Fran led Max over to the big roller coaster Cyclone and they stood outside the fence to watch it go flying by, and the riders screamed.
"What do you think, Jack? It doesn't go upside down. But is that drop too steep for you?"
"Well, Eliza," he smiled, "It's pretty high up, but the drop seems fast, so it shouldn't feel like it's going on forever and ever. I think I'm up for it. Are you?"
"Yeah, let's do it! But hey, let me get my purse inside my coat so I don't lose it on the way. And make sure you don't have anything that will fly out of your pockets."
"Oh, okay." Max made sure his wallet was safely tucked in the inside pocket of his bomber jacket, and then zipped it most of the way up. Fran put her arm back through her sleeve after moving her purse strap in over her shoulder, then pulled her coat tight and tied it up at the waist. She took Max's hand again, and they headed for the line of people waiting to ride the roller coaster.
The screaming riders flew past them again over head.
"Oh, this is going to be so much fun!" Fran squealed.
"It is! Do we get to choose what part of the cars we get to sit in?"
"I don't know, but I hope it's not right in the front or in the back, that might be too freaky."
They continued moving up in line, watching the roller coaster fly past again and again, until finally it was their turn. Max let Fran lead the way to the car and they climbed in, and the attendant pulled the bar down in front of them and locked it. They clutched the bar and Fran wiggled in her seat.
"This is gonna be so fun!" She squealed. Max laughed, and once everyone was on board and locked in, the coaster was on it's way. It clickety-clacked up the ramp, slow and steady, higher and higher, until finally reaching the apex. They looked at each other, wide-eyed, then turned back to watch as they flew down the hill, faster and faster. Fran screamed and Max yelled, then they got brave and let go of the rail and threw their hands in the air.
"Yeah!" Max yelled.
"Woooooo!" Fran screamed. They laughed and laughed, having so much fun. They flew around a bend and grabbed hold of each other's hand, then rolled back to the hill for the last time. They caught their breath and kept laughing as the clackity-clack began again, bringing them to the top of the hill again.
"Here we go!" Fran yelled. Everyone screamed and threw their arms in the air as they headed down the hill, then around a steep bend, and up and over several smaller hills, around more bends and drops, whipping them back and forth into each other. They were laughing so hard they could barely handle it. Finally, the coaster ride was over, and they rolled back to the platform, out of breath but still laughing. The safety bars were unlocked and raised, and Max got out and helped her to the platform with him. They put an arm around each other and followed the crowd leaving the coaster. Once they were back out in the park, they turned to each other.
"What a rush! That was fantastic!" Max said. Fran wrapped her arms around him and hugged him.
"It was! I'm so glad you liked it!"
"I loved it! Now what are we going on next?!"
Fran grabbed his hand. "Come on! Tilt-a-Whirl!" They ran down the path towards the next ride, grinning ear to ear.
They ran from one ride to the next, like kids having the best time of their lives. They were spun around, launched forwards and backwards, even upwards. They held each other tight and laughed and yelled, and had so much more fun and excitement than they ever expected.
Finally, they headed out away from the big rides and realized they hadn't eaten yet.
"Let's go have a look at the food, sweetheart. I'm getting hungry after all that adrenaline! How about you?" he asked her.
She smiled at him. "Sweetheart?" She bumped him with her hip. They were still walking hand-in-hand.
"Oh, I'm sorry, should I not do that?" He asked, in all sincerity.
"I don't mind. Actually, I kind of like it." She said. "And yes, I'm hungry, too! Let's see what they've got. Do you want to do any more rides later?"
"Well, I'd like to go on that Ferris wheel- the Wonder Wheel. Maybe, should we save that for last?"
"Sure, that'll work. That'll be a nice end to a wild time!" She smiled.
"So, does that mean you're having a good time?"
"I'm having a blast! Thank you for bringing me here!"
"Thank you for coming with me. This is a lot of fun. I really needed it. Things have been a bit- stressful, lately."
"You mean all that schoolwork? Exams and everything?"
Max laughed. "Yeah, something like that." He put his arm around her and squeezed her to him. They walked back and forth through the food stalls, smelling the wonderful aromas, and trying to decide what their stomachs could take.
"Hey, Max- um, Jack- They have cheesesteaks over there! Let's go see if they look any good."
"Okay. You have a hankering for cheesesteaks?" He asked.
"Well, I can smell them from here, and it's making me salivate. Can you smell that? Onions and peppers on the grill."
She pulled him towards the Philly cheesesteak shack and they stepped towards it to see how the food looked. Max agreed that it really did look pretty appetizing.
"Mmm! That smells yummy! I think I know what I want, how about you?" Fran asked.
"It does smell pretty good, doesn't it? Looks pretty good, too. But those are awfully big, don't you think?"
"How about we split one? And maybe get some cheese fries to go with it. And drinks. And let's skip the onions, why don't we?"
"Yeah, good idea. That sounds good. So, one cheesesteak, no onions, cheese fries, and is a Coke okay?"
"Perfect."
