stood up.
"Fine. I need to use the restroom," she said quietly and climbed over Oliver and a still-sleeping Draco, making her way back to the end of the plane and opening the bathroom door. When she returned to her seat, Grandma had handed Oliver a sheet of paper and sat one on Draco's lap.
"Oh, there you are. I was wondering where you'd gone!" Grandma said in her usual perky tone. Mary was feeling a heck of a lot less than perky after waking up before the crack of dawn. She flashed a smile to her grandmother and then sat down to look at the paper she had been given.
It was a regular sheet of computer paper. Printed at the top were the words 'Room Arrangements (drawn from a hat: so don't whine about it)', and a list following. Mary looked down until she found her name.
It was typed next to 'Suite: Two Beds, Large Sofa.' She would be sharing her room with Oliver and Hermione. Mary was beginning to wonder why she was inclined to be with him every single place. And she wasn't sure how Dad would feel about that. Oh well. He was working then, so he wouldn't come back to discuss it with her, would he? Well, all Mary knew was that she was taking the 'Large Sofa.' It was just better that way.
Trevor stared at the sheet of paper. 'Deluxe Room: Two Large Beds.' He was in the same room as Harry. He glanced at Ginny's name. She was sharing a 'Deluxe Room: Two Large Beds' with Mallory. Ron was sharing his 'Suite: Two Beds, Large Sofa' with Austin and Draco. That could have ended up with a huge bloodbath when Ron and Draco had a catfight. Pretty unavoidable, in his opinion.
Meanwhile Mom and Dad, and Aunt Marleena and Uncle Tommy had each been pleasantly surprised when they learned that they would each be sharing a nice little room with their respective spouses, free of children. Grandma and Paw-Paw would be doing the same.
Sirius and Remus would have a 'Deluxe Room Package: Two Large Beds, Free Room Service (lucky fools, Trevor thought) and Large Bathroom.' Later, Austin informed him that they seemed pretty happy about this.
Alden was going to occupy a 'Suite Room Package: Three Large Beds, Free Pay- Per-View, Breakfast in Bed, Complimentary Wake-Up Call and Five Free Long Distance Calls' with Fred and Percy. Fred gave Alden a high five, but that was just as Alden noticed a little note written in the margins of their papers with an arrow pointing to 'complimentary wake-up call.'
It read: "Alden, Fred and Percy-request wake up call for seven thirty AM, and then proceed to wake the whole group up by knocking (or banging, whichever is appropriate) on our doors as soon as you wake up. Everyone else- Do not ignore this knocking or else you will miss the shuttle that we have rented to take us to the monorail station!" The paper had been typed, and notes were scrawled in the margins to everyone.
Note to Trevor-"Please do not leave your clothing on the floor of the bathroom or it will be a large hassle for the maid to clean up." A note to everyone read: "We will give you money each morning in order to tip your maid. Make sure to leave a note where the tip will be located!"
Gilderoy, Snape and Lucius were being forced to share a room together: "Suite: Two Beds, One Large Sofa." This didn't seem to be too terrible for Lucius and Snape to be together in a room. But by the end of the vacation, Gilderoy might have several broken bones from the exasperation caused by the two adults. The last group that would be sharing a room, or pair, should we say, would be George and Neville, in a 'Deluxe Room.'
"So. I guess we're sharing a room," Mary informed Oliver, trying to make a slight conversation. Draco snorted in laughter. "Dirty mind, Draco?" Draco nodded happily, which was sort of odd, if you asked Oliver. "Cool. That's the only way to go."
Oliver had managed to become somewhat interested in a novel: The Catcher in the Rye. It was a permanent fixture in Mary's backpack. But he could not understand why this fellow, Holden Caulfield, was so angry about everything. In fact, in his head, he was imagining this boy to be Trevor. This wasn't good at all!
Ah yes, he could see it now in his brain. Trevor stomping about the streets of New York City, drinking and swearing! Oliver quickly shook away the thought. Anyway, this Holden Caulfield had some serious anger management issues.
*~*~*
"Okay, okay. I learned this at school. If you want to say something rude in French, just yell: 'La bouchée me, vous l'idiot!!' That means 'Bite me, you idiot!' in French," Trev exclaimed rapidly to Ginny and Ron. "Use it on Mary if she pisses you off. She taught me it!"
"Hmm. Interesting," Ron murmured. Ginny nodded in agreement, and Trevor made a tsk-tsk sound.
"Don't go telling people you know that, especially Paw-Paw. He was stationed in France when he was in the Army. That would not be pretty," he expressed regrettably. "That's where Mary got her bag. From Paw-Paw. She found it in the basement when they were moving to where they live now."
"Interesting," Ron repeated lamely. Trevor shrugged. "So, Trevor? What exactly is Disney World?" Trevor gave Ron a totally blank look, as if he was struggling to cope with Ron's idiocy. Suddenly he got a resolved look on his face to replace the dumber one.
"That's right. You've never heard of it or been there, have you?" Ginny shook her head. "Okay. Disney was this guy who made up Mickey Mouse, the most famous cartoon character ever, except Bugs Bunny. Anyways, he had lots of characters and movies such as Snow White and Bambi. So eventually he made a theme park: thus, Disney World."
"But what do you do there?" Ginny asked in a strained tone.
"Well. There are several different places to go, such as Adventure Land, Jungle Land and Frontier Land. They have various sets of rides in each one. My person favorite would have to be 'Jungle Cruise.' My mission this time: get anyone who will go to go on this ride where they have a big alien in a big tank. Paw-Paw says it's really cool," Trevor explained quickly.
"Is there anywhere else we're going?" Ron queried, trying not to sound a bit greedy. To his relief, Trevor seemed to be thinking the same thing.
"Grandma has our tickets to Sea World, Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach. Blizzard Beach is a snow-themed water park, Typhoon Lagoon is a tropical water park, and Sea World is where you can feed stingrays and see whales and the like," he informed them, settling back in his seat.
"Ooh. I'd love to see a stingray," Ginny said. "I read about one in one of the books in the basement at your house. It sounded to strange to be real." Trevor chuckled.
"Yup, they're real. You can buy food and they'll eat it, right out of your hand," he exclaimed. Ginny looked like she was going to die of happiness.
*~*~*~*
Paw-Paw was having such a stress-filled day, and he had only been up and about for a few hours now. It was about seven thirty AM now, and he had been up since three thirty, because his crazy wife had some more things to pack and had been so wired that she woke up early just because she simply could!
