"Don't forget, we're meeting at the Ferris Wheel in three hours!" my dad called to our class as we left the dock.
"To the rollercoaster?" I asked May.
"Yeah!" she agreed, leading the way.
After a few minutes of walking in relative silence, we arrived at the doors of the rollercoaster building.
"Oh, great," May sighed. I couldn't agree more.
I guess we should have assumed as much, but the line was a disaster. "Do you want to wait for it?" I asked May, hoping she would say no.
"Sure, I'll wait if you want to," she gave me a friendly smile so I gave her one back. I wasn't looking forward to the line though.
"I wonder where Wally is," I wondered out loud.
The statement hadn't been directed towards May, but I was mildly surprised when she didn't reply. I turned around to see why she didn't answer, but I found myself facing her back.
"May?" I tried to regain her attention.
"Oh yeah, hi Brendon!" she said while turning back to face me. "Steven, this is Brendan."
"Hey," Steven said to me.
"Hello," I said with caution. I tried to not judge Steven, but that was a lot easier said than done. "Where are you from?"
"Kanto," Steven replied. "May and I knew each other as kids."
"Oh, did you? Well that's a lovely story, but if you wouldn't mind, we were kind of busy." "She's my neighbor," I told him. I looked over to May, who clearly had lost all interest in me. If there ever was any.
"Oh sorry," Steven chuckled. "Am I interrupting a date?"
I almost told him yes but May spoke sooner. "Don't be silly! We're on a school field trip."
"I was a little confused since Brendan was giving me the evil eye," Steven said while he continued laughing. Was something funny? I was just fuming.
"He always acts like that," May tried to explain. "I've been his neighbor for months but only just recently did he start replying when I say his name."
"Tough love," Steven nodded in agreement.
"What?" I asked May. "I never ignored you."
"You did for a while, actually," she said, giving me a puzzled look. "I'm not mad at you, just forget I said anything."
She and Steven turned back around to talk and I could feel my face heating up. I didn't do anything to deserve this! I'd been nothing but nice to her!
I thought this "Steven" was trying to pick a fight with me for whatever reason. Is he bored?
"So Steven," I said loudly over something he was telling May. "Do they have many field trips in Kanto?"
"Not particularly," Steven gave me a puzzled look.
Little did he know, I had him right where I wanted him.
"Luckily, my family's corporation makes enough money annually to send me wherever I want," he elaborated.
Or maybe I didn't.
"Yeah, leave it to, uh, money," I laughed dryly. Turns out, I had no idea how to act like a rich person.
"Uh, yeah," Steven turned back to May. "So, like I was saying, Uncle James may be able to pull some strings to-"
"Uncle James?" I thought aloud. My detective skills were apparently sub-par.
"My dad's brother," May explained briefly.
"My dad's brother as well," Steven replied.
"Yeah, yeah, of course," the realization had hit me so hard I could barely keep up the conversation casually. "I just thought it was funny because I also have an uncle named James."
There was a moment of silence. Steven and May exchanged knowing glances.
"He doesn't live in Kanto though," I rambled about my nonexistent uncle.
"Uh, sure," May said, raising an eyebrow at me.
"He also, uh, he," I found myself trailing off.
"He's not real?" Steven suggested.
"Yeah that," I agreed. "I made him up two minutes ago to be relatable."
"You've got a knack for making situations awkward," Steven replied an uncomfortable amount of time later.
"It's his talent," May agreed. "Hey, at least the line is way shorter now."
That much was true; we were almost up. Where had the time gone? Actually, I take that back. I had suffered every second of that line. I turned to ask May how the seating arrangement was going to work with the three of us, but to my surprise, Steven was gone.
"Where did Steven go?" I asked half-heartedly.
"Back to his yacht," she shrugged. "Probably to find 'Uncle Jesse,' or whatever his name was."
"What's with the air quotes?" something wasn't adding up.
"Steven isn't my cousin," May told me.
"Next!" the roller coaster workers called.
"Wait what?" I asked. The workers buckled my seatbelt.
"I can't hear you!" May shouted over the roller coaster as it started up.
"Are you serious?" I shouted back. I knew she could hear me, why wouldn't she reply?! She wasn't even looking at me anymore. She was too focused on the hill ahead of us. "May!" I shouted again, hoping for a direct answer.
She turned to look at me, and I figured she was about to explain some things about the sketchy "Steven" figure.
Instead, she just smiled.