"Okay, let's get it." He pulled her by the hand up to the register. The cashier greeted him in a gruff Philly style. "Hello- we'd like to split a cheesesteak, no onions, an order of cheese fries, and two Cokes, please."
"Hey yo!" The cashier yelled back to the guys on the grill. "One Date Night! One fries cheese! Twoooooo Cokes!" Each station repeated their part of the order, and Max paid for the food, then they moved down to wait to pick it up. Fran elbowed him.
"Did I hear that right? Did they call the cheesesteak without onions a 'Date Night'?"
Max grinned and nodded. "I think they did!" They both laughed. "I guess it makes sense, though, right? Must be a lot of people here ordering that."
"Must be. And yeah, onions on a date night would probably end the date pretty quick!" They both laughed again.
The woman at the counter passed over their Cokes and they picked them up, and Fran grabbed some forks for the fries. The woman set their food on a tray and pushed it towards Max with a smile. He thanked her and picked up the tray, and followed Fran over to a spot at a picnic table where they could face each other as they ate. The cheesesteak was already cut in half, so Max set one half over on her side of the tray, and she handed him a fork. She peeled open the foil over the fries and exposed the steaming cheesiness.
"Oh, baby! That looks fantastic!" She grinned. She stuck a fork in the fries and tried a bite. "Mmm! That's good!"
Max grinned. He took a bite of his cheesesteak, and then closed his eyes as he savored it.
"Good?" She asked, reaching for her half.
"Mmmmmmm hmm!"
Fran got excited and hurried to take a bite. She closed her eyes as she savored hers, too. "Mmmm hmmm!" Max laughed and sipped his Coke.
"Wonderful choice for dinner!"
"Well, you're welcome! I'm glad you like it, and I'm glad I like it, too! Sometimes you take a chance with these places, but this was a good one!"
They continued eating in silence, looking around at the sights and watching the people go by. A lot of couples were out, holding hands, arms wrapped around each other, some having unabashed PDAs under the flashing lights. Fran felt like time was slowing down, like she was noticing little things she might have otherwise overlooked. She noticed that everyone seemed genuinely happy, no one was arguing, no one fighting. It was like everyone was just so glad to be there. She was noticing little sayings everywhere- ones that seemed to have special meaning just for her. Just for her and Max. On t-shirts, on signs, on the occasional small spot of graffiti. She turned back to Max and realized he was looking at her. His eyes were smiling at her. She almost felt self conscious, but in a good way. She smiled back at him.
"So, what would you like to do next, best friend?" he asked.
Fran took a long sip of her Coke before responding. She turned to look down the long boardwalk. "Well, it sounded like there might be a band playing down at the bandstand over that way. You want to check that out? And the arcade isn't far from that, so then we could go try some skee ball or something. Then that shooting gallery. Then wrap things up at the Ferris wheel?"
"Sounds like a plan." He smiled again and looked back down the boardwalk. He took several bites of the cheese fries and then looked back at her. "There really is a sort of an energy in the air here, isn't there?"
Fran smiled and looked around. "It's kind of nostalgic in a way, but not like- like you're reliving a childhood memory. It feels like- like maybe we're making a memory. You know? Like this is a good place to make some memories we'll have fun looking back on. But yeah, I know what you mean. It's almost a little surreal, in a good way."
"Yeah, surreal. Like time is different. Like we're in our own bubble, watching everything."
Fran smiled, and she reached across for his hand. She almost felt like she should reassure him, calm him, but instead it felt like he was doing that for her. She took a deep breath and went back to finishing her food, and so did Max. When they had finished, they stacked their garbage on the tray. Fran took her roll of mints out of her purse and offered one to Max, then took one for herself. They got up from the table and Max took the tray to the garbage can, dumped it out and set the tray on the rack, then they carried their Cokes, reached for each other's hand, and started walking down the boardwalk toward the sound of loud music playing.
As they got closer to the bandstand, they heard a funky bass beat and realized it must be a funk band that was playing. They headed down a walkway towards the small field in front of the bandstand and found a spot where they could stand and watch from a decent distance. There were a number of people on lawn chairs and blankets, watching the show as they undoubtedly imbibed on alcohol, nodding their heads to the beat. Another group was dancing around in front of the stage, either drunk on alcohol or drunk on life, some swung their coats around as they swung themselves around. Fran and Max stole a glance at each other and smiled, and looked back at the band. They stood there in silence, happy to just enjoy the music, his arm over her shoulders and hers around his waist, after a couple of songs, she reached for her gloves in her pockets and put them on.
"Are you cold? I'm sorry, darling, here- why don't you put your arms inside my coat- I'll try to warm you up a bit."
"Sure! If you insist!"
Max unzipped his coat and let her wrap her arms around him, and he closed his coat around her. After a while, they found themselves rocking slightly to the music. Someone started shooting off fireworks on the beach- nothing huge, but just enough to make it feel like a night of celebration. A high pitched screech as the rocket shot to the sky, then a pow as the sparkles shot out in a burst.
"Wow- I'm sure that's probably illegal, but it's perfect. Right over the bandstand!" Max said softly to her.