Now he was in a plane, sitting next to a person who could only be described as 'semi-hostile,' and yet the two seemed to get along suitably. And as soon as the family got to the airport they had to get about three large cars. He had asked for three vans, but boy, did he hope that they would be normal looking ones.
Boy, was he wrong.
*~*~*~*
"This is your captain speaking. We are preparing to land, so please put on your seatbelts and put your tray table in the upright position. Thank you." Oliver gave Mary a sheepish smile.
"It's okay. You'll be freaked for awhile, but it'll be fine," she said, taking a Lemonhead from his bag. She drank from the travel mug of hazelnut coffee, but just then the plane hit a large bump, and the coffee washed into her lap. "Damn!"
The plane was buzzing loudly, so no one heard Mary's swear. "Lovely," Oliver mused. Mary shrugged.
"As if they care," she said, wiping at her jeans with a small napkin. Draco smirked.
"Having issues, Mary?" he asked. She sighed and balled up the napkin, heaving in onto the back of the seat in front of her and having it bounce back and hit her in the face before falling onto the floor.
"Yeah. As a matter of fact, I am," she said with a sigh. Draco snickered.
"How bad of a day could you be having? I mean, you're on a vacation that probably set back your grandparents a few pennies, so to speak. Your school fell into a sinkhole, so, gasp, you don't have to go. Need I continue?" Draco asked sarcastically. Mary sighed.
"I suppose you're right. I just get angry when I spill hot coffee on myself, you know?" Draco didn't know because he despised coffee. But he decided just to humor her with a nod.
Meanwhile, Oliver took a deep breath and let it out slowly as the plane finally made contact with the ground. The plane made a weird noise and Mary looked like someone had ruffled her feathers.
"I'm alive!" Oliver cried out to everyone on the plane. Mary grimaced and looked toward the floor, putting her hand over her face and smiling slightly.
*~*~*~*
"Whoo! We survived!" Mom said to Neville, as all of the passengers started to exit. Neville cracked a smile and fell behind to walk with Mary, Oliver and Percy. Ginny, Trevor and Austin and Alden walked together off of the horrid plane. Trevor nearly toppled over.
"Heh. My legs hurt," he said as he stumbled to walk out of the plane. Mary met up with him when they got to the baggage claim.
"Hey, Porkchop. Hey, Austin-and-Alden," she said, hoisting her bag over her shoulder. "Quite the flight, hmm?" Mallory came up to join the group of cousins.
"Are we actually going anywhere today?" she asked. Alden rolled his eyes.
"I bet you guys one hundred dollars we don't. They'll be like 'I'm so tired. Let's just sleep in today,'" he said thoughtfully. Austin and Trevor shook his hand.
"I hope you have fifty bucks for each of us," Austin countered. "Because we will be at Disney World by one o'clock today, even if Mary has to drive us." At this Mary looked a little queasy.
"Well, Austin, um, technically I'm not allowed to drive without an adult in the car as of now. I mean, yeah, some of my friends are allowed to drive alone. But I took my test late, and it's just really complicated for me to explain. So, in short, I need either Mom, Dad, your mom, your dad, Grandma or PawPaw in the car with me," Mary explained.
"Hmm. What about Sirius or Remus? Or, God forbid, Snape, Lucius or Lockhart?" Trevor questioned. Mary sighed and shrugged.
"Well, not really legally, but nothing is illegal until you get caught, right guys?"
"You and Mallory and Alden did get caught last summer when you were 'trespassing' down on the railroad," Austin replied.
"That was not our fault!" Alden snapped back. "The railroad people in the little car had told us that we could go down there, and everyone was working at the festival thingy for Thomas the Tank Engine. And so we went down there, and that no-good cop came down and we got in trouble," he explained. He was looking at Mallory and Mary, who were standing next to him and nodding.
"Ooh. You got in trouble!" Fred said in a sing-song voice. "So, did you get hauled into the station?"
"Not even close," Mary said with a sigh. "It was worse in some ways. They took us to our parents, who were working at the photo booth. I mean, I could have run away, but I didn't."
"You know, my mom didn't care, really," Mallory mused. "Yours didn't either, I seem to recall."
"That's because Mary explained it. Maybe if the cop gave his version of the tragic tale, things could have ended up differently," Trev mused. Mary shook her head.
"I'm to cool to get in trouble with the parents," she said in an exaggerated tone. "Aww, crap. You guys made me miss getting my bag." She retrieved the lumpy looking Navy suitcase covered in pins and buttons. It was one of about four. Trevor, meanwhile grabbed an old 'He-Man' bag, filled to the brim and slung it onto a little cart that the parents had rented.
Mom and PawPaw had gone off to collect the rental cars. Dad and Uncle Tommy were loading up an army of the little luggage carts, but Mary handed a bag to Hermione and one to Ginny.
"Why don't we just put these on the carts, Mary?" Ginny questioned. Mary looked aghast at that suggestion.
"Are you kidding? I don't trust airports any further than I can throw them. Which is not far. Not far at all," Mary mused, looking off into the distance. Trevor, meanwhile, had the same ethics.
"Hold this," he said, passing a Looney Tunes suitcase to Harry and tying the He-Man bag onto the handle. Harry gave him a puzzled look.
"Well, I am not trusting this place. I will not lose this stuff!" he said fiercely. Harry shrugged.
"If you say so," he agreed reluctantly.
*~*~*~*
"What the-?" Dad yelled when he saw the three cars that they had rented, running around them in horror.
"I know," Mom said grimly. They had rented three old VW vans, complete with shag carpeting in the back. "We'll be hippies."
But in the kid's perspective, it was awesome.
"Whoo! Hippie vans! Yeehaw!" Trevor and Mary whopped, dancing about the parking lot. Soon their three cousins had joined into the dancing circle.
"How did this happen?" Uncle Tommy demanded to PawPaw.
"All the good vans were taken! We didn't know," PawPaw shouted angrily, throwing his hands into the air.
"I guess we'd better make the best of this," Grandma said in a chipper tone. "I think it'll be fun! We'll get to tell everyone about our week in the sixties!" Mary had already laid claim to a yellow and white van.
"Mom! Mom! Can I drive?" Mary begged in a hyper mood. Mom sighed.
