Chapter Seventeen
Three days passed, and finally they reached Anaheim California. The teens and children could hardly contain their excitement as they pulled into the parking lot for Disney Land.
Amelia started bouncing up and down on John's lap, causing the muscles in his thighs to go stiff. "I wanna see Cinderella!" She announced, letting John scoop her up as they started for the door.
"I want to see Mickey." He chuckled, lifting her onto his shoulders. "Show him my Minnie." He leaned over kissing Claire's temple as they walked toward the park. "See if he gets jealous." He smirked, taking Claire's hand in his own.
Claire rolled her eyes, smiling up at her boyfriend. "I thought I was Rapunzel."
He nodded, squeezing her hand. "Yeah, but they didn't make a Rapunzel movie."
"Yet." Allison pointed out, taking Andy's hand as he held it out to her. "I think they're waiting for me to animate it."
Dominic laughed, turning to walk backwards so he could talk to her. "I'll bet there won't be any paper for you to draw on then. It'll all be computer shit."
She stuck her tongue out at the boy. "I'll bet you I could animate every single hair if I got the chance."
John winced as Amelia pulled on his short hair, adjusting his sunglasses over his eyes again. "Hey, watch it, I don't wanna have to shave it all off again." He knew that his hair was thinner than it had been, but he also knew it was slowly coming back after they'd had to shave what was left of it. After the meth had been forced into him and the withdrawals had started, he'd been so out of it that he'd started pulling out clumps of his own hair, he'd picked at his skin for days, branding fresh scars into his flesh.
He'd taken to wearing long sleeves again, and in the August heat of southern California he was starting to wish he'd agreed to wear the short-sleeved shirts that Clarissa had bought for him.
Claire squeezed his hand, feeling the little bit of his sweat between their palms. "Are you too hot?" She asked, knowing that if he got too hot one of two things could happen. Either one: another seizure, or two: he could pass out. She knew that he hated being checked up on every five minutes, but she also knew he hated the seizures and embarrassment that came with them. "Cause if you are-"
"I'm fine." He stated, taking he and Amelia's tickets from Jan Vernon.
Claire nodded, taking her own ticket. "I just want to make sure you're okay."
"Is John sick?" Amelia asked, looking down at the couple beneath her.
Claire shook her head, hating that she had to lie to the child. "He's just got to be careful." There, that wasn't a whole lie, it was only a half-truth. "He can't get too excited or he can get sick again." The half-truth was better than a full lie, right?
John walked through the little revolving gate to the park, handing he and Amelia's tickets over to the man at the booth. "What're we doing first?" He asked, taking the scalped tickets from the man.
"Cinderella's castle!" Amelia shouted, giggling as the group took off toward the most known part of the park.