"Yeah. Tonight's been really wonderful. The sights, the sounds, and you still smell really good!" She rested her head against his chest.
"Mmm, so do you." They held each other for another song, watching the fireworks, and the silly people dancing with each other in front of the funky bassist. "Hey-" Max said softly.
Fran looked up at him.
"Let's go in where it's warmer, okay? You can show me how to play skee ball." Fran smiled.
"Okay. Let's do that." Fran took her arms out of his coat and they grabbed each other's hand again and got back on the boardwalk to walk over to the big arcade building.
As they approached, they saw all the flashing lights from inside and heard all the sounds of skee balls whacking and rolling and the beeping of the other machines and games. There were several air hockey tables, shuffleboard, a wall of skee ball machines, and assorted retro boardwalk arcade-type entertainments. They looked at each other and grinned. Max headed straight for the token machine and put in a twenty, and out dumped piles of tokens. Max reached down and grabbed handfuls and stuffed them into his coat pocket, then they headed over to the wall of skee ball.
"Okay, now, Jack-o, I'm challenging you to a skee ball battle! We play three times, and add up the scores, whoever is highest gets to pick the next thing to play, okay?"
"Okay. Now how does this go? Do you roll the ball up there and try to get it in one of the holes?"
"Yep, you may have to get a feel for it with the first game. You put the tokens in, and it rolls out the balls, and you keep rolling them up there, just hard enough to try to get the highest one, but that isn't easy. See how if you go to one side or the other, it will catch in those pockets and roll down to the lower scores? Now that isn't necessarily bad, you'll still get tickets, but if you can get it just right and it pops up and drops in that high score, that's the best. You ready?"
"Yep, here's a bunch of tokens. Okay, I'm ready." They put their tokens in and the balls rolled out, and Fran took her first one, tried to aim, rolled it, and it went just to the outside.
"Damn! See what I mean? Try not to do that."
Max laughed. He picked up one of his, aimed, and rolled it as close to the center as he could get. It bounced off the barrier and rolled down in to the second highest score.
"Hey! Not bad, mister. Okay, let's keep going and see what we get!" They continued rolling the balls and went back and forth on their scores, and on Max's last roll he hit the high point hole.
"Yeah!" He was almost jumping up and down. They both had tickets churning out of their machines.
"Nice one! You won that round, now what do you want to play?"
"Can we do that one more time? Three more rounds? That was kind of fun!"
Fran grinned and held out her hand for more tokens. "You got it, Jack-o!"
They played another round of three and this time Fran hit the high point hole twice, and her machine went crazy with churning out tickets.
"Woo hoo! Come on, now! Mama needs a new pair of shoes!" Fran reached down and waited for the tickets to stop and tore them off, then carefully stacked them together in a big bundle in her hand. Max did the same and then they compared bundles.
"What do we get with these?" He asked. She grabbed his hand and dragged him to the counter in back where they had the prizes lined up on the back wall and in the counters in front.
"See all this stuff? They all have numbers for how many tickets you need to get each thing. If we combine our tickets, we might be able to get some of these little erasers down here," she teased.
"Erasers? What? For all these?"
"I'm kidding! Well, not really. You do need a ton of tickets to get the good stuff. See up there? You could get a boom box. Or a skateboard. But you might have to keep playing for a week or two."
"Oh, geez. Well, I guess we better get good at our aim, then!" He took her hand and they walked around the arcade, looking for the next game to try.
They ran from game to game, like young kids still having the best time of their lives. They challenged each other to competitions, joined in together on other games. They had fistfuls of tickets when they were done, so they headed over to the prize counter and began redeeming them for toys and trinkets mostly for the kids, but also for themselves. The attendant gave them a bag to carry everything in, and they left the arcade all smiles, hand-in-hand.
"Hey, how good are you at BB guns, or darts?" Fran asked him.
"Um, darts I think I'm decent enough, BB guns, I don't know. I suppose if you can just get the hang of it quickly, it shouldn't be too bad. Do you think any of those games are rigged?"
"Oh, it wouldn't surprise me, but if you figure it out you can probably gain the upper hand and win a few prizes. You ready to go try?"
"Absolutely! I want to win you something. What would you like for me to try to win for you?"
"Really? Oh, gosh. Well they always have big stuffed animals there, maybe one of those. But I have no idea how much it would take to win one. But you can try. But if I can, I want to win you something, too. I used to be decent at the ring toss, but it's been a long time since I did that. It might take a bit to get the hang of it. What do you want me to try to win for you?" She smiled at him and swung his hand back and forth as they walked.
Max grinned. "We'll have to see what they have. But I have no doubt you could win the biggest prize they've got," he gave her hand a squeeze, and his eyes twinkled.
Fran was gushing. She was having such a good time with him. She had to fight the urge to throw her arms around him and kiss him. It wasn't the time yet to be that forward. This was about building their friendship.
