Chapter 3

Amusement Park

That afternoon, I sit alone at my apartment, playing on my phone. Mai's back at home, probably helping her siblings with homework. Since my apartment has Wi-Fi, I can download as many games as I would like, or so Mai had said. But after playing for a couple of hours, I get kind of bored, so I fall flat on my bed with the phone at my side. Though it's fun playing on my new phone, it's not the same without Mai. It's only been a few days, though. As I'm about to close my eyes, a ring snaps me back up and quickly look over my caller ID. Mai.

"Hello?" I answer.

"Hi, Reo," Mai greets from the other line. "I'm wondering if this weekend, we could go to an amusement park. Do you want to come?"

"An amusement park?" I repeat.

"Yes. I know a place where they have that. It's going to be super fun."

My eyes narrow in suspicion. "Are you going to trick me like last time at the picnic where you said we're going alone?"

Mai only giggles. "No, no. This time, I'm going to be honest. Sara-san invited all of us to go to the amusement park together this Saturday and we can't have fun without you. So, what do you say?"

I pause as I think about this for a minute. Last time I went to an amusement park with Mai, things weren't going so well. First off, I didn't know much about the rides, second, I wasn't tall enough for most of them and ended up going on the kiddie rides and third, I went into one of those haunted houses and got so scared that I practically clutched to Mai the whole time while having my eyes closed.

"No," I finally answer. "They'll just make me go on those kiddie rides again." They should know how much I hate being called a little kid.

"Oh, Reo. You shouldn't have gone by yourself, then," Mai teases. "By the way, were those kiddie rides fun?"

"Shut up! I just wanted to show you how grown up I was!"

"Well, by the looks of it, people still think you're a child."

"MAI!" I yell into the phone.

"Hehe! It's true, you know? Anyway. you have to go. I don't want to be at the amusement park without my dear Reo!"

"Forget it. It's not happening," I say, bluntly.

"How about I let you buy as many sweets as you want, including cotton candy?"

The mentioning of sweets makes my mouth water. Mai knows for a fact that I have a fondness of sweets and other junk food, so I think I might consider it. "Fine. I'll go. But promise not to take me any scary houses or rides that require tall people!"

"Don't worry, don't worry." Mai assures me. "I'll just convince them that I'm your guardian and then everything will be fine."

"Okay. Keep your promise, got it?"

"I got it. Well, see you this weekend, Reo. Bye."

"Bye."

I hang up as I look out the huge windows from my bed. The sun is setting. I then look over my calendar for today and it's only 2 days away until Saturday. I let out a loud sigh. Why can't the weekend come quicker?

At long last, the weekend has finally arrived. Mai and I walk over to the front entrance where we were supposed to meet the others. Sure enough, all 6 couples showed up.

Sara-san is the first to notice. "Oh, there they are!" she squeals. "We were expecting you!"

Mai chuckles. "Sorry to keep you all waiting."

"Oh, no. It's fine," Yuuna-san says softly. "We're glad that you two could make it."

Eris takes notice, too and the first thing she does is wrap her arms around me and squeezing me tightly. "Reo~! It's been so long! I've missed you so much!"

I feel like I couldn't breathe. "Eris . . . y-you're suffocating . . . me . . .!"

"But I've missed seeing your adorable looking face," Eris says. "Not to mention your small size!"

I let out a loud growl. "Eris!" She got on my nerves this time! But before I could bite her arm off, she quickly lets go and giggles.

"You're just so cute, Reo," she says.

"That doesn't make me feel better at all," I mutter.

"Hey, hey, you two," Shizuku says gently. "We're at an amusement park, so let's try to enjoy ourselves, okay?"

"Speaking of which, would you mind if Reo and I went along with you and Eris, Shizuku-sama?" Mai asks.

"Not at all," the black-haired girl replies with a smile.

Mai then turns to Risa-san and Miya-san. "And what are you two going to do?"

"Well . . . we haven't decided yet," Risa-san says, glancing at her girlfriend. "Because . . . Miya is afraid of heights, so we're trying to think of something decent for us to do here."

"How about play games instead of going on rides?" Nanami-san suggests.

Risa-san brightens. "Good idea! Hey, Rikka. Want to come with us?"

The teal haired girl smiles. "Sure. Come on, Sayuki-san!"

"Okay!" Sayuki-san says cheefully.

As soon as the four leave, Sara-san is the next to speak. "Oh! Oh! Kaede chan and I are going to ride on the huge teacups. It's going to be so much fun!"

"But . . . aren't we going to get really dizzy?" Kaede-san says shyly.

"Don't worry!" Sara-san wraps her arms around her lover. "We'll get dizzy together!"

"Sara!"

"Come on! No dilly-dallying! Off to the teacups, here we come!"

While Sara-san is dragging her lover along, only Runa-san and Takako-sensei remains.

"Okay, so what are you going to do?" I ask the blonde pig-tailed girl.

"Probably take Sensei to wherever ride I want to go," Runa-san replies with a smile.

"What? But I can just watch you ride them," Takako-sensei tries to protest.

"Oh, are you scared, Sensei?"

"Um . . ."

"Come on. I'm sure one ride will satisfy you." With that, Runa-san drags her sensei with Takako-sensei looking back helplessly and mouthing, "Help me!"

Mai just giggles and waves at her. "Good luck," she mouths back.

Now with the Eris, Shizuku, Mai and me the only ones left, I start taking the lead.