"Fine. If you really want to. Do you think you can stay awake?" Mom asked, concerned.
"I had coffee on the plane! It was hazelnut! I made it before we left!" she said, playing with her owl necklace.
*~*~*
"Wow! Look at this place!" Ron exclaimed. "It's almost bigger than Hogwarts!" The hotel loomed in front of the rattling old bus. Grandma and Mary sat in the front seat, Trevor and Ginny in the seats behind that, and everyone else in the large back of the van. The hotel was truly large and pristine. Mary crookedly parked the yellow van in front of the entrance of the hotel. She wasn't a very good driver, and her family teased her about it all the time.
"Hey, Grandma?" Mary asked, jumping out of the van. Grandma looked at Mary's strange parking job and turned her look to Mary. She had her hand on her hip and the most ridiculously large sunglasses on the face of the planet on, looking serious. Grandma put on a large grin.
"What, sweetie?" Grandma asked, patting her arm. Mary grinned and grabbed the cursed Army bag and put it on over her shoulder.
"Are we going actually to the park today?"
"Mmhmm, honey. We're taking the monorail." Trevor's face tumbled into a wide smile and he ran over to his two male cousins.
"You owe me! You owe us both, fifty freakin' dollars! Pay up! Pay up!" he screamed in pure happiness. Alden grimaced and began riffling through a thick envelope and tossed Trevor and Austin both a few bills. The two victorious boys slapped each other high fives and grinned like demented clowns.
Meanwhile, Mallory and Mary were clapping excitedly.
"I love the monorail!" Mary cried, clapping her hands along with Mallory. Mom and Dad had arrived in their van and were shoveling bags out of the back of it, along with PawPaw, who had driven the other one. Soon there was a mountain of luggage in front of the hotel.
Uncle Tommy, who had gone in to register, emerged with a fleet of faux gold carts. Mary felt like there was so much to be done right then, and thus, she began putting many of the antique suitcases that she had brought with her onto a cart.
"Where did you get those?" Neville asked suddenly, gesturing towards the suitcases. Mary turned to face him.
"Thrift store. Twenty bucks for the lot of them. Amazing deal, no?" she asked as she began lifting Trevor's cartoon-adorned suitcases onto a separate cart, selecting a Bugs Bunny one to take to the room as Oliver's.
"You visit those places a lot?" Percy asked, coming up behind Neville.
"Oh yeah. Every weekend me and Trev go there. It's a tradition. I mean, they have good deals. And the two of us can go through stuff for hours and not get bored at all. It's sort of like a brother and sister activity," she explained, looking weary but happy at the same time.
"That's a nice tradition," Percy agreed softly. Mary put an arm around him.
"Are you okay? You sound upset." She sounded concerned.
"Ugh, I'm just tired, I guess."
"Sure. Come on; let's go inside to the vending machines. You, dear, look like you are in serious need of a candy bar," Mary insisted, taking his hand and leading him into the lobby, looking about until she noticed a sign which read 'Vending' and lead him to it. She poked three pairs of quarters into the machine and bought a Hershey bar and a pack of Starbursts.
"Here," she said, passing him the chocolate as they hurried to the door, where they met the large, noisy crowd as they passed into the air conditioning. The wheels of suitcases clicked on the linoleum, and idle chatter filled the cool air. Mary had a pleasant smirk on her face as Percy chewed the candy quietly.
Maybe Percy was just shy. He had always seemed quiet to her anyways. He didn't have to do things loudly like his brothers to make an impact. He looked to be the quiet outside in the family. Sometimes she knew how he felt, an intruder to the warmth of an actual family.
But then, when her Dad would tease her with jokes about the time she hit a janitor in the head with football, or when Trevor and her would play Tony Hawk's Pro Skateboarding and sing along with the music, things seemed to come back together, at least for a while.
"Arrgh. Listen to me, with all this philosophical, let-me-analyze you, tell- me-about-your-childhood crap," she muttered, chasing it with a sigh. Ah, well, everyone feels like crap sometimes. But was she the only one who did it all the time? "There I go again!" she snapped at herself.
Alden and Austin and Trevor were yelling about various things, while Mom and Dad and Uncle Tommy and Aunt Marleena didn't even attempt to shush them. As a matter of fact, they were buzzing too. Uncle Tommy handed Mary and Hermione each a key, and distributed one to most everyone, but if there were three people in the room, only two got keys.
"Oliver, can I discuss something with you?" Dad asked suddenly as the group boarded the large elevators. Mary got a stricken look on her face. "We'll catch up with you guys later, okay?" He turned to Oliver. "This will only take a second. Oliver gulped as Dad practically dragged him into a small hallway. Oliver received a stern look from Dad right then.
"Listen, Wood. I understand you're going to be rooming with my little girl. Is that true?" he asked roughly. Oliver's eyes swept down to the floor.
"Um, yes, sir." Dad frowned and stabbed a threatening finger at Oliver, who blinked in horror.
"I see. Well. If you try, or even think about trying, something with my daughter, I will be on you so fast. I will break off any appendage you try to use on my daughter. If anything does happen, break her heart, and I will break your neck. Understood?" Dad growled. Oliver's eyes were the size of hubcaps.
"Yes, sir," he said timidly. Dad gave him a huge, clownish smile and patted his shoulder.
"That's a good boy. Remember what I told you, and we'll all get along great. Okay?" Dad said in a newly chipper tone.
Oliver's pulse was racing. He managed to choke down the heavy lump in his throat while he nodded gravely. Dad smiled again and pushed the 'up' button.
*~*~*~*
"Holy crap! This is the best room ever!" Trevor cried as he leapt on the bed and began jumping up and down like a fiend. He tossed the bellhop a five-dollar bill and a huge grin as the man finished unloading all of their bags. The man smiled back politely, and, if Trevor wasn't imagining things, hurriedly backed out of the room. "What do you think about it, H-Dog?"
Harry raised his eyebrows at the new nickname.
"Wow. It's much nicer than my room at my aunt and uncle's house. And when I'm at school I share my room with four other people. This should be nice," he assessed. Trevor seemed satisfied by this and grinned back at Harry.
"Shibby. Let's start unpacking, eh Harry? Grandma will be getting after us to get ready to go. Want to borrow my Vans?"
"Your what?"
"My Vans. I got them at the thrift store. Seven dollars and fifty cents. Excellent deal," he explained. "They're shoes, and really comfy."