They walked down the boardwalk and turned on a path towards the long "shooting gallery" of target games and standard carnival prize-winning fare. They started with a BB gun target shooting game and both went head-to-head against each other to see who had the best aim. Fran won that battle, and decided to continue to try to win a bigger prize. Max cheered her on as she knocked down target after target, the BBs pinging against the metal flappers each time she hit. When she was out of BBs and her game was over, she managed to win a small stuffed dog for Gracie. Max gave her a big hug and was genuinely impressed.
"That was fantastic! I had no idea you had that in you!" He exclaimed, as they continued down the thoroughfare to find the next game to play.
"I didn't either! That was so much fun!" They came up to a ball-throwing game, where you had to knock down several pins quite a distance back. Fran challenged Max to it, so she could see how well he could throw.
The attendant gave Max three baseballs and Max tried his best throw. The first one nicked the top of a pin, and it wobbled, and stood itself back upright again.
"Oh, you're kidding me!" He looked at Fran, wide-eyed. She patted him on the back.
"It's okay, try it again," she coaxed. He picked up the next ball, sized up his target, and threw it, and knocked two out of three pins down.
"Ahhh!" He yelled, then laughed and shook his head. He picked up the next ball and tried again, and managed to knock down a set of three pins.
"You did it! Does he win anything?" She asked the attendant.
He grabbed something out of a bin and slapped it down on the counter. It was a long, flexible multicolored pencil that tied over itself like a pretzel. Fran laughed, then made a pouty face and patted his shoulder.
"Aw, that's okay. You want to try it again?"
"Yes! Dammit, I'll get them all down! Let's go again!" He told the man. He paid for another three baseballs and got ready to throw again. He took a deep breath to calm himself, then threw again. He knocked down a set of three pins. Fran cheered him on, jumping up and down and clapping her hands. He smiled at her and picked up the next ball, took a breath, and threw it. He knocked down another set. Fran cheered and he smiled. He wiped his hands on his pants, picked up the next ball, then took a breath and exhaled, and threw it. He knocked down all the pins. Fran cheered and grabbed his arm and jumped up and down. He hugged her and turned back to the attendant to see what he won.
"Pick anything from this section here," he pointed to part of the wall along the side. Max picked out a mini baseball bat.
"For Brighton," he said, and Fran smiled and nodded her approval. They thanked the man, and Max added the bat to the bag of goodies they had won that night.
"Okay, now you get to pick something. There's a ring toss over there, and it looks like some dart games."
"Let's check the ring toss, I wanna see what their top prizes are and how much it might take to win one." She pulled Max by the hand and dragged him across the way to the ring toss booth. "Do you see anything you might like? Even if it seems silly. Maybe there's something you can put on your desk, or a little game to play or something." Max looked at all the prizes along with Fran, trying to see if there was something that wasn't just cheap junk. This booth didn't have the usual stuffed animals and similar items, but had some cheap jewelry and watches, and novelty joke items. Then something caught his eye and he went up to the counter to get a better look.
"Oh, look- a pocket knife! That could be very handy! What do you have to do to win that?"
"Oh, for that one, it looks like I have to get the rings to land right on it. You know, to surround it. Or, it says if I can catch six rings on that thing right there- then I can pick that as a prize. Ug. What do you think? Should I try for three rings or six? I'm assuming the six might be easier, since they make you have to get more of them."
"You can try both if you want. Do you want to try the three first? See if you can throw them the right way to land on that?"
Fran thought a moment. "Yeah, why not? Let me try that and see how hard it is." They paid for the first round of rings and Max watched as Fran carefully tossed them and tried to land them flat on the plate, surrounding the pocket knife. The first one ricocheted off the side of the plate, but she didn't give up. She changed her toss a little, tossed it carefully, and it landed on the plate, but bounced off.
"Ohhh!" They both yelled. She took the last one and tried the same type of throw, but a little gentler. She landed it. Max cheered and hugged her, but all she won was a consolation prize of a small, cheap ring. Max slapped more money down and the attendant gave her three more rings. She tried the same toss, and landed it perfectly. She smiled, but tried not to get too excited. She tossed the next one, and landed that as well. But now, there were two rings sitting there, making landing another one even trickier. The only thing she could do was try to toss the last ring the same way, and hope everything stayed on the plate. She took a deep breath and tossed it, and it landed the same way, but the second ring started to slide, then it fell off along with the third ring.
"Oh, dammit! That's the catch! Too many rings, and they'll slide off."
"Here, I'm buying nine rings so you can try the other way, the first three rings are practice, okay?" The attendant handed them another consolation prize, this time a colorful pencil. Max tucked it in the bag of goodies and the attendant retrieved a stack of nine rings and set them on the counter in front of Fran.
"Okay, pal! First three rings! Let me see if I can do this…"
Max watched her, already impressed with her abilities. He was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to land a single ring on a plate. But now she was trying to do a more traditional version of the ring toss and catch each ring around a raised glass post attached to another plate. She got the first ring ready, and practiced the kind of toss she would use, then tossed it- perfectly.
"Yes! Okay, let's do that again!" She tossed the next one- perfect. Max wanted to cheer, but didn't want to throw off her game. She tossed the third one and landed it, and jumped up and down.
"I knew it! I knew you could do it!" Max pulled her to him and hugged her, and she hugged him back. But then she turned to the attendant.