"Hm? Where are you going, Reo?" Mai asks.

"Roller coaster," I reply quickly.

"Um . . . why did you pick that as your first choice?" Shizuku asks. "Can't we pick a ride that's less . . . extreme?"

"Why? You're not fond of these kind of rides?" Eris teases.

"N-no! I'm in a kimono, I'll have you know!"

"Does it really matter?" Mai asks.

Shizuku shyly looks at the ground. "I guess not."

"Okay! Roller coaster, here we come!"

And so, I lead Mai and the others to pay for our tickets and go to the biggest roller coaster in this amusement park. We give the guy our tickets and strap ourselves in our seats. Mai and I were sitting in the front while Eris and Shizuku were behind us. The ride starts off fine until it goes up on top of a very tall hill. Mai and I swallow hard as we witness how high we are from here. I'm feeling that Eris and Shizuku are the same way. By that time, after screaming our heads off for at least 15 minutes, going up and down and a few loops, the ride slows down and ends next to the entrance. All four of us get out and exchange looks. Our hair looks sort of messed up from the extreme speed of the roller coaster and probably lost our voices from all the screaming. But all of us laughed it off, as if saying, "That was the greatest ride ever!"

"So, where do you want to go next, Reo?" Mai asks. She spots a merry-go round near the kids' section. "You want to go there?"

"No." I answer quickly. "Don't you know that it's for little kids? And didn't I tell you before that we're not going on some kiddie rides like last time?"

Mai only chuckles.

"Maybe this time, I'll pick," Eris says, suddenly taking my hand. "Shall we, Reo?"

"Wait, where are we going?"

"To the games, of course!" Eris replies with a wink.

"Uhhhhh . . . why are we in a mini-basketball game?" I ask as soon as we arrive at the booth with small basketballs with hoops that are about 5-10 feet away from us.

"I'm going to test you on your sports skills," Eris answers as she picks up a ball.

"Wha!?" This is not what I had in mind.

"Good luck, Reo!" Mai calls as she waves at me.

I can't believe Eris picked something I'm worst at. I couldn't even shoot a hoop at P.E. But if Eris wants a competition, she's going to get one!

"Alright then," I say, full of determination. "First one to shoot ten hoops is the winner!"

Eris turns to me, dumbfounded. "Reo?"

"You're going down, Eris! I can't let some older girl like you beat me at something I'm not good at!" Yes, Reo. Prove to everybody that you're not just a sore loser and you can win something for once!

"Well, okay. Don't get your hopes up, though."

"I won't."

I look up at the hoop with direct contact before glancing at the ball. I jump a few inches in the air and throw the ball. A miss. I grab another one and take another shot. Again, a miss. I look over at Eris who already has 4 points. Grr! I'll show her who's boss! I pick up another ball, focus on the hoop, and shoot it. The hoop rattles for a bit as the ball hits the rear. I clench my fists in desperation as the ball spins a few times. And then, the ball falls out of the rim.

"Dang it!" I grunt, throwing my fists down in frustration. "Why is it so freaking hard!?"

"Want me to show you, Reo?" Mai offers.

"No! I can do it myself!" I protest. I take the ball in my hands again and look at the hoop. Raising the ball in the air, I completely focus on the net and then shoot it. Finally, the ball makes it into the net. I do a fist pump in the air. "Yes! 2 points!"

"Great job," Eris says. "But unfortunately, I already reached 10 points."

"What!?" She won already? How's that possible!?

"You know, you shouldn't turn everything into a competition, Reo," Mai notifies.

"Ugh . . . it wouldn't be fun if it weren't a competition," I point out.

"That's what you said when the two of us played tennis that one day in Karuizawa," Mai reminds me. "But it all ended the same way, especially with Eris-sama."

"Mai, you idiot," I mutter as I turn away. "Alright, Eris. You've won fair and square."

"Oh, don't feel bad, Reo," Eris assures her. "At least you got one shot successfully."

"Yes, one shot," I say sarcastically.

I can feel Mai ruffle my hair playfully. "Aw, my little Reo is still a sore loser! Yet, she made a shot all on her own!"

I tremble with anger at her words. "M-M-M . . ."

"Muh?"

"MAI, YOU IDIOT!"

After about a few hours, the sun is setting and all of us had a great time at all of the rides and games. Mai and I rest on the bench while the others are finishing up some of the rides and Eris and Shizuku just left a moment ago.

"Hah, what a long day," I sigh as I slump down on the bench.

"Yes, but it was a fun day," Mai says with a smile. "I couldn't been happier than spending it with you, Reo."

"Y-yes," I mutter while turning away and feeling my heart racing. "U-um, I'm thirsty."

"Oh, do you want me to go get us some milkshakes?"

"Oh, yes please," I say. "Oh, and some cotton candy, too."

"Coming right up," Mai says as she stands up, winks at me and leaves.

I take a rest on the bench as I look up at the orange sky. Yes, this is my best time with Mai and all my other friends here at this amusement park and I'm never going to forget this day. As I take out my phone to play some games, I hear a voice coming from my right.

"Well, if it isn't the little blonde midget? Sitting alone on this bench without her lover around, I see?"

I quickly look up to see a familiar girl standing with a bag strapped over her shoulder. She is wearing some revealing summer clothing and a visor on her head.

"Matsuri-san!?

A/N: Oh, a cliff hanger! Always love writing those! Anyway, feel free to give out any suggestions, questions or concerns and don't forget to review! ;)