"Um. Sure." At that moment, Mary came into Trevor's room and flopped onto the bed, looking distressed.
"What's a-matter?" Trevor asked, biting his thumbnail.
"Dad threatened Oliver!" she wailed after a few seconds. "He said if he 'tried anything funny' with me, he'd tear his limbs off! Exclusively the ones he, um, got 'fresh' with!" Trevor and Harry stared at Mary for a second, before exchanging a glance and bursting into peals of laughter.
"It's not funny!" Mary yelled.
"Shut up! Mom will hear you!" Trevor hissed back. "Anyway, I'm sorry, but those words and your expression-just, well, priceless!" Harry chuckled in agreement.
"Screw you! You have no idea how to be sympathetic! What if Harry's parents threatened if you made a move on him that you'd die?" she blurted, before looking amused at her remark. "Ooh, now there's an image." She turned around and waltzed out of the room, before Trevor glanced at Harry.
"What just happened?"
"Don't ask me."
*~*~*~*
"Now, is everyone here?" Grandma asked. The whole shuttle sounded off in agreement. "Well, I'll have a list written up for tomorrow so I can take roll."
"Ah, crap. Just like school," Trevor sighed to Ginny, who smiled. The shuttle began barreling to the monorail station.
"Oh, by the way, everyone, this is Jonathan, and he will be driving us to the monorail station and to the hotel and the like," PawPaw introduced. Everyone mumbled a greeting as Jonathan waved without looking back.
Mary sat in the backseat, wedged in between Oliver and Percy.
"Won't this be spectacular?" Neither of the two had seen Mary this excited since their first night, when Trevor had agreed to watch the Nightmare Before Christmas.
"Um, I guess so," said Percy, who had had the duty of informing Oliver what Disney World was. When he was a little boy, his father had told him about American Muggles, who all seemed to love this enormous mouse. Percy had always thought that this was strange. He hated rodents.
Oliver, meanwhile, was a bit hesitant to answer. "I guess."
"I know what this is all about," Mary said, leaning in to whisper into his ear. "But my father is all talk. He wouldn't hurt you if you talked to me or whatever." Oliver gave a sheepish smile.
"Uh. I, um, okay," he stumbled over his words in a freakish tone. Mary patted his shoulder.
"Good. I'm glad we got that cleared up," Mary agreed and began drumming her fingers on her knee. "Ho-hum."
"So. What are we going to ride first?" Grandma was shouting, as if no one could hear her.
"Jungle Cruise, all the way!" Trev screamed back.
"The Dumbo thingy!" Mary argued.
"Ah, but there's plenty of time, for we have all day!" Grandma yelled again.
*~*~*~*
"You have got to be kidding me. We're riding in a big elephant?" Oliver said, shooting a wary glance at the flying elephants.
"Yes!" Mary exclaimed with a laugh. "Come on. It's our turn," she said, leading him to a 'Dumbo.' The two of them boarded and she put her arm around him.
"I hate heights," he grumbled. She rested her head on his shoulder. "I hate them. I may ride brooms all the time at school, but the heights bother me."
"I'm aware of that, Oliver. Come one. Don't be a pansy. This is the most fun ride in the whole park. Well, maybe that's not the truth, but it does rock." Mary fluffed the top of his hair. He trembled a bit as the ride began, but quickly stilled.
Oliver took a deep breath as the ride rose into the air. Soon the large elephant was high in the air and the ride began to rotate, and the elephant began to bounce up and down. Oliver screeched in excitement and Mary laughed along with him.
After a few minutes, the ride came back to the ground and ceased to move. Oliver stepped out of it with knocking knees, but a grin nonetheless.
"Well? What did you think?" Mary asked in a sweet and put-on tone.
"It was fun," he admitted, smiling back. "What's next?" She shrugged.
"Teacups?" she suggested, but just then, Trevor came up behind her and leapt upon her back. She made a shrieking sound and forced him off.
"Hahaha. You should have seen your face!" Trevor exclaimed. Ginny smiled guiltily from behind Trevor. Draco stood next to her. "So, you're going to ride the teacups?"
"Mmhmm. Do you think the five of us could fit in it?" Mary questioned.
"We'll make ourselves fit!" Trevor exclaimed. And Draco could have sworn that within thirty seconds, the group had boarded a yellow cup with pale pink stripes.
"Just so you know, this was probably not a smart idea on your part. Mary and I love this ride and anyone who rides it with us generally gets, well, ill," Trev cautioned. But by then it was too late. The ride had started, and the brother and sister had begun rapidly spinning the wheel in the center of the cup about, making the teacup spin faster and faster until Draco swore he would hurl out the side.
The yellow cup passed by one in varying shades of blue, and Trevor saw his aunt, uncle, mom and dad in it, along with his screaming grandmother. He pointed to them and Mary doubled over in laughter. The two wondered how they had managed to get her on there in the first place.
The ride was over as soon as it had begun, and Draco hurried to a trash bin (unable to make it to the restroom) and emptied the contents of his stomach into it. Mom went up behind him as he continued to, well, be ill in the garbage receptacle. She gently rubbed his back and made sympathetic noises.
"Kids, go have fun. I'll stay here with him," she suggested, and that was that. The group of teenagers hurried to the next ride ('It's a Small World After All'). It reminded Trevor of a running scene on Scooby Doo or something. The group rushed through the line and boarded the boat, quickly fastening their seatbelts and sitting. Soon the overly happy music was weaving its way in and out of the teenager's psyches in a sickening way.
They exited the ride in a stupor, reeling from the extreme nature of that music. Ginny began singing it in an overly perky tone, inspiring horror.
"I think it's time we ride something more, for lack of a better word, violent, perhaps?" Trevor suggested.
"Thunder Mountain Railroad!" Mary yelled, making several people stop and look at her funny. "Please, Trevor? Please?!" It was really quite pathetic the way she was almost crying over riding this ride.
By Skye and Toad Rocket Disclaimer: We've been over this. We own nothing. Surely you didn't think
we did.
*~*~*~*
Mary had woken up as soon as the pilot had come over the loud speaker. They were about half an hour away from their destination. As soon as the speaker had switched off, the plane shook. Oliver awoke with a start.
"Mmrph. Are we there yet? Please, please say we are," he prayed. Mary sighed and shook her head. Oliver let out a long breath and leaned his head back onto the seat. Mary put an arm around his shoulder.