"Hey, can this count towards my six if I can make the next three, or do I have to take a prize with just these three?"
"Either way, you have three sets of three, so you have to at least get two sets in a row to get the pocket knife. So if you got all nine, then you can get the pocket knife plus a three-ring prize."
"Ooh! I like the sound of that better! Okay, mister! I'm going for all nine!" She looked at Max and grinned, and he smiled back. He was having such a good time watching her have a good time. She sized up her shot again, and tossed it, and three more times she landed her rings. She danced in a circle. "You got your pocket knife now, Jack-o!"
Max laughed. "Well, come on now, you've got three more here! Let's see what you can do!" Max patted her back and she stepped back up to the counter and picked up another ring, sized up her target, tossed, and landed it. She grinned and caught her breath again, then tried the second, landed it, then picked up her final ring. She held it in front of her in both hands, took a deep breath and exhaled, then tossed it. She landed her throw perfectly, and they let out a cheer, and Max picked her up and spun her around.
"Fantastic! That was fantastic! I knew you could do it!" He put her back down and the attendant brought out three different colors of pocket knife and let them pick out what they wanted.
"You get to pick, this is your prize!" Fran said, putting her arm around his waist. He picked out a white one, with Coney Island, New York emblazoned across its side.
"Now you got one more prize to pick," the attendant said. "For a three-ringer, you can pick anything on this top shelf here."
"Oh! Goodie! Oh, there's necklaces! Maybe we should get something for Maggie. Here- this one right here. I think she'll like that one." The attendant took out the small case with the necklace Fran wanted in it and handed it to her. Fran safely tucked it away into the bag with all their other prizes. "You want to put that pocket knife in here too?" She asked Max.
"Oh, no! That's going right into my pocket! And then it's going right to my desk, so I can open letters with it, and it'll remind me about tonight every time I look at it," he smiled at Fran and took her hand. They waved to the attendant and said their thank you's and headed a couple of booths down to a dart throwing game, where you have to pop the balloons on the wall. Fran bumped Max with her hip.
"You want to give it a try? I want to see your dart throwing skills!"
"Oh yeah? Let's both do it, I want to see if you have any of those, you know, crossover skills…" he grinned.
"Hoo ha, Jack-o! I might just take you up on that!"
They walked up to the booth to have a look at the prizes and see if there was something big that Fran would really like.
"Hey, look at those bears up there. Is that something you might like?" Max asked, pointing to the large stuffed bears up high over the board full of balloons.
"Those are cute. Oh! Look at that one there! The black one! It has wavy fur like your hair! Aw, that one's adorable! But what do you have to do to win it?"
Max talked to the attendant to find out how many targets he had to hit in a row to win the biggest prizes. Fifteen. Five sets of three. He turned to look at Fran, and she had her eyebrows raised.
"What do you think? I mean, I know I can hit the wall, but if the darts bounce off the balloons or anything, then I might not do so good."
"Well, check the tips when he gives them to you, make sure they're okay. How about just do one set at a time, and see how it goes. I won't be disappointed if you can't win it, that's a lot of targets to hit."
"One set at a time? That might be a good idea. Alright. Let's do that." He took out his money and paid the attendant, and checked the tips of the darts he was given. They were sharp enough. Fran took their bag of prizes and held onto it as Max took off his coat so he could throw better. He handed his coat to her and she put it on. He picked up the first dart and picked a target on the wall. He decided the best thing might be to aim for the balloons that were roughly the same height as a regulation dart board. He picked his first target, lined up his dart, and flicked it just right. Pop! went the balloon. Whew! He said to himself. He couldn't look at Fran, because he thought for certain it would make him nervous and he'd mess up his next shot.
Max picked up another dart and aimed it at a balloon next to the first one. Pop! Now he was feeling good, but he didn't want to jinx himself. He picked up the third dart, aimed again, pop! He smiled and gave the attendant more money and received three more darts.
"Three down, twelve to go!" The attendant yelled. Max's heart raced, so he had to settle himself down. He checked the tips of the darts and was satisfied that they were fine, and set up his next three shots. Pop! Pop! Pop!
Fran clapped and jumped up and down. She really wanted to grab hold of him, but knew she might trigger his nervousness and throw him off. She clutched her hands in a fist in front of her mouth and tried to contain herself. Max paid for three more darts and checked the tips. He nodded to the attendant.
"Six down, nine to go!" The attendant called out. Several people gathered nearby to watch, not wanting to get too close and ruin the spectacle. Max picked up a dart, moved over a little to stand straight in line with the next balloon. He took aim, and pop! Then did the same for the next two. Fran was so excited she was about to burst. Even if he didn't hit enough targets to win her the bear, he already hit enough to win a pretty decent prize. She was really impressed with him.
Max slapped down more money for the next three darts.
"Nine down, six to go!" The attendant yelled. The groups of people cheered and clapped, and Fran wanted to yell at them to shut up so they wouldn't make Max nervous, but she looked at Max and he seemed to be focused on the darts in his hand. She noticed that he hadn't looked at her, so he had to be feeling the pressure. Max set down two of the darts and moved over to line up the next balloon.