"It's okay, Oliver. I thought you weren't scared anymore," Mary half-said, half-asked. Oliver looked guiltily toward the floor.
"In all honesty," he began, "I'm terrified." Oliver's voice shook.
"Okay. Listen, you need to get over this. What can I do to help you, Oliver?" Mary asked impatiently. Oliver picked at his fingernail.
"I don't know," he said finally. Mary rolled her eyes and stood up.
"Fine. I need to use the restroom," she said quietly and climbed over Oliver and a still-sleeping Draco, making her way back to the end of the plane and opening the bathroom door. When she returned to her seat, Grandma had handed Oliver a sheet of paper and sat one on Draco's lap.
"Oh, there you are. I was wondering where you'd gone!" Grandma said in her usual perky tone. Mary was feeling a heck of a lot less than perky after waking up before the crack of dawn. She flashed a smile to her grandmother and then sat down to look at the paper she had been given.
It was a regular sheet of computer paper. Printed at the top were the words 'Room Arrangements (drawn from a hat: so don't whine about it)', and a list following. Mary looked down until she found her name.
It was typed next to 'Suite: Two Beds, Large Sofa.' She would be sharing her room with Oliver and Hermione. Mary was beginning to wonder why she was inclined to be with him every single place. And she wasn't sure how Dad would feel about that. Oh well. He was working then, so he wouldn't come back to discuss it with her, would he? Well, all Mary knew was that she was taking the 'Large Sofa.' It was just better that way.
Trevor stared at the sheet of paper. 'Deluxe Room: Two Large Beds.' He was in the same room as Harry. He glanced at Ginny's name. She was sharing a 'Deluxe Room: Two Large Beds' with Mallory. Ron was sharing his 'Suite: Two Beds, Large Sofa' with Austin and Draco. That could have ended up with a huge bloodbath when Ron and Draco had a catfight. Pretty unavoidable, in his opinion.
Meanwhile Mom and Dad, and Aunt Marleena and Uncle Tommy had each been pleasantly surprised when they learned that they would each be sharing a nice little room with their respective spouses, free of children. Grandma and Paw-Paw would be doing the same.
Sirius and Remus would have a 'Deluxe Room Package: Two Large Beds, Free Room Service (lucky fools, Trevor thought) and Large Bathroom.' Later, Austin informed him that they seemed pretty happy about this.
Alden was going to occupy a 'Suite Room Package: Three Large Beds, Free Pay- Per-View, Breakfast in Bed, Complimentary Wake-Up Call and Five Free Long Distance Calls' with Fred and Percy. Fred gave Alden a high five, but that was just as Alden noticed a little note written in the margins of their papers with an arrow pointing to 'complimentary wake-up call.'
It read: "Alden, Fred and Percy-request wake up call for seven thirty AM, and then proceed to wake the whole group up by knocking (or banging, whichever is appropriate) on our doors as soon as you wake up. Everyone else- Do not ignore this knocking or else you will miss the shuttle that we have rented to take us to the monorail station!" The paper had been typed, and notes were scrawled in the margins to everyone.
Note to Trevor-"Please do not leave your clothing on the floor of the bathroom or it will be a large hassle for the maid to clean up." A note to everyone read: "We will give you money each morning in order to tip your maid. Make sure to leave a note where the tip will be located!"
Gilderoy, Snape and Lucius were being forced to share a room together: "Suite: Two Beds, One Large Sofa." This didn't seem to be too terrible for Lucius and Snape to be together in a room. But by the end of the vacation, Gilderoy might have several broken bones from the exasperation caused by the two adults. The last group that would be sharing a room, or pair, should we say, would be George and Neville, in a 'Deluxe Room.'
"So. I guess we're sharing a room," Mary informed Oliver, trying to make a slight conversation. Draco snorted in laughter. "Dirty mind, Draco?" Draco nodded happily, which was sort of odd, if you asked Oliver. "Cool. That's the only way to go."
Oliver had managed to become somewhat interested in a novel: The Catcher in the Rye. It was a permanent fixture in Mary's backpack. But he could not understand why this fellow, Holden Caulfield, was so angry about everything. In fact, in his head, he was imagining this boy to be Trevor. This wasn't good at all!
Ah yes, he could see it now in his brain. Trevor stomping about the streets of New York City, drinking and swearing! Oliver quickly shook away the thought. Anyway, this Holden Caulfield had some serious anger management issues.
*~*~*
"Okay, okay. I learned this at school. If you want to say something rude in French, just yell: 'La bouchée me, vous l'idiot!!' That means 'Bite me, you idiot!' in French," Trev exclaimed rapidly to Ginny and Ron. "Use it on Mary if she pisses you off. She taught me it!"
"Hmm. Interesting," Ron murmured. Ginny nodded in agreement, and Trevor made a tsk-tsk sound.
"Don't go telling people you know that, especially Paw-Paw. He was stationed in France when he was in the Army. That would not be pretty," he expressed regrettably. "That's where Mary got her bag. From Paw-Paw. She found it in the basement when they were moving to where they live now."
"Interesting," Ron repeated lamely. Trevor shrugged. "So, Trevor? What exactly is Disney World?" Trevor gave Ron a totally blank look, as if he was struggling to cope with Ron's idiocy. Suddenly he got a resolved look on his face to replace the dumber one.
"That's right. You've never heard of it or been there, have you?" Ginny shook her head. "Okay. Disney was this guy who made up Mickey Mouse, the most famous cartoon character ever, except Bugs Bunny. Anyways, he had lots of characters and movies such as Snow White and Bambi. So eventually he made a theme park: thus, Disney World."
"But what do you do there?" Ginny asked in a strained tone.
"Well. There are several different places to go, such as Adventure Land, Jungle Land and Frontier Land. They have various sets of rides in each one. My person favorite would have to be 'Jungle Cruise.' My mission this time: get anyone who will go to go on this ride where they have a big alien in a big tank. Paw-Paw says it's really cool," Trevor explained quickly.
"Is there anywhere else we're going?" Ron queried, trying not to sound a bit greedy. To his relief, Trevor seemed to be thinking the same thing.
"Grandma has our tickets to Sea World, Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach. Blizzard Beach is a snow-themed water park, Typhoon Lagoon is a tropical water park, and Sea World is where you can feed stingrays and see whales and the like," he informed them, settling back in his seat.