Fran held her breath, and Max flicked the dart beautifully, and pop! He had gotten to ten out of the fifteen balloons. Fran was so excited, and so nervous. He took a breath and shook out his hands, then picked up the next dart, took a half step to the side, aimed, and flick! Pop! Eleven! Fran tried not to jump up and down. The other people got quiet, seeming to realize the intensity of the moment, and rooted quietly for Max to get his victory. Max looked over the next dart, lined up his target, and another pop! The crowd quietly patted their hands together instead of clapping and cheering.
Max handed the attendant the money for the last three darts.
"Twelve down, last three! Can he do it?"
"Yes!" The crowd said. Fran wished they hadn't done that. She really wanted to rub Max's back and calm him down. He must be churning on the inside, even if it was just supposed to be a fun carnival game.
Max looked over the balloons on the board and moved back in the other direction to try for some balloons on the other side. The attendant moved out of his way and everyone watched. He checked all of his darts and set two down on the counter, picked his balloon, took a deep breath and exhaled, then lined up his shot, and pop! Fran was dying. Only two more to go. Max had made an empty row straight across the wall and was almost out of balloons.
Max cleared his throat, looked at his next dart in his hand, then at his target. He lined up his shot and flicked it. Pop! Everyone gasped, then got quiet again. One left.
Fran was afraid to watch, but she didn't want to miss it if he did hit the target. She crossed her fingers and clutched them close to her face. Max checked the tip of his last dart, glanced up at the bear that Fran wanted, and smiled. He took a breath and exhaled and lined up his last target. It was the last balloon in the row he had been clearing out.
He cleared his throat again, and flicked the dart exactly as he had done on all the other throws.
Pop! He hit the fifteenth balloon. Everyone cheered, especially Fran. She grabbed him all the way around his arms and jumped up and down, then wrapped an arm around his neck and kissed him on the cheek.
"You did it! I can't believe it! You did it! Fifteen in a row! That was incredible!"
Max smiled and felt a huge wave of relief. He couldn't believe it himself. He grabbed Fran around the waist and let her hug him tight. She set the goodie bag on the counter and took his coat off and gave it back to him so he wouldn't freeze. Max was all smiles. He put the coat on and hugged her again.
"Congratulations! Did you want to keep going, or do you want to claim your prize now?" The attendant asked.
"Well, if I got enough balloons to get that bear she wants, I better quit while I'm ahead!" Max said, and laughed. Fran was locked around his waist, she was so proud of him.
"Which bear were you looking at, Miss?" the attendant asked.
"Oh," Fran said, pointing up to the black, wavy-furred bear she had her eye on, "See that adorable one, the black one, the third one over? Yeah! That one!" The attendant used a long pole to unhook the bear and bring it down, and then he handed it to her. Max smiled as he watched her fawn over it.
"So, you sure you want that one, not another one?" Max asked.
"Yes! This is my bear! I love him!" She ran her hand over its head and hugged it. "Thank you for winning him for me, that was the most amazing thing I've ever seen! You were so good!"
"Aw, thank you. I had a good motivator. Do you want to give it a try? See if you can win something, too?"
Fran looked up at him, then around at the other prizes. The attendant was putting up more balloons in the empty space Max had made. Fran saw a poster hanging up that she knew Maggie would love, and the sign nearby said the posters were 3/3. Could she hit three balloons in a row?
"Well, if I can get three balloons, there's a poster over there I know Maggie would like. You know what? Why not? Sure! I'll give it a try. But you might need to give me some pointers."
"No problem. Okay, sir, more darts!" Max handed the man enough to get Fran six darts, three for practice and three to try to win the prize. Max set their goodie bag by his feet and Fran set the bear on the counter. Max checked over the darts to make sure they were good, and he handed one to Fran.
"I've tried darts before, and I was just lucky to have it hit the dart board, I'm not good enough to hit where I think I'm aiming," she said.
"Well, if you hit the dart board and it stuck, that's a start," he encouraged. "Now, the way I was doing it, line up even with a balloon as if it was on a dart board- you remember the height they hang a dartboard at?"
"Um, yeah, I think so. So that's why you went all the way across? At the same height?"
"Yes, exactly. I imagined I was just aiming at a dartboard. Now look at the dead center of the balloon, down into the fatter part of it where there's more air. Have you picked one out?"
"Yes."
"Alright, now, imagine that there's a string running straight across from the center of that balloon to about the top of your shoulder, and that the dart is attached to that string. As you get ready to throw, imagine you're sliding that dart back and forth on that string, getting ready to flick it at that balloon. Yes, just like that. And when you think you're ready, let it go. Then depending on what it does, then you know what you might need to change or do the same on the next shot."
He stepped back from her and picked up her bear from the counter, and the bag from by his feet, then watched her to see if she could figure things out. She licked her lips as she aimed, then tossed it. It didn't pop the balloon, but briefly stuck in the wall beside it, then fell out.
"Damn!" She mumbled.
"It's alright, darling. These first three are a practice round. Go ahead and try again. Remember, you want to flick it straight across that string from your shoulder to the center of the balloon. Maybe just a little faster this time, a little more confidently." Fran took a breath and thought about how Max had done it, the exact same way each time. She imagined the string and moved her hand back and forth along it. Then she tossed the dart just a little bit harder. Pop!
"I did it! I can't believe I hit it! Woo hoo! Let's do that again!" She was excited now, and had to try to contain it. She picked up another dart and did the exact same thing, imagined the string, and firmly flicked the dart straight across it. Pop! "Oh my gosh, that was awesome! Do I get anything if I get two out of three?" She asked the attendant. The man reached into a small bucket and pulled out a mini Matchbox car and set it on the counter by the remaining set of darts. Max's eyes lit up and he picked it up to show her.
"Brighton," they both said, and laughed.
"Okay, here goes nothing. Either Maggie gets a sexy poster, or she gets a toy car, too. Or nobody gets anything."
"Hey! Sexy poster? You neglected to tell me that part!" Max said.
Fran laughed. "Relax, it's just that one over there. He at least has half his clothes on." Max squinted his eyes at her and she laughed again. "Okay, here I go…"
She took a breath and exhaled, held the dart up, and threw it just like she had before. Pop! Now she felt the pressure like Max was feeling before. She couldn't miss the next one. She picked a balloon, got in front of it, imagined the string, then threw it straight at the balloon. Pop! She was so excited! And so nervous! She took another big breath and picked up the last dart. She picked her target, moved in front of it, and set up her last throw. She threw it.
Pop! She threw her arms in the air, and Max held out his full arms to her. She ran to hug him around the middle. "I did it! I did it! I can't believe I did that! What a rush! That was amazing!" She exclaimed.
"Congratulations! That was fantastic! You're really good, you know?"
"I have a good teacher!" She squeezed him tightly to her, pressing her cheek against his chest.
Max was beaming. He was really thrilled that she had done so well. He was really impressed by her. Fran went up to the counter to tell the attendant which poster she wanted, and he handed her a rolled up one from the bin. Fran reached for her bear from Max, and he took the poster from her, tucked it part way into the bag, and then they thanked the attendant and started walking away from the booth, headed away from all of the games.
"That was amazing Fr- um, Eliza… were you nervous?"
"Totally! I don't know how you could keep that up for fifteen, and not lose your concentration. You were really awesome, uh, Jack." She smiled up at him. "And thank you very, very much for my bear. I love him!"
"I'm glad I could do that for you. That was pretty exhilarating, I have to admit!"
"You were amazing, everybody stopped to watch you! I almost wanted to shoo them away because I thought they were gonna mess you up!" They both laughed. "Hey, do you have a dart board at home?"
"Um, we used to have one. I can ask Niles if he knows where it is. I'm not sure about darts, though. If I remember right, Brighton got a hold of them and did quite a bit of damage around the house."
"Oh… then I think I might know where to go looking for darts. Because he hasn't stopped doing that."
Max went wide-eyed, and almost got mad, then he saw Fran's expression, and they both burst out laughing. "That boy, I tell you…" Max shook his head from side to side. Fran pulled him close, and he squeezed her shoulder.
"So, you ready to wrap things up with a ride on the Wonder Wheel?" Fran asked. Max looked out across the park and saw the giant Ferris wheel all lit up and slowly rotating against the skyline.
"Yes, I think it's time to start winding down. But tonight has been such a rush! Who would have thought today would have turned out this way?" He smiled, squeezed her shoulder, and kissed her forehead lightly. She smiled up at him.
"I definitely didn't picture this. It turned out way better than I could have imagined," Fran said softly. They walked in silence the rest of the way to the Ferris wheel, enjoying each other's company, listening to the sounds around them, feeling the crisp, cold air creeping into their coats.
They waited in line for the Ferris wheel, standing together with their arms around each other.
"Are you cold?" He asked her.
"I think I'm okay."
"I can open my coat and you can put your arms inside if you need to."
"I don't want you getting cold. This is good, I have my gloves on."
"Okay, but please let me know if it gets to be too much. I'll zip you inside my coat if we need to." She looked up at him and they smiled at each other.
They finally made it to the front of the line and the attendant let them through. Fran pulled Max to an outer car and showed him where they should sit.
"Sit here, then we can see the city instead of just the dark ocean." She pulled him down next to her and sat her bear in front of her, and he sat down and set the bag between his feet. "I hope we don't have to share with anybody… Oh, good! Those people went to the other one. Hang on, I think they're gonna move us up to put the next people on."
Max put his arm across her shoulder and the Ferris wheel clanked on and shifted and raised them up so the next set of cars was ready for riders to get out and new ones to get in. They shifted several more times until all the cars had new riders, then the attendant set the wheel to slowly turn continuously. Fran and Max held on to each other and looked out of the car, seeing Coney Island and the city beyond from a different vantage point.
"Wow, that's really pretty out there," Max said.