"Ooh. I'd love to see a stingray," Ginny said. "I read about one in one of the books in the basement at your house. It sounded to strange to be real." Trevor chuckled.
"Yup, they're real. You can buy food and they'll eat it, right out of your hand," he exclaimed. Ginny looked like she was going to die of happiness.
*~*~*~*
Paw-Paw was having such a stress-filled day, and he had only been up and about for a few hours now. It was about seven thirty AM now, and he had been up since three thirty, because his crazy wife had some more things to pack and had been so wired that she woke up early just because she simply could!
Now he was in a plane, sitting next to a person who could only be described as 'semi-hostile,' and yet the two seemed to get along suitably. And as soon as the family got to the airport they had to get about three large cars. He had asked for three vans, but boy, did he hope that they would be normal looking ones.
Boy, was he wrong.
*~*~*~*
"This is your captain speaking. We are preparing to land, so please put on your seatbelts and put your tray table in the upright position. Thank you." Oliver gave Mary a sheepish smile.
"It's okay. You'll be freaked for awhile, but it'll be fine," she said, taking a Lemonhead from his bag. She drank from the travel mug of hazelnut coffee, but just then the plane hit a large bump, and the coffee washed into her lap. "Damn!"
The plane was buzzing loudly, so no one heard Mary's swear. "Lovely," Oliver mused. Mary shrugged.
"As if they care," she said, wiping at her jeans with a small napkin. Draco smirked.
"Having issues, Mary?" he asked. She sighed and balled up the napkin, heaving in onto the back of the seat in front of her and having it bounce back and hit her in the face before falling onto the floor.
"Yeah. As a matter of fact, I am," she said with a sigh. Draco snickered.
"How bad of a day could you be having? I mean, you're on a vacation that probably set back your grandparents a few pennies, so to speak. Your school fell into a sinkhole, so, gasp, you don't have to go. Need I continue?" Draco asked sarcastically. Mary sighed.
"I suppose you're right. I just get angry when I spill hot coffee on myself, you know?" Draco didn't know because he despised coffee. But he decided just to humor her with a nod.
Meanwhile, Oliver took a deep breath and let it out slowly as the plane finally made contact with the ground. The plane made a weird noise and Mary looked like someone had ruffled her feathers.
"I'm alive!" Oliver cried out to everyone on the plane. Mary grimaced and looked toward the floor, putting her hand over her face and smiling slightly.
*~*~*~*
"Whoo! We survived!" Mom said to Neville, as all of the passengers started to exit. Neville cracked a smile and fell behind to walk with Mary, Oliver and Percy. Ginny, Trevor and Austin and Alden walked together off of the horrid plane. Trevor nearly toppled over.
"Heh. My legs hurt," he said as he stumbled to walk out of the plane. Mary met up with him when they got to the baggage claim.
"Hey, Porkchop. Hey, Austin-and-Alden," she said, hoisting her bag over her shoulder. "Quite the flight, hmm?" Mallory came up to join the group of cousins.
"Are we actually going anywhere today?" she asked. Alden rolled his eyes.
"I bet you guys one hundred dollars we don't. They'll be like 'I'm so tired. Let's just sleep in today,'" he said thoughtfully. Austin and Trevor shook his hand.
"I hope you have fifty bucks for each of us," Austin countered. "Because we will be at Disney World by one o'clock today, even if Mary has to drive us." At this Mary looked a little queasy.
"Well, Austin, um, technically I'm not allowed to drive without an adult in the car as of now. I mean, yeah, some of my friends are allowed to drive alone. But I took my test late, and it's just really complicated for me to explain. So, in short, I need either Mom, Dad, your mom, your dad, Grandma or PawPaw in the car with me," Mary explained.
"Hmm. What about Sirius or Remus? Or, God forbid, Snape, Lucius or Lockhart?" Trevor questioned. Mary sighed and shrugged.
"Well, not really legally, but nothing is illegal until you get caught, right guys?"
"You and Mallory and Alden did get caught last summer when you were 'trespassing' down on the railroad," Austin replied.
"That was not our fault!" Alden snapped back. "The railroad people in the little car had told us that we could go down there, and everyone was working at the festival thingy for Thomas the Tank Engine. And so we went down there, and that no-good cop came down and we got in trouble," he explained. He was looking at Mallory and Mary, who were standing next to him and nodding.
"Ooh. You got in trouble!" Fred said in a sing-song voice. "So, did you get hauled into the station?"
"Not even close," Mary said with a sigh. "It was worse in some ways. They took us to our parents, who were working at the photo booth. I mean, I could have run away, but I didn't."
"You know, my mom didn't care, really," Mallory mused. "Yours didn't either, I seem to recall."
"That's because Mary explained it. Maybe if the cop gave his version of the tragic tale, things could have ended up differently," Trev mused. Mary shook her head.
"I'm to cool to get in trouble with the parents," she said in an exaggerated tone. "Aww, crap. You guys made me miss getting my bag." She retrieved the lumpy looking Navy suitcase covered in pins and buttons. It was one of about four. Trevor, meanwhile grabbed an old 'He-Man' bag, filled to the brim and slung it onto a little cart that the parents had rented.
Mom and PawPaw had gone off to collect the rental cars. Dad and Uncle Tommy were loading up an army of the little luggage carts, but Mary handed a bag to Hermione and one to Ginny.
"Why don't we just put these on the carts, Mary?" Ginny questioned. Mary looked aghast at that suggestion.
"Are you kidding? I don't trust airports any further than I can throw them. Which is not far. Not far at all," Mary mused, looking off into the distance. Trevor, meanwhile, had the same ethics.
"Hold this," he said, passing a Looney Tunes suitcase to Harry and tying the He-Man bag onto the handle. Harry gave him a puzzled look.
"Well, I am not trusting this place. I will not lose this stuff!" he said fiercely. Harry shrugged.
"If you say so," he agreed reluctantly.
*~*~*~*
"What the-?" Dad yelled when he saw the three cars that they had rented, running around them in horror.
"I know," Mom said grimly. They had rented three old VW vans, complete with shag carpeting in the back. "We'll be hippies."
But in the kid's perspective, it was awesome.
"Whoo! Hippie vans! Yeehaw!" Trevor and Mary whopped, dancing about the parking lot. Soon their three cousins had joined into the dancing circle.