"Yeah, that's why I wanted us to sit on this side, and in one of these outer cars. They go higher, and you can really see everything. Look, you can see the whole park- and everywhere we went tonight. There's the bandstand over there- see it?"
"Yes. Wow, we did a lot of walking tonight, didn't we? You must be exhausted," he turned to her.
"I'll sleep good tonight, I'm certain of that!" She smiled. "But I'm okay. We only have to walk to the car now."
"Do you want anything on the way out? Cotton candy or something?" He grinned.
"Cotton candy? Nah, that won't fill me up. We'll see if we pass by something that looks good, otherwise we still have ice cream at home."
"Alright." They continued looking out over the city, and down below them, and Max squeezed her shoulder and pulled her close. She reached for his hand on her shoulder and he clasped it in his.
Max was having such a wonderful time with her. Now he knew why Niles thought they should spend this kind of time together. It helped remove all the obstacles they put in the way, helped put them both on the same level so they could really see each other. And especially so Max could see her. He spent too much time being concerned about their working relationship and how it reflected on him if he were to cross the line with her, instead of seeing her for who she really was- a kind, loving woman who took such good care of his children. He had learned so much from her. He really was fond of her. He didn't want this time with her to end.
The Ferris wheel slowly moved to a stop and left them sitting still at the very top of the wheel. They looked at each other in surprise.
"Oh wow! We get to be the car at the top! I never got to do that before!" Fran exclaimed.
"Me neither!" They looked out at the city, and then back at each other. The look on her face just melted him- she looked so genuinely happy to be there with him. They moved closer together and he reached his other arm around her and the stuffed bear. He felt that sensation of time slowing down again as he looked into her eyes, then over her face, then her lips. Isn't that what people do, he thought, when they stop at the top of a Ferris wheel? They kiss each other? He didn't want to ruin the moment, but if it was wrong for him to kiss her when they were supposed to be working at being best friends…
He gulped hard and leaned his forehead down to rest against hers. She seemed to understand that he was thinking too much, and she reached her hand up to the side of his face and stroked his cheek gently, as if to tell him it was okay for him to feel that way. He looked into her eyes again, and without saying a word, it was like she said a million things to him. He felt like the sounds of the park became muffled around him, and it was just the two of them there, together. Carefully, he tilted his head to the side, and she tilted hers. It was okay. He gently pressed his lips against hers, but only for a moment. It wouldn't be right to carry it further. When he could finally open his eyes again, she still had her hand on his cheek, and she opened her eyes. His heart started pounding, and slowly the sounds of the park came back, and the Ferris wheel kicked back into gear and began to move again. Fran let her hand slide down from his face and she clutched the front of his jacket and rested her head against him. He couldn't believe he had made the right choice. He kissed her, and it was okay. Everything was fine. He didn't feel the urge to run away. If anything, he wished everyone at the park would disappear so he could sweep her off her feet and kiss her again and again. But he was also glad so many people were around- it forced him to slow down and be mindful, but not enough to be afraid to do anything. He was glad he kissed her, and she seemed to be glad, too.
Soon, the Ferris wheel began stopping, letting people off and new people on again. When it was their turn to step out of their cocoon, Max grabbed their bag of goodies, Fran clutched her bear protectively, and they both stepped out and hurried down the ramp.
They walked hand in hand in silence down the boardwalk, headed back towards the road where they would meet their driver. They were both thinking about the kiss they just shared. They stole glances back and forth at each other, smiling bashfully, and were both uncertain if they should say anything just yet. Max swung their bag full of prizes at his side, and Fran held her prize bear like a baby on her hip. They kept a steady, quick pace, eager to get to the heated car and get out of the cold. After being such a nice day, it had turned cold fairly quickly, and the wind began to kick in.
They rushed toward the car once they saw it, and the driver opened the back door for them. Max helped Fran in and then jumped in after her, and the driver shut the door.
"Oh, it's so nice in here!" Fran exclaimed, setting the bear next to her on the seat so she could buckle herself in.
"Sure is! We can get our hands warmed up now."
He set the bag between his feet and buckled in. Fran took off her gloves, stuffed them in her pocket, and reached for his hands. She began to rub them in hers, trying to warm them up. Max smiled as he watched her caring for him. He took hold of her fingers and wrapped his hand over them. He wrapped his arm over her shoulders and she turned to cuddle up against him. He rubbed her arm to help her warm up.
"So," he began, "Are Eliza and Jack still with us, or-?"
She squeezed his hand and thought a moment. "I suppose we can let them go home and get to bed," she laughed lightly. Max squeezed her close and rested his cheek against the top of her head. They watched the lights and the buildings pass by outside the windows, and tried to come down from the adrenaline rush of their evening on Coney Island.
"Fran?" Max whispered.
"Mmm hmm?"
"When we get home, could we maybe, talk for a while?"
Fran wrapped her arm around his waist. "Of course."
"I was just thinking, maybe I could get the fireplace going, if it's a little chilly downstairs. Maybe we can hang out on the couch a little while."
"That sounds pretty nice," she said. Max smiled, but then closed his eyes, feeling a little nervous as he thought about the serious conversation he knew they needed to have.