"How did this happen?" Uncle Tommy demanded to PawPaw.
"All the good vans were taken! We didn't know," PawPaw shouted angrily, throwing his hands into the air.
"I guess we'd better make the best of this," Grandma said in a chipper tone. "I think it'll be fun! We'll get to tell everyone about our week in the sixties!" Mary had already laid claim to a yellow and white van.
"Mom! Mom! Can I drive?" Mary begged in a hyper mood. Mom sighed.
"Fine. If you really want to. Do you think you can stay awake?" Mom asked, concerned.
"I had coffee on the plane! It was hazelnut! I made it before we left!" she said, playing with her owl necklace.
*~*~*
"Wow! Look at this place!" Ron exclaimed. "It's almost bigger than Hogwarts!" The hotel loomed in front of the rattling old bus. Grandma and Mary sat in the front seat, Trevor and Ginny in the seats behind that, and everyone else in the large back of the van. The hotel was truly large and pristine. Mary crookedly parked the yellow van in front of the entrance of the hotel. She wasn't a very good driver, and her family teased her about it all the time.
"Hey, Grandma?" Mary asked, jumping out of the van. Grandma looked at Mary's strange parking job and turned her look to Mary. She had her hand on her hip and the most ridiculously large sunglasses on the face of the planet on, looking serious. Grandma put on a large grin.
"What, sweetie?" Grandma asked, patting her arm. Mary grinned and grabbed the cursed Army bag and put it on over her shoulder.
"Are we going actually to the park today?"
"Mmhmm, honey. We're taking the monorail." Trevor's face tumbled into a wide smile and he ran over to his two male cousins.
"You owe me! You owe us both, fifty freakin' dollars! Pay up! Pay up!" he screamed in pure happiness. Alden grimaced and began riffling through a thick envelope and tossed Trevor and Austin both a few bills. The two victorious boys slapped each other high fives and grinned like demented clowns.
Meanwhile, Mallory and Mary were clapping excitedly.
"I love the monorail!" Mary cried, clapping her hands along with Mallory. Mom and Dad had arrived in their van and were shoveling bags out of the back of it, along with PawPaw, who had driven the other one. Soon there was a mountain of luggage in front of the hotel.
Uncle Tommy, who had gone in to register, emerged with a fleet of faux gold carts. Mary felt like there was so much to be done right then, and thus, she began putting many of the antique suitcases that she had brought with her onto a cart.
"Where did you get those?" Neville asked suddenly, gesturing towards the suitcases. Mary turned to face him.
"Thrift store. Twenty bucks for the lot of them. Amazing deal, no?" she asked as she began lifting Trevor's cartoon-adorned suitcases onto a separate cart, selecting a Bugs Bunny one to take to the room as Oliver's.
"You visit those places a lot?" Percy asked, coming up behind Neville.
"Oh yeah. Every weekend me and Trev go there. It's a tradition. I mean, they have good deals. And the two of us can go through stuff for hours and not get bored at all. It's sort of like a brother and sister activity," she explained, looking weary but happy at the same time.
"That's a nice tradition," Percy agreed softly. Mary put an arm around him.
"Are you okay? You sound upset." She sounded concerned.
"Ugh, I'm just tired, I guess."
"Sure. Come on; let's go inside to the vending machines. You, dear, look like you are in serious need of a candy bar," Mary insisted, taking his hand and leading him into the lobby, looking about until she noticed a sign which read 'Vending' and lead him to it. She poked three pairs of quarters into the machine and bought a Hershey bar and a pack of Starbursts.
"Here," she said, passing him the chocolate as they hurried to the door, where they met the large, noisy crowd as they passed into the air conditioning. The wheels of suitcases clicked on the linoleum, and idle chatter filled the cool air. Mary had a pleasant smirk on her face as Percy chewed the candy quietly.
Maybe Percy was just shy. He had always seemed quiet to her anyways. He didn't have to do things loudly like his brothers to make an impact. He looked to be the quiet outside in the family. Sometimes she knew how he felt, an intruder to the warmth of an actual family.
But then, when her Dad would tease her with jokes about the time she hit a janitor in the head with football, or when Trevor and her would play Tony Hawk's Pro Skateboarding and sing along with the music, things seemed to come back together, at least for a while.
"Arrgh. Listen to me, with all this philosophical, let-me-analyze you, tell- me-about-your-childhood crap," she muttered, chasing it with a sigh. Ah, well, everyone feels like crap sometimes. But was she the only one who did it all the time? "There I go again!" she snapped at herself.
Alden and Austin and Trevor were yelling about various things, while Mom and Dad and Uncle Tommy and Aunt Marleena didn't even attempt to shush them. As a matter of fact, they were buzzing too. Uncle Tommy handed Mary and Hermione each a key, and distributed one to most everyone, but if there were three people in the room, only two got keys.
"Oliver, can I discuss something with you?" Dad asked suddenly as the group boarded the large elevators. Mary got a stricken look on her face. "We'll catch up with you guys later, okay?" He turned to Oliver. "This will only take a second. Oliver gulped as Dad practically dragged him into a small hallway. Oliver received a stern look from Dad right then.
"Listen, Wood. I understand you're going to be rooming with my little girl. Is that true?" he asked roughly. Oliver's eyes swept down to the floor.
"Um, yes, sir." Dad frowned and stabbed a threatening finger at Oliver, who blinked in horror.
"I see. Well. If you try, or even think about trying, something with my daughter, I will be on you so fast. I will break off any appendage you try to use on my daughter. If anything does happen, break her heart, and I will break your neck. Understood?" Dad growled. Oliver's eyes were the size of hubcaps.
"Yes, sir," he said timidly. Dad gave him a huge, clownish smile and patted his shoulder.
"That's a good boy. Remember what I told you, and we'll all get along great. Okay?" Dad said in a newly chipper tone.
Oliver's pulse was racing. He managed to choke down the heavy lump in his throat while he nodded gravely. Dad smiled again and pushed the 'up' button.
*~*~*~*
"Holy crap! This is the best room ever!" Trevor cried as he leapt on the bed and began jumping up and down like a fiend. He tossed the bellhop a five-dollar bill and a huge grin as the man finished unloading all of their bags. The man smiled back politely, and, if Trevor wasn't imagining things, hurriedly backed out of the room. "What do you think about it, H-Dog?"
Harry raised his eyebrows at the new nickname.
"Wow. It's much nicer than my room at my aunt and uncle's house. And when I'm at school I share my room with four other people. This should be nice," he assessed. Trevor seemed satisfied by this and grinned back at Harry.
"Shibby. Let's start unpacking, eh Harry? Grandma will be getting after us to get ready to go. Want to borrow my Vans?"
"Your what?"
"My Vans. I got them at the thrift store. Seven dollars and fifty cents. Excellent deal," he explained. "They're shoes, and really comfy."
"Um. Sure." At that moment, Mary came into Trevor's room and flopped onto the bed, looking distressed.
"What's a-matter?" Trevor asked, biting his thumbnail.
"Dad threatened Oliver!" she wailed after a few seconds. "He said if he 'tried anything funny' with me, he'd tear his limbs off! Exclusively the ones he, um, got 'fresh' with!" Trevor and Harry stared at Mary for a second, before exchanging a glance and bursting into peals of laughter.
"It's not funny!" Mary yelled.
"Shut up! Mom will hear you!" Trevor hissed back. "Anyway, I'm sorry, but those words and your expression-just, well, priceless!" Harry chuckled in agreement.
"Screw you! You have no idea how to be sympathetic! What if Harry's parents threatened if you made a move on him that you'd die?" she blurted, before looking amused at her remark. "Ooh, now there's an image." She turned around and waltzed out of the room, before Trevor glanced at Harry.
"What just happened?"
"Don't ask me."
*~*~*~*
"Now, is everyone here?" Grandma asked. The whole shuttle sounded off in agreement. "Well, I'll have a list written up for tomorrow so I can take roll."
"Ah, crap. Just like school," Trevor sighed to Ginny, who smiled. The shuttle began barreling to the monorail station.
"Oh, by the way, everyone, this is Jonathan, and he will be driving us to the monorail station and to the hotel and the like," PawPaw introduced. Everyone mumbled a greeting as Jonathan waved without looking back.
Mary sat in the backseat, wedged in between Oliver and Percy.
"Won't this be spectacular?" Neither of the two had seen Mary this excited since their first night, when Trevor had agreed to watch the Nightmare Before Christmas.
"Um, I guess so," said Percy, who had had the duty of informing Oliver what Disney World was. When he was a little boy, his father had told him about American Muggles, who all seemed to love this enormous mouse. Percy had always thought that this was strange. He hated rodents.
Oliver, meanwhile, was a bit hesitant to answer. "I guess."
"I know what this is all about," Mary said, leaning in to whisper into his ear. "But my father is all talk. He wouldn't hurt you if you talked to me or whatever." Oliver gave a sheepish smile.
"Uh. I, um, okay," he stumbled over his words in a freakish tone. Mary patted his shoulder.
"Good. I'm glad we got that cleared up," Mary agreed and began drumming her fingers on her knee. "Ho-hum."
"So. What are we going to ride first?" Grandma was shouting, as if no one could hear her.
"Jungle Cruise, all the way!" Trev screamed back.
"The Dumbo thingy!" Mary argued.
"Ah, but there's plenty of time, for we have all day!" Grandma yelled again.
*~*~*~*
"You have got to be kidding me. We're riding in a big elephant?" Oliver said, shooting a wary glance at the flying elephants.
"Yes!" Mary exclaimed with a laugh. "Come on. It's our turn," she said, leading him to a 'Dumbo.' The two of them boarded and she put her arm around him.
"I hate heights," he grumbled. She rested her head on his shoulder. "I hate them. I may ride brooms all the time at school, but the heights bother me."
"I'm aware of that, Oliver. Come one. Don't be a pansy. This is the most fun ride in the whole park. Well, maybe that's not the truth, but it does rock." Mary fluffed the top of his hair. He trembled a bit as the ride began, but quickly stilled.
Oliver took a deep breath as the ride rose into the air. Soon the large elephant was high in the air and the ride began to rotate, and the elephant began to bounce up and down. Oliver screeched in excitement and Mary laughed along with him.
After a few minutes, the ride came back to the ground and ceased to move. Oliver stepped out of it with knocking knees, but a grin nonetheless.
"Well? What did you think?" Mary asked in a sweet and put-on tone.
"It was fun," he admitted, smiling back. "What's next?" She shrugged.
"Teacups?" she suggested, but just then, Trevor came up behind her and leapt upon her back. She made a shrieking sound and forced him off.
"Hahaha. You should have seen your face!" Trevor exclaimed. Ginny smiled guiltily from behind Trevor. Draco stood next to her. "So, you're going to ride the teacups?"
"Mmhmm. Do you think the five of us could fit in it?" Mary questioned.
"We'll make ourselves fit!" Trevor exclaimed. And Draco could have sworn that within thirty seconds, the group had boarded a yellow cup with pale pink stripes.
"Just so you know, this was probably not a smart idea on your part. Mary and I love this ride and anyone who rides it with us generally gets, well, ill," Trev cautioned. But by then it was too late. The ride had started, and the brother and sister had begun rapidly spinning the wheel in the center of the cup about, making the teacup spin faster and faster until Draco swore he would hurl out the side.
The yellow cup passed by one in varying shades of blue, and Trevor saw his aunt, uncle, mom and dad in it, along with his screaming grandmother. He pointed to them and Mary doubled over in laughter. The two wondered how they had managed to get her on there in the first place.
The ride was over as soon as it had begun, and Draco hurried to a trash bin (unable to make it to the restroom) and emptied the contents of his stomach into it. Mom went up behind him as he continued to, well, be ill in the garbage receptacle. She gently rubbed his back and made sympathetic noises.
"Kids, go have fun. I'll stay here with him," she suggested, and that was that. The group of teenagers hurried to the next ride ('It's a Small World After All'). It reminded Trevor of a running scene on Scooby Doo or something. The group rushed through the line and boarded the boat, quickly fastening their seatbelts and sitting. Soon the overly happy music was weaving its way in and out of the teenager's psyches in a sickening way.
They exited the ride in a stupor, reeling from the extreme nature of that music. Ginny began singing it in an overly perky tone, inspiring horror.
"I think it's time we ride something more, for lack of a better word, violent, perhaps?" Trevor suggested.
"Thunder Mountain Railroad!" Mary yelled, making several people stop and look at her funny. "Please, Trevor? Please?!" It was really quite pathetic the way she was almost crying over riding this ride.